Simple Cheap Modern Comic Book Display Shelf

I have always wanted to display my comics for decorative purposes the problem was it is hard to get those little buggers to stand up! Solution! Two, seven foot long modern clean DIY comic books shelves for less that ten bucks a pop!

Step 1: Tools

Table Saw for cutting a groove

Jig Saw for cutting shapes

Sand Paper

Step 2: Material List

Piece of angled steel or aluminum

Scrap Wood

A few screw

Step 3: Ideas... and Issues

At first my plan was to cut, rip, and rout some wood to create a simple lip and mount that right to the wall. A few problems arose first.

A) I couldn't get the depth right on the self

B) The wood was never straight enough

C) My freakin' wall wasn't even straight

So i began searching for alternatives..

Step 4: Eureka

Why reinvent the wheel? Angle steel tubing , or even aluminum, is designed to hold it shape and creates a great "lip" height on the front to keep the comics from sliding off. The problem now became how to mount the steel to the wall?

In the picture on this step I have two, seven foot long pieces of 1/8 by 1 inch stock 90 degree steel angle. Each piece cost about $7 from a local big box store. You could also use aluminum in you are concerned with weight.

The steel has a rough dirty finish that you don't want you comic book collection sitting directly on so get it a new coat of paint. I used left over matte black finish paint and it came out great awesome texture and protective finish. No other prep work was need for the shelf unit it self.

Step 5: On to Mounting

How on earth do you get the steel to the wall? For me the answer is wood. I have a scrap piece of walnut laying around and decided to make it my mounting bracket.

All I needed to do was measure the thickness of the steel and created a channel on the piece of walnut the same width. The walnut was roughly and inch thick so I set my table saw to 3/4 inch and created a nice grove that did not cut the wood in half but simply made a nice little slot for the steel to slide into.

Once I cut the channel on the whole walnut piece I decided to cut the mount pieces and simply used the circle as my shape. However at this point you could use your jig saw to cut any shape you want comic book related. Maybe a super hero logo shape or the "POW" shape that is comic themed. Get creative with the shape jig saws make work very easy.

Step 6: Finishing

After I cut the circle mount brackets from the scrap wood I sanded the finished and sprayed them with a water based clear cut finish to add contrast to the matte black finish of the steel.

Step 7: Mounting

Now it was time to mount it. Screw the brackets in your wall into a stud. I used only one screw for each and they are mounted very secure. Make sure the mounts are level then simply slide your finished angle steel into the groove. I cut my groove a little tight as to hold the steel there without adhesives only pressure and friction and it holds great. When that is done load up your comics!

Step 8: Final Thoughts

I am glad I went this the whole design process on this one. When first visualizing the idea I was set in stone that my first sketches would work great, but they were awful. There were many flaws and factors I didn't take into account.

After that I was able to look at the idea as a whole and really come up with a better more visually pleasing design. Also it fixed a few issues. Because the steel does not come into contact with the wall, it is less than a quarter inch away because the wood grooves were not cut all the way through, you can not tell how uneven my drywall is. That was a major issues with having a self contact the wall for the whole span.

Hope you guys enjoyed please ask questions and vote. Thank you.