Closet shelf support question

[pete6032]

I am looking to build shelving in my closet similar to what you see below with a wood cleat affixed to the wall to support the weight of a shelf, along with brackets also supporting the shelf and a coat rod.

I bought some hardwood plywood for the shelf itself and I have a bunch of extra that I could down to size and use for the cleat. My question is whether the hardwood plywood would be resilient enough for this use or whether I should go to the store and buy some solid wood for the cleat. It would be convenient to use the hardwood plywood because I would get a consistent color between the shelf and cleat.

If I did the latter, what type of wood should I get? I would want to stain it to match the color of the shelf, which is a white birch finish.

 

[Greenman]

Plywood will work for the cleat. The bottom edge won't be pretty, but it's closet so it doesn't really matter.

 

[Paperdoc]

^ Agree with above. For strength I'm sure plywood of 5/8" to 3/4" thickness would be enough. IF you want the solid single board, I suspect the plywood shelf surface layer is western fir - that's common in North American building supplies. So a fir board might be a good match. But probably pine also would work as long as it has few knots or none. The stain you use probably will look very similar on those woods.

 

[pete6032]

^ Agree with above. For strength I'm sure plywood of 5/8" to 3/4" thickness would be enough. IF you want the solid single board, I suspect the plywood shelf surface layer is western fir - that's common in North American building supplies. So a fir board might be a good match. But probably pine also would work as long as it has few knots or none. The stain you use probably will look very similar on those woods.

I'm not sure what it's made of but this is what I got. I am going to try banding the shelf edge. Not sure if I will do banding on the bottom of the cleat, probably not.

3/4 x 4 x 8 Classic Birch Wood Veneer Core Plywood

This plywood features a C-grade white birch face with .25 mm face thickness and a 3-grade birch back. This plywood is sanded birch.

www.menards.com

 

[Greenman]

That's a good price for 3/4" import Birch.
The iron on edge banding works fairly well. Spend the extra ten bucks on the trimmer, it's worth it.