I'm working on a walk-in closet where I will have a free-hanging shelf from wall to wall. The shelf will support a clothes rod and will hold various items on top. It's 4 meters between the walls, and the depth will be 60 cm. The underside should be painted with a nice finish, while the top side won't be visible, so it doesn't need the same quality.
I'm thinking of having strips on the side walls and on the back wall for the shelf to rest on. At the front, I can use three posts with one-meter spacing, or just one post in the middle if that's sufficient.
The issue is that it's 4 meters, so I need a joint that I will likely fill to conceal before painting. But the main problem is that I want to incorporate a light strip about 10-15 cm from the front edge. For this, I need a groove that is 6 mm deep and 15 mm wide.
I've looked at glue-laminated boards in pine/spruce at Bauhaus (27x600x2400). I believe that could work, but the quality feels mediocre, and the boards were quite concave.
What else can I use that can handle a groove for the light strip? Plywood, particle board. Could I, for example, use 22x70 as a frame and then encase it in some sheet material to create a hollow shelf that is sturdy (though it becomes quite high then)?
Other hardware stores also have glued laminated panels, such as K-Rauta. You can also browse a bit in Ikea's bargain corner for countertops with cosmetic defects.
If you're going to rout grooves, neither plywood nor MDF is recommended; you want solid wood for that.
A common way to prevent wood from warping is to reverse laminate; there's quite a bit about this on the forum.
A regular countertop can be obtained in those dimensions, but first check that you can fit it through the doorway. Otherwise, MDF is flexible, and if you buy two boards, you can double the thickness with an offset joint, and with the right thickness, you can skip the posts. I would, however, rather resolve it with a cross-wall between the shelf and the ceiling, but that might not work with other plans.
No problem routing in MDF, but for all routing, you test on scrap pieces first.
Initially, I considered a laminate countertop to keep the cost down, but couldn't find a white one in 4 meters. I also need the same on the opposite wall, so I need two shelves of 4 meters.
But it happened that in the morning when I got up, I saw the frame I built for the dresser section, which we removed because it was too high otherwise. It was laying nicely on the floor and then I thought, why not simply clad it in MDF.
I had to replace the cross braces with slightly longer ones as the shelf should be 60 cm deep, then I went to K-rauta and bought 6mm MDF which they cut to the right measurements for me. So I cut it directly to leave a 16 mm gap for the aluminum strip. Then glued/nailed it to the top and bottom as well as the front edge. So now there's only filling and painting left.
The cost was much lower too. Braces maybe 200, MDF 350, and paint and filler 200, for one shelf.
It's a sturdy piece but no problem lifting it myself.
