Building a Comic Book Cabinet in my my Cave2934
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BigRedOne1944 private msg quote post Address this user | |
| I started this project back in March of this year and it still seems to be a work in progress. OK, So I was eyeballing this wall in the lower level of my home(my mancave). I initially thought it was dead space behind the wall. ONLY one way to find Out....... After knocking the drywall off and exposing it.... I was wrong. It was actually a concrete block wall. So I had to start my cabinet out a bit farther, rather than back into the wall as I initially thought. SO.... After doing some measuring and such, I figured I could get 7 comic drawers wide in the space I had available to me on the wall. So I got it framed up and got the drywall roughed in. Ive never had a water problem in the lower level, but just as a precaution I built the base of the cabinet 4 inches off the floor.  I had to move the light switch and will have to later relocate some of the outlets  You can see the block wall in the back. I installed a vapor barrier and insulated the wall with 1" foam board insulation. This is not an exterior wall so the insulation might not have been necessary, but I felt it best to have that barrier between my collection and the wall. I could have possibly gotten an 8th row(Drawer) to the left, but it was going to be pretty tight and I thought it would be best to leave myself some "Play" here and just use that extra space for some Shelving. The side view as you come down the stairs. The opening in the side will be lighted "shadow box" with a glass shelve to be used to highlight and display some of my Military Figures, Books, Cards. More on the Pain in the ass this would become later. So This is where I was at as of 3-30-15 I'll be back with the next installment of the build later. So for now I will leave you with one of the many books that now reside in the cabinet!  |
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DarthLego private msg quote post Address this user | |
I've been waiting for this thread.  |
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Sin private msg quote post Address this user | |
| I always wondered how others stored comics. Especially once their collections get into 1,000+ | ||
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I'm a #2.
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BigRedOne1944 private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by DarthLego Darth, Sorry for the delay, but I seem to be a master procrastinator at times (OK most of the time) (Hell who am I kidding) Surely there are bigger and more extravagant custom made drawer systems than my shoe string budget set up, but hey its working out real well for all of my needs. Quote: Originally Posted by Sin Sin, Ive had my comics sealed up in Long Boxes wrapped in plastic and Duct Tapped shut for like 10 years, Every since we made the move to a bigger house. It can be a daunting task hauling a collection of almost 10,000 comic books around with you for the better part of life, but I just love the frigging things so year after year I always lugged them around with me. I finally decide it was time to give them their just due. |
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jrs private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by DarthLego Me too, but no slight on you @BigRedOne1944 re procrastination. We're just interested in how you built that awesome cabinet! |
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QuaBrot private msg quote post Address this user | |
 This is my storage system. I've been working on it for a couple of years now. I didn't get pictures of all of the areas, like under my bed or in the hallway . . . but you get the idea |
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Savage_Spawn private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Ditto, yours is much better looking than mine...... actually making small progress lately..... | ||
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 You think I'm joking, I'm not.
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earthshaker01 private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @BigRedOne1944 what do you do to secure it so no one can steal things if they were to break in? Or is security not a huge concern? Also what about fire proof, are you going to use fireboard for the exterior of the cabinet? | ||
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Rafel private msg quote post Address this user | |
| How many comic books per each drawer and do you have a drawer for GRADED comic books? | ||
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FN_2199 private msg quote post Address this user | |
| I built custom shelving in four of my closets last year so I know what kind of work this takes. Hopefully you have a good miter saw and a table saw. I put a full slab box on the top shelf of my master closet and am always worried. Those boxes are heavy! If you haven't started cutting yet, consider space for slab boxes. They are not the same size as regular short boxes. If you are debating on spending the extra money to use 3/4" plywood shelving all around instead of 1/2", I would recommend it. Do not use particle board. Looks like you went with premium insulation between the wall and the shelving unit so that is good. |
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shrewbeer private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by BigRedOne1944 You made a solid choice, it is necessary. You're correct that being underground, earth creates a good insulation barrier to keep constant temperature; but humidity and moisture become the problem. International code calls for 2" continuous (board or foam), and for a good reason. Installing a vapor barrier coupled with 1" board ins as you did gets you exactly where you need to be, nice work!! |
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Sirtoddington private msg quote post Address this user | |
| I have about 10 long boxes stacked in my bedroom closest with about 4 short boxes worth of slabs & about 4 midsize plastic containers filled with over flow of my comics. I'll take some photos of mine when i get home. I NEED to build something like this though for my collection so I can 1. get it out of the closet . & 2. get them to where there's not so much weight being placed on them as they're literally long boxes completely filled sitting on top of each other. | ||
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thpike private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by Sirtoddington I've seen a couple nice DIYs with IKEA furniture if you have one that is close to you. |
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BrianGreensnips private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by thpikeYes. IKEA is great. They have nice display cases and real reasonable prices on frames. I have some of their book shelves too. |
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Sirtoddington private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @thpike @BrianGreensnips are there any youtube tutorials on building any sweet comic storage systems with Ikea furniture?? I've found myself looking at them for bed ideas for 1. extra storage. & 2. keeping my cat from getting under the bed. lol. I also have my eye on some nice glass displays that are affordable for my action figures. There's one in KC near my sis so i may try hitting that place up when I finally find a new place to move. | ||
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thpike private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by Sirtoddington I have one that is going to open this fall so I'm waiting for that before I start my project but I've saved this link: http://www.howtolovecomics.com/2016/11/20/ikea-comic-book-storage-solutions/ |
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BrianGreensnips private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by SirtoddingtonThere are some ideas on Pintrist. My wife is on there a lot getting ideas for the house. |
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I'm a #2.
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BigRedOne1944 private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by earthshaker01 earthshaker Im not to concerned about a Break in. Lugging heavy comic boxes is not liking on their list of things to steal. While obviously I don't want a Fire, but no Fireboard. Quote: Originally Posted by Rafel Rafel Yes there is Drawers for Graded books and Magazines(We get to that section of the cabinet later in the thread) In addition to the cabinet build, Ive been in the process of "Re-Bagging" all 8,000 plus books with new E Gerber Mylars and full back boards. I choose to do two books per mylar (one front and one back) for a few obvious reasons: #1 Cost of the mylars and boards is half. #2 Ive always found two books fit better in the Mylar 2 bags. #3 More books per Drawer with half as many Mylars and boards not taking up drawer space. I can get Approx. 250 per Drawer |
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Sirtoddington private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by thpike I'm surprised they don't have any storage solutions for short boxes. I'm planning to get a bunch of the short boxes with the drawers to store everything in. But I'd like to find maybe something to support the boxes a little better instead of having to leave them stacked on each other like i do now which puts too much stress on the lower boxes. |
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You think I'm joking, I'm not.
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earthshaker01 private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Then use 5/8 inch sheetrock, which is essentially what fireboard is. Keeps fire and heat out a little longer than smaller board | ||
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no1lufcfan private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by BrianGreensnips Some nice ideas on there  |
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DLAComics private msg quote post Address this user | |
| https://www.pinterest.com/explore/comic-book-storage/?lp=true LOTS of ideas.............. |
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I'm a #2.
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BigRedOne1944 private msg quote post Address this user | |
| The picture hosting CBCS is using for the message board here kinda sucks. Any pictures taken with my camera in the vertical position are automatically reoriented horizontally by the board picture hosting site. My apologies for that... So now that I had my cabinet roughed in, my next decision was what kind of Drawer System to use. * While I do have basic carpentrey skills, I was not confident enough that I could design, lay-out and build custom pull out drawers * I contacted a local guy about building some modular cabinet drawers, but the cost was just too high. Being the tight ass that I am. I decided that I would just design and make custom covers for these acid free Comic Drawer Boxes. http://www.collectiondrawer.com/order/ Now that I had decided to go the economical route I needed to figure out how I was going to do the layout and spacing. I wanted 2 inch spacing on all four sides of each Drawer. I had to settle for 2 inch spacing on just the sides of the drawers because I couldn't afford to loss 12 inches of height by spacing 2 inches on the top and bottom of each level of drawers. So I began the layout of my first row of Drawers using 2 inch foam board as spacers. The foam board spacers would be recessed just deep enough to allow for the plywood slats I would later cut sand and paint to match the walls of the room. The 2 inch foam Board would also serve as support for the next level of Drawers.   My next problem was, "what to use as a base for the next level?" I tried a solid piece of plywood, but I was not happy with how it fit. Then I found these cedar boards used to line closets with and they worked nicely! AND now my whole cabinet would be enclosed with cedar which would help protect from bugs, insects, etc... A Win Win! You can see I also made a couple rough proto type plywood drawer covers. So this is where I stood as of 4-8-15 And now for a few books that currently reside in my Cabinet!   |
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DLAComics private msg quote post Address this user | |
| I like the concept | ||
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no1lufcfan private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @BigRedOne1944 looking good |
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| I'm Jelly | ||
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dpiercy private msg quote post Address this user | |
BUILDING A COMIC BOOK CABINET IN MY GRAVE - that is how I first saw this threadline topic.  |
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I'm a #2.
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BigRedOne1944 private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by dpiercy Well, at one point I did think it was going to be the death of me. The wife was none too happy with the saw dust and foam insulation mess I was making in the garage and dragging back and forth into the house.  |
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I'm a #2.
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BigRedOne1944 private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Thanks for the encouraging comments guys! As I was doing this project kind of on the fly, there were a few set backs along the way. While cost did weigh in on my decision, there were other factors involved that eventually swayed me to go with customizing the Drawer boxes. #1 The Comic Drawer boxes and their design with their two part inner shell make them Super Strong as well as being Acid Free. They also completely enclose my books, even over the top side. I feel they offer my books better protection, than a standard file cabinet type drawer. #2 They are individual, independent modular units, meaning if I were to ever move from this residence I can simply pull the finished wood slats and foam board dividers Pull my Drawer boxes and take them with me and then easily convert the remaning cabinet opening into a finished closet. #3 After speaking with a few local cabinet makers I came to realize that if I did spend the money on them I would be limited to those units. Believe me! My ego really had me a frog's hair away from having them built, but my inner voice kept telling me I would have much more creative Freedom in being able to amend, edit or even change my design to better meet my needs should my needs change in the future. |
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BigRedOne1944 private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Now Back to the Build! Having now established my first row of drawers and their spacing. I needed to decide how I was going to design and make the Drawer Fronts. At this point I decided to cut a few Proto-Type drawer covers out of some scap plywood. At first I thought about just making the Drawer fronts solid and mounting some type of handle on them. I scapped that Idea in favor of making each Drawer front its own book display.  This created another problem though. How would I make them each hold a book for display.  After much trial and error, I cut some more proto type drawer fronts, this time using 1/4 inch hardboard. My next issue was, How to design a way to make the Drawer fronts not only functional, but also a display for the comics. I kind of knew what I wanted to do, but I hadn't yet been able to find the right material to do it. My plan was to make some kind of "Rail system" that the books could slide into and then Slide out of the way to expose the "Pull Slots" for the drawers. At first I tried the make these "Rails" out of wood, but that failed miserably. So I was kind of in a bind on the project. UNTIL! One day I was just wondering around Menards looking for possible ideas when I stumbled across this PVC Channel used on house siding. IT was PERFECT! $3 bucks for a 8 ft strip made it cheap as well! I would need to cut and fabricate a set for each drawer. In the Picture above you can seen a sample Piece of the White PVC Channel by the pencils. More on the rails in a minute. After cutting and assembling all the Drawer fronts for the first row of Drawers, I was all set to go! More books in the cabinet!  Tim Truman's work on Grim Jack is the title that really drew me back into comic Books back in 1985. |
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