Hi all:
I have been asked by a customer to provide him with basically wall to wall cd-racks. He would like them out of maple, but given that there is about 34 lin/ft at about 5′ high and 6″ deep, I was thinking maple plywood would be more cost-effective and also more stable. Does anyone know if the shelves should be 3/4″ material and what the maximum span could be (my customer would like maple plywood as backing so I was hoping to build on 2′ or 4′ centers)?? Thanks
Replies
The weight of a shelf full of CD's is approximately zero, so the span is controlled by whatever you think looks right, rather than deflection. I would probably use 3/4" stock for a four foot shelf, just because anything smaller would look too thin. For two foot shelves, I think 1/2" would be fine, maybe even a little less.
Brian
If you put a lot of "New Age" CDs in the collection, the whole thing actually will be lighter than zero!
Ha. Seriously, I think that CD storage is one of the ugliest kind of jobs. Nothing ever really looks good, but the things have to be stored somehow. Most shelving systems look far too heavy, given the small size of the "jewel cases" and the knowledge that they are indeed very light in weight. It needs to be kept light.
Since your customer wants Maple wall to wall, I suggest lining the wall with Maple plywood - sort of a wainscoat effect. Then supporting the CDs by vertical Maple strips spaced one case width apart, across the maple -lined wall. In the vertical members, cut notches, angled slightly upwards just deep enough to grasp a jewel case by its rear edge. That presents the jewel cases to the user, seemingly floating in front of the maple wall without ponderous-looking shelving as visible support.
R
Edited 10/30/2002 8:34:05 PM ET by Rich Rose
I am no expert, however I recently built a CD shelf similar to what you are describing, out of White Ash, with 3/4 inch shelves 18 inches long, to fit a specific place, and quite frankly it is way over engineered. 1/2 inch for that width would have been fine. If you went four feet I would use 3/4 as CD's are not very heavy. In fact why not use soft Maple it would cut your cost and I suspect still be strong enough for that application.
1/2" or 3/4"? If your verticals are on 24" centers 1/2" definitely. If you're using 4' centers maybe 3/4? At a time like this I'd go through the scrap pile, grab a pile of CD's and layout some mockups, just a couple shelves will do. Always helps me to visualize what works and what doesn't.
Plywood might be cheaper but consider the labor in cutting, edgebanding and trimming. (Edgebanding 1/2" can be a pain.) If the shelves are only 6" deep I might consider solid stock.
Crunch the numbers and see what works best for you.
Brian
Thank you all for the ideas---I agree that designing storage for lightweight CD's without making the shelving look too bulky is not easy---especially when I don't want to hear from the customer down the road that his shelves are sagging. Thanks again
Brian
I'm no expert, but i have done my share of cd racks for others, and i like the previously suggested idea of the plywood backing, which i've done. You can secure the shelfs to that and it won't sag for sure. I've done that for shelves that i made that were 50 inches across our of 3/4 inch pine, and it worked great.
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