Home Depot Flat File Cabinet

[Spectre]

My wife picked this up for me from Home Depot. Just thought I'd share.

Flat Life Cabinet 1

Flat Life Cabinet Top

[Spectre]

Flat Life Cabinet Drawer 2

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Flat Life Cabinet Drawer 1

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[Spectre]

Flat Life Cabinet Drawer 3

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Flat Life Cabinet Drawer 4

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[Spectre]

Flat Life Cabinet Drawer 5

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Flat Life Cabinet Drawer 6

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[Spectre]

Flat Life Cabinet Drawers 7 & 8

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Flat Life Cabinet All Drawers

[Bruno]

Simply Brilliant.
Your Wife too !

[Oscar53955]

Woah!

Incredible collection and an awesome way to store and display it. Bravo!

[shermjack]

Wow! Simply Amazing! Your collection, your new cabinet and your wife!

Almost like that cabinet was made for Cards!

Thanks for sharing!

[th4mo]

Wow! Super Classy!

$449.00 in my neck of the woods...

I'll keep my eyes peeled for a sale...

[Thedissident001]

That looks awesome, such a classy way to store a brilliant collection!

[Trungbreezy]

Wow it's like that cabinet was made for cards.

[ecNate]

I remember somebody posting them using a blueprint cabinet for cards and every once in a while I see them at surplus sales, but this is a much more elegant solution. Plus it has the critical spouse approval factor. Very nice!

I also dug up the link to see cost and finish options, to save others the searching - https://www.homedepot.com/p/Martha-Stew ... /206369180

[Ace]

I like that setup. On the upper drawers, how snug are the decks? Is there room to lift up? Same question on lower drawers

[Spectre]

Sorry for the late response... I guess I need to subscribe to the thread to see recent posts...

So here is an update.

Still very happy with the cabinet. I had about 1200 decks in it and it couldn't hold much more, so we got a second one and two different hutches to put on top of them. That being said, all is not perfect.
These are made with very soft wood. While the back, sides and front seem to be very sturdy and heavy, the wood that makes the drawers is probably the softest wood known to man. The bottom of the drawers are very thin and bow. The top four drawers do have support rails under them so not that big of an issue with those. But, the bottom four drawers need support. I used the wood that came with the cabinet to be used as dividers as support rails for one of the cabinets. I still need to do that to the newer one and when I get to it I will post some photos of the work.
Another issue I have is the drawer rails are very cheap. At some point I will probably replace them with something better. But for now, they do the job.

Other than that, like I said, I'm happy. I've looked everywhere for a economical way to display/store my collection. Most of the things I find cost more than what I'm willing to pay, (Mostly because I want to spend the money on more cards). This fits the bill for me.

Most recent setup

Large Hutch

Small Hutch

[Spectre]

As for Ace's questions about the drawer sizes:

The four top drawers hold 14 decks across perfectly. Not too tight and not too loose. It holds 6 decks back but there is a gap. The gap size is the size of a deck of cards turned 90 degrees. Which make for a seventh row that holds 10 decks across. Again, not too tight and not too loose. In total, each drawer can hold 94 decks. Or 376 decks in the top four drawers. (These are standard size decks)

Top Drawers

The middle drawers are what I use for my duplicates or decks owned but don't wish to display or can't because of limits.... The drawer size is tall enough to stand the decks up on end. As such, it will hold 34 decks without being too tight in 6 columns. There is a small gap about two decks wide. In this configuration each middle drawer will hold at least 204 decks. Or 408 total.

You should be able to get an idea from the photos in the original posts.


As for the bottom two drawers, I use them for extra bricks and other boxes. Each drawer can hold 12 bricks pretty easily, which would be 144 decks or 288 for both drawers. Or you could use the drawers in a similar manner as the middle drawers (the bottom drawers are a bit deeper though) that would result in 408 decks.

Bottom Drawers

Now here is the rub.. I have a few decks that I like to keep in carat cases. Carat Cases and odd shaped decks mess up everything. Standard size carat cases, fit 11 across, with a big gap at the end, and 5 deep that leaves a gap of almost one more carat case but not quite. Argh...

With Carat Cases

[Spectre]

I finally got around to bracing the shelves on the second cabinet. Took a could of photos to show the bowing and how I choose to fix it.

Bow

In this photo you can see how the weight of a drawer full of decks bows the bottom of the drawer. The cabinet comes with a bunch of wood to make dividers for the top four drawers. I don't need the dividers but I do need extra bottom support for the bottom four drawers. So I used the extra wood to make these supports.

I first planed to thickness. The strips of wood are very close to the correct thickness as it is, but I wanted them to be just slightly recessed once they get screwed in.

[Spectre]

Next, I cut to width.

Then drilled pilot holes. Because the wood is so soft, this step is a must.

[Spectre]

Then I used #6, 1 inch dry wall screws to fasten the supports to the bottom of the drawer. I used drywall screws because the threads are pretty course and have a lot of bite. I think they grab the soft wood better.

Once both sides are screwed in place, this is the final outcome. No Bow!

Next up, gluing velvet to the bottom of the top four drawers. Coming soon.....

[Bradius]

Thanks for the information on how you are fixing/upgrading this cabinet. It actually is an inexpensive storage solution given the number of decks stored. Compared with other flat file drawers, it is very reasonable, and looks a lot nicer. I hadn’t thought though that the playing card weight would pose a problem. Since though it has been an issue, I have also found issues with the drawer slides. Is that causing you any problems? I am considering getting this cabinet at some point if I can find the space in the house. It may have to wait a few years though.

Also, on the problem with the carat cases fitting well, have you tried some carat cases and some regular decks across to find a better fit?

[Spectre]

Thanks Bradius for the interest. I searched for a long time for a vintage flat file cabinet. Most of the new ones are made from sheet metal today. They look like they belong in an office, not a home. The older wood versions can be found on eBay pretty easy, but rarely are they shipped and listed as local pick-up only. This poses a big problem for me being in the middle of nowhere. Plus at the end of the day, they're pretty expensive and I would much rather spend more money on more decks. This does offer a somewhat more elegant & cheaper solution. For the most part it's as close to perfect as can be in my situation.

The drawer slides are pretty cheaply made and I think in the future I will replace them, but for now they do hold up ok to the weight of the drawer full of decks. On the newer of the two cabinets, a few of the rails got a little crushed in the shipping. Not difficult to repair, just used some needle nose pliers to straighten out the areas that needed straighten.

As for my Carat Case issues, I have done (or should say am doing) as you mentioned. I found a couple of solutions that I like. See photos below.

In this photo, there is a mix of Shermjack's XSC and X1 Carat Cases. In the first row, I have found the 10 XSC cases and 1 X1 case fit perfect. In rows 2-4, 10 X1 cases with an uncased deck on each side works well, but there is a slight gap. The 5th row, is waiting on a new cases that Sherman tells me might be coming this summer. They should house the thicker Grotesk decks. The 6th row, and not very well depicted here, will be a row of uncased decks. (Obviously I still have some holes to fill as I'm waiting on a few Lotrek decks.)

In this photo, for row 1-3, I will be using 2 each X4 Carat Cases and a X3 in the middle , with and uncased deck on each side. Rows 4 and 5 are the same as above, 10 X1 Carat Cases with an uncased deck on each side. Waiting on my latest order from Sherman which will include the 4 missing X4 cases and Alex's latest offering to complete.

[Spectre]

I have not updated here in a while so I thought I would add a photo that I took for Alex's Apothecary Collection Giveaway #seasonsplayingcards. Posted this on Instagram yesterday.

Seasons Collection

More photos in a couple of weeks as I'm waiting on a couple of items that I want included in the photos.

[ahsantahir716]

I love how these cards stored in this filing cabinet. Simply amazing.

[Bradius]

I was thinking some of you may have missed this amazing collection that Spectre amassed. He has since moved on, but his collection was exceptional, and his set up and display is breathtaking.

[CrystalDrug]

Such a beautiful collection and display. Sad to hear he moved on from the hobby, but I have no doubt that this collection is bringing a lot of joy to the new owner.