Attaching two floating shelves together to use as a baseboard

[rob D2]

Hi,

Deciding to try something different for boards for a small and light project I’ve brought some of the above from B&Q.

Im now looking for a way to attach them end to end.. I thought I could use small door bolts but there’s still too much play side to side.

 

Ideally some right angle eyelets I can glue on the top ( disguised by buildings ) which I can put conventional small bolts through ? Do such things exist ?

 

im trying not to penetrate the surface as I don’t know about the actual construction under neath 

[Matloughe]

12 hours ago, rob D2 said:

Hi,

Deciding to try something different for boards for a small and light project I’ve brought some of the above from B&Q.

Im now looking for a way to attach them end to end.. I thought I could use small door bolts but there’s still too much play side to side.

 

Ideally some right angle eyelets I can glue on the top ( disguised by buildings ) which I can put conventional small bolts through ? Do such things exist ?

 

im trying not to penetrate the surface as I don’t know about the actual construction under neath 

If you're thinking of hiding them under a building etc - what about some hinges? You could glue them on the surface perhaps with a small shim to clear the barrel of the hinge and have the pin removeable if you decided you wanted to seperate them.

 

Kind Regards,

Gary

[Moxy]

12 hours ago, rob D2 said:

Ideally some right angle eyelets I can glue on the top ( disguised by buildings ) which I can put conventional small bolts through ? Do such things exist ?

 

im trying not to penetrate the surface as I don’t know about the actual construction under neath 

 

Would something like this do?

 

https://www.diydirect.com/assembled-knock-down-fittings-beige-10-pack

[rob D2]

Good ideas , it's all a bit of an experiment .

Anything can be hidden under building or behind a bill board 

 

 

[Michael Hodgson]

14 hours ago, rob D2 said:

im trying not to penetrate the surface as I don’t know about the actual construction under neath 

Yeah, they weigh next to nothing, there's clearly nowt inside them - they are not exactly robust.

I think the construction is probably like house interior doors, or cardboard egg boxes.

 

[rob D2]

21 minutes ago, Michael Hodgson said:

Yeah, they weigh next to nothing, there's clearly nowt inside them - they are not exactly robust.

I think the construction is probably like house interior doors, or cardboard egg boxes.

 

Doors i hope more than egg boxes - they seem to be MDF with some pinboard type stuff . Having said that they can take 25 kg each .

 

I'll have to be certain of them before i glue £200 of code 75 bullhead to them !

[RobinofLoxley]

Too late to suggest it I know, but I 'constructed' my test track - I say constructed but it was a single piece that I drilled a couple of holes in - from a spare piece of oak laminate flooring. Extremely stable and robust. Given a frame surround two sections could be butted together easily. I'm wondering whether to make a plank layout from them in future.

[doilum]

If you have access to a workshop or a.few tools

Find an offcut of 12mm ply and cut a strip to reinforce each of the board ends.

Purchase a pair of brass /steel pattern makers dowels. These are easier to fit to the plywood before attaching to the boards.

Use spring over centre clips to secure the pair of boards.

[jamieb]

1 hour ago, Michael Hodgson said:

Yeah, they weigh next to nothing, there's clearly nowt inside them - they are not exactly robust.

I think the construction is probably like house interior doors, or cardboard egg boxes.

 

If they're anything like IKEA lack shelving units ( which I suspect they are copying), they are corrugated egg box construction inside.Very strong and sturdy however,I use one for my fiddle yard and there's enough meat on the outer framing to hold screws and brackets etc 

[rob D2]

2 hours ago, doilum said:

If you have access to a workshop or a.few tools

Find an offcut of 12mm ply and cut a strip to reinforce each of the board ends.

Purchase a pair of brass /steel pattern makers dowels. These are easier to fit to the plywood before attaching to the boards.

Use spring over centre clips to secure the pair of boards.

That’s not a bad idea at all - reinforce the ends and give them something useable 

[rob D2]

Gonna try this , combined with door bolt on side 

[skipepsi]

This has been really helpful I have 4 similar shelves to connect, now all I need to do is recover my tables to put them on from my wife...

[rob D2]

1 hour ago, skipepsi said:

This has been really helpful I have 4 similar shelves to connect, now all I need to do is recover my tables to put them on from my wife...

Glad it's of use . I'm not convinced one latch and one door bolt doesn't have too much play fur accurate track alignment .

Plan B will be either wood ends and dowels as per the suggestion above or wood blocks no more nailed to the surface with conventional bolts 

[doilum]

Once you have tried pattern makers dowels there is no going back 

[Michael Hodgson]

1 hour ago, doilum said:

Once you have tried pattern makers dowels there is no going back 

Less "slop" with those than with household bolts, so better alignment every time.

[Godders]

I tried these years ago and have never looked back.
Watch the video and then visit website to see variations:

 

[LBRJ]

Hinges with removable pins on the sides of each shelf would work for alignment, and they be cheap enough and very easy to fit.

You could even just screw a plywood splice plate over the joint; depends how often you want to be able to separate them.

[rob D2]

42 minutes ago, Godders said:

I tried these years ago and have never looked back.
Watch the video and then visit website to see variations:

 

I don't think machining a rebate ( even if i had the tools ) would work on a DIY floating shelf 

[rob D2]

23 minutes ago, LBRJ said:

Hinges with removable pins on the sides of each shelf would work for alignment, and they be cheap enough and very easy to fit.

You could even just screw a plywood splice plate over the joint; depends how often you want to be able to separate them.

I've heard of the hinge solution but every hinge i've seen has the pins fixed in place with a machined end piece . Are there hinges you can easily get the pin out ?

[Moxy]

6 minutes ago, rob D2 said:

I've heard of the hinge solution but every hinge i've seen has the pins fixed in place with a machined end piece . Are there hinges you can easily get the pin out ?

 

Look for loose pin hinges, such as these

 

https://www.wickes.co.uk/Loose-Pin-Butt-Hinge-Brass-76mm---Pack-of-2/p/159717

[LBRJ]

Screwfix* sell them, I think that they are about £2 for a packet of two.

They are called loose pin butt hinges, and are used for hanging doors that you want to be easy to remove.

I do not know how small the sizes go, but the 3" ones could be fitted onto the top of the baseboards rather than the sides.

 

*other shops are available ;)

 

Edited May 8, 2023 by LBRJ

[Godders]

The rebate is only 1.6mm and it is square:

 

 

[wirey33]

The IKEA shelves are made from corrugated cardboard and covered in a thin piece of board "veneer". 

 

 

 

[Type 2]

2 hours ago, Godders said:

The rebate is only 1.6mm and it is square:

 

 

They require a fairly precise 8mm rebate (rectangular at least) in the mating surface that the other clicks into, I've used them for DIY projects around the house, the are really good and hold firmly.

 

If you have a router, machining out the rebate isn't too difficult, buy can be tricky without

 

I've never though of using them for joining baseboards, something to think about...

Edited May 9, 2023 by Type 2

[ISW]

38 minutes ago, Type 2 said:

If you have a router,

If you don't have a router, but have a Dremel (or similar clone) then you can get a cheap router 'attachment' from TheBay from several Sellers. Something like this:

I bought one, and it fits my Ozito rotary tool set (from Homebase a few years back) perfectly.

 

Ian