cd storage for large collections

[tranemonk]

Thanks to those who posted the Can-Am info--I'll have to check that out more closely, since I have a hodge-podge of units that store anywhere from about 50 to over 600 CDs.

Quick question for you long-time CD collectors--I've always heard that CDs should be stored vertically (i.e., on edge), rather than horizontally (lying flat). Since I have a couple of storage units/towers that store them horizontally (in their jewel cases), I'm wondering if anyone has had problems with CDs being damaged due to storing them in this manner.

I do keep mine in jewel cases vertically... but why is it preferred????

I never heard that before????

[Bill B]

Stored most of mine vertically for 17 years-no problems yet.

[Rooster_Ties]

Don't have a digital camera, or I'd just take a pic. But here's what I use.

It's VERY inexpensive, works well, and doesn't look at all half-bad either. (I used to use cinder-blocks and unfinished boards as shelves, which my wife hated!!)

So I bought a bunch of the largest of the three shelving-units pictured here (about 5½ feet tall, and 2⅓ feet wide)...

These are THE lowest of the low-end bookcases available at your regular Office Max/Office Depot sort of place. Got 'em on sale for about $38 per bookcase, and I actually bought 10(!!) of them -- which is double the storage I really need right now, with the thoughts of being able to expand over the years, without having to get mismatching shelves. (They come unassembled in a much smaller box, so storage of the unused units was easy).

Now the secret to making these things work is to cut extra 1"-by-6" boards to the exact same length (width) of each of the shelves. Then alternate the full depth shelves (about 9 inches deep) with my extra boards (about 5½ inches deep), giving me 10 shelves per bookcase. And the supports for the extra shelves are just two empty jewel-boxes turned up (on end), to float the extra shelves about a 1 inch above the tops of the CD's stored right below them. The beauty of this is that leaves enough space for irregular-sized box-sets (like the Miles Davis Columbia sets) -- so I can file them alphabetically with everything else (yeah!!!).

I don't store CD's on the bottom two shelves, cuz they're way down by the floor (hard to reach), so I put books down there usually, or just leave them empty. The top shelf is right at eye-level, and the extra (homemade) shelves stick out from the back of the case to almost exactly the same as the depth of a standard CD jewel-box (meaning they're flush with the front-edge of each row of CD's).

Another benefit is that the regular shelves (the ones that came with each bookcase) stick out abut 4 inches beyond the depth of the CD's – so there's a nice place to stack CD's that need to be filed back. Or put a drink on a coaster, or for a small "travel-alarm"-sized clock, etc...

Works very nicely, looks good, and it was VERY cheep to buy enough storage for 5,200 CD's (standard jewel-boxes, about 65 CD's per shelf, 8 usable shelves per bookcase, 10 bookcases total), for only about $400, plus another $50 to $75 for extra boards (1"-by-6") for the extra shelves. That's about ¢9 (one dime) cost per CD for storage.

B-) B-) B-)

Everybody who's seem 'em, likes 'em. (Spontoonious, time to testify!!)

Edited February 12, 2005 by Rooster_Ties

[mjzee]

Ikea offers something similar. Take a look at:

http://www.ikea.com/webapp/wcs/stores/serv...517&cattype=sub

Take a "Billy" bookcase and add a shelf insert. Results in mucho CD storage.

[Jazzmoose]

Frankly, this makes a lot more sense to me than the Can Am things. I mean, they look okay, but that just seems to me to be WAY too much money to spend on storage. Plus, having seen them, they're just too damned big. Shelves that hug the wall don't take up a lot of floor space, you know?

That said, mine are all on various Sauder CD shelves.

[Noj]

Ikea offers something similar. Take a look at:

http://www.ikea.com/webapp/wcs/stores/serv...517&cattype=sub

Take a "Billy" bookcase and add a shelf insert. Results in mucho CD storage.

The Benno CD Towers on mjzee's link are the ones I have.

[Rooster_Ties]

Shelves that hug the wall don't take up a lot of floor space, you know?

I've got mine spread around the house, all on the second floor currently. Three are in a central hallway -- with two at one end (all jazz, about 800 CD's), one at the other end (all pop/rock/alternative, about 400 CD's). Plus two in the master bedroom (all classical, about 1,000 CD's). They don't take up very much space at all, actually.

Back in our old appartment, I used to have everything in one room -- and it took up a LOT of space that way (or at least it sure seemed to). I didn't have shelves that were as efficient either, in terms of numbers of shelves (vertically).

My current system allows about one inch of space between each shelf (verically), and is very efficient. The footprint is only 9-inches out from the wall.

Edited February 12, 2005 by Rooster_Ties

[mjzee]

I'm becoming interested in a drawer-type storage arrangement. The Can-Ams are too much $ for me, though. Thinking of going to a local woodworking shop & seeing if they can adapt a bureau for this concept, or have one ready-made.

[robviti]

Frankly, this makes a lot more sense to me than the Can Am things.  I mean, they look okay, but that just seems to me to be WAY too much money to spend on storage.  Plus, having seen them, they're just too damned big.  Shelves that hug the wall don't take up a lot of floor space, you know?

no, but they certainly take up a lot of wall space. i have two wooded storage units: one is 7'x4', the other is 7'x3'. sure, they only protrude 8 inches from the wall, but that's almost 50 square feet of wall space! still, that's probably the way to go if you have small rooms. i think a drawer system like the can-am is better suited to larger rooms. i really prefer wood, but i don't think wood offers the structural strength you need in a large drawer system. another selling point with the can-ams is they can be expanded as your collection does.

Edited February 12, 2005 by jazzshrink

[tranemonk]

Don't have a digital camera, or I'd just take a pic. But here's what I use.

It's VERY inexpensive, works well, and doesn't look at all half-bad either. (I used to use cinder-blocks and unfinished boards as shelves, which my wife hated!!)

So I bought a bunch of the largest of the three shelving-units pictured here (about 5½ feet tall, and 2⅓ feet wide)...

These are THE lowest of the low-end bookcases available at your regular Office Max/Office Depot sort of place. Got 'em on sale for about $38 per bookcase, and I actually bought 10(!!) of them -- which is double the storage I really need right now, with the thoughts of being able to expand over the years, without having to get mismatching shelves. (They come unassembled in a much smaller box, so storage of the unused units was easy).

Now the secret to making these things work is to cut extra 1"-by-6" boards to the exact same length (width) of each of the shelves. Then alternate the full depth shelves (about 9 inches deep) with my extra boards (about 5½ inches deep), giving me 10 shelves per bookcase. And the supports for the extra shelves are just two empty jewel-boxes turned up (on end), to float the extra shelves about a 1 inch above the tops of the CD's stored right below them. The beauty of this is that leaves enough space for irregular-sized box-sets (like the Miles Davis Columbia sets) -- so I can file them alphabetically with everything else (yeah!!!).

I don't store CD's on the bottom two shelves, cuz they're way down by the floor (hard to reach), so I put books down there usually, or just leave them empty. The top shelf is right at eye-level, and the extra (homemade) shelves stick out from the back of the case to almost exactly the same as the depth of a standard CD jewel-box (meaning they're flush with the front-edge of each row of CD's).

Another benefit is that the regular shelves (the ones that came with each bookcase) stick out abut 4 inches beyond the depth of the CD's – so there's a nice place to stack CD's that need to be filed back. Or put a drink on a coaster, or for a small "travel-alarm"-sized clock, etc...

Works very nicely, looks good, and it was VERY cheep to buy enough storage for 5,200 CD's (standard jewel-boxes, about 65 CD's per shelf, 8 usable shelves per bookcase, 10 bookcases total), for only about $400, plus another $50 to $75 for extra boards (1"-by-6") for the extra shelves. That's about ¢9 (one dime) cost per CD for storage.

B-) B-) B-)

Everybody who's seem 'em, likes 'em. (Spontoonious, time to testify!!)

I'm having the damndest time conceptualizing this... As you could guess I'm not that technically inclined.... Can someone translate this to someone like me who doesn't quite get it???

thanks

[jazzmessenger]

I also prefer having all CDs on display (makes it easier for me to decide what to listen), so can-am was not my choice.

This is what I am using:

I have one of these storage racks. I don't know what I will use when my collection exceeds its capacity...

[couw]

I'm having the damndest time conceptualizing this... As you could guess I'm not that technically inclined.... Can someone translate this to someone like me who doesn't quite get it???

thanks

I too was wondering whether Rooster smoked the extra half inch of wood that came with the 1"x6" boards to make them only 5½" in the next sentence... B-)

[Rooster_Ties]

I'm having the damndest time conceptualizing this... As you could guess I'm not that technically inclined.... Can someone translate this to someone like me who doesn't quite get it???

thanks

Sorry my explanation wasn't clear enough.

Just picture the largest of the following three bookcases...

The bookshelf is almost 6 feet tall, and about 2½ feet wide. When you put it together, there will be five shelves, with a shelf-depth (front to back) of about 9 inches.

Then go buy some extra 1"-by-6" boards (one inch by six inch), and cut them to the exact same length as the width of the shelves in the bookcase (almost 2½ feet). You'll need a total of four.

On the top surface of each of the shelves already in the bookcase, stand two empty jewel-boxes on end (spine-down), and use them as supports for the extra shelves. (The two empty jewel-boxes will stand at the far right and left sides of each shelf, near the ends of the board.)

Then looking at the finished product, top to bottom, you'll have alternating shelves. First a shelf that came with the book shelf, and one that's a board you cut to size. Then another regular shelf, and then another homemade shelf.

The homemade shelves are only about 5½ inches deep (cuz that's really the width of 6-inch boards, don't ask me why) -- so the font edges are flush with the edges of the jewel-boxes you'll be storing above and below them (CD jewel-boxes just happen to be 5½ inches deep).

The "regular" shelves are about 9 inches deep, so then you get about a 4 inch "lip" in front of every other row of CD's -- which is good for storing small piles of discs that need to be put back in alpha-order.

In my case, the bottom shelf doesn't get an extra board, cuz it's down so low - and CD's down there are hard to reach. (I put music books down there.)

I'll see if a buddy of mine with a digital camera can take a snap of my setup, so I can post a pic here. I'm supposed to see her next week sometime (maybe next weekend), to shoot some digital pics of some historic homes in my neighborhood -- so she'll have the camera with her anyway.

[Rooster_Ties]

I too was wondering whether Rooster smoked the extra half inch of wood that came with the 1"x6" boards to make them only 5½" in the next sentence...  B-)

I don't know why this is, but when you buy 1"-by-6" boards (at least here in the U.S.), they are all really 5½ inches by ¾ of an inch in size.

Some weird construction industry standards that I've never understood.

Edited February 12, 2005 by Rooster_Ties

[robviti]

i'm glad you're satisfied with Bush's vinyl-covered particle board bookcases. if i didn't have any money, they might work for me too. but if my collection were worth well over $50,000 (based on your estimate of 5,200 cds), i'd spend more than 1% of that figure to house and protect my investment. until i get the space to set up a drawer system like can-am's, i'll use my solid wood racks (one oak, one pine) which are extremely sturdy.

Edited February 12, 2005 by jazzshrink

[Rooster_Ties]

i'm glad you're satisfied with Bush's vinyl-covered particle board bookcases. if i didn't have any money, they might work for me too. but if my collection were worth well over $50,000 (based on your estimate of 5,200 cds), i'd spend more than 1% of that figure to house and protect my investment.

5,200 is just what 10 of these bookcases will hold.

I've only got about 2,500 CD's, and maybe closer to 2,000 is what I really consider "important".

I did spend $500 all those cheap bookcases and lumber. But the way I look at it -- that was $500 I could have been spending on more music. In the end, I did by the bookcases and boards, and I'm perfectly happy I did (and so's my wife). But I would have been MUCH less happy if I had spent $1,000 or $1,500 (or more!!) for a more "elegant" solution, when that money could have gone towards other things.

And hey, I'm a cheapskate, and proud of it.

Doesn't mean I won't spend some serious money for quality in some areas (for instance, we have lots of really cool vintage Danish Modern furniture in our house, in several rooms – and some of it didn’t come cheap).

But someplace to store my tunes (upstairs, where most people don’t even see them) wasn't high on my list of places to shell out a ton of cash. (I also drive a 13-year old Honda Accord wagon, that I still love, and hope I can drive another 5 years or more.)

Just a matter of priorities. (And buying the cheap bookcases meant I could afford the more expensive vintage Danish Modern stuff.)

Edited February 12, 2005 by Rooster_Ties

[adam hill]

i use the boltz wall units,which are great.

fwiw, i have yet to replace jewel cases with the plastic sleeves.

what i don't like about the plastic sleeves is they lay flat against

each other and you can't see the spines very well. maybe it's

aesthetics too, but i just don't like them. i wish slimline jewel cases

would become the norm.

[alankin]

I too was wondering whether Rooster smoked the extra half inch of wood that came with the 1"x6" boards to make them only 5½" in the next sentence...  B-)

I don't know why this is, but when you buy 1"-by-6" boards (at least here in the U.S.), they are all really 5½ inches by ¾ of an inch in size.

Some weird construction industry standards that I've never understood.

1/2" is taken off for the sawdust tax.

[alankin]

Many of mine are in those tall, narrow Ikea shelves attached in groups of four.

Some of the others are sitting in boxes, impatiently waiting for to get more shelf units. They sometimes whine late at night, but usually quiet down when I threaten to take them to eBay!

[robviti]

Just a matter of priorities. (And buying the cheap bookcases meant I could afford the more expensive vintage Danish Modern stuff.)

that's cool, and it's really what it's all about: priorities. as i said before, i haven't gone the can-am route yet. frankly, if i could find something similar in wood, i'd be happy to part with some cash, but not too much cash.

[TedR]

Rooster,

You mention you hold up every other shelf with two jewel cases one on top of the other. Do you tape them together? I'd worry that they wouldn't hold the weight of the shelf with cd's and could collapse with the slightest contact with the bookcase.

[Rooster_Ties]

Rooster,

You mention you hold up every other shelf with two jewel cases one on top of the other. Do you tape them together? I'd worry that they wouldn't hold the weight of the shelf with cd's and could collapse with the slightest contact with the bookcase.

No. There are two jewel-boxes per shelf -- only one on each side. (Not two jewel-boxes per support.) Meaning each jewel-box individually (stood on its spine), supports half the shelf.

Nothing at all tricky about it -- it's a very simple solution, actually. I've even used slimline jewel-boxes before as supports, though regular jewel-boxes are probably a bit stronger.

[mikeweil]

Seems the brand I prefer is distributed in the US too - very sturdy construction!

http://www.lundiaonline.com/

[Jeffro]

Quick question for you long-time CD collectors--I've always heard that CDs should be stored vertically (i.e., on edge), rather than horizontally (lying flat).  Since I have a couple of storage units/towers that store them horizontally (in their jewel cases), I'm wondering if anyone has had problems with CDs being damaged due to storing them in this manner.

I do keep mine in jewel cases vertically... but why is it preferred????

I never heard that before????

Trane--I don't recall specifically why vertical alignment is preferable to horizontal. I get this monthly e-mail newsletter ("Cites & Bytes" or something like that) about library and data storage/retrieval issues, and I think it was in there that I read this. As I recall, it had something to do with the ink on the CD surface/label. But my neurons might be misfiring a little on this one. The other thing I was wondering about--can CDs "warp" the way vinyl does if stored improperly. Inquiring (paranoid?) minds want to know.

[scottb]

Now THAT'S a storage unit!!!