For Sale Huge custom made wood slide storage cabinet- San Diego CA

[Analogette]

This cabinet was custom made for a professional film photographer to store film slides. I have no idea how many slides the cabinet holds, but many thousands for sure. It is a truly one-of-a-kind item.

Structurally the cabinet is in excellent condition.

Cosmetically it's in very good condition overall, with the exception of some scrapes on the front cabinet doors that can be seen in the photos with the hand for scale. I included photos of every scrape I could find. There are a few light scratches on the top. It's dusty all over and needs a good cleaning with wood cleaner. Unsure of the type of wood but it has a beautiful grain and would look great cleaned/polished/lacquered.

I think the wood drawer dividers/inserts are nailed in with tiny nails, but they might also be glued down. (I can take another look if you are interested.) If you removed the inserts the drawers could be used for storing prints.

I do not have the keys for the locks, but the locks could be replaced.

Dimensions:

60.25" wide
30" deep
46" tall in front
63.25" Tall in back
10 drawers
Drawers: 3" tall inside

The cabinet is solid wood and *EXTREMELY* heavy, around 500 pounds. That's a half ton folks! The photographer who had it made used a forklift to move it into his garage. (The cabinet has openings on the bottom for forklift forks.)

You'll need THREE OR FOUR STRONG PEOPLE and a large truck to move it. I can't help move. I can't even get it to budge an inch when pushing with all my strength. I paid three strong professional movers (all men) to move it for me.

Aside from the weight, it's an easy move out from a flat garage off flat alley.

Glasses in the photo are just to show the scale of the drawers. (Glasses are not included).

Asking $240 OBO.

I'm also selling a wood & resin darkroom sink, and an Omega Chromega D5 enlarger + accessories in excellent condition.

PM me with questions.

Cheers!

-Jamie

 

[ChrisPlatt]

Not to split hairs, but isn't a ton 2,000 lbs?

 

[Analogette]

Not to split hairs, but isn't a ton 2,000 lbs?

Yep, you are right. It's been awhile since I dealt with a ton. ;-)

 

[AgX]

I have not yet seen any closet of such a design concerning the dividers. Are they 50mm apart?

One could design some swinging stoppers to be fastened between the dividers, to stop the slides from falling over, the same time forming compartments and enabling to flip-over slides for searching.

 

[scheimfluger_77]

That is exquisite. It’d be a great piece of furniture just all by itself.

 

[Analogette]

That is exquisite. It’d be a great piece of furniture just all by itself.

My dad thinks it should be cleaned up and used in a optometry store to store glasses for sale. I think that's a good idea!

 

[Analogette]

I have not yet seen any closet of such a design concerning the dividers. Are they 50mm apart?

One could design some swinging stoppers to be fastened between the dividers, to stop the slides from falling over, the same time forming compartments and enabling to flip-over slides for searching.

If someone were really handy with tools, they could also install a lightbox in the top of the cabinet. It's the right height for it!

 

[AgX]

Good idea! With current slim boxes ore rather plates that should be no problem.

 

[Analogette]

**SOLD!**

 

[wiltw]

I would be hesistant to use a wood cabinet...

"Storage Systems and Enclosures

"Proper storage furniture and enclosures for photographic materials are important preventive measures that protect items from physical damage, stabilize delicate or fragile materials, and provide basic care for all materials in the collection. Storage cabinetry and enclosures must be chosen and used carefully, however, so that they do not contribute to the deterioration of collection materials. A number of factors influence storage decisions – condition of the photographs in question, frequency of use, space, environmental conditions, and staff and financial resources available. Often only incremental improvements can be made when working with large collections – but these can have a dramatic impact over the long term.

"Photographic materials can be seriously damaged if stored in cabinets made of inferior materials that offgas harmful chemicals or that do not provide adequate physical protection. Damage is also caused when photographs are stored loosely in oversized containers or too tightly in overstuffed drawers. Prints stored loosely in a file drawer will slump and curl, for example, and be vulnerable to damage each time the drawer is opened and items are handled. Glass plate negatives are especially fragile and will break when crowded into file cabinets unprotected or stacked on top of one another.

"Storage furniture, including cabinets and shelves, should be made of non-combustible, non-corrosive materials such as stainless steel, anodized aluminum, or steel with a powder-coated finish. Shelves made of wood and wood by-products should generally be avoided since they contain lignin, peroxides, and oils that can offgas or migrate to photographic materials. New baked enamel shelving units may offgas harmful chemicals since the paint is very difficult to properly cure during manufacture.

"Prints, negatives, and slides can be damaged by enclosures that are poorly designed or are made of inferior materials. Acidic chemical agents from poor quality materials can migrate to photographs and destroy the images they were meant to protect. Poorly designed enclosures can produce the same result."​

https://www.loc.gov/preservation/care/photolea.html

 

[removed account4]

Yep, you are right. It's been awhile since I dealt with a ton. ;-)

you were almost right 500kg is 1/2 a metric tonne
beautifulcabinet !
imglad its finding a newhome !
do you have a giant flat file in your midst ?
ive been looking for one of them for a long time
but they are always too expensive, and too heavy ..

 

[trendland]

I would be hesistant to use a wood cabinet...

"Storage Systems and Enclosures

"Proper storage furniture and enclosures for photographic materials are important preventive measures that protect items from physical damage, stabilize delicate or fragile materials, and provide basic care for all materials in the collection. Storage cabinetry and enclosures must be chosen and used carefully, however, so that they do not contribute to the deterioration of collection materials. A number of factors influence storage decisions – condition of the photographs in question, frequency of use, space, environmental conditions, and staff and financial resources available. Often only incremental improvements can be made when working with large collections – but these can have a dramatic impact over the long term.

"Photographic materials can be seriously damaged if stored in cabinets made of inferior materials that offgas harmful chemicals or that do not provide adequate physical protection. Damage is also caused when photographs are stored loosely in oversized containers or too tightly in overstuffed drawers. Prints stored loosely in a file drawer will slump and curl, for example, and be vulnerable to damage each time the drawer is opened and items are handled. Glass plate negatives are especially fragile and will break when crowded into file cabinets unprotected or stacked on top of one another.

"Storage furniture, including cabinets and shelves, should be made of non-combustible, non-corrosive materials such as stainless steel, anodized aluminum, or steel with a powder-coated finish. Shelves made of wood and wood by-products should generally be avoided since they contain lignin, peroxides, and oils that can offgas or migrate to photographic materials. New baked enamel shelving units may offgas harmful chemicals since the paint is very difficult to properly cure during manufacture.

"Prints, negatives, and slides can be damaged by enclosures that are poorly designed or are made of inferior materials. Acidic chemical agents from poor quality materials can migrate to photographs and destroy the images they were meant to protect. Poorly designed enclosures can produce the same result."​

https://www.loc.gov/preservation/care/photolea.html

You are right, I also had thoughts in direction if "wood" is the right material for storage slides?.
But "wood" and "wood" isn't allways the same - the more problem is the finishing of that wood.
So any type of special paint colors or (sometimes more bad) "stain", "oil" , "wood wax" isn't the right thing for long time storage. All can be more problematic than some type of plastic.
On the other hand it looks like made many years behind ant that fact will slower the problems with storage.

At last I do remember well some Kind of professional made systems from wood. I had simular ideas
on individual storage. But I also remember pricing.
So a "fine" made joinery work like this is with immense costs.

with regards

PS : Much better than plastic - if slides will survive in that environments - what may be possible !

 

[trendland]

I would be hesistant to use a wood cabinet...

"Storage Systems and Enclosures

"Proper storage furniture and enclosures for photographic materials are important preventive measures that protect items from physical damage, stabilize delicate or fragile materials, and provide basic care for all materials in the collection. Storage cabinetry and enclosures must be chosen and used carefully, however, so that they do not contribute to the deterioration of collection materials. A number of factors influence storage decisions – condition of the photographs in question, frequency of use, space, environmental conditions, and staff and financial resources available. Often only incremental improvements can be made when working with large collections – but these can have a dramatic impact over the long term.

"Photographic materials can be seriously damaged if stored in cabinets made of inferior materials that offgas harmful chemicals or that do not provide adequate physical protection. Damage is also caused when photographs are stored loosely in oversized containers or too tightly in overstuffed drawers. Prints stored loosely in a file drawer will slump and curl, for example, and be vulnerable to damage each time the drawer is opened and items are handled. Glass plate negatives are especially fragile and will break when crowded into file cabinets unprotected or stacked on top of one another.

"Storage furniture, including cabinets and shelves, should be made of non-combustible, non-corrosive materials such as stainless steel, anodized aluminum, or steel with a powder-coated finish. Shelves made of wood and wood by-products should generally be avoided since they contain lignin, peroxides, and oils that can offgas or migrate to photographic materials. New baked enamel shelving units may offgas harmful chemicals since the paint is very difficult to properly cure during manufacture.

"Prints, negatives, and slides can be damaged by enclosures that are poorly designed or are made of inferior materials. Acidic chemical agents from poor quality materials can migrate to photographs and destroy the images they were meant to protect. Poorly designed enclosures can produce the same result."​

https://www.loc.gov/preservation/care/photolea.html

By the way - just out of curiosity - wich type of wood would you recomand for storage photographic stuff? Is there any preference - with lower RISC.
Out of general concerns it should be a species of wood wich a minimum of resin ! In addition it should be not fresh.....so just the material you need from wood, would be much much expensive..

with regards

 

[trendland]

I have not yet seen any closet of such a design concerning the dividers. Are they 50mm apart?

One could design some swinging stoppers to be fastened between the dividers, to stop the slides from falling over, the same time forming compartments and enabling to flip-over slides for searching.

A retired cam - operator showed me a wood made filter suitcase witch contained all the kind of special filters I never heard about. He had a carpenter for its own (via company) so he had not to pay the Carpenters work.

with regards

PS : Filters (glas made) don't care about wood!

 

[AgX]

Yes, filters. The easiest way would just to make stacks per diameter. But with the range of diameters and many samples I got I rather would sort and store them by colour/type. And that is where the trouble starts...

 

[wiltw]

By the way - just out of curiosity - wich type of wood would you recomand for storage photographic stuff? Is there any preference - with lower RISC.
Out of general concerns it should be a species of wood wich a minimum of resin ! In addition it should be not fresh.....so just the material you need from wood, would be much much expensive..

with regards

No specific type of wood ever mentioned, only the guilty 'lignin' content found in some wood. My earlier post stated clearly, " contain lignin, peroxides, and oils that can offgas or migrate to photographic materials". This has been mentioned for decades, BTW. In more recent times it is forgotten because of the fact that organic dyes used in film or prints fell out of use with digital imaging.

 

[AgX]

As you said, these are decades old warnings, though have the alleged destructive effects substantiated in tests over those years?

 

[wiltw]

As you said, these are decades old warnings, though have the alleged destructive effects substantiated in tests over those years?

The article https://www.loc.gov/preservation/care/photolea.html was revised in 2002, and is in the Library of Congress.

I do not have the necessary expertise to know if 50 year old wood is 'safe enough', but then again wood harvested in 2002 is still pretty new

 

[trendland]

No specific type of wood ever mentioned, only the guilty 'lignin' content found in some wood. My earlier post stated clearly, " contain lignin, peroxides, and oils that can offgas or migrate to photographic materials". This has been mentioned for decades, BTW. In more recent times it is forgotten because of the fact that organic dyes used in film or prints fell out of use with digital imaging.

Thanks wiltw for that additional info. Yes that is the all time problem with wood and slidestorage.

with regards

PS : I guess there might be a way with wood (remember the 70th wood cases) - but it isn't the best
of course for the long term storage.
If you compare slides mounted with glass (both sides) and glassless mounting - I would say it can be more bad to slides in comparison to "best wood" storage. (glass mounting from both sides).

 

[trendland]

The article https://www.loc.gov/preservation/care/photolea.html was revised in 2002, and is in the Library of Congress.

I do not have the necessary expertise to know if 50 year old wood is 'safe enough', but then again wood harvested in 2002 is still pretty new

Don't splitting hairs friends!
with regards

PS : I thought about wood in that condition BTW. If it is 50years old (stored in good environmental regions in Canada) it may be times better than fresh wooud out of an Ukrainian forrest....?

 

[Analogette]

***SOLD***