Seeking advice on making plywood shelves for paint cans

[Mike Manning]

My son does hand painted signs. In order to help him get his shop a little more organized I offered to build him a shelf for some of his paint. I haven't built shelves strictly out of only plywood before. I'll be using 3/4" pine plywood from Home Depot. I was planning on each shelf being able to handle 1-gallon cans as well as 1-quart cans stacked and also two-deep. A lot of this is paint he's used but keeping for other future jobs. I assume he'll also put full cans in it as well. I'm concerned about the shelves sagging. I had been planning on building a set of shelves with approximate dimensions of 46" tall x 36" wide x 12" deep. I'd also planned on backing this shelf with 1/4" pine plywood. Each shelf would fit into a 1/4" dado in the sides. This morning I was reading an article on popularwoodworking dot com about shelf strength. The article shows that 3/4" ply with a moderate load (25lb per running foot) should be no longer than 32" and with a heavy load (40-50lb per running foot) should be no longer than 30".

I was considering using 3/4" ply for the back rather than 1/4" ply and also using a 1/4" deep dado here to provide extra support for the 36" shelf width. This would provide some support for each shelf on three sides. Do you think this was add enough strength to prevent sagging?

I want it to be structurally strong as well so would you advise adding a 2" face frame around the exterior or do you think it should be strong enough without that?

Thoughts and other ideas on how to achieve this would be appreciated.

PS Looking around I probably should have posted this thread in one of the other forums here. It doesn't appear like I can move it. If someone wants to move it to the appropriate forum I'd understand and appreciate it.

[andy bessette]

Plywood is a lousy choice for shelves since nearly half the grain is going in the wrong direction.

[Mike Manning]

Plywood is a lousy choice for shelves since nearly half the grain is going in the wrong direction.

Andy,
In lieu of plywood, what would you suggest given the intended use of this set of shelves?

Thanks!

[andy bessette]

Solid lumber should be much better; thicker the better.

[John Lanciani]

3/4" ply is more than strong enough for 36" wide utility shelves. Use 1/2" for the back and glue and staple it to the shelves and the carcass and they won't go anywhere. If you want a little more strength cut the shelves 3/4" shallow and apply 3/4"x 1" hardwood edging to the front.

[Von Bickley]

3/4" ply is more than strong enough for 36" wide utility shelves. Use 1/2" for the back and glue and staple it to the shelves and the carcass and they won't go anywhere. If you want a little more strength cut the shelves 3/4" shallow and apply 3/4"x 1" hardwood edging to the front.

I agree with John 100%....

[Lee Schierer]

Check you design with the sagulator. (http://www.woodbin.com/calcs/sagulator/) Weigh a gallon of paint and determine the maximum number that will fit on your shelf. I would recommend screws through the side supports into the plywood shelves to get extra strength.

[Dom Garafalo]

I also agree with John which is exactly how I built my gallon paint can storage shelf.

[Mike Manning]

Check you design with the sagulator. (http://www.woodbin.com/calcs/sagulator/) Weigh a gallon of paint and determine the maximum number that will fit on your shelf. I would recommend screws through the side supports into the plywood shelves to get extra strength.

Thanks Lee! Nice tool the sagulator! I didn't see Plywood - Pine as a choice only Plywood - Fir. Using that choice the "initial sag" was .003" and considered acceptable.

Thanks John, Dom and Von! I'll move forward with confidence and take some additional steps to hopefully decrease any sag.

[Keith Westfall]

Plan it so you can put a support in the middle of the shelf. If it's just for paint cans, dividing it in half shouldn't be a big problem.

[Mike Henderson]

I got some 3/4" angle aluminum and put one on the front of each shelf and one on the back of each shelf. Made very strong shelves.

I had to round off the bottom edge of the shelf because the angle aluminum was rounded at the inner corner.

Mike

[Allan Dozier]

When I made shelving for this purpose I made the shelves 4 ft. long to make easier and more efficient use of 4X8 plywood. I added divider pieces in the center thus ended up with approximately 2 ft. shelves which can stand a very large amount of weight. If you use 1/4" dado you can also inset the back in a 1/4" rabbet and not have to cut the shelf ends or the back width. It means your top and bottom must also set in a dado.

[Ole Anderson]

A great way to store paint is in an old steel file cabinet. Each drawer can hold 5 or 6 gallon cans. Legal size cabinets, even more.

[Rich Engelhardt]

#1 ---Plywood, 3/4" is fine. 40 plus years ago I worked in a paint store & our retail display shelves were made from 3/4" plywood. The shelf next to the tint machine, that held the pastel tint base (the most often used base), was 4 cans deep by 2 cans high by 6 cans wide. That's 48 gallons of paint @ about 12 pounds per gallon. (576#)

#2 Ole has a great idea. With all the store closings going on right now, there are a whole bunch of great deals on store fixtures & file cabinets.

[Osvaldo Cristo]

Thanks Lee for the site reference...

[John K Jordan]

My shop shelves often support heavy things. I like to use 1x12 pine shelving board instead of plywood since I don't have to cut panels. If there is enough room under the shelf, I simply add plenty of shelf brackets for support. For the shop I don't much care if the brackets are pretty.

I put up some shelves where there was not room underneath for brackets, for example when mounted immediately above a 5' wide double door. In this case I built double shelves for strength: a sort of open-backed cabinet made with two shelves one above the other, with vertical 1x12 dividers between them. Glue and screws from above and below. This is quite strong since the two shelves support each other. I just used butt joints at each divider with 3" deck screws into end grain into the dividers, but if I had thought it needed even more strength I would have glued each divider into a 3/4" dado.

I fastened each divider to the wall with brackets I made from aluminum angle iron and a few brackets underneath the shelves where possible. In my shop they are fastened to 1/2" plywood walls but if attaching to sheet rock I'd space the dividers so each bracket would fall on a stud.

I've also made shelves like this even more like a cabinet with a plywood back and fastened to the wall just like mounting kitchen cabinets. They are quite rigid with both shelves and dividers fastened to the backing ply every few inches with screws and glue.

JKJ

[Pat Barry]

I agree with those saying to edge the front of the shelf with something to stiffen it up. I would use a simple 1x2 (vertical orientation of the x2 dimension). I would glue it to the front edge of the shelf. You want more strength, then go with a stronger wood (ie: oak / ash for example) and if you want even more strength go with a piece of plywood ripped to 1x2 dimension or even the aluminum angle 'iron' and your shelves will be plenty strong.

[Mike Manning]

The paint shelf is done. I used 3/4" dado joints (1/4" depth) for the three shelves and overlapping double rabbet joints for the top. 1/2" plywood for the back as suggested. I additionally added under the middle and top shelf (not the bottom shelf) a 3/4" piece of plywood across the 36" width for extra support. Glued the joints and tacked with 18gauge 2 1/4" brads. It feels pretty solid and I think this will work well enough. I've got a french cleat on the back and will put it up at my son's shop this evening. Thanks for all the suggestions guys! It was definitely helpful as always!!

Mike

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