Shelving for CD and cassette collection
April 30, 2017 1:47 PM
What is a good, large shelf for a large music collection (CDs and tapes)? I am interested in something solid that stands against a wall, not mounted or wire racks or rotating. I am also interested in something bookshelf-style over something with individual slots.
Ikea Billy is way too deep for CDs and cassettes. I had this or something like it from Leslie Dame until it was crushed in a move. Expensive, and honestly sort of flims for the price, but it was exactly what I needed for CDs and DVDs, looked good, and despite the flimsiness made it through three moves before the bad one.
posted by Bigfoot Mandala at 2:57 PM on April 30, 2017
posted by Bigfoot Mandala at 2:57 PM on April 30, 2017
Ikea Billy is way too deep for CDs and cassettes.
True. What you want is the Gnedby, which Ikea markets as part of the Billy line.
posted by mr vino at 3:07 PM on April 30, 2017
True. What you want is the Gnedby, which Ikea markets as part of the Billy line.
posted by mr vino at 3:07 PM on April 30, 2017
A few indie stores around here used the Gnedby because it allowed to store and display regular jewel case CDS as well as digipaks and other non-standard packaging, but also DVDs.
Keep in mind, while you can get away by not securing a Billy to a wall in a non-earthquake area if the bottom shelf is heavy, I've seen a Gnedby fall down with just heavy vibration. They're tall, and very narrow and very shallow, even with the CDs weighing it down, they're very easy to topple, so you really need to fasten it to a wall or another piece of furniture.
posted by lmfsilva at 3:40 PM on April 30, 2017
Keep in mind, while you can get away by not securing a Billy to a wall in a non-earthquake area if the bottom shelf is heavy, I've seen a Gnedby fall down with just heavy vibration. They're tall, and very narrow and very shallow, even with the CDs weighing it down, they're very easy to topple, so you really need to fasten it to a wall or another piece of furniture.
posted by lmfsilva at 3:40 PM on April 30, 2017
I got a custom bookshelf builder to make me some tiered 3 foot wide shelves with 3 - 12" boards with a 13" gap between shelves on the bottom for the LPs. Seems like I got about 1200+ albums on those shelves.
Then I had him put another attached 6 shelf set on top of that with 6" boards with just enough headspace for CDs which held about 500 cds in jewel cases. I stacked cassettes on top. The whole thing was just under 7' tall and heavy! The two sections came apart to move.
Book shelf builders can often be found near colleges. It wasn't more expensive than a flatpack and it was delivered.
posted by a humble nudibranch at 8:18 PM on April 30, 2017
Then I had him put another attached 6 shelf set on top of that with 6" boards with just enough headspace for CDs which held about 500 cds in jewel cases. I stacked cassettes on top. The whole thing was just under 7' tall and heavy! The two sections came apart to move.
Book shelf builders can often be found near colleges. It wasn't more expensive than a flatpack and it was delivered.
posted by a humble nudibranch at 8:18 PM on April 30, 2017
2nd getting/ making custom shelves. If you have any mechanical screwdrivers/drills, you can often get wood cut to lengths at home improvement/ lumber shops, so the only thing you could need is are triangles of sturdy composite board to ensure the frame doesn't try to sway from side to side, if you don't want a full back. If you do want a full back, you should factor board sizes into your dimensions.
To find out how much shelving you want/need, measure the linear length of your CDs and your cassettes (individually), add on whatever space for growth you'd like, then figure out some configuration that gets you enough linear length to carry all that (and consider backing board sizes, if necessary). Once you have the number of shelves you'll need, figure out the space between shelves plus some room on top to be able to tilt cases in and out for your tallest cases, which could have their own special shelf if you only have a few odd shaped cases. Factor in the thickness of the boards, and you have the height of your shelves.
Depending on the total case size, you can make something with a big "foot" board on the bottom to help keep it from tipping over, and better yet, load that bottom shelf with books and/or vinyl. I have a wall of CDs, so we went without a back, but screwed the shelves through the bracketed corners or the shelves themselves into studs, and I don't have a "foot" shelf at the bottom (vinyl have their own case, with a cover, because prior cats found vinyl sleeves perfect for scratching).
posted by filthy light thief at 1:33 PM on May 1, 2017
To find out how much shelving you want/need, measure the linear length of your CDs and your cassettes (individually), add on whatever space for growth you'd like, then figure out some configuration that gets you enough linear length to carry all that (and consider backing board sizes, if necessary). Once you have the number of shelves you'll need, figure out the space between shelves plus some room on top to be able to tilt cases in and out for your tallest cases, which could have their own special shelf if you only have a few odd shaped cases. Factor in the thickness of the boards, and you have the height of your shelves.
Depending on the total case size, you can make something with a big "foot" board on the bottom to help keep it from tipping over, and better yet, load that bottom shelf with books and/or vinyl. I have a wall of CDs, so we went without a back, but screwed the shelves through the bracketed corners or the shelves themselves into studs, and I don't have a "foot" shelf at the bottom (vinyl have their own case, with a cover, because prior cats found vinyl sleeves perfect for scratching).
posted by filthy light thief at 1:33 PM on May 1, 2017
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posted by supercres at 2:19 PM on April 30, 2017