How long is to long?

[Paul Snowden]

I plan on making a pair of dvd cases. I would like the shelves to be adjustable so i'm going with the idea of using pegs. In the planning stage I thought about making the shelves 54'' long but the more I think, the more I wonder if this is to much for only peg support. Any veterans out there have the answer for me on how much becomes to much?

[Jamie Buxton]

I've seen those metal shelf pegs fail when very heavily loaded, and the wall is melamine-covered particle board. If you're using solid lumber for the wall, the pegs probably won't be a problem. However, the sag in a 54"-wide shelf may be an issue for you. With only DVD cases on it, it won't sag a huge amount, but it may be noticeable enough to bother you. Again, solid lumber helps. Thickness also helps; the stiffness goes up with the cube of thickness.

[Paul Snowden]

I've seen those metal shelf pegs fail when very heavily loaded, and the wall is melamine-covered particle board. If you're using solid lumber for the wall, the pegs probably won't be a problem. However, the sag in a 54"-wide shelf may be an issue for you. With only DVD cases on it, it won't sag a huge amount, but it may be noticeable enough to bother you. Again, solid lumber helps. Thickness also helps; the stiffness goes up with the cube of thickness.


I plan to do this project with popular.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Why not use bigger than usual diameter pegs?

[Jason Beam]

I wouldn't worry about the pegs, if the walls are hardwood. But sag is gonna be the bane of your existence at that length.

3/4" thick poplar is gonna sag noticeably in the middle when even lightly loaded. You'll do well to add a 1 1/2" wide "face" to that shelf and maybe even a spine about 3" in from the back to help distribute the load. There was an article in WOOD a few months back that talked about combatting sag. There's also the "Sagulator" to help calculate the sag of things: http://www.woodbin.com/calcs/sagulator.htm

[Stewart Crick]

A second vote for the sagulator. It's never steered me wrong.

Stu