The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I'll agree that particle board can't take weight but it has its uses. I work in a museum and we've used it to construct the outsides of cases and have built pedestals from the stuff, with a wood stud frame underneath for support. It cuts and shapes well and takes a painted finish beautifully. It's even decent for narrow shelves if you're not going to overload them- but record storage is not advised.

So many interesting threads during my absence, so I'll stick in here:
Of course, particle boards can quite problematic, especially when the construction does not correspond well to the material and its intend for use. Nevertheless, this material is still very suitable to safely hold stacks of 78's, maybe not up to the roof but I would not never recommend that in an apartment or upper ground level anyway.
A single shelf should not widely exceed the length of 12" until the next supporting wall comes. Long shelves are a high risk to the records anyway as the weight of an adjacent stack of records will easily break those at the end of it. Small shelves do solve that problem and make recording handling easier. I really so no reason to demonize particle boards as long as it is used in the right way. It more depends on what you make out of it.

Sorry to resurrect this old thread, but I must add that the Ikea Expedit shelving is ideal for 12" records, and fine (though wasteful) for 10" records.

I bought the largest size available, and added a back, which enhanced the structure no end. I think they would be acceptable without a back if attached to the wall using one of the two supplied methods, but not if used entirely free standing, because I would be worried about this happening:

http://www.vinylengine.com/turntable_fo ... 53&t=41100

In both those examples, they have put the shelves the wrong way around. Each section of records sits on an isolated small shelf, supported only by four small dowel rods per section! By rotating the entire unit through 90 degrees, the records sit on one long shelf which runs the length of the unit, and is supported every foot by a full vertical panel. This seems to be more than strong enough. The only worry is that a strong push at one end could cause the unit to move into an unrecoverable trapezoid and collapse. Fixing to the wall, or fixing a back, should prevent this.

I've found what might be a very workable and low-cost shelf unit. It's available at Sam's Club for under forty dollars and will hold eight plastic milk crates with 10-inch records. The shelves, though made of particleboard, are supported on all sides by the metal framework, and I'd expect this to be sturdy enough. Time will tell, though.
As pictured below, you can remove whole crates from shelves "B" and "D",but not "A" and "C" due to the frame spacing, but other than that, it seems to work fine.

Seeing those plastic milk crates in the above message, I want to bring attention to a seasonal product with interesting storage potential. Just before the school year starts, Walmart sells a half-sized plastic crate called "locker crates" for $5 apiece. They are intended for stacking inside a school locker, hence the name. They are strong and seem ideal for 10" or 12" 78's. Once filled, they are still not too heavy or flimsy to pick up. The interior width is exactly 12", so an LP jacket probably won't fit, but tight 12" paper sleeves will. I plan to build some custom shelves to accommodate them as they sit open side up. That way, I can pull a numbered crate from the shelves, and flip easily through the records in the crate sitting on a table as I catalog them on my computer database.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sterilite-Loc ... k/17126916

Revisited this thread because it is time again to think about getting my 78s reorganized.

One more particle board shelf story to share. About a month ago I heard a very loud report in the night. A quick look around showed nothing obviously amiss. There were no more similar sounds, so went back to sleep.

A couple of days later I noticed that the upper of two shelves in a veneered particle board shelving unit I have was sticking out from the frame about 2 inches. It was the shelf (33 inches long) where I store Diamond Discs. Sure enough the ends had broken off and the shelf had collapsed. Fortunately there were books below to catch it so no records were lost. Put the shelf back using some metal braces, but nothing else heavy will ever go on it.

I have had the shelving unit for at least 40 years and the records had been there for at least a year, conditions had not changed, and I have no idea why the shelf picked that time to give way.

Clay

Gravity is a Heartless youknowwhat

I don't have many 78's, they all fit in the albums in the machines. My problem was cylinders, which is solved with this cabinet. The pegs were missing, and I would have taken them out if they were there.

Ronnie, how about seeing this cabinet now. These are the same pictures from Bill Butterfield's original eBay listing only photoshopped. I'd love to see how it's coming along now.

Sean

But too many ??