I hear you. My shop space was waist-deep in boxes when I moved in. 2x4 verticals and horizontals on one whole wall. Fence lumber for the shelving. All covered in boxes, no need for any cosmetic delicacy. Then I added 1x2 "coat hooks" to the verticals to hang extension cords and bow saws.

 

I did the same at my house. I attached the 2x4 to the masonry wall so I didn't need additional support at the rear. Another 2x4 in front and one along the front. 3/8" ply was plenty strong

 

I did a set in my shop using 2x4 uprights with 1x12 shelves let into the uprights in dados. Held together with deck screws. Could substitute 3/4" plywood for the 1x12s to make deeper shelves. I'm going to do that to build a set of shelves to hold SWMBO's overflow of books because there's no more wall space upstairs for another bookcase.

 

Very Nice! Do the Dados keep it square and prevent racking, or is it braced as well?

 

I need to make some shelves. 18” deep X 6’ long. They’ll mostly hold “stuff” in boxes. Not heavy stuff, but not lightbulbs either.

I’m thinking 2x4 uprights joined by 2x4 horizontals and plywood, but you guys usually come up with great ideas I hadn’t thought of.

Given that none of those components is exactly cheap right now, I’m hoping for suggestions to reduce materials or make good use of them.

The only change I would make, if you are trying to be frugal, is keeping the shelves at just under 16". That way you can get 4 rips out of a 4x8 sheet of plywood. At 18" you will have just under 1 foot of waste out of every sheet. If this is for interior and you are locked into 18" you can get 5x8 sheets of MDF.

 

Just pointing out a typo so the correct number of sheets are purchased...

You get 3 rips of 16" shelves...

 

No other bracing, just boards on the ends. I did glue the top corners to the wall with short lengths of 2x4 under the top, but the bond didn't hold so now it is just free standing. The glue boards are hinged to the top, so I will have to swing them up and put more adhesive on.

 

One more question…

How did you cut dadoes in the middles of the 2X4’s?

 

I laid all of the uprights on the shop floor side by side. Marked the dados out. Clamped the 2x4s together with a few clamps. Then I used a clampon straight edge to guide a router with a straight cut bit to rout each shelf dado across all eight 2x4s in one pass. I used a router that has a vac port to keep the mess down a bit.

Forgot to mention that there is a bit of TBII in each of the dados.

 

There are some nice heavy duty metal shelf units out there. I doubt you can build one as cheap, plus it will have casters. And your time is worth something. I’ve got several of the wire shelves from Sams. That’s me.

 

Time is important. I do think I assembled my shelves faster that I could have run to the store, pick up and assemble commercial shelves. I used scrap 2x4s as well, so that was free waste.

 

I like @Jim Frye's setup, doesn't burn a lot of horizontal space with supports.

You can cut the dado's with a router, or on a table saw.

@Jim Frye what is up with the IBM sign?

 

@Jim Frye what is up with the IBM sign?

I was an IBM Systems Engineer and when they abandoned the local office, a lot of things became throwaways. All IBM facilities had/have those square aluminum signs. The sign is just some memorabilia I saved after retiring from the company. The sign is too big to fit in a box, so I stuck my retirement plaque on the sign and hung it in my shop as a remembrance. My "gold watch" was a electric wall clock, so I took the plaque off of it and put it on the sign.

 

Charges you to throw them away?

 

I have two trash cans provided by the trash company. One for house and one for shop.. No additional charge…

 

Our trash has to be bagged in the totes. Recycling cannot be bagged in those totes. The drivers can't see what's in the black trash bags when they auto dump the totes into the truck, so if it fits in a bag, away it goes.

 

I used to repair System 3X (5340/5360/5380) peripherals a millennium ago!

It still makes me laugh that the mainframe at Apple Canada in Toronto was an IBM 36, they had re-written the OS a little and named it Sylvester but at the time Apple didn't have anything nearly powerful enough to do what the IBM iron would do.

My 2 cents on the shelves. Go buy metal ones. With 2x4s near $10 each and plywood sheets at $60-$80 each there is no way to build utility shelving economically anymore. Bookcases for the living room are a different story but for storage the metal is now cheaper.

Costco has 4 foot by 18" shelves on wheels for $139. Fully adjustable and they will never sag (I've got 8 of them in my electronics shop).

https://www.costco.com/trinity-5-tier-outdoor-wire-shelving-rack-with-wheels%2c-48%22-x-18%22-x-72%22-nsf%2c-gray-color.product.11505870.html

https://www.costco.com/trinity-5-ti...helving-rack-with-wheels,-48"-x-18"-x-72"-nsf,-gray-color.product.11505870.html

Compare to 2x4s and plywood and the price is the same or better except you need to build the wooden shelves, they won't be adjustable and they won't be on wheels.

 

I used to repair System 3X (5340/5360/5380) peripherals a millennium ago!

It still makes me laugh that the mainframe at Apple Canada in Toronto was an IBM 36, they had re-written the OS a little and named it Sylvester but at the time Apple didn't have anything nearly powerful enough to do what the IBM iron would do.

My 2 cents on the shelves. Go buy metal ones. With 2x4s near $10 each and plywood sheets at $60-$80 each there is no way to build utility shelving economically anymore. Bookcases for the living room are a different story but for storage the metal is now cheaper.

Costco has 4 foot by 18" shelves on wheels for $139. Fully adjustable and they will never sag (I've got 8 of them in my electronics shop).

https://www.costco.com/trinity-5-tier-outdoor-wire-shelving-rack-with-wheels%2c-48%22-x-18%22-x-72%22-nsf%2c-gray-color.product.11505870.html

https://www.costco.com/trinity-5-tier-outdoor-wire-shelving-rack-with-wheels,-48"-x-18"-x-72"-nsf,-gray-color.product.11505870.html

Compare to 2x4s and plywood and the price is the same or better except you need to build the wooden shelves, they won't be adjustable and they won't be on wheels.

Good advice tbh. I wanted to get myself plywood shelves, but looking at your post might aswell go with metal ones. Not like I NEED wheels specifically, but price is just way better... I'm mostly planning to just store my garage stuff and maybe some fishing-hunting gear( thank god I live next to a few outdoor sports stores, hence I don't actually need to store a whole bunch since can just buy whatever is missing).

 

A bigger laugh was Microsoft running their back office applications on 24 AS/400s. Then Gates replaced them with a thousand or so Windows machines. Two years later, they gave up making them work and replaced them with 12 of the then largest AS400s. Have we sufficiently hijacked thisnthreat?

 

Bernie's scheme ran on AS/400's...

Believe it or not the AS/400 platform still exists, some of the largest Financial institutions, and those providing services to them run on it. It is now called "iSeries", runs on the Power Systems platform. I do a ton of externally attached storage on those systems.

 

Lots of waye to make shop shelves.

 

For light weight shelving check Craigslist or Marketplace for used bifold door panels, slab style are very cheap or free.

 

At the Costco warehouse, they sell an incredibly sturdy chromed wire shelving unit with 48" X 18" shelves for about $90. There are six shelves, the heights are adjustable, and you can assemble it as a 6' high unit or two 3' high units. The shelves can hold 500# each, and it comes with heavy duty wheels if you want to move it around. I've got 7 of these units in my shop/garage. Given the price of lumber these days and the time to construct shelving, these may be an attractive alternative, and as solid as anything you can assemble.

 

I built storage shelves for the store room, in wife's shop, using 2x3's from Home Depo. Their 2x3x8' were $2.75 .. a dollar cheaper than their 2x4x8' and are more than sturdy enough for her needs.
Each shelf is 24" x 96" and assembled with pocket hole screws. I used leftover 1/2 OSB from my shop project.

 

 

Very easy one person assembly laying on their side. the shelves are 75" high so I used the 21" cutoffs from the uprights for the short pieces. I built three units in about 1 1/2 days.

 

I need to make some shelves. 18” deep X 6’ long. They’ll mostly hold “stuff” in boxes. Not heavy stuff, but not lightbulbs either.

I’m thinking 2x4 uprights joined by 2x4 horizontals and plywood, but you guys usually come up with great ideas I hadn’t thought of.

Given that none of those components is exactly cheap right now, I’m hoping for suggestions to reduce materials or make good use of them.

For the horizontals use 1/4" ply supported underneath w/stringers front, back and middle. Stringers can 2x4 ripped in half lengthwise, the glued and screwed. Maybe even ripped 1x3 will work. Make one up & see how it supports weight when set between 2 milk crates. If more support needed, add another stringer or put matching 1/4 ply there.
A specific advantage of the stringer approach is they allow use of scrap lumber & bits of pallet wood, seriously reducing cost.

 

Friend and I are building pantries and other storage solutions for customers and they generally hold a considerable amount of weight..canned goods and such. We're making 3/4" plywood frames similar to a torsion box (about 2 1/2" plywood strips for the framing), fasten to walls and covered with 1/2" plywood.. very strong and doesn't sag in the middle with the plywood on end. Getting ready to build 6 fairly long shelves, 16" deep with the 3/4 looking like ribs set into dado housings, glued and screwed in place. 1/2" for shelf surfaces is cheaper than the 3/4" with 1/4" ply directly under the shelves to hide the framing, etc.. These are going in half million dollar homes and customers seem thrilled to be able to pile as much weight on them as needed.. We're buying materials at about 1/2 of what box stores charge through a cabinet supply house here in town..