Shelf Brackets for Metal Cabinets

[Jonmustang]

Howdy folks, I'm a long-time reader and first-time poster. I'm always excited about Made-in-USA products, home workshops, old cars, and (perhaps most of all) organizing the garage. Can't believe it took me this long to join the forum!

I'm here to ask a question only you experts could help with. I just picked up an older steel storage cabinet made by a company called "Tab", a really heavy-duty piece that I was happy to add to the workshop. One problem though, is that it came with two shelves and only one set of shelving brackets.

I called Tab, and the short answer is that they haven't seen anything like these brackets in years, and don't have any NOS pieces either. These shelf-support rails are great, and even lock in to a little groove on the shelf so it won't slip. Before I look for DIY alternatives, I wonder: has anyone ever seen an identical type of shelf rail support anywhere?

 

[Mattlt]

Would the brackets used to hold up a kitchen cabinet shelf work in a pinch? The slots look to be about the same size. Not quite what you're looking for, I realize.

 

[bop_pa]

Seems like you could almost modify a piece of extruded aluminium with a simple hack saw to work as the tracks.

 

[rburke65]

Bolt a small piece of alum. angle to the sides for a support, or tack weld a bracket to act as a shelf support.

 

[Jonmustang]

Would the brackets used to hold up a kitchen cabinet shelf work in a pinch? The slots look to be about the same size. Not quite what you're looking for, I realize.

Yea, that was my first guess too. I believe there are a variety of sizes of those things, and the ones I had on hand weren't right. A trip to the hardware store may help me out, if I strike out on a rail-type support. I know Knape & Vogt make a few different ones.

 

[sparksftball69]

Seems like you could almost modify a piece of extruded aluminium with a simple hack saw to work as the tracks.

agreed, how much weight are you planning on supporting?

 

[Jonmustang]

Seems like you could almost modify a piece of extruded aluminium with a simple hack saw to work as the tracks.

Yea, that was going to be my next effort if I'm not satisfied with having four individual "clips" to hold up the shelf.

I think if I start with a strip of galvanized angle steel and cut, bend, and notch it to match the old ones, I'll get pretty close to the original. However, if somebody on the forum said, "oh man, yea, I know those brackets and we use them all the time -- the part number is...", then that'd be my first choice!

 

[Jonmustang]

agreed, how much weight are you planning on supporting?

Not too much. Maybe a couple hammer drills, and a circular saw. The shelf itself is very heavy and strong, and is absolutely rigid despite being nearly 4' wide. I'm sure it could support much more weight than I need to give it, and so part of me wants to make some quality brackets that are as beefy as the rest of the cabinet. The other part of me is fine with shelf clips

 

[sparksftball69]

do you need the shelf to be adjustable or fixed???

 

[Jonmustang]

do you need the shelf to be adjustable or fixed???

I change my mind a lot about where things should go, so I'd like to retain the adjustable feature.

 

[sparksftball69]

if you want it adjustable...you might be able to use something like this....
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0037MIFUA/?tag=atomicindus08-20
depending on how tight the shelf is to the frame these would prob work just fine...and be able to move up and down if needed...if not there are dif styles to this....maybe run half the thickness of a drill bit into the ledge the shelf would sit on to keep it from sliding off the pins to easy. or one coated like this

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0037MGOOY/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[sparksftball69]

these might fit without any mods.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0006FKPWM/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[Jonmustang]

if you want it adjustable...you might be able to use something like this....

depending on how tight the shelf is to the frame these would prob work just fine...and be able to move up and down if needed...if not there are dif styles to this....maybe run half the thickness of a drill bit into the ledge the shelf would sit on to keep it from sliding off the pins to easy. or one coated like this

Wow, you posted the exact same Knape & Vogt clips I was about to link to! I have a bag of them and the 265 model doesn't fit, but they have others that might.

You have given me an idea, too -- if I do find clips that fit the slots correctly but still want a "rail" system, I could tack-weld a strip of angle steel between the two clips on each side (saving me from having to do a bunch of bending, filing, and notching on a one-piece rail).

 

[sparksftball69]

if you didnt want to modify the actual cabinet frame you could simply drill a few holes in that horizontal cross bar that looks like it went to a slider and hang the shelf from that instead of the cabinet frame...worst case senario you dont like it and go with your thought on tack welding a strip or making those slots slightly bigger with a file and then using the clips...

 

[nolimits76]

You might check some office furniture stores. We have a couple major ones in town that sell new stuff, and always stocks a lot of used stuff. On the used side, you can frequently find tanker desks and other heavy duty shelving, etc. I've seen those tabs before, but not sure the name or anything specific. But I'm pretty sure one of those stores could help you locate some more tabs.

 

[Jonmustang]

You might check some office furniture stores. We have a couple major ones in town that sell new stuff, and always stocks a lot of used stuff. On the used side, you can frequently find tanker desks and other heavy duty shelving, etc. I've seen those tabs before, but not sure the name or anything specific. But I'm pretty sure one of those stores could help you locate some more tabs.

That sounds like a promising lead! We do have a few used office furniture liquidators in the area from all the dot-com failures in the Silicon Valley. Now I've got a little hope to go on, thanks

 

[Jonmustang]

Well, still haven't had luck contacting office-furniture liquidators, but maybe that luck will turn around when more of them are open on Monday. Just thought I'd give this thread one last "bump" on the weekend in case anybody recognizes those brackets in OEM form