Ideas to extend a fridge shelf or brackets

[ACurlyWurly]

I have recently broken a shelf in my fridge. A replacement is approx £50 from the manufacturer and I can get a second hand one on ebay for about £40

the fridge was in my house when we moved in and will be replaced in the next couple of years but I don't want to waste £50 fixing a shelf only to then get a new one. I bought a replacement perspex one from a plastics supplier which looks beautiful and fits well but is too thin and bows when I put the butter on it. Not keen on throwing good money after bad.

the shelves are supported by these rather than by runners Supports

I have an old fridge shelf given to me by an optimistic friend which is sadly 10mm too short. I am looking for ideas on how to make this work for me without spending too much money. I think the most practical way would be to increase the size and surface area of the supports but not sure where to start.
I don't like being defeated in these things so would love any advice or support in my endeavor!

Sadly I feel I may end up just buying a replacement, but I would rather recycle and reuse on this instance.

What dimensions are we talking about?

I know that you want to use your friend's offering but have you investigated all other avenues eg freecycle, gumtree and your local recycling centre (ours has many fridges and freezers)

Rather than trying to extend the support, do you have something that is the right dimension on which could rest the replacement-perspex eg oven shelf.

Can you lash together the broken and the perspex (superglue?) to make a new shelf.

Have you tried placing your friends shelf on top of your new one or glueing them together.

Its a servis fridge freezer and dimensions of the shelf are 520mm x 320mm
the original glass shelf was smaller than that with a plastic trim that extended out at intervals to the supports (approx 500mm) sadly the trim and the shelf are both beyond repair. It looked like this one.

I was thinking of replacing the supports with rubber bungs like you get in test tubes but not sure they will cut it as you can guarantee i will forget over time and overload the shelf!

I have looked locally for a replacement and even looked at my local tip.

I tried and extendable shelf I had in my garage but it was too flimsy.

If all else fails, just cut a price of plywood to fit and paint it with gloss so it is water resistant. It won't look as good but would make do till you want to buy a new fridge.

Might see if i can glue perspex one to new glass one....noting ventured!

What about getting a length of clear Polycarbonate and cutting it to size with a saw...

You could take the rough edges off with some fine sandpaper.

It'd make for a robust and cheap stopgap.

Is polycarbonate stronger?

is there something i can add to the perspex to strengthen it like a trim?

PC is very strong and resilient. That's why people use it for roofing and greenhouses etc... Use your existing shelf as a template to draw round and simply cut out the shape. It'll be a direct replacement and probably look pretty decent too.

piece of plywood, or a spare piece of floor laminate worked well for us.

fridge shelves are a ridiculous price. Improvise!