Homemade Minkus Global Slip Cases

I'm designing a bookcase to house my Minkus Global Albums and wanted to build-in some slipcases directly into the bookcase. It would really help to know the actual inside dimensions. Does anyone have a solid example of one that they wouldn't mind measuring for me. I would really appreciate it. When done, I'll post some pictures. Thanks

Why not purchase a Minkus Global slipcase, used or new, and use it as your template? I'd trust that a lot more than some anonymous person on the internet who gives me dimensions they just took with shaking hands. If you know what I mean?

As for your "built-in" slipcases, I may not be getting it, but . . . the idea of slipcases is primarily to keep dust off the album and keep it snug and tidy away from sunlight, hence they're sometimes called "dust covers". If that's what you're trying to do, why not build bookcases that dover each shelf entirely rather than making a series of album-sized boxes on each shelf which seems really laborious? I'm thinking of something like lawyers' bookscases, the kind with the sliding glass cover on each shelf. That would keep out dust, bugs, and if the cover were tinted, sunlight. And it would look good, too. I once saw a lady with a library with each bookcase covered with a curtain. She told me it was to keep out the dust, sunlight, and most random bugs. Not the best looking, I suppose, but it worked for her.

Good luck.

I did think of buying one, but then thought that this was one of the things that such a forum for stamp collectors would be perfect for -- sharing information. I have a pretty good idea of the dimensions, but didn't want to build them so tightly that I would have trouble getting them out. Also, so far I have only noticed slip cases that came with albums, that came with stamps -- I haven't seen any cases for sale separately. (Buying the albums and stamps adds so much to the cost when all one wants is to measure the case itself.)

As to the design itself...I know my description is a bit vague. My idea is somewhat difficult to describe, and impossible to show a picture of -- since I haven't built it yet. I also didn't want to clutter up the lead with an elaborate, somewhat convoluted description.
Because of space, the housing of my collection has been relegated to the back of my closet. This is much more advantageous than it sounds (it is a wide, shallow closet) -- security (being somewhat hidden); dark; low ambient air flow (which results in low dust accumulation); uniform temperature and humidity; and out of my wife's way; all while being very accessible.

My "built-in slipcases" design is primarily intended for just two purposes:
1) To hold the albums erect when one or more has been removed for "stamp play". I found with my old Scott Blues collection that when I would take an album off the shelf, the others would often fall over -- damaging their spines, and since this resulted in a rather long domino reaction, it took two people to put an album back on the shelf (I had to stand each one up, one at a time, and then hold them in place while trying to re-insert my album.
2) To provide a physical support for the spine-to-cover integrity. One benefit of dust covers is that they help keep the album covers from being able to expand beyond the width of the spine. This, in turn, helps protect the album's integrity.
Another reason that I had was to force me to keep from overfilling my albums. The dust covers simply won't allow it.

My design involves a series of supports and flanges that will be fairly easily attached to the inside of the shelves, rather than building individual boxes that remotely resemble the original Minkus slipcases. Part of the design will be to provide "built-in bookends", spaced as per the slipcases.

Your explanation describes the benefits of slipcases. As you see in my previous comment, I agree that slipcases/dustcases are a good idea. I'm just suggesting that to get your dimensions accurate you might buy one and measure it yourself. If that's not going to work for you, most sellers of such products provide dimensions in their listings. Or you could phone and ask? Personally, I would only want to rely on an actual slipcase that I had for dimensions I needed to rely on, rather than trusting someone else to give them to me correctly. You say you want the "inside" dimensions, but most people aren't going to be able to measure that very accurately, I'd think. That was my previous point. If you can't get the inside dimensions of an actual slipcase, measuring your binder and adding a total of maybe 1/8-1/4" to each dimension ought to work. It's possible to fold up a sample from cardboard and see how it fits best and what that size is.

To keep the other albums from falling over, you could also put up album dividers spaced as far apart as you need them -- like bookends. That way each album is held upright even if the one next to it is removed. If you've seen desktop file folder holders, that's what I'm referring to. Yours would be wider (and taller), of course.

For each shelf (before it's mounted), drill holes where needed. These might go all the way through the shelf if you have a way of securing them in place from below. Or they might go only partway into the shelf (using a drill stop). Use either wire loops or metal rods or wooden dowels in the holes to create supports for the albums. Mount them into the holes, securing them as needed. With wooden dowels, a few drops of wood glue in each hole would work. With heavy wire or metal rods, perhaps a friction fit or a bolt from below if the rod has a hole drilled into it.

Or cut grooves into each shelf and slide in pieces of masonite or other material, fitting them tightly in the grooves. These would act as book holders. This seems preferable to the other suggestion.

However, this all seems very elaborate to me when slipcases work just as well. I found slipcases that fit my albums, some new, some used. There are many sizes of slipcases that will fit stamp albums, even the larger ones. Search and ye may find. Be creative and search stamp supply sellers in the U.S. and Europe. And look at library supply companies, as well, since they often have slipcases for larger books that will fit stamp albums.

If that's not possible, it might be possible to find someone who could make you dozens of them. Or I've even seen people make them themselves. Check on YouTube for examples of that. It's "just" folding cardboard and so on.

Good luck whatever you do.