Storing new lego sets - shelf overhang

[Yinchuan]

Hey all-

My house has pretty deep closet shelves. To this point I have been able to stack three to four sets one in front of the other (so essentially you only see the front set). This has worked out but has the disadvantages of not utilizes full space potential because storing horizontally take up about 20" per set, and also I can only see the front set.

i would like to turn the sets sideways, increasing storage space dramatically, allowing me to see all of my sets, and only taking up a few inches of horizontal space per set. 

The problem is that by doing this I will overhang the shelf. If I stack the set vertically, the overhang is only 2-3 inches, but much more weight. If I stack of horizontally, I can more evenly distribute the weight, but the overhang is more like 6-8 inches.

i really am in no mood to damage my entire inventory with box creasing. Could this damage my sets by having the boxes hang over the edge of the shelf?  I will NOT be putting any other boxes or weight on top of the one box.

Thoughts? Thank you!

 

 

[justapilgrim]

Need a different sytem. You are done buying Lego? It's only going to get worse

[BrickLegacy]

I'm trying to visualize what you are explaining here and I think I understand. A picture might help.

I've ran into a similar dilemma and what's worked for me is to lay a piece of wood or heavy duty cardboard underneath, covering not only the shelf but also the additional inches of overhang. This helps keep the sets on an even plane from the back of the shelf to the front of the overhang. Not sure if this would work for really heavy sets though.

[Yinchuan]

6 hours ago, BrickLegacy said:

I'm trying to visualize what you are explaining here and I think I understand. A picture might help.

I've ran into a similar dilemma and what's worked for me is to lay a piece of wood or heavy duty cardboard underneath, covering not only the shelf but also the additional inches of overhang. This helps keep the sets on an even plane from the back of the shelf to the front of the overhang. Not sure if this would work for really heavy sets though.

Yeah, it is hard to envision. Let me try a better description. Imagine the set front facing you. The shelves are about 18" deep so I can stack about 3-4 sets facing me in this manner, but because they face me, they are very wide in the shelves and I can only fit about five sets (x3 deep) across the shelves and only see the outermost sets as well.

I want to turn them sideways to fit more across shells and also allow everything I have to be visible. If I leave them just turned on their horizontal plane, I get a reasonable amount of overhang, if I flip them to their vertical plans, less overhang, but more weight.

I think you are visualizing correctly and you idea makes sense, just unsure the wife would go for it!

i have a couple HH and GE I would rather not test on, but maybe a pilot project with Arctic Base Camp and Benny Spaceships? I am fresh out of Chima. LOL!

 

 

[gregpj]

2 hours ago, Yinchuan said:

Yeah, it is hard to envision. Let me try a better description. Imagine the set front facing you. The shelves are about 18" deep so I can stack about 3-4 sets facing me in this manner, but because they face me, they are very wide in the shelves and I can only fit about five sets (x3 deep) across the shelves and only see the outermost sets as well.

I want to turn them sideways to fit more across shells and also allow everything I have to be visible. If I leave them just turned on their horizontal plane, I get a reasonable amount of overhang, if I flip them to their vertical plans, less overhang, but more weight.

I think you are visualizing correctly and you idea makes sense, just unsure the wife would go for it!

i have a couple HH and GE I would rather not test on, but maybe a pilot project with Arctic Base Camp and Benny Spaceships? I am fresh out of Chima. LOL!

 

 

Don't let them hang over the edge - even 2-3", you're asking for trouble.

Can you replace the shelves to make them wider? If not, I would do the vertical stacking option and get a piece of 1/4" masonite cut to the right width/lengths. Put the new shelves on top of the old shelf and stack away (their own + the weight of the LEGO will keep them in place). 1/4" masonite is strong enough that it will prevent sagging.

If you're keen on doing the "horizontal plane" then you'll need to up your game and go to 1/2" plywood (you can a smooth 1 side S1S type). I wouldn't let 1/4" masonite hang that far...

Don't worry about the weight in the vertical plane - if you enough sets and you can stack them tightly next to each other, that will prevent content sag anyways.