Date: Thu, 20 Oct 2005 14:54:24 -0400 To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>, WSFA members <WSFAlist at WSFA.org> From: "Mike B." <omni at omniphile.com> Subject: [WSFA] Re: Book shelves and cases Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at WSFA.org> At 01:54 PM 10/20/2005 -0400, Madeleine Yeh wrote: > > I am daydreaming of bookcases that are light, stable, >durable and cheap that I can make myself. It can be educational to wander around the dealer's room and see what the pros are using. I did that, and I saw two basic solutions. One was basically a paperback-book-depth wooden box with shelves. These were about 3' tall, and 24" or so wide. They could be stacked for transport with books in place, and used stand-alone, or attached to each other as needed, vertically or horizontally or both. Attach at right angles and they would be very stable. Making them would require cross-cutting standard width boards to length, and nailing or screwing them together with things at right angles...simpler than the average bird house. Adding backs is necessary for transporting with books in place, and a good idea in general both so books can't fall out the back and so that the cases stay square. Nailing on some hardboard (Masonite) would do that well enough, and it can be cut to size with a hand saw (it cuts easily), or at the home center using their panel saw. 1/4" plywood would be stronger and almost as cheap, though slightly harder to cut. If more skill and tools are handy (like a table saw, which makes this almost trivial) then putting the backing into a groove in the back, rather than nailing it on the back, would make things more durable and look better too. The other was a folding design that I have one of myself. I found them at Staples for about $40. They are 3' or so tall with 3 shelves, and fold flat. Setting them up just requires unfolding the sides and letting the shelves hinge down into position (you can verb any noun in English!). They look good (solid wood, stained to look like other species...mine looks like Cherry, the ones at the con were Maple), are stable enough, don't cost much for what you get, and are simple to store or transport as needed. For short bookcases it's a great design. How tall you could make them I'm not sure. Stability would be the main issue for that, same as with any other tall bookcase, and the solutions are the same too. Building these yourself is possible, if you have a wood shop handy. Making them with power hand tools may be possible, but it would take some skill. For $40 each, is it worth it just to buy them...hardwood at local hobby rates would run almost that much (unless you *like* woodworking). Simplifying the design would lower the aesthetic factor, but also reduce the level of skill and facility needed to make them. >I read some of the 60's and >70's books on nomadic furniture and apartment living. The >days when wooden cubes and bean bag chairs were praised >for portability. Stacked wooden cubes, or rectangular solids of whatever ratio, can also make decent shelves. If you mix the sizes and ratios you can even make an interesting layout that isn't quite as regular as a typical bookcase. This is more important for knick-knack shelves than serious book storage, but it's an option, especially if you have books of varying size. MDF might work for a material, which would make them cheap and fairly durable, but you'd want power tools to work with it unless you have lots of time. Cutting the sheets down with a table saw is quick and fairly easy (if you are strong enough to lift the sheets), but doing it with a hand saw would be painful. > What is everyone's ideal book storage solution -- not >whats practical like block and boards -- but what they >would like if they had money and space and time? Ideal depends on requirements. A typical library layout, with aisles of shelves covered in books sorted in some meaningful way would be good in general. A slide-out shelving system would allow maximal books per cubic foot, as all shelves could share a single "people space", rather than each case needing its own as with typical shelves (the book equivalent of the hanging system used at dry cleaners). Couple that with a computer retrieval system so you can locate the one you want and it would be ideal for massive storage in a tight space with quick retrieval, but it wouldn't be so good for browsing. If you have to move often, neither of these is very good as they are seriously non-portable. A large RV full of shelves might be best for that, but has other problems. ;-) What are the requirements? In what priority order? For instance: What size and weight books? How critical is space? How important is transportability? By what means? (car, truck, hand carry?) How cheap is "cheap"? What skill level and tool set will the builder have? Does appearance matter? If so, what style is acceptable? Which is more important, looks or cost? There are others, but that's the sort of thing to define. Once I get myself relocated I'll be seriously interested in this question. Some of my current book cases are of the "disposable" variety, and there aren't enough of them anyway. I'll be fixing that after the move...whenever that ends up being. -- Mike B.