[mgold]

Has anyone gotten these shelves from HF? I've wanted to get some new shelving for my garage. These seems ok, but I wonder if they're too flimsy.

I've thought about building some out of wood instead, but that's expensive for me right now.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=91883

[DanielC]

I am not really sure, but they look like they might be good for storing that extensive cotton ball collection you have.
I would not put anything heavy on them. I am guessing the metal is way thinner than the sheet metal on a 1970 Datsun.

[barnescole]

bought a very similar set at Lowe's for about 3x the price. needed some shelves for a mudroom closet, work great...surprisingly stout. these are "plastic" not metal. havent seen the HF ones in person, but it looks the same.

[OneMoreTime]

I got the stoutest ones lowes had and 24 inches deep and never looked back..I have stacks of heads and other heavy parts on them and never regretted it.

Sam

[matt167]

plastic shelving is supprisingly strong but I wouldn't trust them for anything heavy.. in the work/ storage room in my house, I have 1 that is made by Rubbermaid.. holds a few heavier things as well as my 'dialup server' which is just an old laptop.. it works well but it does shake easy..

I have a shelving kit I bought at lowes in my shed. it is a 4' height, keyhole interlocking steel structure.. I put the 2 2' sections side by side for a workbench and houses grinder and drill press.. the surface is made of 3/4" OSB

[gator412]

If you screw the shelf unit to the wall it makes it much steadier. Not stronger, just steadier.

[MARTINSR]

I love the "capacity" of the shelf, 176lbs. You can probably carefully put 176lbs of bricks evenly spaced on those shelves and it will not collapse. But push on it a little bit, it is coming down! LOL

Those would probably be a nice shelf for keeping some lighter items orgainized and off the floor.

There is one thing about getting shelves like that, you are limited to the small size of the shelf. How about building one that runs along the wall? Some lightweight building materials like thin angle iron, some drywall screws to run them into the wall, a sheet of 1/4" plywood and wham, you have eight 12x48 inch shelves from floor to ceiling. Now THAT would give you some storage!

Just something to think about.

Brian

[snorulz]

wood is really cheap around here, I could build that same shelving unit for roughly the same cost out of wood. I have a cheap on like that, I got it from menards, was on sale for $14, I keep some heavy stuff on it (tire chains, and 9" differential center section) the key is to keep the heavy stuff on the bottom shelf and the lightest stuff on the top shelf.

[mgold]

I'd prefer getting Metal shelves, but they are expensive. Even other inexpensive ones that are mode of propylene get pricey. I noticed they had this one.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=97476

I could try build some some out of wood. It just seems to be hard to find inexpensive good wood.

[ryork]

2 2x4s 8 ft long about $5.00 Cut them in half to have four 4' legs
4x4 sheet of 19/32 OSB $9.30 at lowes or a 3/4" for a little more strength
cut it into 1' sections for 4 shelves
A 1x2 cut into 3 1/2 in lengths for shelf rests. about a buck.
screws or nails

For about $15 you can build a 4 shelf set about the same size as the harbor freight plastic. Probably stronger and you can adjust each shelf to suit your needs.

And if you need more you can always find some to match.

Bob

EDIT: After thinking about it I believe I would cut the 4x4 sheet into 1/3rds and make each shelf 16" wide. This would also give a little more room for taller items between each shelf.

[snorulz]

2x4's around here are less than $2 each, and you can always find straight ones if you do a little digging.

[mgold]

I guess the problem I've had is all the chain home improvement stores lumber are pretty messed up! Most lumber yards I look into usually frown upon selling small quantities to individuals.

[ryork]

Originally Posted by mgold

I guess the problem I've had is all the chain home improvement stores lumber are pretty messed up! Most lumber yards I look into usually frown upon selling small quantities to individuals.

With 2x4s they usually have 2 or 3 grades. Don't go with the cheapest unless you spy a couple of good ones in the stack. Remember you are paying for it and don't have to take a bad one.
I go to the local lumber yards here and sometimes just buy one board. I tell them to bring me a good one it's for a project that shows. Sometimes I follow them and pick it out. Never had a problem. If it's looks bad to you just tell them why you don't want the particular board or piece of lumber. It could be warped, knotty or cracked. It's your money..you're the boss.
If you send them back the first time chances are the next one they bring will be a good one.

Of course I'm a grouchy ol man and it's usually a young guy I'm dealing with and they just want to get rid of me.

Bob

[oldred]

Another vote for wood,

One thing that needs to mentioned about plastic is the time factor, you can load it down and it may seem to be holding just fine until you look at it a few days later and see it sagging. Also just a few degrees of heat can make a huge difference and a load that may be holding up now might sag when the weather warms up, now how do I know about this? I found out the hard way! I store machine tooling like lathe chucks, etc in the shop and although most of these items are not all that heavy by themselves the total weight adds up in a hurry and I ran into sagging problems even after carefully spreading the weight around. I now use wood shelving and no more problems!

[DanTwoLakes]

I agree that wood shelving is the way to go. You can make the shelving to fit any nook and cranny you want to put it in. One thing that really adds capacity to a plywood or OSB shelf is to screw a vertical piece of wood 1 1/2" wide and 3/4" thick underneath the shelf in front, in back, and right down the middle. It won't sag hardly at all that way, and you won't need to use 3/4" plywood or OSB.
For even more strength, put a bottom on your shelves, and you can use 1/4" plywood for the top and bottom. Cutting dados in the front and back pieces for the shelf top and bottom to sit in makes them look really good and also adds to their strength, as does gluing them together besides nailing or screwing them.