Glass cabinet for my Windstones

[MetalDragoness]

I`m planning on buying a glass cabinet for my Windstone sculpts. I`ve found one from Ikea. I really like the design, but because of the fact that I`m planning on displaying big sculpts like the OW and emperor on certain shelves I wanted to ask if anyone has any experience with this or similar cabinets. The thought of its shelves breaking scares the hell out of me… 😥 Does this cabinet seem appropriate for this purpose? Below is some information about the cabinet:

Product dimensions
Width: 17 3/4 “
Depth: 15 3/4 “
Height: 70 7/8 “
Max load/shelf: 55 lb

Width: 45 cm
Depth: 40 cm
Height: 180 cm
Max load/shelf: 25 kg

good to know
Lock included.
Handle with care! A strike, knock or scratch can cause the glass to crack suddenly. However, only into small pieces, never into sharp fragments.

product description & measurements
Back/ Adjustable shelf/ Bottom panel/ Door/ Top panel: Tempered/safety glass
Shelf/ Frame: Steel, Pigmented epoxy/polyester powder coating

Here`s a photo

If anyone owns another glass cabinet from Ikea and you`re satified with it, please let me know which one and I will consider it if they offer it at my nearest Ikea… 🙂

[MetalDragoness]

[Morrigan]

A while ago I kitted out my room with alot of Laxvik units from Ikea:

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/90114747
http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/60114744
http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/50114749

I found the weight limit on the site helpful, I never went over the 25kg. Once converted to lbs, I just used the weights of the sculpts given in the store for reference so that I didn’t overload them.

I know they’re probably slightly different to your unit but I’ve found Ikea to be very reliable quality wise. I also have one of their wooden shelving units for Windstones. 🙂

[Bodine]

My reply is NO.I had one with only two shelves,curio,mostly wood and now I have two damaged dragons.Just my experience,I am way more careful of where they sit now. 🙂 They are heavy so your glass must be of a thicker design at least.Tempered perhaps.

Every act matters.No matter how small💞
(Wanted......Brimstone Lap)
Male Hearth....one day🤞Dream on.

[twindragonsmum]

My curio has glass shelves and I think the trick is to not “over load” them. The heavier, larger sculpts reside in the lower level of the cabinet and the lighter, smaller sculpts are in the upper portion. I also use a product call “museum wax or gel” which is clear and “sticks” the sculpts to the shelves. It is easily removed and reusable and everything in the curio survived the 1989 Loma Prieta, California earthquake. We lived at the epicenter of that one….

twindragonsmum 😀

tdm

[Morrigan]

bodine6127 wrote:

My reply is NO.I had one with only two shelves,curio,mostly wood and now I have two damaged dragons.Just my experience,I am way more careful of where they sit now. 🙂 They are heavy so your glass must be of a thicker design at least.Tempered perhaps.

Ikea glass shelves are generally tempered and they withstand the weight pretty well. Mine are holding up fine. Two Old Warriors are no problem for the 25kg/55lb shelves since they’re about 30lb according to the store. 🙂 But as twindragonsmum said, the trick is to not overload past the 25kg weight limit and you should be safe.

[PurpleTurtle]

I have a glass shelf curio that I use for smaller sculpts – both Windstones and others. I personally don’t like it. I love the looks of it, but I’m always worried that I’m going crack and break the glass when I re-arrange my stuff. I am also limited on how many sculpts I can put on them. Most of my guys are on regular bookshelves. Granted, you can overload bookshelves, but I feel more confident using them.

[MetalDragoness]

Thanks for your help! 🙂 I`m so sorry about what happened to your sculpts Mi! 🙁
I was planning on putting my OWs and Emperor alone (one OW or emperor per shelf) or perhaps the emperor in company with a fledge and the Emerald OW in company with the emerald lap… Then there would be 32 lb left to go before reaching the max load on the OW/lap shelf and about 36 left to go on the Emperor/fledge shelf… Many lb left to go in other words… Should not be a problem then?

[Morrigan]

MetalDragoness wrote:

Thanks for your help! 🙂 I`m so sorry about what happened to your sculpts Mi! 🙁
I was planning on putting my OWs and Emperor alone (one OW or emperor per shelf) or perhaps the emperor in company with a fledge and the Emerald OW in company with the emerald lap… Then there would be 32 lb left to go before reaching the max load on the OW/lap shelf and about 36 left to go on the Emperor/fledge shelf… Many lb left to go in other words… Should not be a problem then?

That sounds fine in theory. 🙂 One on of my shelves I have an OW, Lap and Fledgling and they’re doing good. That’s about half the maximum weight capacity but I can’t fit anything else on due to space lol!

[.]

Just my $1.05 worth:

Ikea (as far as I know) is a reliable brand. Just don’t go with any knock of brands from a local discounter (ex. Target, ShopKo, K-Mart, etc.). I have glass shelves for the past 3+ year without issue and I had several heavy sculpts on each level. My shelves were made as a part of a entertainment console (2 shelving units connected with a lower shelf for a big screen). I just bought one, since that is all I needed and they were made for holding electronics (like tuners, DVD players, etc.). Things you want to make sure of is that the glass is tempered, the holders (for the glass) are metal or better (if they are plastic pegs, don’t use it) and that the way the pegs are secured into the frame are secure. My shelves are supported from underneath with a metal frame on 2 sides (no pegs are used) so the weight bearing is done by the glass only, not glass AND pegs.

Distribute weight evenly. It’s ok to have 2 heavy sculpts (i.e. lap dragons, large flap cat, griffins) on the same shelf, but balance them side by side or front to back. If the shelves are supported by pegs only then I would limit one large sculpt to each shelf, and lighter pieces (PYOs, small flap cats, etc.) as extras. The other thing you need be careful of are any other items you have that are long and slender and could tip over in a gentle earthquake or if someone walks by the shelf and it sways a little (yes, they are safe to do this – not everyone has concrete floors that don’t move). If an object can fall over (and is a bit heavy) and has a possible sharp edge, tack it down with museum putty. The danger (even with tempered glass) is that if an object tips over, if it has enough momentum behind it it can crack the glass and then the shelf in danger of collapse. The only pieces I ever had issues of falling over (while dusting) were my mermaid and hatching pegasus. I have another collectible (non-Windstone) that I tack down for this reason.

Don’t fear glass shelves, just find a good sturdy set (do a lot of shopping). You’ll know when you find them.

For very heavy pieces (i.e. Large Wizards) I kept on the bottom most shelf that was metal since there was so much weight concentrated in one space. I did try it on my top shelf – no issues, but I just didn’t like it as well as on the bottom for weight stability with the unit as a whole.

Good luck on your search.

The shelving unit I am currently using. *

* Windstone collection has changed a bit, but this is when it was it’s fullest.

[Bodine]

i had one on the shelf and not centered.It took about a month and all of a sudden,BLAM!!
Now they are on wood or bottom shelves as a rule.I am not saying yours would or wouldn’t,it’s just one of mine did.For no reason other than stress on a glass.Maybe a weak glass but that is my point,never know.Nice cabinet for showing them off though,very pretty.

Every act matters.No matter how small💞
(Wanted......Brimstone Lap)
Male Hearth....one day🤞Dream on.

[BDW]

I also put the heavier pieces near the sides not the middle. That helps.
I also have ikea cabinets, not like the one you pictured but my emperor, scratcher, and old warrior sit at the bottom shelf. The others have the heavy pieces on the sides and smaller ones in the middle and all is well balanced. 🙂

[Nicole]

I have a glass curio cabinet and i can display a scratcher and a lap on one shelf or other combinations of dragons, really whatever i can fit on a shelf space wise seems to be fine weight wise and i’ve never had any problems (fingers crossed). I’ve had it set up for over a year. I do remember reading the weight requirements when i got it but i’ve forgotten them now 🙄 😆 Basically though for mine it can hold more weight than i can fit on a shelf but it’s also made of wood and decently thick glass. It’s not ikea though, they have good prices but their cabinets never appeal to me visually

[MetalDragoness]

SilverArrow: Your glass cabinet looks very pretty! Has to be a little bigger than the Ikea cabinet pictured in my first post… Thank you very much for your detailed information and your advice! 🙂 I believe the cabinet pictured in my first post is supported by pegs only (if I understand “pegs” correctly. My English fails me sometimes). Maybe it would be a better idea to only display my small Windstones in a glass cabinet like that one… The item description reads: “Shelf/ Frame: Steel, Pigmented epoxy/polyester powder” btw.

I will most likely buy an Ikea product because of the fact that their prices are much more affordable than most other options (at least they are here in Norway), and I can`t afford a particularly expensive glass cabinet or shelf unit at the moment… I recently found another product from Ikea that I like. It`s a shelf unit and the whole unit (including the shelves) are made out of wood and each shelf can hold up to 30 kg. I`ve compared the measurements to my mothers shelf unit and according to the measurements it seems suitable for Windstones and I strongly believe I would be able to put more sculpts into it than I would in the glass cabinet from Ikea pictured… It does have glass doors and there are not thick frames surrounding them hiding my Windstones… 🙂

If anyone would like to see it click the link:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S99884860

[Bodine]

There you go 😀

Every act matters.No matter how small💞
(Wanted......Brimstone Lap)
Male Hearth....one day🤞Dream on.

[Author]

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