Floating Shelves – Are They Easy To Build

When You Don’t Want Brackets.

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Floating shelves are shelves that don’t have any brackets.  Building them requires bolting the shelf to the wall via screws and these shelves are usually not ideal for heavy weight.

Building floating shelves is generally considered to be rather difficult as you have to ensure that the shelf will be able to hold the weight and without brackets there is a little more technicalwork involved, but this really isn’t true.

photo credit: Zach Klein

Before you build a floating shelf, let’s take a look at what tools you will need and what specialty tools you will have to have…

Your List of Tools will Include:-

• 10, 2” wood screws
• 20, 1-5/8” wood screws
• 15, 1” (2d) finishing nails

And the only Special Tool you will need is:-

• Miter

The final result will look something like the picture below and of course your finish will be relative to what kind of wood you choose and what kind of varnish or paint you decide to use.  Most floating or handing shelves can carry a relative amount of weight of around 15kg or less.  If you want to it to carry more weight than that, you will have to consider the depth of your wall and if it would be possible to leverage your screws further into the wall.

All things considered, as a woodworking project for the beginner, it is not difficult and really doens’t require many tools at all to complete the job.

A Floating Shelf

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