Vinyl Record Bookends

by ModMischief

101K23015

Intro: Vinyl Record Bookends

Why buy Urban Outfitters'vinyl bookends when you can make your own for free?

They sell these bookends online for £20.00 but you can make your own in 5 minutes with little more than boiling water.

STEP 1: What You'll Need

You will need the following:

vinyl records - scratched or simply unwanted records are easily available for free, small 7" ones will work better for smaller books

flat bottomed heat resistant container

kettle or pot for boiling water

block of wood (optional)

STEP 2: Getting Steamy

Boil some water. You'll want enough to have about an inch of water in your container.

Dip your record into the hot water. The vinyl should bend easily once it heats up.

STEP 3: Better Shape Up

You can use a piece of wood to flatten out any waviness.

If the shape isn't quite right after you remove the record from the water, simply dip it back in and try again.

STEP 4: Take Things Up a Notch

If you're not happy with the simple design of the Urban Outfitters' bookends you can change it up.

With a few cuts and another bend, I made a set of bookends out of a larger 12" LP

15 Comments

ChristianOlsen 12 years ago

Vinyl Record,[url=http://www.icollectrecords.com/]sell old records[/url] , Is a good source of vinyl record now.

lumpee 12 years ago

I used the oven at a low temp to bend my vinyl,use mitts and it works well with no mess.

Tardisaholic 12 years ago

Record bookends would be good to keep all of my vinyl together! :D

timlewisnm 13 years ago

How did you get that etch on there? I should probably search for that on the site... just curious though?

ModMischief 13 years ago

It's actually just white acrylic paint

SantaB 12 years ago

You think it'd be too much to ask for steps on how you created your stencil (if this is in fact how you did it)?

love2make 13 years ago

awesome! i like the painting idea

beckymcmath 13 years ago

I can't wait to try this project! What do you use to cut the record? (To get the fancy shape in the last photo...)

ModMischief 13 years ago

I used a hot knife. Cutting through the vinyl is a little slow going, but not too difficult.

follow 13 years ago

 great idea!! i had some 78 records and wasnt sure it would work since they are not made of vinyl; some of them did turn out great, others simply would not bend.

thanks!

modhomeecteacher 13 years ago

I did a set of these about two years ago for DIY Life. They're now being offered at Urban Outfitters?? How late can they be?
ModHomeEcTeacher

ModMischief 13 years ago

I was surprised that there wasn't already an instructable for these but my searches didn't come up with anything.

modhomeecteacher 13 years ago

Here's the project link. No problem, I just think it's funny that they are only now coming out with these for retail sales.

ChrysN 13 years ago

Wow, they bend that easily?  I love the one you made in step 4!

mikeasaurus 13 years ago

I thought it took more different heat to make a clean bend, nice.
Maybe a new use for some garage-sale records I found recently...