[CraigLam]

I took 1" sq. tube, welded it to 3/4" x 1" x 28"solid bar, spaced evenly. Then I'll drill holes, thru the back piece where the wall studs are, as close to the supports as possible, using 1/4" x 3" lags, then bolt the frames in the desired position to the wall. The box is slightly larger, about 1 1/8" with rib supports spaced around the sq. tube. After I make the box I'll take a picture and show how it goes together.They're also called floating shelves.

[Otto Nobedder]

"Floating" as in no visible attachment, brackets, etc.?

I look forward to the finished pruduct.

If you can conceal the fasteners, glass shelving wound be cool here.

Steve

[CraigLam]

That's right. There's no visable brackets or anything that you can see holding up the shelves. The shelves are made hollow, so, the box slips on to the projections and covers them. For the longest time, woodworkers used oak and different methods used to anchor them to the wall. None of them worked. Since I now know how to weld, I applied the same method, only out of steel. The shelves are MDF and will be black high polished laquer. You could use glass, but, that's another application which is a little more involved. Not difficult, just more involved.

[delraydella]

We've used the floating shelf before in museum display cases and it works very well and looks good too. There's usually not a whole lot of room in those things except for whatever is supposed to be displayed and shelf brackets can take up a lot of room, not to mention look pretty ugly. MDF is great choice for shelves. It stays flat and the edges can sand down very smooth for a nice paint finish. Just don't drop it on it's corner!

Normally for any kind of museum shelf that will be inside of a sealed case, we would use a sheet good called "Medex" which is very similar to MDF but it doesn't contain any formaldehyde.

[CraigLam]

I couldn't believe it when you said you worked in the display trade. How cool is that? I set up the CES show for
Pioneer in Vegas for 5 years straight. Anyway, I finished my second project, the outboard motor stand. I need a little more practice on my NR-211. My next project, very simple. I'm going to weld some 1/4" steel rod together to make a frame to hold a plastic trash bag. It's for recycling bottles and cans. I probably won't finish the floating shelves until I get back from Vegas. Aug. 7-9.