I've been searching for something to put my consoles and 2 TVs in, but nothing I found fits my criteria, so I thought of making it myself. I thought of splitting everything across 3 "bookshelves". Sorry, can't find the correct word for "shelves to put consoles and TVs in". It would look something like this: Spoiler: shelves Code: _________________________________ _________________________________ _________________________________ | | | | | | | | | | 40x20cm | 40x20cm | | | | | | | |________________|________________| |________________|________________| |________________|________________| | 80x60cm | | | | | 80x60cm | | _______________________ | | | | | ___________________________ | | | | | |________________|________________| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | CRT TV | | |________________|________________| | | HDMI TV | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |___________________________| | |____|_______________________|____| |________________|________________| |_______________|_|_______________| | | 50x10cm | | | | | | | | 30x20cm |--------------------| | | | | | | |____________|___ (10+40)x10cm | |________________|________________| |________________|________________| | |----------------| | | | | | | | 40x20cm | 40x20cm | | | | | | | |________________|________________| | 40x40cm | 40x40cm | |________________|________________| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |________________|________________| |________________|________________| |________________|________________| | | | | | | | | | | DRAWER | DRAWER | | DRAWER | DRAWER | | DRAWER | DRAWER | |________________|________________| |________________|________________| |________________|________________| |_________________________________| |_________________________________| |_________________________________| Basically, each "bookshelf" will have about 180x80cm, with enough 40x20cm shelves to fit consoles, switches, possibly even books , except for TVs shelves which will use 80x60cm (3x2 shelves) and a place for 2 small desktop/tower PCs which will use 40x40cm in height (2x2 shelves). The dotted shelves under the CRT TV will be for a Commodore 64 (which is slightly larger than 40cm) and a Timex 2048, so they'll roll out like keyboard drawers. I know they look weird, I'll probably change it before I start cutting the shelves. Here is my conundrum: I'm thinking of using 5 244x122cm MDF boards for the job (the store will cut it for me), but the store has it with 10mm thick (16.99€ each) and 16/19mm (27.99€ each). That means the price range goes from 84.95€ to 139.95€! Can I cheap out and use the 10mm MDF, or will the 16/19mm thickness be better for the job? The consoles are not that heavy, the heaviest will be the CRT which will probably be the biggest I can fit in the shelf, and there's enough spare MDF to double the thickness on the TVs shelves for the 10mm MDF. EDIT: replaced shelfs (!?) with shelves
Myself I'd spend more money on the thicker stuff, because an accident will cost far more than the extra 50€ or so. Not to mention that, as an Engineer I have a tendency to overrate. (things tend to last longer). Ultimately, your wallet will drive the decision. Best of luck.
Why would you go with something ancient like a crt? An led "anything" would be better in every way than attempting to go with a crt screen. The weight won't be an issue with an LED screen(s)
Now you made me start thinking 10mm is probably not thick enough for the screws... darn you! Someone mentioned me I would need a back cover so it wouldn't "jiggle" but I would like to leave the shelfs open from behind. I was thinking of securing each shelf with 2 screws on each side (total of 4) and adding a back cover to the first bottom shelfs (drawers) and screw it in with a bunch of screws, would that make it stable enough? The CRT is for the older consoles, for three main reasons: - it's cheap to get a used one; - it´s compatible with CRT lightguns; - it doesn't have lag nor it requires a OSSC / RetroTINK / Framemeister to remove the lag when playing a non-hdmi console connected to an hdmi TV.
You can use smaller triangular shaped pieces in the corners of the shelves to make it sturdy instead of using a back cover. That should keep it from "jiggling" Sometimes they are called "gussets" for added support
I think I know what you mean, I have it at work on Dexion shelves (by the way, I just noticed I've been typing "shelfs"...). Thanks for all the help! If/when I muster enough courage to do this project, I'll post an image here. I wanted to do this by Christmas, but I know how long my projects take to start/end, it may take years LOL It will look great though, if painted acrylic white in front of the dark yellow courtain I currently have, and my black arcade machine on the side, with a sofa facing them, maybe even some pillows with console symbols printed on them. Now where should I get a pool table and a football table to complete the picture?
There is a website called Ikea Hacks that has all sorts of ideas using standard parts that possibly dont need cutting etc.
Ive looked before and many parts may be discontinued or not availible in all terriitories but its got to be worth really digging around.
Many of the big box hardware stores (like lowes and home depot) sell pre-cut laminated shelves, it's just a matter of getting the materials, The sides have pre-drilled holes and they sell shelf supports to hold the shelf itself. No cutting or measuring.... just pop it together https://www.lowes.com/c/Shelves-shelving-Storage-organization
Unfortunately I'm in Europe, so no Lowe's stores around here, but the concept might exist in similar stores. If it does, I'll probably be able to get something very close to my idea with minimal modifications
Damn, completely forgot about this thread! Well, due to my lack of experience with carpentry, I went with what seems to be the retro gamers selection for console shelves these days: a white IKEA Kallax 4x2 shelving unit for the older consoles with CRT, and a 2x2 unit for the HDMi consoles with an LCD. The desktops are no longer a part of the project, only consoles. I´ve mostly seen pictures of these shelves in black, but the white version looks better against the mostly black consoles. Also, I'm going to split each shelf in 2 (the store cuts it for me, yay!) so I'll actually get 16 shelves for the 4x2 and 8 shelves for the 2x2, minus 2 shelves which will be used for cabling management (SCART/HDMI switches, power buttons, etc). The cables will be hidden and secured by white cable rails so nothing will be "hanging out" in the back, and that will also be very helpful with the cleaning maintenance. For now everything is just a mess, but I promise I'll eventually post a few pictures of the final result. Probably a few shelves will be empty because I don't have all the consoles I want (yet). I don't have any 8-bit consoles nor I played any in my youth, so I'm probably going for 16-bit and upwards and emulate 8-bit and lower with a X-Box. Let's hope that at least the 4x2 unit is ready by Christmas!
I might add "gussets" for added support, since the Kallax are thick in the borders and can hide them nicely