[78-L] Record Storage advice needed for disabled person.

[Steven C. Barr]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "William Buchanan" <ret.armysgt at yahoo.com>
>I am a disabled person and I am in need of a way to store my records 
>(mostly 78 rpm) so that I would have access to them and keep my wife off my 
>back.
> Currently I have some on shelves some in binders and some loose in 
> sleeves.
> I have many more in plastic milk crates in a closet. Because of this I 
> only have access to a small amount of my records.
> I have about 900 - 1000 records so it is not a large collection although 
> if you asked my wife you would think I owned a million or more and the 
> collection is too big for our small home.
> I was thinking about buying black wood shelving and replacing the partial 
> board shelves with 2 x 10 lumber. I wanted the 4' high shelves so I could 
> reach the records when I am in my wheel chair.
> I also thought that with the shelves being just 4 feet high that I would 
> be able to use the top to display my different wind up players and some of 
> my other items.
> I need to know if anybody has done this and are the shelves strong enough 
> to handle the load? I am concerned about the sides of the book case not 
> being strong enough to handle the load.
>
Well, I am also somewhat disabled...and I store my 78's (about 57,000) in 
stacked milk
crates. I am able to lift a full "milk box" (around 60-65 lbs.)...at least 
so far...?!

Most available shelving...metal or wood...is NOT capable of supporting 78's; 
as per
an earlier post (possibly to ARSCLIST?), if we assume 78's are about .1" 
thick, then
a two-foot (24") row of them, or 240 78's, weighs about 120 lbs. Thus, 3' 
shelves
have to support 180 lbs., or 4' shelves (a common size for "store-bought) 
sets)
will have to support 240 lbs./shelf...and they WON'T!

If you are building your own wood shelves, it is best to use 3/4" plywood 
(or
1" x 12" boards, which have the same thickness. Then, put supports (about 
11"
high) about every foot between vertically-adjacent shelves. A friend of mine
built "units" about 6" high (6 shelves per unit) and 2' (24") across, and 
then
set them up side by side. Each such unit contains about 1440 78's maximum
(720 lbs. of shellac)...!

Note that the framing of your house also has to support these loads! My
house was built in 1869; so far my many 78's have not caused any cracks
in the plaster walls.

Steven C. Barr