Record Storage...Shelves, Milk Create, or File Cabinet?

[Micki]

I currently have my huge collection of 78's in milk creates and on book shelves, this weekend I saw a two drawer file cabinet out for free and after it was gone i thought hey that might be the answer to my growing piles of records, I took a record to the office and it fits!!! Has anyone tried this? How do you store your 78's? :squirrel:

[syncopeter]

For shellac a file cabinet is about the worst possible way of storing records. Huge risk of breaking, no way of fast finding a record and you need a very sturdy cabinet that can handle the weight. For transporting crates are ideal, but again there is a big risk of breakage. For permanent storage imo the only option is shelving. You can create your own filing system, either by artist, genre, label or purchase date. Records are stored perfectly vertical as they should and the risk of breakage is minimal. Just a small note on the upper right hand side corner of the sleeve in pencil helps you find a record within seconds. I had over 3,000 records filed like that and the only problem was putting them back after an evening of playing records with friends. File cabinets take up 50% more space than shelves. Great for storing floppy items like sheet music, but not good for your precious record collection. An alternative could be building a 'brick wall' with crates stacked on their sides. Good integral rigidity, easy to extend. But be sure to build it like a brick layer does it, distributing the immense weight evenly.
To conclude, shelving seems to be the best option, provided you have spacers every 10 to 12 inches. Even 78s warp rapidly when not stored perfectly vertical or horizontal (25 records max).
For acetates, cylinders or Edison discs the situation is different. There storage condition is pre-eminent. A file cabinet can be isolated, even vacuumed if so wanted, but for normal 78s a shelving system is by far the most preferable option. It takes up less space, is easy to use and you can jazz it up by showing off some off your nicer pictures or (copies of) sleeves.

[Micki]

Thank you for the info. i love the idea of labeling the corner of sleeve that will save time..

[Henry]

For shellac... shelving seems to be the best option, provided you have spacers every 10 to 12 inches. Even 78s warp rapidly when not stored perfectly vertical or horizontal (25 records max).

Make those spacers do double duty as shelf supports. IOW, use at least ½" thick (¾" is better) solid wood vertical dividers, horizontally aligned with each other above and below from shelf to shelf. As you know, shellac is heavy, and shelving without supports will warp from the weight---guaranteed! The 10-12-inch spacing suggested should be about right. With such a system, all the live weight of the records will be transferred to the bottom shelf base and thence to the floor, so make sure both are solid.

[syncopeter]

Yes, agreed. I designed my shelving like that. Thick spacers every 12 to 15 inches acting as vertical supports screwed and glued into the construction, thinner ones for ease of finding records, separating labels, artists etc. That way you end up with an earth quake proof construction. Easy to build, relatively cheap and pleasing to the eye. And because of the size of the cubicles (roughly 12" by 12") you can use it as a display case for some of your nicest sleeves too.

[1923VictorFan]

Hmmmm. I'm a bit befuddled. I have kept my 78's in milk crates for decades. Each record is in its own labeled brown paper sleeve and there are heavy cardboard dividers about every 2-3 inches, The discs stand straight up as the crates are filled so that there is room, about 2 inches, to access them easily. I used Krylon black spray paint (the stuff for plastic) to make them look uniform. I've never had any problems with warping or breaking so like I said... I really don't see how a crate differs from a shelf. (other than the fact that one can buy lots more 78's with the money I'd otherwise have to give the heavy-duty shelf unit.)

[bart1927]

Yes, agreed. I designed my shelving like that. Thick spacers every 12 to 15 inches acting as vertical supports screwed and glued into the construction, thinner ones for ease of finding records, separating labels, artists etc. That way you end up with an earth quake proof construction. Easy to build, relatively cheap and pleasing to the eye. And because of the size of the cubicles (roughly 12" by 12") you can use it as a display case for some of your nicest sleeves too.

Right now my records are stored in 2 small Ikea cabinets. But I'm running out of space now, because my collection is getting close to a 1000 records. And since I'm only 31, chances are that it will keep expanding. Unfortunately, Ikea has discontinued production of this cabinet. There was another thread about this subject 2 years ago, see: http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... f=2&t=3000

You can see my cabinets in the last post on page 1.

But now I need something new. I'm thinking about buying three Kewlox cabinets (it would look something like this: http://www.kewlox.nl/fotoactie/kast.php?id=45), 3 small columns that can be screwed together. The company claims their cabinets can take 80 kg's per shelf. This will cost me about 400 euro's, so if somebody here has a better suggestion, I'm very interested. I'm no carpenter though, so building my own cabinets from scratch is out of the question. My only condition is that it looks a little presentable, since it will by placed in my living room.

Peter's 12 inch cubicles sound very interesting. Did you build these al buy yourself, or is this something you can buy ready made?

[Alan]

I completely agree that very sturdy wooden cabinets are the ONLY way to store 78's - that is if you are serious about preserving them. I'm sorry but plastic milk crates are not gonna cut it. Shuffling those things around, eventually you are gonna crack the records, drop something on top of an open crate, and plastic breaks down with age and becomes brittle. You might pick one up someday and the whole bottom falls out. I've seen it happen. SMASH!! All gone! You have to have something to support the weight.

And like the other gentleman said, build them like a brick layer. The cubicles should be staggered - the supports about a foot apart so when you pull a stack out of the cubicle the whole thing doesn't shift and WHOOMP!! It cracks the first few records or chips the edges. I know it looks all nice and groovy having the cubicles being all neatly verticle but it doesn't distribute the weight very well. You have to measure the area of where you want the cabinet and how big it should be. Draw it out on a piece of paper first with all your dimensions. My cabinets are 8 feet tall by 6 feet wide - ish. It will probably cost you around $100 to build one that big but it's completely worth it in the long run.

You want the top and bottom board to screw TO the side verticle boards! Not the side boards screwed to the top and bottom. That will give extra stability. One board at a time and then screw the divider supports in as you go. Pine is fine and cheaper but don't use under 1 inch thickness and try to get boards without a lot of knot holes in them. Check the boards for warpage, cracks and knot holes. Get the best you can and flattest you can. In today's age, wood is crappy and cut crappy.

Once all the shelf boards and dividers are all screwed into place. Use ½ inch plywood to make a back for the cabinet and screw it down all along the edges and all along the shelf boards to give it stability. As an extra precaution I bolt my cabinets to the wall at the top just using L brackets on the wall studs and top of the cabinet or screw through the plywood into the wall studs using a metal washer around the head of the screw so the screw doesn't sink back into the wood eventually. This will also distribute the weight on your walls and help on floor sagging. It's best to put large record cabinets for 78's on a concrete floor. If I ever had to move my cabinets back into the wood floors I would definitely have somebody put supports under the floors.

The absolute best way to store the 78's is each individual record with a cardboard filler pad behind them in a gallon zip lock baggie so it holds them together and give a sturdy backing when sifting through the records. It does double the size of your collection but helps to prevent cracking of the records. I would cut the top zipper portion off so you aren't stressing the record trying to pull it out of the baggie and crack it. The baggie also protects the label from getting dirty or scratched up or worn.

The other thing is climate control. Keeping the 78's at a relatively constant year round temperature in low humidity. You don't want your 78 cabinets on an external wall where the temperature change is the greatest. Cold makes them very brittle and the constant seasonal change of hot to cold to hot to cold can make the shellac weak. I have a separate room for just the records that is air conditioned and heated with a de-humidifier in the room as well. That cuts the mold factor down.

Now all this said and done, this is for the serious record collector that wants to preserve his/her collection. If they are just conversation pieces to you then I wouldn't go to all this trouble. If you've just bought some 78's at a junk store to play on a Victrola with steel needles, then they aren't gonna last long anyway.