Trade Manufacturing
Bookcases and shelving manufactured for trade
Library shelving and alcove sets that stay straight under a full load.
What this is
Shelves sag when they are too thin or too long, so we size the material to the span and add a lipping or a stiffener where the run needs it. Sets are dry-built here before they are packed.
- Span checked — Thickness and lipping chosen for the length, not a standard 18mm everywhere.
- Adjustable or fixed — System holes or housed shelves, whichever suits the look.
- Scribed — Scribes supplied loose so the fitter can walk the wall.
- Dry-built — Assembled once here to prove the fit before packing.
On the floor
How bespoke bookshelves runs here
Library shelving and alcove sets that stay straight under a full load. Uprights are bored in one machine pass, so shelves land level across the whole run.
- Materials
- MDF, birch ply, veneered board, solid timber
- Typical shelf
- 25mm with a 20mm lipping over 900mm
- Finish
- Primed, sprayed or left raw
Why this matters
Why people use us for bespoke bookshelves
What you actually get out of putting bespoke bookshelves through us, rather than a price list.
- 01
Shelves that do not sag
Thickness and span are worked out for a full load of books, not for a showroom with three paperbacks on it.
- 02
Cut to the wall you have
Alcove sets are made to your measured sizes, with scribes left on so the fit is tight.
- 03
Adjustable where it helps
System holes are drilled the full height, so a shelf can move when the room changes use.
- 04
Primed or fully finished
Take it primed for your decorator, or sprayed in colour here so nothing is painted in a finished room.
How it goes
Shelves that sit level
Uprights are bored in one machine pass, so shelves land level across the whole run.
How it fits our process
One programme, start to finish
Where bespoke bookshelves sits in the run, and what happens either side of it in the same building.
- Stage 1
Drawings and pricing
You send a DXF, a model or a sketch. We redraw if needed and price it in writing.
- Stage 2
Board cut to size
Sheets cut on the beam saw, nested for yield.
- Stage 3
Machined and drilled
Routed, drilled and grooved on the 5-axis and vertical CNC machines.
- Stage 4
Edged, veneered, assembled
Tape applied and pressed work bonded before the bench builds it.
You are here - Stage 5
Sprayed and delivered
Finished in our booths, checked, wrapped and brought to site on our vans.
Questions we are asked
How long can a shelf be before it sags?
In 25mm MDF with a lipping, about 1,000mm under books. Longer than that and we add a centre support or a steel flat.
Can you spray them in place of us priming?
Yes — sprayed sets arrive finished and only need filling at the fixings.
What is the maximum shelf span?
Around 900mm in 25mm board for a full load of books. Longer than that and we either thicken the shelf or add a division.
Can you make them adjustable?
Yes. System holes drilled the full height let shelves move later, which matters when a study becomes a nursery.
Often ordered with this
What it costs
Prices and dates for bespoke bookshelves
A run of alcove bookcases machined, sprayed and delivered flat. That is a guide taken from work we have actually run — your own price for bespoke bookshelves is confirmed in writing once we have the sizes or the drawings, and the date we give you is the date we hold.
- Rough price
- From about £1,750 plus VAT a run
- How long
- 2 to 3 weeks
- Invoiced by
- Painted Bespoke Joinery Ltd
Proof
Recent work of this kind
Next step
Tell us what you need
Send drawings, sizes or photographs and we will price it in writing, usually within two working days. If it is quicker to talk it through, call 020 8944 2817 and you will get someone who knows the machines.
What we need, what you get
Send sizes, materials and the finish you want — drawings in any form, or photos and a few measurements. Back you get a fixed written price, a date we hold to, and the work delivered to site on our own vans from our workshop in Croydon.
Machining, finishing and assembly all happen in the same building, so nothing waits on another supplier and nothing gets damaged being moved between them.
See the machinery