Cardboard CD rack

How to create a cheap, eco-friendly CD rack, that'll even suit your interior decoration.

I needed a temporary CD rack for six months, and since I didn't want to spend money on something I would throw away, I decided to build it on my own. Luck struck when I found 5-6 undamaged, large cardboard boxes that had contained doors in the back yard. I salvaged them and a couple of days later my CD storage concerns were history, my walled untouched and the trees still hug me back.

This is a weekend project due to glue drying time.

Step 1: What you need

Tools: Stanley knife with spare blades, glue spatula, tape measure, pen, powerdrill, screwdriver. Optional: metal ruler, saw, pasting brush.

Materials: large cardboard pieces, glue (I used wood glue), screws, 2 wide, straight strong-ties.

10-12 hours over two days.
Please note that all measurements in this build are metric.

Comments

[rswar2214]

I wish I had found this a few months ago. I just recycled about a metric ton of cardboard after moving. Opportunity missed.

[gaprilday]

Hi, I was thinking that every other or every third layer, you could put a thin piece that only went halfway up or so, you could cause the rack to tip back just a little, forestalling a possible tipping of the cd's if someone slams a door.
It would have to be gradual, of course, but minor planning would do it. Gail

[omicronomicron]

lovely unit! Impressed... how did you hang such a heavy thing up? You say your walls were intact; and I can only see one nail or something at the top.
very creative

[Sandberg]

That was a challenge, actually. I wanted to avoid putting too much strain on a small area of cardboard, so I hung it using two wide angle brackets under the top beam. The beaty of cardboard as a material is that I could easily cut slots in the top beam in order to hide the brackets.
I have had no durability issues due to the weight of the CD's. The shelves very getting a bit frayed, though.

[omicronomicron]

well, we all get a bit tatty after a while, don't we?!
it's still very unique and beautiful.- I keep looking at it wishing I could make one myself! Have a very small cottage (TINY!) and need to put cheap shelves up along the stairs wall, not disturbing the landlord's decor but so i could fit a lot of shlevs as wide as paperbacks and no more. Anyway...great idea.

[PKM]

I knew I rescued that huge cardboard bed-frame box for something! And here I was planning to make a life-size cardboard cutout of Robot.

[baken411]

very nice, cheap (pretty much free) and looks pretty sturdy. does it matter which way you cut the cardboard with the corrugation on the inside and all

[Sandberg]

Pretty much free, yes. The most expensive item was the $12 can of glue, but I had gotten that for free as well. The structural integrity is of course sturdiest if you place the cardboard layers with the corrugations in alternate directions. In the case of my build, I believe it's not immensely important considering the thickness and the small weight requirements. It may become an issue on a larger shelf, but my advise would be to increase the width of the outer frame according to scale. The rack is most vulnerable at the insides of the upper corners, so some sort of strengthening there may be adequate.

[gmjhowe]

Yey, cardboard is good. A great medium. Well written, and very simple. Shows how good a use all that wasted card is.