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New Shelf with Conduit under - How?


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After 7 years of quite a large voltage drop between batteries at the rear of the boat, and various electrical stuff in the lounge at the front of the boat, I've decided to feed a decent sized cable, to replace the existing paltry stuff.

 

I've decided on 25mm2 as the current could bu up to 30A, (rarely), and the one way distance is about 10m. (The car radio head unit could be 15A, laptop 5A, then TV, phone, soundbar, piano........

 

I've fished a hidden mouse line from battery to lounge, but there is no accessible hidden route from the rear of the lounge to the front, so I need some kind of new conduit, Hence the question.

 

It makes sense to fit a new 8ft long shelf, (4" x 1" Oak probably), about 6" below the gunnels, so the new cables, and a variety of other cables, could be hidden beneath the shelf. Rather than running it in cable clips, it would be nice to hide it completely in some kind of conduit. It would be really nice if it could be a wooden conduit, but a fake wood coloured one may have to do.

 

In the interests of not wanting to reinvent the wheel, if you can see what I'm trying to achieve, any suggestions would be welcomed.

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15 minutes ago, Richard10002 said:

Rather than running it in cable clips, it would be nice to hide it completely in some kind of conduit. It would be really nice if it could be a wooden conduit, but a fake wood coloured one may have to do

Wood effect cable trunking - 100's of options, shapes and sizes (801,000 google hits)

 

 

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=wood+effect+cable+trunking&ie=UTF-8&oe=

 

 

image.jpeg.a0deadcc7f47d266fb2999d0e1225bb5.jpeg

 

 

image.jpeg.c6d1069377acd7db06c8e8af1a322e5e.jpeg

 

 

PVC Skirting Boards Wood Effect 82mm Cable Tidy | Pvc skirting board, Wood  board, Skirting boards

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1 hour ago, WotEver said:

Or... make it a floating shelf with the cables within it.

That sounds good, but how do I create the space within it, or do they come ready made.

 

My initial thought was a kind of box, which would be similar to a floating shelf.

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2 hours ago, Richard10002 said:

That sounds good, but how do I create the space within it, or do they come ready made.

 

My initial thought was a kind of box, which would be similar to a floating shelf.

two lengths of thinish ply with a piece of inch by inch at the front and back, thread all the cables you like through there

Untitled.jpg

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53 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

two lengths of thinish ply with a piece of inch by inch at the front and back, thread all the cables you like through there

Untitled.jpg

Yup. You can even buy floating shelf steel brackets that you screw to the wall and then slide the shelf over if you wished to go that route. 

3 hours ago, Richard10002 said:

Yup, but that design requires an alcove. 

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12 hours ago, WotEver said:

Yup, but that design requires an alcove. 

In a sense, I do have an alcove, albeit 8ft wide :)

 

Anyway, I think I've got a plan now... similar to my original plan, but much better as a result of the help here.....

 

Thanks to all, as ever...

 

Just need a round tuit now :) 

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  • 3 months later...

Found my round tuit and now need a nice, but convenient way, of fitting some hockey stick trim onto the face of the 20mm oak shelf bit. There is a lot of this trim on the boat, and it is helped in pace by tiny pins, which are pretty much invisible. I would actually prefer tiny screws as It may need removing to change the wires in the conduit. So....

 

any suggestions for tiny, almost invisible, screws, would be welcomed :) 

 

this is the almost finished article - sorry about the big picture :

 

23965168_ShelfConduit.jpg.b885ef83c4edf441e9ee7f871513e288.jpg

 

 

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1 hour ago, Richard10002 said:

Found my round tuit and now need a nice, but convenient way, of fitting some hockey stick trim onto the face of the 20mm oak shelf bit. There is a lot of this trim on the boat, and it is helped in pace by tiny pins, which are pretty much invisible. I would actually prefer tiny screws as It may need removing to change the wires in the conduit. So....

 

any suggestions for tiny, almost invisible, screws, would be welcomed :) 

 

this is the almost finished article - sorry about the big picture :

 

23965168_ShelfConduit.jpg.b885ef83c4edf441e9ee7f871513e288.jpg

 

 

Drill tiny holes in the trim for thin panel pins knocked in a bit with a thin pin punch and fill the little indents if you want, and glue it.

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6 hours ago, Richard10002 said:

any suggestions for tiny, almost invisible, screws, would be welcomed :) 

 

Alternatively, make the screws a feature. Brass screws in cup washers. I did this with the sapele trim that covers the under gunwale wiring conduit on my boat. Allows easy access for any electrical modifications.

Jen

Edited by Jen-in-Wellies
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If you do not want quite such a feature of the screws you can get screw cups that sit in a countersink.

Lots of No 2 or No 4 size brass screws about with round or csk heads.  These have very small heads so won't show much  but won't stand heavy loads either.  Look for them on cabinet makers suppliers Sites.

N

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Agree with Jen in making slotted brass screws a feature, but neatly countersunk, keeps the top surface level so that loudspeakers, books, drinking vessels etc. will sit level on the shelf, also means the screws are easy to locate if/when you do need access. You do have to line up the slots though !

 

springy

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If you want to secure the top oak shelf to the battens, put countersunk screws from underneath, you’ll only see them if you are lying on the floor. If you want to trim the front edge of the oak, I’m not clear why you would want to remove the trim? I’ve trimmed the edges of shelves etc with hardwood trim and just glued it with weatherproof (blue bottle) EvoStik wood glue, clamped while it dried. None of it has come off yet :)

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3 minutes ago, AndrewIC said:

If you want to secure the top oak shelf to the battens, put countersunk screws from underneath, you’ll only see them if you are lying on the floor. If you want to trim the front edge of the oak, I’m not clear why you would want to remove the trim? I’ve trimmed the edges of shelves etc with hardwood trim and just glued it with weatherproof (blue bottle) EvoStik wood glue, clamped while it dried. None of it has come off yet :)

Sorry if I wasnt clear. I am securing the top oak shelf to the battens from the top, with countersunk antique style bronze screws.

 

On the trim, I may want to remove it in order to make it easier to remove the top shelf to do stuff with the cables in the conduit.

 

Looking at it, I would agree that I could remove the shelf with the trim attached.... however, there are other parts of the boat where I have been working on panels with similar trim, and where I have caught the trim and damaged it :( Hence my desire to make it removeable on its own.

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