Shelves into sloping alcove...
Discussion
Got this alcove sort of area in the wardrobe that was built as part of our loft conversion, I want to stick a couple of shelves in it to divide up the space. The picture below gives the sort of idea.
It's fairly deep, 90 cm in fact, so I'd envisage the shelves being supported on both sides and possibly along the back/front. Planning to use MDF (12mm?) which I'll paint to match the rest of it. On the flat side it's easy enough, just a batten running along the depth of the alcove. Just wondering if there was an easy solution for the sloping side. If I were to do some sort of batten then I think it would need some sort of triangular shaped piece fixed along the depth to which I could then screw a rectangular batten. Problem is I don't own a table saw so cutting an angle on a 90cm long bit of timber might not be so easy. I do have a couple of circular saws (small and large) that can cut on an angle but I'm not sure how feasible it would be to use those? Any simpler solutions and/or am I missing the obvious?
Thanks.
It's fairly deep, 90 cm in fact, so I'd envisage the shelves being supported on both sides and possibly along the back/front. Planning to use MDF (12mm?) which I'll paint to match the rest of it. On the flat side it's easy enough, just a batten running along the depth of the alcove. Just wondering if there was an easy solution for the sloping side. If I were to do some sort of batten then I think it would need some sort of triangular shaped piece fixed along the depth to which I could then screw a rectangular batten. Problem is I don't own a table saw so cutting an angle on a 90cm long bit of timber might not be so easy. I do have a couple of circular saws (small and large) that can cut on an angle but I'm not sure how feasible it would be to use those? Any simpler solutions and/or am I missing the obvious?
Thanks.
As you'll need some extra support under the shelves anyway, you could put a vertical panel at the ends, ie the top one will sit on the lower shelf and the lower one will sit on the floor. 
Or once you've put say a 2-3inch piece under the front edge fixed to the angle and one on the back wall, you could run a couple of pieces of 2x2 between them that wont be seen.
Or once you've put say a 2-3inch piece under the front edge fixed to the angle and one on the back wall, you could run a couple of pieces of 2x2 between them that wont be seen.
Edited by mgtony on Tuesday 3rd May 13:03
Edited by mgtony on Tuesday 3rd May 13:03
Recently I made shelves to go in a built in wardrobe. They're (IIRC) about 150cm long, 40cm deep and only supported at the ends. The shelves were cut from 1" birch plywood and there is close to zero deflection even with a lot of weight on them. Consider using thicker material and don't bother with supporting the back/front.
Maybe I'm wrong but I'm reading the problem as the fixing at one end rather than anywhere else.
12mm mdf won't be strong enough on its own as a shelf of that length - it will bow. So either use something else or build a frame on which to sit the shelf.
The frame can be fixed all around (sides and back) which will be plenty strong enough. Run a strip along the front to hide the joins and paint it.
As for fixing to the sloping wall - you could either ask a timber merchant to run a batten through their saw for you to create the angle or google 'angled fillet' which could be an option.
12mm mdf won't be strong enough on its own as a shelf of that length - it will bow. So either use something else or build a frame on which to sit the shelf.
The frame can be fixed all around (sides and back) which will be plenty strong enough. Run a strip along the front to hide the joins and paint it.
As for fixing to the sloping wall - you could either ask a timber merchant to run a batten through their saw for you to create the angle or google 'angled fillet' which could be an option.
Another option might be to consider making the space into "boxes". Depends on what you want to store in the cupboard or if you want to keep the clean lines of just shelves.
You could effectively put 2 "sides" in the bottom section, and 1 in the middle section. In order to make it look even you might need to play with the relative heights of the shelf sections.
As drawn, the boxes would be ~ 30cm wide if you used the middle shelf as the master box size.......
Edited to say....oops...that exactly what mgtony suggested !
You could effectively put 2 "sides" in the bottom section, and 1 in the middle section. In order to make it look even you might need to play with the relative heights of the shelf sections.
As drawn, the boxes would be ~ 30cm wide if you used the middle shelf as the master box size.......
Edited to say....oops...that exactly what mgtony suggested !
Edited by Steve Campbell on Thursday 5th May 13:43
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