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Hi team. Wanting to make book shelves similar to Hungarian shelves picture below. I am using 35 x 100ml jarrah for the verticals to go into the wall studs (joining the wall on the 35ml edge of the jarrah). I have two questions.
1. Is it structurally safe to drill 100ml through the jarrah and 50ml into the wall stud.
2. or is there a better more safer way of fixing the jarrah to the stud. The jarrah is the vertical.
Hi @Markar,
Thank you for your questions about some Hungarian bookshelves you are looking to install.
It would be fine to screw through the full 100mm of the verticals as long as you predrill pilot holes all the way through. Predrilling removes material and creates a space for the screw. The screw then fills the void created by the pilot hole, which will support the timber above and below the pilot hole.
In saying this, I wouldn't be drilling the full 100mm through the verticals anyway, I would be cutting 50mm notches in them and the shelf so that they slot into each other and then screwing through these notches into the wall with 100mm screws like these Buildex® 14G x 100mm Class 4 Bugle Batten Screws.


Having the verticals notched in this way will mean the shelves are actually sitting on the verticals, which is a far stronger way of supporting them. It would also mean the screws are hidden behind the shelves.
Let me know what you think.
Jacob
Hi Jacob, thank you for your response. That is very helpful! Thank you.
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