Tony's Woodshop Record Racks Reviewed

After receiving a tip and covering the modular, stackable and reasonably priced record storage racks from Tony's Woodshop I bit and bought a dozen.

I opted for finished oak costing $55 each including shipping. These are being used in my utility room so I didn't opt for a base unit, even though that meant the lowest unit wouldn't provide full bottom record support. A reader expressed concern about that, but I've not had an issue with it after decades of using the Per Madsen racks that provide even less support on bottom.

They arrived and I immediately smelled a very strong stain odor coming from the boxes that intensified upon unboxing them. I should have taken them outside and left them under my deck until the odor dissipated but I was anxious to get the units up and the records on them to avoid the near catastrophe I had when a similar IKEA shelving rack broke apart because the glue had dried up. This one was showing signs.

The vapors emanating from the racks ended up wafting throughout the house and my wife has asthma. Not good! However, Tony insists that he's used this same General Finishes Satin Finish stain for many years and never before encountered this problem so I'm not sure why I did.

With the help of a few fans I was able to guide the vapors outside over the course of a few days. Now, months later there's only a faint lingering, but acceptable smell that's not detectable outside of the utility room even with the door open.

Please don't let this deter you if you are at all interested in these racks because they are extremely well-built and sturdy. They are stackable and when stacked provide full bottom record support and I think they are attractive too as well as being reasonably priced. So I am a happy Tony's Woodshop customer.

My original plan was to stack them three across but being mathlexic I measured incorrectly so now I'm left with that unused space that I need to fill with some kind of shelving because I have plenty of "stuff" to put on them!

COMMENTS
vinylvin's picture

I bought 3 unfinished, then 1 finished. I could not get get rid of the smell. I sanded lightly & put a water base clear over it. This usually
works, didn't this time. I sanded all that stain off & put the water base clear again, ok now. I really like them also.

Plus LPs hit the edges at the bottom, I cut down MoFi inserts from LPs or sleeves & put them at the bottom. Then LPs slide in nice.

gMRfk6LMHn's picture

A record store owner gave me a tip when I was trying to get shelving for my LP collection. He said there was a place locally that would cut 1'' maple plywood to any specification. So I measured the alcove one side of our fireplace (never lit)and gave them all the measurements I need, then I put it all together. Really sturdy unit, only problem is it now full so I need to measure the other side to continue.

[URL=http://s586.photobucket.com/user/gleannain/media/spinesout.jpg.html][IMG...
James, Dublin, Ireland

gMRfk6LMHn's picture

Can you not post a Photobucket link to see a photograph?

James, Dublin, Ireland

rshak's picture

and table tops from Tony about a year and a half ago. Over many years I had acquired more than 60 of Per Madsen's cabinets (the fancier ones with glass doors) and needed to do a bit of "reconfiguration." to the system. I found myself short a few dolley bases and table tops, and the ones that Tony provided are absolutely indistinguishable from those I bought from Per. Highly recommended!

Zardoz's picture

and stained them myself. Even though I left them in my garage for a few days after staining, the stain still had an odor for a few days after transferring them to my room. I decided the odor was stronger in my room just because the room is kept closed. Any stain or paint that I have ever used has an odor, at least for a while. So other than dealing with the inedible odor for a short period on time, these are great, well made, and reasonably priced units. And the tops and bases give the unit a very nice finished look.

Zardoz's picture

darn spell checker

USCGRetired09's picture

I ordered 4 cubes, the base and top in finished cherry. The odor of newly finished wood is present, but I don't happen to mind that. It took 18 days to ship them from PA to AZ. That's right, 18 days. The racks are solid, but don't fit as well, and sit as smooth as I had hoped. When I slide a record in, sometimes it hits one of the boards that is sticking up a bit. Not a show stopper. The first top he sent me was corner damaged. He sent me another, but it showed up damaged as well. Some corner protection in the boxes would fix this right up. All in all, they are well built, and don't seem to be outrageously priced. Inspect after shipping.

X