My improved NES game shelving.

[camarotuner]

Since storage/display/what do I do with this crap comes up a lot around here I thought I'd show this thing off. The shelf will hold a complete US NES library if it's cart only. Cost less than 100 dollars to build. Is a very basic assembly for anyone comfortable with power tools and knows the basics. Granted I did use several hundred dollars in power tools to make it but if you already have the tools or can borrow them this is a realistic project for anyone. Took me about 3 hours to build start to finish. Best part is that it's easily adaptable. This same basic design with shelf modifications would hold any number of systems and if you change the size could make "library holders" for your gaming room one system at a time. I built an earlier version of this that I was very unhappy with (looked very amatuerish in my opinion) and this is the rebuild of the same unit.

http://i655.photobucket.com/albums/uu277/camarotuner13/photo2.jpg

[Andred]

Nice work! I always appreciate well crafted game displays. What type of wood did you use? It looks like the top shelf is a little taller than the rest. Is there a reason for that?

[camarotuner]

Yep with a taller top shelf I can stand carts off to display them better. Basically if I get any of the "big ones" (action 52, cheetamen 2, whatever) I can display them instead of "shelving" them with the rest. As for the wood it's basic pine with a standard 1/4" backing sheet.

[StealthLurker]

Very nice sir! Clean and simple. I like it.


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[frogofdeath]

I too like the clean, simple look. You making any more for other games/systems?

[skaar]

I've become a big fan of custom/handmade shelving for games. I'm going to be selling off most of my Ikea "Billy" shelves and building some custom for the house. We did this at the office and it turned out great.

[SpaceFlea]

That is some straight pine. How thick is it and what length did you purchase?

I just built about $1000 worth of pine shelving in my game room and practically every shelf is warped as hell! The 8 ft boards I bought seemed to be relatively straight, but the 10 and 12 footers were atrocious offenders.

That looks so much better than my crap.

[camarotuner]

No plans to make shelving for anymore systems for myself as the only system I am actively collecting for (at least for the time being) is the NES. However, I've had several inquiries about building these for other people out of my shop sooooo maybe.

It's 1x6x48 pine. Bought from lowes. Quite honestly I think I went through close to 70 pieces to find the ones I needed that were straight. The side pieces are 1x8x72 and it took quite a few of those just to find 2 that weren't screwed up. I would never consider anything over 8' if it's 1" thick (and honestly I'd likely cut it to 6') as even if it's straight now you'd need to brace the shit out of it to make it stay that way permanently. If you want to do long shelves you gotta use 2" thick boards. At least in my experience with pine. If you went with a denser wood like oak or maybe maple you'd get away with it but your cost would balloon dramatically.

It's all personal taste. You can buy pre-fab units (huge ones) from best buy that hold something insane like 1100 movies or something like that for 99 dollars. I don't know how it'd hold up but it's quick and easy. Building everything by hand takes serious time especially to square it all up right and make it even throughout.

[SpaceHarrier]

Looks great, now you have alot of work ahead of you filling all those shelves!

Me personally, my collection altogether is tiny, so I just bought some cheapo shelving units from Target, then bought some more shelf clips and cut some lumber to have a few extra shelves in each.

[skaar]

I've never had issues finding straight boards of 10 ft or more around here. Maybe it's a regional thing?

[mrforever]

i've also done 5 of them for put my favorite nes collection.
http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/uu282/mrforever79/DSCF2511.jpg
http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/uu282/mrforever79/DSCF2510.jpg
http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/uu282/mrforever79/DSCF2495.jpg
http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/uu282/mrforever79/DSCF2494.jpg
http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/uu282/mrforever79/DSCF2493.jpg
http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/uu282/mrforever79/DSCF2492.jpg
http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/uu282/mrforever79/DSCF2490.jpg
http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/uu282/mrforever79/DSCF2489.jpg
http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/uu282/mrforever79/DSCF2488.jpg

[Sunnyvale]

I've never had issues finding straight boards of 10 ft or more around here. Maybe it's a regional thing?

Do you get your lumber from a local source? It's the changes in humidity that causes the twisting.

[Flack]

I haven't updated the site in a while, but if you guys want to e-mail me some more pictures and a paragraph or two about how you built them, I would love to feature these on LoveThyShelf.com.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Nice!

The recessed shelving and back panel elevate the design from "a bunch of boards nailed together".

[camarotuner]

Nice!

The recessed shelving and back panel elevate the design from "a bunch of boards nailed together".

Why thank you. I was trying to avoid it looking like a bookcase. No offense intended to anyone who uses bookcases to store games on.