The Cantilever Shelf

After several weeks looking for a shelf system or hardware to make this shelf a reality, its finally up. I really wanted a shelf to cantilever over the sink side of the kitchen (8' long). Surprisingly the only thing I found that was even close was Hafele hardware that was only available in the European catalog...? So, I ended up building a torsion box and anchoring to the wall on three sides. Once the lights are installed and the underside of the shelf is covered it will be at its full strength, and we'll be able to judge how much weight it can support without any deflection.
Here are a few shots of the process while it was coming together:


(The dirty reality)

Below is the box core. The idea of the torsion box is similar to honey comb core in Ikea furniture, and the plywood laminating the top and bottom add a lot of strength like an I-beam.

In this picture you can see some of the probably 14 anchors and screws holding this massive shelf up (about 8' long by 1' wide).

BX cable coming in the back of the shelf into the front channel for the light fixture.