As I said in part one, the learning curve makes a difference, and every mistake leads to a future improvement. As evidence, the rack I made yesterday took at least four hours, I think (I didn’t time it, but I have an idea how many tv shows were watched while I worked on it.) This one, with the help of my 10 year old son, took less than an hour, probably closer to half an hour. Even taking into account the help, it was still a lot less work. And it came out better and more useful.
Several things made this easier. First was the obvious: since I used the leftovers from the other project, I didn’t have to use the bolt cutters. Second, I had a clearer idea of what to put where. The end result has fewer shelves, since the first unit used eight foot shelves cut into three, three, and two. The leftovers were the twos. Because I was using fewer shelves, I spread them out farther. I can put quite a few pads of scrapbook paper, as well as loose paper, quite easily, with room to spare. Of course, while this is very space-efficient, I can’t see the individual loose papers. That is not a huge loss for having a better and more efficient unit. The lips hang down in the back instead of going up in the front, so it is easier to reach in and get the papers. We had an extra inch and a half of the black panels sticking out, and we chose to put that in front instead of in back. This way we get use of the full depth of the panels, without having to compromise stability.
What’s next? I think eventually I will rebuild the other unit to make it more serviceable, and to fit the cabinet I wanted it for in the first place. In the mean time, this little unit is quite serviceable. I’m thinking of putting oversize tools like a three hole punch and a long arm stapler in the spaces next to the papers.