Further rheum developments

[avevale_intelligencer]

We have now reached the stage where I can't get into the room again thanks to the years of accumulated clutterbumph that I have dug out to be sorted, weeded and put back.

However, I have got access to the bookcase whose top gave way when I inadvisably tried to lever my bulk upright on it a long time ago. I have a cunning plan to deal with this, involving turning the entire concern upside down, so that the crunged top shelf is on the floor and held in place by weight of books. The new top shelf will then come with its own bookends in the form of the legs on which it stood.

This, however, will be a delicate operation involving moving a lot more stuff.

Plus, we are revising for an exam.

Oy.

Comments

[zanda-myrande.livejournal.com]

The broken top shelf was screwed between the uprights. The two middle shelves are theoretically movable, though in practice the dowels that support them are too firmly wedged to shift. There is however a back board, which provides stability.

I have actually done the deed, and so far no tears. The thing rests flat on the floor, and holds its complement of books quite happily. And now I can lean on the upstanding uprights to hoist myself to my feet, preventing further collapses. So yay.

I will be careful with it from now on, though.

[pbristow.livejournal.com]

Admittedly I haven't examined the item in question, but unless it's unusually sturdy and well-secured, the backboard supplies stiffening mainly against *inward* (compressive) forces applied to the uprights, somewhat less opposition (mainly in the form of friction) against sheer forces, and almost none (if any, depending how it's fixed) against outward forces. And if you're levering yourself upward using the uprights, and an unexpected wobble starts to tip you sideways, those are the forces you'll be exposing the structure to (outward from your own re-direct exertion, followed rapidly by sheer force as the books on the top shelf pick up momentum, and leverage turns gravity into torsion).

It may be fine as a bookcase, but please, do *not* rely on it for supporting a potentially wobbly Nyrond. I would recommend finding something specifically for that job.

Whatever habits you set up for using your re-discovered work environment now may work fine in your current level of health, but then turn against you when you are less well, or when caught off guard by unexpected events. Better to learn safety-conscious ones off the bat.

[CONCERNED HUGS]