It’s a regular L-girder design with some added support for the second level. The drawing is not propositional. It just shows the basic idea of the freestanding (not attached to anything) benchwork.
Do you see any weakness in this multi-level benchwork design?
Electo,
My gut reaction it to say it might be on the weak side. But, there are two critical measurements missing. One, is the over all width of the upper shelf, and the spaceing between the supports of the bench work.
If the upper level is around say 18 inches out,maybe every 18inches between spaceing, and good quality wood, I would think it would be ok with some care… Granted, some would argue it is still possibly weak, but if you keep the load light,( no leaning, and myabe use of foam) the 1x2 would give you a lot more room between levels and cut down on grdaes or helix room.
The upper level is around 18 inches out as you said. 18 inches from the front of the 2x2 leg and out to the fascia. The spacing is around 12 inches between each support. The whole benchwork is 24 inches deep.
I’m no expert, but the further apart you can put the legs, the more stable it will be. Based on your drawing, I’m estimating them to be 14" apart. That seems a bit unstable to me. Can you extend the outer top-level support to the ground rather than the inner one? That would at least give you four more inches for the base.
Heavy duty shelf brackets would accompli***he same job, w/o any loss to the shelf areas. You would need strong uprights or be able to attach to wall. The 1x2s of the 2nd level may hold themselves, but I don’t think they will stay straight and level over time with weight of scenery, etc.
Bob K.
As I said in the first post, the drawing is not propositional. The legs are spaced 18 inch apart. The thing I really wonder about is the way I attach the second level. Let me explan what I mean.
The second level is attached to the leg at the back, that would not be strong enought. To make it stronger I also attached the second level to the 1x2 inch at the back. So when there is a force going downward on the second level the back will stay in place without lifting. That’s the plan…
EL -
The right most support for the upper level is in tension, consider replacing it with a chain or steel cable and turnbuckle for adjustment - like a truss rod freight car of the late 1800s early 1900s. Threaded rods would be another option.
Add steel L brackets to both the upper and lower sides of the horizontal 1x2 that support the level 2.
Use ripped 3/4" plywood instead of 1x2.
You need some diagonal bracing perpendicular to this view, on both the top and bottom - triangles are rigid, rectangles turn into parallelgrams.
Consider rigidly attaching a 1/2" plywood shelf to the bottom, 1" to 2" off the floor - for storage, and stability. You can also put heavy things on the shelf to further improve the stability.
Ditto on the shelf brackets. Some are even made to sustain over 300 lbs. each, and as long as your 1X2’s are bolted or securely attached into the wall studs you should not have a problem. I have seen them used for upper level installations with great success, I am also considering using them for an upper level layout that is less than 20" out. There is an MR issue that came out last year with an article on shelf bracket installations, just cannot remember the exact issue.
As stated above (nfmisso), your upper supports constitute a parallelogram, and will be weak. You could solve the matter quickly and easily by cutting the rear supports 6" longer , but the extra length will fall below the lower deck. If you then attache a horizontal piece from that extension horizontally to the bench, you have effectively eliminated the parallelogram…or at least locked it.