My research on ideal slab storage methods- a lengthy but comprehensive read.... 3 3

[valiantman]

2 hours ago, Galactic_Gnar_Destroyer said:

On 7/17/2019 at 2:58 PM, valiantman said:

Since this topic got bumped, I should update my own setup, which is now to use the same shelves with the spine/staples side down.

May I ask why you decided to change your setup from laying them flat to spine-down? Was it just personal preference or did you learn new information about which method is better?

Two reasons:

Stacking them flat, I got several cracked slabs on the bottom of the stacks.

Even if I could avoid cracks, it is still difficult to pull just one slab from a stack.

No stacks with spine down, and all slabs come out (or go back in their spot) easily.

[ADAMANTIUM]

12 minutes ago, valiantman said:

2 hours ago, Galactic_Gnar_Destroyer said:

On 7/17/2019 at 2:58 PM, valiantman said:

Since this topic got bumped, I should update my own setup, which is now to use the same shelves with the spine/staples side down.

May I ask why you decided to change your setup from laying them flat to spine-down? Was it just personal preference or did you learn new information about which method is better?

Two reasons:

Stacking them flat, I got several cracked slabs on the bottom of the stacks.

Even if I could avoid cracks, it is still difficult to pull just one slab from a stack.

No stacks with spine down, and all slabs come out (or go back in their spot) easily.

look at all the oldish labels with the half-way sticker going across the top  thing of beauty 

[Hollywood1892]

27 minutes ago, valiantman said:

Two reasons:

Stacking them flat, I got several cracked slabs on the bottom of the stacks.

Even if I could avoid cracks, it is still difficult to pull just one slab from a stack.

No stacks with spine down, and all slabs come out (or go back in their spot) easily.

I'd like to know

How many books on top of one another before the pressure started cracking the bottom ones?

[Krismusic]

27 minutes ago, Hollywood1892 said:

I'd like to know

How many books on top of one another before the pressure started cracking the bottom ones?

I’ve seen over 10 start to get cracks or signs of stress after a few years

[Hollywood1892]

1 hour ago, Krismusic said:

I’ve seen over 10 start to get cracks or signs of stress after a few years

I'll be reorganizing tonight

[Krismusic]

19 minutes ago, Hollywood1892 said:

I'll be reorganizing tonight

how high do you have them stacked?

[Hollywood1892]

10 minutes ago, Krismusic said:

how high do you have them stacked?

About 12 high I think

I haven't had any problems yet.

[Krismusic]

14 hours ago, Hollywood1892 said:

About 12 high I think

I haven't had any problems yet.

I would change that to 5 high max I’ve seen 8-10 high have cracked slabs or plastic splinters maybe was unlucky maybe different ages of cases etc... but just my advice from my experiences. 
 

[valiantman]

On 3/28/2020 at 4:18 PM, Krismusic said:

On 3/28/2020 at 3:49 PM, Hollywood1892 said:

I'd like to know

How many books on top of one another before the pressure started cracking the bottom ones?

I’ve seen over 10 start to get cracks or signs of stress after a few years

Well, I didn't have enough bookcases (about 10 years ago), so I would stack them all the way to the top of the shelf.  I think it could hold 18 to 24.  It was pretty obvious if you only stack 8 or 10, there was a lot of wasted space in the bookcases. I wasn't hearing any cracking, so I just kept stacking them up.  The cracks were "upon further inspection".

[Hollywood1892]

19 minutes ago, valiantman said:

Well, I didn't have enough bookcases (about 10 years ago), so I would stack them all the way to the top of the shelf.  I think it could hold 18 to 24.  It was pretty obvious if you only stack 8 or 10, there was a lot of wasted space in the bookcases. I wasn't hearing any cracking, so I just kept stacking them up.  The cracks were "upon further inspection".

I straightened mine out last night

[Krismusic]

5 hours ago, valiantman said:

Well, I didn't have enough bookcases (about 10 years ago), so I would stack them all the way to the top of the shelf.  I think it could hold 18 to 24.  It was pretty obvious if you only stack 8 or 10, there was a lot of wasted space in the bookcases. I wasn't hearing any cracking, so I just kept stacking them up.  The cracks were "upon further inspection".

How high did u get before u started to see cracks or splintering upon further inspection? 

[valiantman]

24 minutes ago, Krismusic said:

6 hours ago, valiantman said:

Well, I didn't have enough bookcases (about 10 years ago), so I would stack them all the way to the top of the shelf.  I think it could hold 18 to 24.  It was pretty obvious if you only stack 8 or 10, there was a lot of wasted space in the bookcases. I wasn't hearing any cracking, so I just kept stacking them up.  The cracks were "upon further inspection".

How high did u get before u started to see cracks or splintering upon further inspection? 

It has been 10 years, but I think most cracks were the result of me trying to pull out a slab near the bottom of the stack (probably around 16 slabs or so) without taking the whole stack off the shelf and doing it very carefully.  I thought I could hold them up with one hand and slide a slab out.  Nope.  Cracks.

[ADAMANTIUM]

16 minutes ago, valiantman said:

43 minutes ago, Krismusic said:

6 hours ago, valiantman said:

Well, I didn't have enough bookcases (about 10 years ago), so I would stack them all the way to the top of the shelf.  I think it could hold 18 to 24.  It was pretty obvious if you only stack 8 or 10, there was a lot of wasted space in the bookcases. I wasn't hearing any cracking, so I just kept stacking them up.  The cracks were "upon further inspection".

How high did u get before u started to see cracks or splintering upon further inspection? 

It has been 10 years, but I think most cracks were the result of me trying to pull out a slab near the bottom of the stack (probably around 16 slabs or so) without taking the whole stack off the shelf and doing it very carefully.  I thought I could hold them up with one hand and slide a slab out.  Nope.  Cracks.

Sorry couldn't resist!

 

[JollyComics]

The copy of Action Comics #1 CGC 9.0 White Pages was at the bottom of the old GA comic book stack inside the cedar chest for 40 years.  The owner bought it in early 1980's and placed it in a safe place (we don't know how he managed the book) in the mountain area in West Virginia for next 30 years.  

[oakman29]

On 7/17/2019 at 12:58 PM, valiantman said:

Since this topic got bumped, I should update my own setup, which is now to use the same shelves with the spine/staples side down.

http://valiantman.com/images/slabvault.jpg

That's much nicer than on top of each other. Bet you found some cracked slabs at the bottom of the pile.

[JC25427N]

Interesting read, thanks for putting it together

So there's nothing inherently wrong with what I assume to be the most common storage setup (in a BCW box in a dark closet)? This is what I do

Does anyone with more care for details do anything extra for that setup?  I've heard of some people putting in the siligel packets in the box if they're in high moisture areas

Edited March 10, 2022 by JC25427N
sentence fragment

[lostboys]

 Not giving up my wood file cabinets. 

I also stack slabs no more than 5 high.

 

[FrankG]

I’ve had my slabs stored in a cedar chest now for about ten years with no problems so far.  After reading this post a while back I arranged them spine side down for probably the past 5 years with no issues.  I try to flip them in direction every few months but still keep the spine down.  I know the OP talks about the negative affects of wood, but how does cedar stack up with the other woods ? One benefit is they are always in a dark place and humidity is pretty constant in the room where the chest is.  Second question, does anyone recommend mylar or some other covering for the slabs besides the original poly bags CGC sends ?   Thanks in advance for any help on this topic. 

[lostboys]

On 3/11/2022 at 11:50 AM, FrankG said:

I’ve had my slabs stored in a cedar chest now for about ten years with no problems so far.  After reading this post a while back I arranged them spine side down for probably the past 5 years with no issues.  I try to flip them in direction every few months but still keep the spine down.  I know the OP talks about the negative affects of wood, but how does cedar stack up with the other woods ? One benefit is they are always in a dark place and humidity is pretty constant in the room where the chest is.  Second question, does anyone recommend mylar or some other covering for the slabs besides the original poly bags CGC sends ?   Thanks in advance for any help on this topic. 

 

I use Diamond CGC mylar bags. You can get 60 bags for $35 on Ebay. They really make the slabs POP !

[Tec-Tac-Toe]

I bury all of my slabs in my backyard. Although it clearly frees space in my house, the digging gets to be tedious.