Adjustable feet

[Jupiter01]

Hi,

I am embarking on building one of these out of 18mm MDF

It will be 2.4m x 2.4m and going on carpet.

I thought that adjustable feet may be a good option to adjust it once everything is in place. Can you recommend the appropriate feet for this application please?

Thanks in advance.

 

[^woody^]

Design wise, any feet will look crap as it is not intended to have feet.

Why do you think it will need adjusting?

 

[Jupiter01]

I was going to rest the back side of the wood on the skirting board (for strength) and then adjust from the front. Once level, I was planning to cover with an MDF plinth

 

[^woody^]

Then surely the skirting is the guide and no adjustment is required, just the front chocked up to match?

 

[Jupiter01]

front chocked up to match

Sorry, but what does this mean?
I thought the adjustable feet will give me some flexibility to level the front but I could be wrong

 

[lostinthelight]

If your going to put a plinth on then 3 or 4 kitchen cabinet legs could be fitted to underside. they can be shortened if necessary and still maintain a degree of adjustability

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Build a ladder frame plinth out of softwood (e.g. 3 x 2 or 4 x 2 CLS) and level that up on wedges or plastic packers front to back and end to end. Fix in place (ideally to the floor) through your wedges/packers. Cut some thin, smooth matetial (e.g. MDF, hardboard, etc) as cladding for the plinth. Building your shelving unit on a pre-levelled frame which projects just above the skirting (so you won't need to scribe the back to fit - if needs be just the plinth cladding can be scribed) makes the task of installation far simpler. The ladder frame plinth is far more sturdy than kitchen legs, too (I've built full size pub bars in ladder frames like these)

 

[^woody^]

Agreed it should be on a continuous support, else the mdf will bow between legs.

But the thing is that's a mid century design and it's not really meant to have a base or legs

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Agreed, but the environment something like that is meant to go into is likely one where the wall meets the floor and there is no skirting at all. I've worked on buildings like that and they aren't very practical, especially when low -paid cleaning staff add their own bit of "patina" to the mix.

My simple plinth was an attempt to produce a solution which allowed the structure to be easily anchored to the wall (surely a must?) whilst giving a stable, level base to build on and avoiding the need to scribe the back of the unit itself to step over the skirting

 

[Jupiter01]

Thanks guys. Is it essential for the base to span the entire width or can I place this at various intervals? I appreciate that if the interval is too wide, the MDF could bow.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

If you are using 18mm MDF to carry books (which are pretty heavy) a ladder frame really does need to be s single piece. Go for multiple "bits" and you'll end up with a saggy bookcase, just the same as you'd get with individual feet. If nothing else a one piece base is far easier to level up, and something this size needs a level surface to sit on, be that the floor or a plinth

 

[Jupiter01]

Thanks, I can support the base for the entire width. Does the same argument not apply to the shelves higher up? They aren’t fully supported, are 18mm and loaded with books.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Not really. The design transmits all loads downwards through the vertical elements. Those elements are probably no more than 400mm apart, so the likelihood of sagging by individual shelves (which only carry the weight of a limited number of books each) even under load is fairly minimal. In any case vertical elements where not in line are not that far out of line that sagging is likely to occur. When you get to the bottom the entire weight of the structure and book load are being carried by that 18mm sole plate. If the sole were sitting flat on the floor, as in the original design, then the load would transmit into the floor with no sagging of the sole. If you want to put this thing on adjustable feet you will need at least two feet beneath every upright that connects to the sole plate (7 pairs in the example in your original post) to avoid sagging. A one piece plinth effectively raises the floor beneath the structure to the level of the top of the skirting whilst also providing a surface which can be more easily levelled than 14 individual feet