Some friends want me to build them a storage cabinet for their vinyl record collection. This is exciting as it combines 2 of my favorite experiences (records and woodworking.)
What they want is a similar basic form to the ubiquitous IKEA cube / box style shelves (2 high x 8 wide) but with sliding drawers in each box instead of open shelves. They want to be able to slide each drawer open and flip through the records with the front covers facing forward, like in bins at the record store. They also want the panels of the drawer fronts to be mostly clear (plexiglass) with a slot in the top that can house a record to be “on display” at the front of each drawer and be swapped out easily. I’m thinking I will build narrow face frames with grooves for the plexiglass and will likely use Acrylite framing grade acrylic glass, which I’ve used many times in custom art framing work that I’ve done.
I think the drawers will be about 16-18” deep, which has the capacity to hold between 80-100 LPs, with a potential estimated weight of ~ 60 -75 lbs (+ ?) per drawer. As of right now, there will be 16 drawers total (2 tall x 8 wide) and I will almost certainly split that into 2 boxes of 4 wide and screw them together like you would with kitchen cabinetry once the cabinets are in place.
I’m thinking that case construction will be 3/4” ply with biscuits / glue and screws and dadoes in certain load bearing joints. Solid wood, narrow face frames. Solid wood “countertop” and likely some sort of end panels, whether solid wood or a skin of nicer looking thinner ply or veneer. The cabinet will either sit on top of a toe kick style box on the floor or have short feet like in a mid century modern style (will likely need at least 8 feet due to length and overall weight.)
I don’t do a lot of plywood cabinetry and don’t really know where to start with sourcing the right drawers slides for this. Definitely don’t want to cheap out on the drawer slide hardware with such a heavy load and precious cargo like a prized record collection. Soft close would be nice, not sure if they care about undermount or side mount from visual perspective, but if the price wasn’t dramatically different then I’d prefer undermount simply for a cleaner look.
Anybody have any advice on slide hardware / other details?
This is not a pro-bono project; I am a woodworking professional. At the same time I’m trying to value engineer this project to a certain degree within reason that provideS a balance of function / value / and simple style for my friends to be able to make this dream of a large record storage system a reality for them.
I’d personally love to have my records collection of nearly 1000 LPs housed and organized like this, so I completely understand their desires on a personal level. Alas, my records live on the aforementioned 4x4 ikea cube / box open shelf that I’ve had for nearly a decade...
Thanks as always.