I do not mean completely transparent book shelves. You see I have recently come across some really cool shelving material. The dimensions are really interesting. It is 2 inch thick mahogany. But it is curved. Picture a 6 foot long piece of 2 inch thick mahogany with two large S curves. I’m thinking of mounting them on the wall flush and placing books on the curves. I have the perfect wall for this. But I am unsure how ot fasten them to the wall. Mahogany is tough wood. Very heavy. I do not want to use a track system…That is where the ‘invisible’ part of the shelves come in. They are not 18 inches wide, so using both studs is out. I can only use one stud…but I do not know if this would hold them.
Well…any Dopers have any ideas? Maybe a wire hanger from the ceiling?? Hmmm
Not sure from your description what the shape of the shelf actually is, but I am in the midst of a similiar project using a four inch this slice of maple. Only one stud, no visible supports. the shelf will stick out about 18 inches from the wall at the widest part.
My latest design involves welding a support together that will be sunk into the wall, screwed directly onto the stud, and plastered over. That’ll support most of the weight, with a horizontal cross piece that will give it stability, supporting the far ends of the shelf.
Picture a flat curvy plank. I know it sounds odd but that is what I have. Picture a plank stem bent three times like and S…It’ll be flush vertically to the wall.
Do you want to make this shelf six feet tall, or six feet wide?
I have two and they are already 6 foot a piece.
I’d like them to be hung vertially. Each S turn in the plank is roughly 16 inches wide.
Okay, so now we’re getting somewhere. The weight of the books will supported by the books underneath them? The Mahogany will just keep them in place.
How thick is the mahogany? I heard 2 inches, or is that how deep it is (from the wall)?
I thought I was visualising this correctly; I’ve seen curvy wall-mounted bookshelves before where the shelf bent back on itself and snaked down the wall, the books being placed on the (relatively) horizontal sections, but that doesn’t sound like what you have in mind.
In any case, if the shelving material is thick enough to accept a deep hole drilled in the edge (the edge that will be facing the wall), then it should be possible to drill a number of holes in the plasterboard and fix some threaded rod with cavity fixings, so that you have a number of threaded metal spikes sticking out of the wall - if you get the calculations right, the holes in the shelf edge would just push onto them and the thread on the rods should grip the inside of the drilled holes, preventing it all from just slipping off.
So… you mean a big letter S on the wall? If so, won’t the plank cross the stud three times, leaving you with three stud anchors?
Invisible supports are usual a dowel or block nailed into the stud on the wall. You then drill out a hole (or cut out a block) from the shelving unit so that the shelf can slide onto the dowel/block on the wall. You then drill or nail down or up through the shelf so that the nail/screw goes through the shelf and into the dowel/block.
Peace.
IANAcarpenter, but IAATVhome&garden watcher.