Getting the most out of display cabinets

[DarkSpade]

Picked up a couple of these:
https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10119206/

They look great, but there's more vertical space than I need(on some shelves, a lot more). I know there's shelf and cabinet organizers out there that may work, but they leave the lower shelves in a shadow.  I've got a couple of these clear step shelves, but overall, they're too small. https://otakumode.com/shop/597ea798d66e3cc618b7ed56/Collection-Stage

Curious to see if anyone here has used similar cabinets and what you did to solve this problem(if you had the same problem).

[Hellraiser]

Hmm, those look nice,   I wonder if there is some with more than 4 shelves.

[Feenix74]

They are great display cabinets. You can add extra shelves to them with few simple modifications:

https://www.igorkromin.net/index.php/2017/05/08/adding-extra-shelves-to-the-ikea-detolf-display-cabinet/

Also, if you jump on ebay and do a search there are extra shelf brackets that people have manufactured and sell to make it easy to add the extra shelves.

[DarkSpade]

They are great display cabinets. You can add extra shelves to them with few simple modifications:

https://www.igorkromin.net/index.php/2017/05/08/adding-extra-shelves-to-the-ikea-detolf-display-cabinet/

Also, if you jump on ebay and do a search there are extra shelf brackets that people have manufactured and sell to make it easy to add the extra shelves.

I may try that.  I wonder if getting the custom cut tempered glass is expensive.

i remembered today that Bed Bath and Beyond have some clear step shelves for kitchen cabinets.  I'll have to check that this weekend.

[Feenix74]

Is tempered glass a must have for you? Have you considered optical grade acrylic instead? It is lighter, stronger and easy to work yourself if you are handy with a bandsaw/jigsaw and a file to clean up the cut edges. Otherwise, if you are not handy then many glaziers should be able to supply and cut tempered glass and/or optical grade acrylic sheet (well they can here in Australia, and I assume that is the case where you are).

[DarkSpade]

Isn't acrylic easy to scratch though?

There's a place here in town, but they've got no website to get info from and google reviews make it sound like they're not someone I want to do business with.  I'll have to see what else is reasonably near by if I decide to go this route.

[NeonKnight]

I have these same shelves, and have modded mine to take extra shelves. (see pics)

First I got a bunch of these:



Should be able to find in any hardware store. they are cable clamps. Need I believe the 5mm ones.

I also bought a bunch of this:

https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p.std-hardboard-panel-14-inches-x-2-feet-x-2-feet.1000434567.html

Can also get in the 2 feet x 4 feet.

With the boards, you will need to cut yourself, or can get cut at Home Depot or other stores to the following size:

13" x 15"

As can be seen in SHELF 1 pic, I like to double mine up (glued) for added stability.

Finally, I recommend getting some heavy gauge wire, usually find that at a hobby store, as they don't normally carry that in Home Depot.

With that, I like to make a few support bars as well as a cross bar to rest under the shelf. Again, these are me being extra cautious to ensure nothing falls (see 3rd pic).

all told, the costs are extremely cheap per shelf for extra selves, and should cost around $20-25 to make around 4 shelves.

[DarkSpade]

Cable clamps seem to be the go to item for modding glass cases.

Doesn't the wood block light to the lower shelves?   I wonder how hard it would be to make some half depth shelves.

[NeonKnight]

Cable clamps seem to be the go to item for modding glass cases.

Doesn't the wood block light to the lower shelves?   I wonder how hard it would be to make some half depth shelves.

While YES, the wood does block the light to a lower shelf...so does row upon row of battlemechs really ;)

And in the first Pic you can see the shelves aren't light starved that much by the solid shelves

[DarkSpade]

I can confirm that Bed Bath and Beyond had clear plastic stepped shelves in their spice rack section!

"had"

Apparently they were discontinued in stores recently.   :-\

[DarkSpade]

An update!

First off, I found these. Too big for minis, but great for all my other stuff.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D3DFFZN/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_image_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I also found these for adding more shelves.  4 cost me about $16 each after shipping, which is pretty reasonable in my opinion.  Haven't arrived yet though.
http://displayandplayuk.com/product/dasik-detolf-acrylic-shelf-insert-kit/

Oh, and by the way, the glass can explode.  Discovered that at 2AM this morning.  The door of my first cabinet is currently sitting in two different storage tubs.  Well, at least most of it.  Some of it is still in the dining room, living room, and hallway carpet.

[Daryk]

That's definitely the wrong kind of glass...  :-\

[DarkSpade]

That's definitely the wrong kind of glass...  :-\

Ironically, the explosion is because it's the right kind of glass. When regular glass breaks it shatters into larger pieces(with less velocity), but those pieces are all razor blades of different shapes and sizes.  Tempered glass breaks into quarter inch pieces with not as sharp edges.  Down side is that its mess kind of spreads itself out.  ;D  Tempered is generally stronger as long as it doesn't take too much damage to the edge.  I once saw a glass table top shatter when the person holding it set it down on its edge on a concrete floor.  Found a pile of pieces several days later on a ledge 3 to 4 feet away and 7+ feet up. She was spooked, but otherwise fine.

The door that exploded never quite closed right so I'm hoping its just a case of a little bit of stress over a long time and not something I have to look forward to for my other 3 cabinets.

[Daryk]

I had a car door window shatter on me overnight once... took forever to get all the pieces out of my truck...   :P

[dgorsman]

Those little squares are sharp little buggers, rivaling Lego bricks.  They get embedded very easily in things like shoe soles, and feet.

[DOC_Agren]

good luck finding all the pieces of that glass

[Sabelkatten]

Ironically, the explosion is because it's the right kind of glass. When regular glass breaks it shatters into larger pieces(with less velocity), but those pieces are all razor blades of different shapes and sizes.  Tempered glass breaks into quarter inch pieces with not as sharp edges.  Down side is that its mess kind of spreads itself out.  ;D  Tempered is generally stronger as long as it doesn't take too much damage to the edge.  I once saw a glass table top shatter when the person holding it set it down on its edge on a concrete floor.  Found a pile of pieces several days later on a ledge 3 to 4 feet away and 7+ feet up. She was spooked, but otherwise fine.

The door that exploded never quite closed right so I'm hoping its just a case of a little bit of stress over a long time and not something I have to look forward to for my other 3 cabinets.

There was a bit of a row about it over here a few years ago after a couple of shower doors exploded. As I understand it the production process is very sensitive, just from random chance a few pieces are likely to explode randomly at some point due to built-in stresses.