Atocha Design LP Storage Cabinets

thase13 · Jun 5, 2018

Ron Resnick said:
While researching LP storage cabinets I found Jenn Atocha of Atocha Design, in New York.

Atocha cabinets are extremely well made and are very heavy. I offer up two suggestions that you might consider inquiring about before you finalize your order. First, see if you can get Jenn to countersink the screws holding the drawer fascias and pulls in place. The drawer's fascia retention screws are broad and flat-headed but still sit a bit proud of the inside surface of the drawer. The drawer pull retention screws OTOH are round headed and stick out about 1/8" off the inner drawer surface. You run the risk of scarring the cover of the first LP in the drawer if you overfill the drawer. These round head drawer pull retention screws should be flat-headed and countersunk to prevent damage to your album covers.

The second recommendation would be to see if Jenn could increase the depth of the drawers by 1-1-1/2". The current drawers are a little over 13.5" deep and barely accommodate the top edge of a 13x13 LP jacket with protective mylar cover. If you happen to top load 5-mil protective covers or want to use tabbed dividers there is simply not enough clearance to allow the drawer to close.

rockitman · Jun 5, 2018

GMKF said:
Top "floor" mostly HAG with some Märklin in-between.
Second "floor" Märklin and one Liliput BR05.
Third "floor" mostly Märklin with some HAG in-between.
Bottom floor Märklin and One Roco A/E 6/6 and A/E 8/14 III plus Fulgurex/Roxy AE 6/8 I and II.

Those are real beauties !

RogerD · Jun 5, 2018

Ron,

Go to a cabinet maker, like for custom kitchens. Look at some photos on the net and find something you like. The cabinet maker should be able to use any hardwood you like. They usually work with a finisher and will come out measure too and deliver & install.

NorthStar · Jun 5, 2018

It's very elegant and classy Ron, you have good taste.

Kcin · Jun 5, 2018

Ron Resnick said:
As we get a bit closer towards being able to return to our repaired house later this year I recalled that all I have done for the last five years is buy boxes upon boxes of new LPs, which remain sealed in their unopened boxes. I do not want to line the listening room with shelves, so where to put all of these new LPs?

While researching LP storage cabinets I found Jenn Atocha of Atocha Design, in New York.

Hi Ron ,

Those look very nice.

I ended up building my own from steel,solid maple and walnut dovetailed joints and rabbetted bottom. For me they had to be mobile as I like to clean in behind periodically. These are easily repeated and I will be building more this fall.

https://www.atochadesign.com

View attachment 41660

Atocha Design makes high-quality, custom LP storage cabinets. Interestingly. the drawers of her cabinets let you peruse your albums the way you would in a record store -- rather then struggling with a flashlight to read the tiny vertical print on record cover spines.

View attachment 41661

Jenn uses natural wood veneers and offers a wood base or steel, powder-coated base. The drawers are designed to support easily the heavy weight of 95 LPs.

Jenn will also entertain requests for custom sizes of cabinets.

I am planning to order a 6 LP drawer cabinet and a matching taller cabinet, two drawers wide and four drawers tall, for tapes. Jenn can make the cabinets less mid-century and more current contemporary by using the steel base, power-coated in black, and by "ebonizing" the walnut to create a black finish.

Those look very nice.

I ended up building my own from steel, solid maple and walnut. Dovetail joints and solid rabbetted bottom . Industrial casters so I can move and clean in behind. At the time I could not Find local providers that could build something like your choice.

Ron Resnick · Jun 5, 2018

thase13 said:
Atocha cabinets are extremely well made and are very heavy. I offer up two suggestions that you might consider inquiring about before you finalize your order. First, see if you can get Jenn to countersink the screws holding the drawer fascias and pulls in place. The drawer's fascia retention screws are broad and flat-headed but still sit a bit proud of the inside surface of the drawer. The drawer pull retention screws OTOH are round headed and stick out about 1/8" off the inner drawer surface. You run the risk of scarring the cover of the first LP in the drawer if you overfill the drawer. These round head drawer pull retention screws should be flat-headed and countersunk to prevent damage to your album covers.

The second recommendation would be to see if Jenn could increase the depth of the drawers by 1-1-1/2". The current drawers are a little over 13.5" deep and barely accommodate the top edge of a 13x13 LP jacket with protective mylar cover. If you happen to top load 5-mil protective covers or want to use tabbed dividers there is simply not enough clearance to allow the drawer to close.

Thank you very much, thase13, for these valuable recommendations! I will be sure to request them!

With regard to your second recommendation do you mean that the drawer should be deeper, or that the drawer should have greater vertical height clearance? (Your description sounds like you’re talking about height rather than depth.)

Ron Resnick · Jun 5, 2018

RogerD said:
Ron,

Go to a cabinet maker, like for custom kitchens. Look at some photos on the net and find something you like. The cabinet maker should be able to use any hardwood you like. They usually work with a finisher and will come out measure too and deliver & install.

Thank you, Roger, but I don’t see the point in reinventing the wheel when these are designed to hold heavy batches of LPs.

If I can make them more contemporary with a black finish and a steel base I am happy with these.

jazdoc · Jun 5, 2018

I have ordered but not yet received these shelves from Stan Pike> They are less expensive than the beautiful Atocha cabinets.

Ron Resnick · Jun 5, 2018

Mike Lavigne said:
. . . those skinny little wood legs. Lp's will eventually break down anything not really well supported. the constant pulling and pushing Lp's in and out of any space (especially a drawer sliding on rails) will loosen things. I'd recommend something that has the whole length sitting on the floor. and avoiding the combination of drawers and Lps.

or plan on replacing or repairing the furniture regularly.

Thank you, Mike. I am envisioning 6 LP drawers. I agree about the wood legs. The steel stand will be a lot sturdier.

Ron Resnick · Jun 5, 2018

Mike Lavigne said:
I have some of my Lp shelves with 13" openings, and others with 14" openings for boxed sets.

That is what I needed to know!

How tall is the opening on your tape box storage shelves?

Ron Resnick · Jun 5, 2018

Kcin said:
Those look very nice.

I ended up building my own from steel, solid maple and walnut. Dovetail joints and solid rabbetted bottom . Industrial casters so I can move and clean in behind. At the time I could not Find local providers that could build something like your choice.

Those rollers look like a great system, Nick!

Ron Resnick · Jun 5, 2018

jazdoc said:
I have ordered but not yet received these shelves from Stan Pike> They are less expensive than the beautiful Atocha cabinets.

They look beautifully made!

bazelio · Jun 5, 2018

DaveyF said:
The problem I see with that kind of storage is that you will always have to flip through numerous LP's to get to the one you want. Instead of being able to see from the spline what it is that you are looking at, which is what you get when you utilize the shelf method.

+1 It's really inconvenient. I visited Joe Hakim a few weeks back and he had upright shelves which also had individual doors over each LP cubby. If you had something like that (likely custom made), it'd provide the convenience of being able to view the album spines while being able to close the doors and keep the LPs out of sight.

thase13 · Jun 5, 2018

Ron Resnick said:
Thank you very much, thase13, for these valuable recommendations! I will be sure to request them!

With regard to your second recommendation do you mean that the drawer should be deeper, or that the drawer should have greater vertical height clearance? (Your description sounds like you’re talking more about height rather than depth.)

A picture is worth a thousand words...

Frame clearance is tight on both the upper and lower LP drawer compartments. Tabbed dividers are a non-starter with the drawers in the stock configuration.

Also note the protruding screwheads... I originally covered them with adhesive felt pads but incessantly worried that they applied too much direct contact pressure on the LP surface so I ended up purchasing wooden tabbed dividers from Amazon and snapping off the tabs. Additionally, the CD storage drawers are the width of two jewel cases with approximately 2 inches to spare and also suffer from top side clearance issues on most cd box sets. You can't stack hinged end up because the drawers are too shallow. Consequently, you'll be looking down on the translucent top edge of your jewel cases.

I must add that this is not Ikea-quality furniture, this can be categorized as OMFG, hernia-inducing, "I-think-I'm-lifting-a-f'ing-elephant" furniture. Staircases are not your friend in this case.

Ron Resnick · Jun 5, 2018

I have way more sealed LPs than open LPs. The sealed LPs will go, I think, in a closet just outside the listening room. I want this Atocha LP cabinet just for opened LPs I actually will play, and the custom tall Atocha cabinet for tapes (whether opened or not).

Ron Resnick · Jun 5, 2018

bazelio said:
+1 It's really inconvenient. I visited Joe Hakim a few weeks back and he had upright shelves which also had individual doors over each LP cubby. If you had something like that (likely custom made), it'd provide the convenience of being able to view the album spines while being able to close the doors and keep the LPs out of sight.

I have had bad eyes since third grade. I am done crawling around on the floor with a Maglight and reading glasses trying to read the tiny print on the spines of the LP covers.

bazelio · Jun 5, 2018

Ron Resnick said:
I have had bad eyes since third grade. I am done crawling around on the floor with a Maglight and reading glasses trying to read the tiny print on the spines of the LP covers.

LOL fair enough! On the flip side, some of the Atocha veneers are simply stunning.

Ron Resnick · Jun 5, 2018

thase13 said:
A picture is worth a thousand words...

View attachment 41693

Frame clearance is tight on both the upper and lower LP drawer compartments. Tabbed dividers are a non-starter with the drawers in the stock configuration.

View attachment 41694

Also note the protruding screwheads... I originally covered them with adhesive felt pads but incessantly worried that they applied too much direct contact pressure on the LP surface so I ended up purchasing wooden tabbed dividers from Amazon and snapping off the tabs. Additionally, the CD storage drawers are the width of two jewel cases with approximately 2 inches to spare and also suffer from top side clearance issues on most cd box sets. You can't stack hinged end up because the drawers are too shallow. Consequently, you'll be looking down on the translucent top edge of your jewel cases.

I must add that this is not Ikea-quality furniture, this can be categorized as OMFG, hernia-inducing, "I-think-I'm-lifting-a-f'ing-elephant" furniture. Staircases are not your friend in this case.

Thank you for those photos! I see what you mean -- I think of it as requiring greater vertical space.

Since the tape boxes require 15" openings maybe I will just ask her to make the LP drawer openings 15" tall as well.

How many LPs do you put in each drawer?

thase13 · Jun 5, 2018

Ron Resnick said:
How many LPs do you put in each drawer?

I'm able to store approximately 37 180 gram MoFi, ORG, and/or Blue Note 45 RPM double LPs with the records stored outside of the LP jacket pockets in individual MA Recordings protective sleeves. The LPs are stored in 2mil clear protective jackets with flap. Each drawer has the wooden divider occupying the first position and I've left enough room to riffle (not flip) through each LP.

thase13 · Jun 5, 2018

Kcin said:
Those look very nice.

I ended up building my own from steel, solid maple and walnut. Dovetail joints and solid rabbetted bottom . Industrial casters so I can move and clean in behind. At the time I could not Find local providers that could build something like your choice.

Necessity is the mother of invention and those are quite nice! Well done indeed!

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