Recommendations for shelf

[amatoolbox]

Hi everyone, new to welding (literally only started learning 3 months ago). I've only done a few simple projects (ATV bracket, bird house hanger, hinge) and i'm about to take on one that's a little more difficult so i wanted to get some input...

I have a garage that i want to build custom shelves for, but i dont know the steel requirements around deflection, bending and strength for a span. can someone point me at the best materials to cover an 8 foot span, how far i will have to space the legs and if i should use angled or box steel.

I know i'm the noob to this, so feel free to educate me... I've only got a small mig/flux welder but it seems to work well for the stuff i've made so far.

The shelves wont be holding much weight, mainly gas cans, paint and gardening stuff.

Looking to learn, so if you can suggest any reading materials please do.

[Going nowhere]

Welcome aboard.

Boxed steel or sq tube will have more rigidity than angle. Angle can twist and flex more. Sometimes you want a little flex.

You could use 2" angle for your uprights (full hieght) and some 1" angle for shelf frame with some expanded steel inside. You could place shelf angle up for a lip to keep things from sliding off or angle down for clean look. I would suggest 1/4" angle but 1/8" or 3/16" could work.

Ben

[BD1]

Do a search in projects. Here's some I saw , a wide variety. http://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php...hlight=shelves

http://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php...hlight=shelves http://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php...+steel+storage

http://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php...+steel+storage

[amatoolbox]

Ben,
Thanks for the input. What are your thoughts on using 2" angle for the legs (but i could switch that to box), but square tube (3/4") for the shelves? do you think that would make a span of 5 to 6 feet? I'm worried about the shelf deflection and i don't know how to calculate it. I do plan to put plywood or planks on top of each shelf as well.

BD1, thanks for the links. this one: http://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php...hlight=shelves was helpful. I'm looking to build something similar, though i don't know if i need that much strength.