Type cabinet suggestions?

I assume that your existing cases are all the standard “dustless” variety. That generally means that they are flat (consitant height) along the top of the front and have a handle attached to them. The older variety of cases often have no handle and a higher upper middle section on the front of the case. Those older cases require more of a gap between cases to allow for the extra hieght of the front. They generally did not have handles, as the left and right sides of the front were scalloped down to allow your hands to get in there to pull them out.

The gap created by those scalloped parts and the fact that the old cases generally had racks that were open on the sides and back, allowed a lot of dust and dirt to collect in the cases.

The ‘newer” generation of cases could be inserted more tightly together in cabinets that had sides and backs and therefore were even advertised as “dustless” as a desirable feature.

I would suggest using angled iron runners for the cases to slide in and out on. This will minimize the gap between the cases, and also allow more cases per hieght of cabinet than simply putting wood runners in.

Hello Clothdog,

I recently had a talented young cabinetmaker build some cabinets for me. He used the runners that Foolproof suggested, except they were aluminum. The runners were glued and screwed into 1 1/2 inches of plywood. I got 12 cases in a total height of 27 inches, including the base and a solid workspace on top. I have a few of the older type cases that Foolproof mentioned; these fit nicely in the top slot where there’s more room for the lip. We added doors (prefab) to keep out the dust and also because the cabinets were to go in a living space. Here are some photos:

http://flickr.com/photos/7929005@N07/sets/72157607563891577/

Barbara

WOW those cabinets are amazing. I’m going to chance it and show my wife. Fortunaly my “shop” is in the basement which at the moment is more of a man cave than a living room. Hee hee.

Thanks for the tips; I have passed them all along.

Barbara, your cabinets are lovely. (One can surmise from the fact that you print where you live that you are considerably tidier than I am…)

Thanks, Clothdog. The studio in the living room is the culmination of many negotiation sessions between me and my husband. Tidiness is one of the conditions. Also, the cabinets are birthday, anniversary, and Christmas presents for the next 10 years. ;-)

Barbara