Can I use kitchen worktop to make shelves?

milliebear00001

I want to build several shelves into a chimney breast alcove. It is fairly deep. Ideally, I want several 'floating shelves', but they are VERY expensive and don't seem to come in a long enough size.

I am thinking of using kitchen worktop instead - either solid oak, or laminate. I would use a simple wooden baton style bracket at either end of the shelf (about 150cm long). I am concerned though, that the solid wood would be too heavy for the fixings to support, and that laminate might either also be too heavy for the batons, or 'bow' in the middle, once books are on it.

I would also have to cut down the worktops lengthwise, as they would be slightly too deep for my alcove.

Any thoughts?

welshsue

I would be worried about the weight. We have just finished our kitchen and a 3mtr length of 28mm worktop weighed 35kgs (11.5kgs per mtr).
You would need very strong supports.
Would seriously reconsider this.

ormus

no reason why you cant use laminate tops.
make sure its supported on three sides and you wont/unlikely get any bowing over that 1.5m distance.

milliebear00001

Thanks for the advice. Yes, my main worry is the weight, although I can of course, support at the back as well, which I hadn't thought about.

Is MCF lighter? There is a company I've just found on Ebay, who say they will cut oak style MCF boarding to size. They do a 2.5cm height, which would be OK for my purposes, and prices don't look too bad for my measurements:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120631394579&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

What do you think? Better than worktop?

ormus

using thinner board, ie plywood, with a strengthening strip across the front is a good idea too.
you can also make a template out of cardboard if the walls are like the cliffs at dover.

Canucklehead

Good afternoon: we used offcuts of oak worktop (38 mm thickness) to create shelving in our chimney alcove. The OH used Fischer wall mounted basin fixings to fix the floating shelves.

HTH

Canucklehead