Plywood edging question

[jarhead]

A friend has asked me to make him a hanging book shelf. I will use the joinery pictured below. For front edging I will use 1/4" thick oak. I am not really sure if I need edge the exposed plys on top of the shelf. If I do, will that make the dadoed vertical joint any weaker since it will be closer to the edge of the plywood?

[LarryG]

Technically, yes, it will be weaker. But depending on how the weight of the unit is supported, it may not matter in the real world. With a hanging unit, assuming the weight is supported mostly by the back panel in the usual manner, the connections between the back panel and the sides and bottom are the critical ones. The top is the most lightly stressed component of them all.

[jarhead]

Larry,
Actually, I was asked to make the shelf with an open back. That being said, what kind of hardware is available for hanging and where can it be purchased?

[Tom Miller]

You could use this type of hardware on the back of the shelf sides:



http://tinyurl.com/8w39x

Regards,
Tom

[LarryG]

Open back, eh? Oh, that's different.

Sometimes units with mostly open backs will have a hanging rail at the top ... about 2" wide, give or take ... and continuous from right-to-left so that holes for hanging screws can be drilled at any point to suit the locations of studs. Thhe downside of this are twofold: the hanging rail is visible and the unit is not fully open in the back; and the usable depth of the top bay is reduced, at least at the top, by whatever the rail's thickness is.

There are steel versions of the French cleat available, like this one from Rockler ...

http://www.rockler.com/findit.cfm?page=347

... but again you would likely need a rail to hide it completely.

There are keyhole-style hangers like these from Lee Valley ...

http://www.leevalley.com/hardware/pa...914,50426&ap=3

... which are usually mounted to the unit's side panels, near the top. These work well if the loads aren't too high, but ideally they should hang on screws that are sunk into either studs or solid blocking.

Many other choices out there but most are variations on these same two themes ... you either use some kind of continuous rail or cleat, or some kind of individual brackets.

[monte]

quote:Originally posted by Tom Miller

You could use this type of hardware on the back of the shelf sides:



http://tinyurl.com/8w39x

Regards,
Tom

I've used this same hardware and it works very well.

[jarhead]

I will probably go with the keyhole style hanger. In that case, I may have to shorten the length of the shelf slightly in order to be able to screw it into the studs.