Breaking! Engineering help needed (1 Viewer)

[RetroMcBananaFace]

The whole thing (including the back) is made of veneered 3/4-inch MDF and has carpentry joints where the back/sides/top and bottom shelves meet.

If the 3 middle shelves had been attached to the back they wouldn't warp, but you also wouldn't be able to move them up and down. Aside from the shelves warping it's pretty rock solid and worth saving.

I got some L brackets, seems like a good way to go. Eventually I'd like to have floor to ceiling shelves built into the wall but that may be a few years down the road.

 

[RetroMcBananaFace]

Also, look at this link. Lots of ideas.

How to Build Shelves that Don't Sag: Free DIY Tutorial

I liked this sentence from the link you provided

Even a slight sag sends an unappealing visual message.

 

[Sabine]

If it were mine I'd drill through the back of the bookcase and into the back inch or so of the shelves, and fill the holes with wooden dowels and glue . No supports showing

 

[SharonT]

Yes. I've had pretty good luck with turning the shelves upside down and then using a not-so-good tall book wedged in as an extra support about halfway across. Put something under that bottom shelf, too.

 

[dtc]

I've got this shelf that holds all my CDs but the shelves are starting to warp in the middle from all the weight.

It's one of those deals with the little pegs on each side that hold the shelves up, but otherwise it is pretty heavy, solid wood and I'd hate to toss it out. Wondering what I can do to shore up the warps in the middle and (hopefully) straighten them out.

I was thinking maybe a threaded rod with the biggest diameter washers I could find, drill a hole through the center of each shelf and use the nuts to level out the middle. I could gradually move the nuts up as the shelf (again hopefully) flattened out.

A friend suggested I get some square dowls, cut them the length of each shelf and screw them down on each shelf and that would flatten them out a little faster.

What's the better way to go here?

If it were me, I wouldn't spend 5 minutes or $5 trying to fix a particle board anything. I'd head to a thrift store and find a new one that was cheap and buy it.

 

[livefromDC]

Ok, hear me out. There's this guy on craigslist selling IKEA coffee tables. Now, dont tell him what you want to use the tables for when go to pick them up. Trust me! It's easier this way. If you tell him you want them to stack the tables together and put CDs on them it...it'll get weird.

 

[BIG E]

Saint Ward nailed it. Add wood dividers in the middle. The only other option I see would be adding some aluminum angles under each shelf, but you would see them.