Need advice on building a DVD Shelf out of wood

Factual Questions
1

Looking for advice from people experienced with woodworking and building furniture:

I currently have 2 of these IKEA Benno shelves:
http://www.ikea.com/webapp/wcs/stores/s...3&storeId=12&langId=-1&productId=11414

I would like to build a wider version of it out of wood. The IKEA one is made out of particle board and does not appear to hold up as well to disassembly/reassembly (when I need to move).

What I’m looking to do:

  • I want to build the frame/core of it out of solid wood (no particle board or MDF).
  • I want a rigid/well built frame that will not break if the shelf is loaded with weight and pushed/nudged slightly.
  • I also want to be able to disassemble/reassemble it multiple times. (so no nails, and I imagine I might want to avoid wood screws that rely on taping into the wood?)

What I need advice on:

  • What type of wood to buy? or what are the pros/cons of common choices? (readily available at home depot are: Redwood, Poplar, Red Oak, Maple, Douglas Fir, and Pine)

  • How should I design the frame… such as what is the best way to attach the pieces together? (what type of connecting pieces, bolts/screws/etc?). How to build it so its rigid/wont break at the corners of pushed/etc.
    And little tips here would be appreciated such as how far away from an edge should holes be placed on wood/etc, tips on drilling holes in wood, etc. I don’t have much experience so I wouldnt want to accidently split the wood or do something wrong.

Lastly any tips/suggestions on building the shelves? I an picturing a difficult task in trying to get the width of each shelf just right if I am to attempt to cut them to length.

Thanks for any help you guys can provide!

2

Your link didn’t work for me. Is this the Benno shelf you have?

Depending on how tall you want your frame to be, you might have the option of using just one piece of wood for the back. Then you could achieve rigidity pretty easily by cutting grooves in that piece where the sides and shelves would fit snugly. Also cut grooves in the sides, at levels where you’d want the shelves to sit. Wood glue in the grooves, of course, violates your criterion of easy disassembly, but the tight fit of the pieces does allow some flexibility in your choice of fasteners.

3

I didn’t get to see your link either, so I can only tell you about the DVD rack I built.

The only power tools I used were a table saw and handheld router (with a long metal straight edge for the guide).

[ul]
[li]I used 1x8 pine for the structure (uprights & shelves) and 1/4 inch luan for the backing. [/li][li]The uprights and top & bottom shelves were ripped down to 6" thick[/li][li]The shelves were ripped to 5 3/4"[/li][li]All shelves (inc top and bottom) were routered into the uprights. (i.e. I routered a 3/4" strip into the uprights for each shelf.[/li][li]The Uprights and Top & Bottom had a 1/2 x 1/4 bit routered out so that the backing would lie flat against the shelves.[/li][li]I used brads to hold the back on while the glue was drying, but no other nails.[/li][li]The only thing I would do differently would be to remake the bottom with some moulding to make it slightly wider (& therefore more stable)[/li][/ul]

I’m a bit busy now, but if you want to drop me an email (check the profile), I can take some picks (low res) for you. Prolly won’t be until this evening, at the earliest.

4

I can’t provide a long answer now (work) but a couple of things to add.

You need a table saw to do it right. and you might consider using 3/4 ply with a solid wood facing edge for the shelves if you build the shelves wide.

5

The last few shelves I built I used a harder wood. All the holes were pre-drilled to be just a tad smaller than the screws I used so the wood would not split. I then used drywall srews to put it together. I also used a drill (to put the screws in) that had a torque setting. I set it on a very low torque so once the screw was completely in it stopped. I didn’t want to overtighten it or strip the hole that I had drilled. I haven’t taken them apart put I think it would be fairly simple and the holes would stay intact.

6

I made a rack out of pine and plywood (for the sides and back, respectively), with long pine dowels for the actual shelves. (I used dowels as the shelves so the rack wouldn’t weigh a ton.) The only useful info I can impart is that, with 3/4" diameter pine dowels, my 27" wide shelves (45 DVDs) are sagging slightly; if you choose to go this route but want longer shelves, use metal rods. I’ve subsequently purchased a commercial rack that uses 1/2" wide rods (aluminum, I think) that don’t sag at all.

7

I gave four of those away. My friend didn’t take them with him when he moved, so they’re ‘being stored’ in the shop next to his.

I’m using shelves similar to the Gorm, only with square uprights instead of the flat ones on the Gorm. I don’t remember the name.

8

I would NOT use pine, unless you wanted it to be warped.

Cabinet grade plywood, solid woodface trim, rabbets for the shelves.

Visit www.rockler.com for hardware (screws, barrel nuts etc) to allow it to be set up and torn down without wearing down the wood/screw holes etc.

9

Thanks all for the replies.

The dimensions I was thinking would be 6ft high by 3ft wide.

Philster:
can you elaborate on why you suggest not using Pine? It’s relatively affordable from the selections I’ve seen at home depot. What exactly do you mean by warping? I am not familar w/ woodworking.

JustAnotherGeek:
I can picture what you describe. Just two questions.

  1. How did you connect the uprights to the top/bottom shelf and/or maintain a rigid/strong frame?

  2. How deep into the uprights did you cut to router the shelf boards in? 1x8 is I think 3/4" thick only?

10

Just to clear up some confusion, pine is a bad idea for shelves. It is a relatively soft wood and not very strong. A lot of books on over a 3ft span would probably cause the wood to flex downward a bit. Also, because of its softness, it tends to knick and dent easily. Some people like the “distressed” look, so pine might be used as a facing attached to the shelves.

Others have recommended a 3/4" plywood with a solid wood facing. What that means is you cut the plywood about a half inch shorter than you want it. Then you cut a half inch off of a wood plank (you can use pine here) and glue and nail it to the edge of the plywood to cover the visible layers of the plywood. This is permanent and not meant to be taken apart during dissassembly.

Speaking of which, how much dissassembly are you looking at? Most shelving units have the top, bottom and at least one shelf that are screwed into place and aren’t really meant to be dissassembled for moving. You put the shelving unit into the truck and put smaller boxes on the shelves. However, if you want to fully dissassemble it repeatedly, that can designed for.

Also, do you want adjustable shelves? Or are you going to set their heights at design time?

11

That will accomodate a large number of discs CD or DVD. Are you storing them in Jewel cases, thick or thin, paper envelopes, or the big black folder type boxes you buy movies etc. in?

What about weight and anchoring to wall lest it topple and result in disaster?

Do you really need ready access to that many in an ongoing aquisition, playing, and storing scenario? Or do you want an impressive display of your collection?

I built 3/4" verneered plywood book shelving using bar-nuts, bolts, and bar-washers routed in the underside of the shelves.
Routed grooves for shelf spacing support.
End bolts recessed just enough to cap with verneer.

IMHO 3’ wide shelves of 3/4" plywood will sag under the load. I would suggest additonal uprights. At least one, two preferred. Finish with hand rubbed tung oil.

12

We would need to know what tools you have at your disposal…
Also check this out http://www.woodbin.com/calcs/sagulator.htm
Since you don’t seem to want a frame, and I am not sure about a back since you want to easily disassemble (how easy do you need it to be) none of those woods will work over a three foot span at 7" deep and 3/4" thick. Plywood is even worse. (I was assuming 50 pounds spread over the whole 36 inches, probably overkill, but better safe than sorry.)

Either add supports or a face frame, the choice would depend on what look you want and what tools you have at your disposal.

13

I tried to describe this and couldn’t come up with an easy way to put it into words, so here’s a quick pic I threw together in ms paint. Hope it’s clear what I’m trying to say.

http://userweb.suscom.net/~sokosfamily/shelves.jpg

The nice thing is you just shove it together. No screws, no glue, no nothing. When you want to disassemble it, just pull it apart.

Since the ends of the shelves and back pieces protrude from the upright sides, you’ll want to round the corners and edges to make them look nice. You need the notches and slots to be as close to the exact width of the shelves and back pieces as possible. How tightly it fits together is going to determine how wobbily the whole unit is. Make it nice and tight and it won’t wobble at all. The thicker wood you use, the more weight it will support.

A few notes about woods:

Pine is very soft. This makes it easy to work with, but it also makes the end product easily damaged. They usually sell a couple of different grades of pine at the local DIY shop. The cheaper stuff is full of knots, isn’t even straight most of the time, and isn’t good for much except very rough construction (stuff you won’t see in the finished product). Bottom line, it’s crap. Stay away from it. They have a slightly better grade of pine, which isn’t quite so crappy, but it’s basically the same stuff with slightly fewer knots in it. Want to make a cheap birdhouse? Use pine. Want a shelf that will last? Use something better.

Douglas fir is also a softer wood, though not quite as bad as pine.

Poplar and maple are better. These are harder woods. They are a bit more difficult to work than pine, but the end result is something that doesn’t ding up as easily as pine. Poplar is a bit softer than maple. Most people think that maple has a better natural color than poplar. Cherry has a good color too. You may not be able to get cherry at your local DIY store, but if there’s a real wood working store in your area they’ll likey have some. Oak is even harder and heavier. For harder woods (especially oak), you may find that it’s difficult to even drive a nail through the stuff.

Redwood has a reputation for being more resistant to rot than most other woods. Since you’re not storing your DVDs outside (I hope), this isn’t really an issue.

This site has a lot more info about wood types:
http://www.woodzone.com/tableof.htm