As a result of acquisitions at the Midwest Gaming Classic, the Circuit City $4.99 Sale, and some local game store blowout sales, this summer my gameroom has reached and exceeded capacity…It’s not a pretty sight:
Fortunately, the wonder that is wireless networking (through my employer provided PowerBook, and my UFO-shaped Airport…I love how easy Apple stuff is to set up and use!) has eliminated the need for a desktop computer, and therefore eliminated the need for the desktop itself. The desk has been moved to the basement, and over 6 linear feet of floor-to-ceiling wall space has suddenly become “Open for Business.”
Having already built a dozen custom shelving units for my gameroom, (it’s really the only way to go if you’re going to display over 4,000 games in a 10’ x 12’ room…and still have room to play ‘em!) I knew that I would need to build 2 units for the corner space in question.
Since the topic has come up in the past here, I thought I would take this opportunity to record and report on the process of planning, building and installing custom shelving units. As I make progress on this project, I’ll post updates and photos to this thread, until both units are complete, in place, and filled with gaming goodness.
PART ONE: PLANNING & DESIGN
For me, the whole point of custom shelving units is to fit as many games as possible into the available space. To this end, the first thing to do is determine what’s going onto the shelves, and how much room is required. Since I plan to primarily use these units for items in DVD cases (7-1/2” high…5-3/8” wide), I set the height of the shelf space at 7-3/4”. An opening this size will also accommodate most other game boxes, with the exception of SegaCD, Saturn, 3DO and longbox Playstation titles.
I then confirmed the size of the available space, which was 51” on one wall, 36” on the other, and 96” of vertical space. Next, I had to choose a building material,…and 1” pine boards have always worked well for me. Keeping in mind that 1” x 6” and 1” x 10” boards are actually sized 3/4” x 5-1/2” and 3/4” x 9-1/4”, I moved to the design stage.
I decided to run the larger of the 2 units the length of the 51” space, since splitting an 8’ board in half gives you 48” shelves and a unit just under 50” wide, including the side boards. With a 7-3/4” opening and a 3/4” thick shelf, I determined that 11 shelves could fit in my 96” vertical space. Including the 3/4” top board, my unit’s total height would be 94-1/4”. This nicely uses the available space, and still gives me more than an inch to tip the unit into place (if it were 96” tall, and 5-1/2” wide, you wouldn’t be able to tip it past the ceiling…the Pythagorean Theorem strikes again!)
6” boards will give me the right depth for the shelves and side boards, but since I want to display some gaming knickknacks and McFarlane figures as well, I will be alternating between 6” and 10” boards for the shelves. This gives me 6 extended shelves with a 4” of additional depth and a 16” height, plus a nice, deep base board for extra stability. The extended shelves cut the available width for my second unit to 26”, which works great, as I can get 4 24”shelves out of an 8’ board, and a unit width of 25-1/2”. Using the same shelf layout from the first unit, I’m ready to determine how much lumber I’ll need.
I’ll skip the math and board division that gave me a total of five 8’ 1” x 10”s and nine 8’ 1” x 6”s. I also drew up a drilling template which will allow me to pre-drill the screw holes on the side boards, and told me that I need 96 1-3/4” wood screws. A sheet of 4’ x 8’ backing board is added to the list (I have scrap for the smaller unit), and since I already have the wood stain and brads for nailing on the backing boards, off I go to Home Depot!
Here’s the sheet I scribbled my designs and measurements on, for what it’s worth. Next update I’ll let you know how much all of this stuff set me back, and start cutting lumber!
Rich