I have an gun cabinet im using for ammo storage. With the boxes on the bottom collapsing Im going to put in a few shelves.2x10 might be a bit of an overkill the lumber expert at home depot suggest to use solid wood. I'm thinking I should have just went with my original plan of using 3/4 plywood. The expert said solid wood would be more sturdy.
I would agree with the Home Depot guy, that solid wood would be better it will be sturdier and support more weight. The only way I would go with the Plywood is to use extra supports/bracing and thicker plywood like double 1/2" or double 3/4" with extra brackets for support. If you are building shelves out of wood then go with the solid wood, but if you are putting shelves in a Metal Gun cabinet you can still go with the solid wood (like was recommended) or use the plywood. Which ever way you go just make sure you have enough bracing to support the weight you expect the shelves will be holding. Just my $0.02 !
Plywood would do just fine with that small of a span. I wouldn't use less than 1/2". Besides plywood will take up less thickness so you can have more shelve space. My ammo cabinet is all 3/4 plywood and shelves loosely sitting on wood supports screwed to the cabinet sides and back. I mean to tell you I have a lot of weight on them shelves and no sagging yet.
Plywood will be fine. Perhaps you could build then to sit on top of each other with 2x4 in the corners and sized to fit the ammo cans Not to scale, but something like this....
I bought some 3/4" plywood today..I just love the smell of fresh cut lumber..I guess I'm just weird that way . > > > > >
I did not realize how narrow the gun cabinet is and therefore the shelves would be. Since the shelves are going to be that small, then Plywood would be fine as long as you provide enough support like MattNH showed in his photo, even though it looks like those shelves are made with either 2"x6"'s or even 2"x8"s or 1"x6"s. If you are feeling really industrious and have the material and equipment/tools and some carpentry skills; you can make some nice shelves using different kinds of joinery a.k.a. different Joints to make it much stronger and make it look very nice and it would impress your friends and family! LMAO
I was thinking of making some shelves and a Work bench to do my reloading on, but unfortunately I do not have the money to buy the materials and I also do not have a place to build it nor to set it up once I do build it! So I just wait and save my pennies. LMAO
Mr. Groff, check out the discounted lumber/culls at Home Depot. Some of it is as crooked as a dogs leg. When you cut it up into smaller pieces it works out great. And its 75% off!
That's how I got my lumber for the work bench in my shed.You have to time it right they sell that out quickly
The best time is when the store opens, or just before it closes. They sort and flat stack the lumber before they go home.
