How Can Floating Shelves Hold A Person? 

Regarding applications of this design: I built out my son's closet with shelves and hangers. I had to be careful how high I built the top/top shelf because the opening to the attic/crawl space is through this particular closet. If you could build shelves like this in a closet in such a way that they would double as a sort of ladder into the crawl space, it might be really helpful. Also, in a garage, you might build shelves with this sort of strength for storage, such that (again) they double as a ladder/steps to get to the higher shelves at any time.

SHELF THAT STRONG = To have a floating shelf of books. I hate when it sags and bows and whatever else happens when you buy pre-made crappy versions of this. Great work. I think the extra planning helps the bottom shelf clear the tiles in the back.

Pro-tip from old-timey woodworkers: When you put the holes into the studs, the longer auger bit would have been fine. Put a ring (like a wedding band) on the shank before you drill. As you drill, the ring will travel up or down the shank if you're not even. Left and right you can sight down from the top against a square held next to the bit (might need to stand on the counter and have an extra pair of hands for the square). Also the longer bit should be a better choice because if you're off 5mm at the end of it that translates to a smaller error angle than a shorter bit, it's easier to see any error. edit: Also I think auger bits have better tracking through the depth of the cut if you start in square.

This was a great video. This is DIY home improvement. You make overly unnecessary plans, you struggle and then you realize there’s actually a tool out there that solves your problem. When your done you question why ever needed it as you originally designed. 😊

It’s funny, I thought to myself “oh, it’s weird he isn’t using his drill guide. That would be fantastic for this.” And then there it is!

Plates, bowls and cups can add up to be more weight than you think. Also if you use those shelves to store pots or pans, that weight can add up in a hurry as well. Great job, they look fantastic!

The thumbnail for this video is so good.

Bob! I hung butcher block as a shelf and I used similar method, instead of using a solid rod, I used a threaded rod and "screwed" into the stud by putting two nuts together and using a ratchet wrench. The recipient hole on the shelf got a slightly wider hole allowing for alignment but filled with epoxy. It was like 15$.

you can see that the production of the videos just keeps getting better every time a new one comes out what ever you doing keep doing it

For me the main reason why your channel is so much better than most other DIY channels on RU-vid is that you are so open about the mistakes you made during the process. You go into so much detail about what went wrong, why it did and how to prevent it or make the most out of it if it occurs. Most other channels will just say "if A happens, do B instead to fix it", but you make sure the viewer actually understands the mode and effect of a certain mistake, which is the most effective way of preventing them.

Always warms my heart to know others struggle to get it perfect the 1st time. Great results.

Videos where you recover from a failed attempt are great, I won't make that mistake for sure. Thanks from Colorado, Merry Christmas to you, your family and everyone at ILTMS.

This is what I have been waiting for to display my precious anvil collection!

The perfect ad for actual and proper use of a drillguide! Good showcase 🙂

My favorite: magic floating things, shelves and standing on things!

Homemade stairs!!! This would be great for homemade floating stairs

Great for making floating stairs

A friend of mine is a contractor and does a lot of custom work. He had me work with him on an install job and we had a very similar issue with a huge live edge shelf that was being installed over a countertop for a bar in someone's home. It was designed to hold a ton of liquor bottles so it had a custom welded bracket specifically made for the piece... and then we couldn't get the shelf to slide on to the pegs. The frustration of trying to tap a 10'-12' long live edge floating shelf onto a custom made bracket that it just doesn't want to go on to is a deeply maddening experience. It isn't as simple as just putting a board up and smacking with a hammer or you damage the live edge. The frustrations culminated when we were getting it into place and my shoulder flexed and cracked the drywall ceiling above me. It was an easy patch and paint and the customers were EXTREMELY understanding about it but, man oh man, was that an embarrassing and frustrating job. Well done, sir. You handle the frustrations of the work very well (in camera at least lol). I love this channel and keep up the great work!

I appreciate that you show the mistakes. It helps go to show that you can take all sorts of precautions, and have all sorts of tools and ideas. But something can go wrong anyway.

I really appreciate that you always learn from your mistakes Bob. In many ways, that's what makes woodworking enjoyable. Those shelves turned out looking great! I wish you, your family & the crew a very Happy Holiday Season! 👍👍🌲🌲

A great way to quickly fill the checks and cracks 🙌 Love how this turned out!

I love the learning moment left in. Thank you for teaching me something new through trial and error.

I have a simple reason: if you just want something to be solid this makes so much sense. The floating shelves I have seen aren't solid to begin with. You couldn't even use them to place books on. And that drill guide is a good idea for a lot of more purposes. Great idea.

Glad you shared this idea of installing rods that penetrate both, the wall and the shelf. Will keep it from flexing and bending over the front down after a while. This what happened after few years on IKEA floating shelves that are pretty much for displaying few lightweight pieces and not storing books or kitchen hardware.

Love this troubleshooting that you allowed us to be a part of. Could this concept (rod into shelf and then into hole in the wall stud) be used for say a bench application? I've always wanted to do a floating cabinet type of shelf in our living area but be able to sit on it as well. Thanks as always for your insight!

Great video, the pace, transitions and flow of was super🎉

Fantastic work, Bob! Really well done! 😃 I was thinking about the drilling guide thingy from the beginning! 😂 Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊 Merry Christmas and happy new year!

I actually used this exact method to make a Floating desk that wraps around my studio. I used 3/4" x 24" threaded steel rods to support three butcher blocks. Each were 1 3/4" thick and 25" deep. They were 72", 100", and 112" weighting approximately 70lbs, 100lbs, and 110lbs respectively. I actually made a couple simple jigs out of scrap wood to make sure the 21"deep holes in the butcher block and 3" deep holes in the studs were perfectly straight that prevented the issues you had, but aligning all those holes and studs with that long and heavy of a piece was a nightmare. I found staggering the rods by putting them in every other hole in the butcher block and the rest already in the wall made it a bit easier. I also only used contractor glue in every other set of holes to prevent movement out of the studs or away from the wall but still allowing for seasonal movement. So to answer your question at the end of the video- yes, using steel rods to brace weight for wooded shelve (or desks) has real world uses. Musicians love to sit on desks while in the studio without thinking first, and I don't have to hold my breath that everything is going to collapse and cause a lawsuit lol

Good video, The first time I put together floating shelves, I learned the hard way that drilling holes that are perfectly straight is hard. My problem was getting the holes in the shelves straight. I ended up just redoing the entire thing and using two 1 inch boards and used a router to make the holes for the supports before laminating them. I have made floating shelves for a few more area in the house since and have decided that the look is not really worth the hassle. And that my starndard solid shelves look and function really well.

Good to see how you corrected from the problem. It's nice to see how a mistake was made but you didn't give up, just came at the problem from another way. That's the core of making anything - you're going to hit roadbumps. I installed floating shelves in my home office - but I was using a pre-made kit and it was still a pain to do it to a good standard. There's nothing like a floating shelf to tell you that your walls aren't perfectly straight!!

Right tool for the right job.... crazy talk. Anyways, I could see using a shelf like that to store all of the small kitchen appliances on. Sure, a single small appliance isn't too bad...start putting 2-3 on a shelf and you start hitting some serious weight. And if you have commercial grade ones it gets even heavier. So, I could see it for that. Also, this helps me think of a solution for my guest bedroom. We plan on putting a lot of our collector edition items, movie props, etc and some of them do have some heft to them. I'm glad you came forward with the mistakes and things to think about when I get ready to build something like that. This turns it into a learning experience that I didn't have to go through.

looks good

Very nice job. Hopefully you get great use out of them for many years to come my friend. Keep up the great craftsmanship and hard work my friend. Fab On. Weld On. Keep Making. God Bless.

I think I might try this method to build a floating desk. Great idea. Thanks.

I seldom get to the making of things these days. Bam. Your video, 2nd on my feed. Reignited some passion. Thanksa

Thanks for the tip! I will need very strong shelves to make my library and I will use your method to hang them!

*Excellent work 🎉*

I've had a planer belt break in the middle of a project and I know how you feel. Great content, keep it up guys and gals!

Nice job on the shelves. I did something very similar for two 8 ft floating shelves when we first moved into our house. The difference was that instead of steel rod I used some 5/8 inch all thread. I drilled slightly undersized holes into the studs and then used two nuts on the all thread, locked together, to screw the all thread into the hole in the stud with a socket driver. I then took the nuts off and was able to slip the shelf over the all thread. The threads on the all thread also helped to bite into the holes in the shelf, especially when weight was placed on the shelf. They stayed up that way for many years until we remodel our kitchen and sadly had to remove the floating shelves.

Very cool....now hands on it.....i have to do 3 in different sizes but i am buying the brakets since i do not have a welder...thanks!!!

I found this looking for ways to make a floating bench (you asked for an application where a floating shelf needs to hold a lot of weight). Thanks!

Great idea for my 100 lb stereo amp. in my Livingroom. Great video. You have an awesome shop. thanks

In the midst of doing this exact project! The only difference is the shelves are for a closet, not a kitchen. I have been stalling on it due to the issues you had... Drilling the holes perfectly is daunting. One thing to consider about weight capacity is not just what is on the shelves. The brackets have to support the shelves themselves. Solid wood is quite heavy. Like others have mentioned, I was wondering about the drill guide. The other thought I had was about the flat stock. I kept wondering why it was needed. Glad you figured it all out! My one question... Are the rods secured to either the studs or the shelf? Not sure if that is even needed.

Frank Howarth showed us how to do this years ago. I did my whole kitchen the way he did, with a template, and they're wonderful.

This definitly gave me flash backs to some projects I've done in the past! Let's just say I know a lot of ways how to NOT do things lol. Great video, Bob!

Standing on your projects and it holding up is one of the biggest confidence boosters

As a diyer and a horticulturist would say it's great for plant shelves for heavier pots. I often have to use heavy duty anchors when I hanging my houseplants from the ceiling.

Well💩 now I need to buy one of those. (Drill guide) thank you for sharing… Especially the troubleshooting part… Happy holidays… And best to you and yours

I’m using a similar design, and storing pasteurised fruit juice which gets heavy quickly. My studs are on 60mm spacing, and I used 10mm threaded rod into 35mm threaded inserts in the studs, having over drilled the drywall to get to the stud. Thanks for sharing

the transition animation on 3:40 ... ffing awesome 😅 (jawdropped)

The only use I can think of: My friend has a similar design using threaded rods on the shelves in his sewing room. He has a bunch of vintage sewing machines and doesn't have much room. He wanted his shelves to last his lifetime and is also picky about how things look. He puts 150lbs+ on his shelves regularly and they've lasted years. He ran 1/2" threaded rod all the way through the 2" thick by 9.5" deep maple shelves and into the studs. He tapped the studs about 1.5" deep to match the threaded rod. There are countersunk holes in the front of the shelves with a nut and washer. He then put 1/2" edge banding over the holes after they were installed. Been there for over 10 years and no sag even with those cast iron monsters sitting on them. They face a lot of pulling because he drags the sewing machines off the shelves sometimes, hence the threaded rod.

Awesome!!

I've thought of building a small narrow floating 'shelf' at a low height in my entryway to sit down and put on shoes, this might be perfect for that. Thanks for trying this out!

Great work Bob! I built some floating shelves for a client. They wanted to store all their liquor bottles on them, weight I'm sure would be close to that of a human. I used a similar method with cold rolled steel going into the studs and shelves. The drill guide is key!

What I love about your channel is journey of making things it wouldn't be fun if everything is perfect first time you try different stuff until it works

I saw R2-Sweettooth!! Nice shelves and thanks for the lessons learned.

They do look good! 👍🏼

I've got a cabinet over my fridge that used to have a 3/4" plywood wall holding it up, but I had to remove that wall to fit in a wider fridge. So now the cabinet is just sitting on top of the fridge. Having this kind of connection would be perfect for keeping that very large, very heavy cabinet up and happy on the wall.

I made mine similar, but routed out the space for the bracket into the shelf and fit it to the shelf on the bench. I used 5/8 lag bolts near the rods and screwed them into the studs

"Human weight rated" shelves would be helpful in a number of kitchens I've been in due to the use of large jars of bulk ingredients. This would work well for folks with heavier or more numerous dishes. We had a hanging cabinet come off the wall in our home because our collection of stoneware and glass dishes exceeded the support capacity of the hardware it was installed with... at 3:00 AM. Though effective, I would not recommend it as an alarm sound to start the day right. Great job on the project, problem solving and "in-home crash prevention"!

As I watched the video, I was thinking: "Doesn't he have a drill guide?" 😉 Live and learn, my friend! Actually, kudos to you for being upfront and honest about the trials and tribulations ahead of the final "reveal." Also, one last comment: I have the same 24-inch plastic grey level you used in the video, and I seem to recall it appearing in some of your early videos. I've probably had mine 20 years or more, and like you, I still use it regularly in my work.

I"ve installed shelves this way before.. instead of using a "hole" in the shelf, you can simply cut out a slot.. makes installation much easier and you can adjust where the shelf sits on the wall left to right.

11:53 "A solution in search of a problem" come to life

AWESOME! My 8 ft "floating" shelves are on the wall (with L brackets screwed into all studs) wish I had found this video before the install. And yes, the plan to load books onto 8 ft long floating shelves need them to be able to hold a human's weight ;) Thank you again!

A cool mud room floating shelf for sitting on while changing shoes and stuff may be a cool idea with storage underneath.

That's funny, I have one of the first "drill guides" made. I picked it up at one of our state fairs in the commercial booth section. It's called a Port-Aiign (close enough). All aluminum, all adjustable, no numbers on it. Still works flawlessly. It's a pain to install so it lives on a dedicated corded drill. It's around 45 years old. Alternatively, you could made a guide from a block of wood with a hole drilled through using your drill press. Slightly oversized holes in either side of your design, then mounted using epoxy would mitigate the need for machined precision.

Had to install a set of shelves a while ago for a friend in his garage. He was using it as a storage rack for his scuba diving gear. It was on an exterior wall and the houses in my country are brick. We drilled through the wall and had threaded rod going all the way through with steel plate and nuts on the back of the wall. If that shelf ever came down with the weight, it would pull that entire wall down

Thanks

I would use this idea to make a floating desk for my gaming setup!

You asked why would you make a shelf that is floating and strong enough to held your weight? Here is my answer, I consider myself to be an incidental wood worker because I don't really like wood working per say, however, I have a passion for model railroading, and you my friend have covered many aspects of what I consider to be my hobby. If you want to mount a three to five foot wide shelf to wall so that you can build a multi-dock model railroad on up to three shelves that are either above or below each other, and are strong enough to carry a model railroad on each shelf without having L brackets get in the way this method looks to be the best way to do that. Not only have you helped me with this idea that shows real world engineering, but also in you other thing you have produced videos on that me as a model railroader can use, such as 3D printing, and how to manage a shop space, and for that I say thank you.

Nicely done. Regarding drilling level: slip an eyebolt over the shank of your drill bit to monitor your angle. Works great!

I did something very similar - the use case? I needed to hold a lot of books and it was above a piano...so I wanted a floating shelf look. A lot of the books were piano sheet music so 12 inches or taller so it ended up needing to be quite sturdy. In addition to what Bob and crew have shown, a few things I learned along the way. 1: your walls are not straight, so if you try and make the shelf about 5 feet long (incidentally about the width of a piano), your straight shelf will reveal your wavy walls. Fixable, but just something to keep in mind. 2: I went to the trouble of reinforcing my studs by scabbing on a second 2x4 and hanging my shelves from those extra 2x4s. It was a lot of work to open up the walls but I was doing a big reno so it was worth it. For me, I didn't feel comfortable putting 3 holes (5/8") through each stud (I did three shelves). 3: I created a jig out of scrap plywood that I used to determine my hole spacing and to keep my drill level when going in to the wall and the shelves. I marked the jig with an "in" and "out" marking so I knew when I was drilling into the wall or the shelf. In the end I had to ream the shelf holes out a bit to make it fit but it is still rock-solid. I made my shelves as torsion boxes (1/4 maple ply outside, plywood ribs inside) as that kept it straight, strong and also meant I didn't need to be 8/4 solid maple which would have been expensive (and unnecessary really). Great project and sorry to see your pain along the way.

This technique would make for a killer floating desk!

This is exactly what I need for my office. I need a floating shelf for my printer and supplies. I don’t want to place a regular cabinet in the space and this idea works fine. Lucky for me The only thing I need is the drill guide tool. I’ll be using either walnut or mahogany.

I think this design is great for multi purpose use in compact spaces, such a shelf ledge/ladder/steps in a storage area. I would love to use it for floating shelving in a garage.

What a great video production, these recaps are so entertaining 😂 ( 6:17 ) Sometimes it calmes down myself, when I see that others have the same problems, which I have. But the point is to stand up again and make these things work 💪🏽 (thats why I got "Problem Solver" Merch 😉) Especially drilling holes in level: How many times I thought: "Oh, they got great" until trying to mount the pieces. 😄 Have a Merry Christmas, see you next time😃

I made a similar shelf to store and display an arcade stick collection. Most of the sticks aremade out of wood so they are heavy enough to tilt the previous shelf with right angle brackets.

There is a reason for shelves this strong. I’m building shelves for a guitar setup. My amplifier alone weighs about 80 pounds. I started with steel rods also and was worried about getting them parallel. The drill guide is a great idea. Thank you!

My dad was a sculptor - some of his bronzes were pretty heavy. If you wanted to display a bronze you'd have to have a pretty hefty shelf.

Your final design was literally what i did with my floating shelves - I just 3d printed a jig to guide my drill (if you had a drill press you could just drill a block of wood instead and use that as a guide)

I built a floating shelf for a friend years ago. I used 3/8 threaded steel rods through the shelf and the studs. Watching your first method made me question if I should have done it differently. Then I saw your final solution. Btw I didn't have a drill guide, I used 2 scraps and made a perfect 90⁰ corner. I laid the shank of the bit on the interior corner to get rid of play. I hope that made sense

Excruciating to watch you choose the shorter drill bit, when the longer one would have given you a much greater reference to tell if you were square and level! Still a great shelf and great job done 👍

could use this to make a nice minimalist floating bench seat for a kitchen table

Reasons for self that can hold you: to put the kitchen cookery stuff up but not high. Like stand mixer, air fryer, oil fryer, blender, and chopper. I hate them in cardboard or on top of the fridge, but I don't use them all the time. To have a shelf mid level so I can pull them down easy and put them back easy works for me. Thank you for this video. Project for next summer.

So I did this exact thing in my kitchen. I just used a drilling guide, which is much cheaper. I also ran into problems getting the poles in the shelf so I bored out the holes so that they all went on looser, then filled the holes and coated the poles with construction adhesive, then rigged the shelves up with rope and whatever else to hold them into place where they were level. That adhesive dried and they all stayed in place perfectly.

Great application for something spanning more than 4ft as well… for example, the 12ft open floating shelf in our kitchen 😊

Dude... I have a bourbon collection that always makes me nervous with how heavy it is... I'm gonna do this and finally have a piece of mind!!! Thank you!

The funny thing is that the longer drill bit would have been easier than the short one to keep level because you have more of the bit exposed when drilling

Really nice stuff. Might have missed it, but how are the rods secured to the studs and the shelf? Friction only? Not that I think it's a bad idea, just wondering.

Dang it, I know I don't NEED that level of shelf, but my goodness, I *want* that level of shelf.

I had a similar issue when making an oversized tv unit. I wanted the unit to appear on the wall with no visible support or hardware. In the end, I drilled 18mm holes 10 inches deep about as square as I could. I then cut down 16mm threaded rods that were 16 inches long and set it into the holes with some 2 part construction epoxy. Then drilled 20mm 6 inch holes into the wall, added some more epoxy and slid the unit into the wall. I can say it definitely holds my weight with ease. Only downside is I’d have to trim the rods off the wall if I ever wanted to remove it but that’s a problem for another day 😂

I have a large collection of cast iron cookware would definitely come in handy my skillets range from 4" clear up to 22" then there are the dutch ovens

So pleased that I asked Santa for a drill guide for Christmas 😊

Perfect solution for a floating desk,

This would work great for an 8 foot long bookshelf. The wood and the books combined can get heavy and this would be a solution for that in my opinion. I may give it a try. Thanks for sharing.

You can also use this design for simple me type of floating bench!

If you have a lot of plates, the things need to be really strong. Of course it would also be useful for a cool looking workshop or cool looking can shelve. OR a floating single bed bunkbed, it would be so cool!

I built exactly these shelves for a 3.6m wall times 2. And used 6 studs and biscuits to connect to AHC section of shelves. Used threaded rod into the the studs but a larger hole in the shelves so it could slide on. Have really heavy books on it and they are above our desk with computers and expensive equipment under it. So yes. Needs to be super strong and never fall. The weight of everything on the 2 shelves would easily be heavier than I am 100kgs. If you want a photo Bob let me know.

I made my bedroom closets top shelve with aluminum frame (I live in Puerto Rico is really humid here) and covered in 3/4" plywood. I don't want the shelves to sag and not hold on. We put heavy boxes up there and they are holding nicely.

As for application in the kitchen, I would put all the countertop appliances on them. Another would be the bottom of the cabinet that your above range microwave attaches to. That can be a heck of a lot of weight with these new 1200W units. And for putting more force on the shelf, use a 30lbs short handle maul with a 1/2in rubber sheet. That would push it through! 😉