Space, the next frontier

From: Mike Ford <mikeford_at_netwiz.net>
Date: Fri May 21 00:53:34 1999

I don't have a lack of space. I have a desire to remain married. ;)

To that end I have been going vertical, shelving, the last frontier. I have
about 10 of the typical plastic 6 foot shelf units, and I am currently
eyeballing the mother of all shelves, the Gorilla Rack (a serious steel
structure not ten cents different from the stuff Home Depot uses
themselves, just shorter topping out at 8 feet). Here is a mini review and
request for comments and suggestions.

No Name Kmart brand
Yuck, with very little weight this shelf unit is in serious trouble.
Partially my fault, never, never, never, sit one of these on something else
so that the four corner sections with the posts are not firmly supported. I
sat mine on a huge tack box I deemed too large to move. The sag is so bad
it looks like its melting.

Contico
Still yuck, but looks ok with "light" usage. Mine was fairly happy until I
put a box of transformers on a upper shelf, then it got "weak" in the
knees, but didn't fall over (yet).

Zag
The current top of the line at the CostCo reject discount store I frequent.
At about $17 a pop its hard to complain, but I don't really care for the
two adjustable shelves (since the reject store often has lost the locking
rings).

Rubbermaid
King of the shelves, I just wish I could find more at a decent price.
Sturdiest of the lot, I have one stacked high high high with a monitor on
the top and all sorts of other junk with no wobbles. Shelves have a ridge
around the outside to keep stuff from rolling off, there is a nice little
"dish" in the front to put screws etc. in, and two handle grabber things on
each side to hold a broom and or golf club.

Generic Metal
These have each corner made out of a metal V, and the shelves etc. all
fasten to that via bolts. Stronger than it looks, and the mainstay of most
serious shelf efforts.

Gorilla Racks
The same basic design used in commercial warehouse shelving, except in
"lighter" 14 guage steel. A 6' x 6' x 1.5' unit with 3 shelves is $99 at
Home Depot and requires two people to load the box (two big ones I bet). My
neighbor went serious bananas on this, and bought several of the 6' tall
and one double 8' (shelves share a common center support section). I want
some of these pretty badly, but my lust for toys is at war with my
cheapskate nature. Tomorrow is the show down.

All of these, with the exception of the generic metal unit with all the
nuts and bolts, take just a few minutes to put together, with a rubber
mallet the only required assembly/disassembly tool required.
Received on Fri May 21 1999 - 00:53:34 BST