Have you thought about going into rack building jeff? I think you would be very good at it. Thats one nice looking rack! with your permission, I'd like to try building one for my 80 pound clear audio champion 2 turn table. I own a mapleshade four shelf samson two rack with 4 inch shelves. It's the best sounding rack I've ever owned, and thats been quite a few.

kwkwsr1000 November 17, 2007 06:21

It looks as though you have built yourself one nice rack. During the past summer I was involved in a similar project and decided on Pennsylvania slate that I picked up at the local stone center as the shelf material. The slate pieces are approximately 23 X 19 inches and anywhere from one to 3/4 inches thick. I used rubber washers between the stone and the metal washers for cushioning. Drilling the holes for the rods was not as dificult as it might seem. In fact the stone center gave me one piece of stone to experiment drilling for free and the other stones were only about $12 each. The weight of the stones provides plenty of stability but make it difficult to move the stand.

timrhu January 18, 2004 15:04

Jeff:

Ah! Thanks for the explanation.

Max

mghcanuck September 08, 2003 20:07

Excellent job Jeff! I was lucky enough to find two unwanted work bench tops (1 3/4" maple) at work which I cut down to size and clearcoated. Used 3' x 3/4" all-thread from MSC (7.50 ea.) and flange nuts instead of the two piece nut and washers. The flange nuts were black, so powder coating only ran $30.00 for the all-thread. Wish I had thought/knew of the copper tube/shot idea!!! Gordy

gordus September 07, 2003 17:17

Max,

I'm very proud of my "rack" hehehehe. I'll try to explain how I countersunk the top nuts.

On the top shelf I did not use washers. I drilled about 1/2" down with a one inch drill bit, then the rest of the way with a 5/8" bit. Rather than use the standard 5/8" #11 plain old nuts on the top, I used the locking type (with a nylon insert). I tightened them til they locked, then used the nut underneath the top shelf (that does have a washer) to crank it and pull the locking nut into the 1" recessed hole. Hope this explanation makes sense...

jeffloistarca September 06, 2003 23:06

Hi Jeff:

Nice rack! Um, you know, the one you built. :-)

Could you explain what you mean by countersinking the nuts on the underside of the top shelf. No washers were used at this position, right? Also, which model Audiopoint did you use under the rack?

Thanks... I'm not really all that handy, so I need all the help/advice I can get if I try DIY a rack.

Max

mghcanuck September 04, 2003 17:02

Jamestown Distributors sell threaded rod up to 1" and the necessary hardware {1-800-423-0030}.Instead of PVC,Home Depot sells a 1.25"{I.D.}{part #143-200}brass tubing to hide the threaded rod{4'/$40}.I used #7 lead shot to load the stand-no need to caulk.I understand that Starr Sound {OH.} also sells material to mass load.

tpsonic September 04, 2003 04:57

Beautiful piece of work Jeff!

thsalmon September 03, 2003 01:06

Zap,

The Steely Dan cancellation was a bummer for sure, rescheduled to the 14th of September. I may go but have to be in Raleigh the 15th so if I do go it'll be "drop in for the show, hop on a plane". Probably worth it. I will get up to your place before too long if the invite still stands, I'm interested in hearing your set up and maybe havin' an ale with you.

Slipknot,

Have at it! Take extra time measuring as you want to leave a minimum of 17" between the rods so you can easily slide your gear in and out. I wish I had used a drill press, the holes would have been more uniform, it's hard to get the ideal angle when drilling without a press. Oh, I also used a 1" bit on the top shelf, drilled down about 1/2", then the remaining with my 5/8" bit to countersink the nuts. Be careful when you assemble the rack and tighten the nuts down, you don't want to crack the shelves. Oh, and take a look at the first pic, unpainted. Looks nice eh?

jeffloistarca September 02, 2003 19:37

Nice use of the Ikea butcher blocks! I use one of them as a platform for my CD player and two more of them with Mapleshade Surefoots under them as amp stands. I also found the 3 inch thick Ikea butcher blocks to work very well too. I use them under my turntable and preamps along with the Mapleshade Isoblocks under them. The 3 inchers are kind of hit or miss at my Ikea (Plymouth Meeting, PA): sometimes they have them sometimes they don't. It drives my wife crazy that every time we go there, I fill up the cart with butcher blocks. Glad I have some extras now. after looking at your racks, I'm gonna build me a couple! With your permission of course ;)

slipknot1 September 02, 2003 15:29

Hi Jeff
Too bad about the missed SD concert in T.O. If you'd made it here, you would have seen that my home built 5 shelf rack is almost identical to what you built. I used 3/4 MDF, rounded the corners, stained and with veneer on the edges. The shelves are 24 X 16 and have 20 inches of space between the threaded rods. If I want it even heavier, I now know to look at butcher block from IKEA. As one person had suggested for you to try, I covered the rods with brushed aluminum tubes with the same inside diameter as the threaded rod. I thought it would look a bit too industrial with the threads showing, and when I was buying the 4 - 36 inch rods, I noticed the aluminum tube in the same area and tried it for fit. Bingo! Perfect. The nuts are screwed tightly against the rod to prevent any rattling. Each of the 4 rods has a threaded spike on the bottom, to enable levelling. All materials except the threaded spikes, and MDF, from Home Depot. Annoys the hell out of the wife that it might chew up the carpet, but it has only been moved once, in a recent makeover of the room, and repainting of the wall it sits next to.

zaphodb September 02, 2003 14:23

Most of the nicer equipment stands I've seen are of welded construction and powder coated. Some stands use machined plate steel for the shelves. The shop and equipment overhead not to mention payroll, shipping, insurance and the like justify price to a certain level. IMHO power cords and interconnects are unjustified for the prices they get. Then again, if using such pieces brings about audio orgasm they are still worth it. I like to spank the audio monkey like you did with this stand.

lugnut September 02, 2003 00:53

Thanks Pat, it was fun building it. I'm of two minds because quite honestly I really liked the look of it before I painted it. Having spent the time and effort I do wonder how stand manufacturers, with all the right tools and more experience, charge so much for their wares.

Jd, good suggestion to use PVC pipe. You'd have to caulk the top and bottom of the pipe to keep the sand in, and make sure you didn't want to move the stand once it was set up (it's plenty heavy as is for such a small three-shelfer).

jeffloistarca September 01, 2003 23:42

You could dress it up nicely by using pvc pipe to cover the threaded rods. This would also allow you to damp the stand by filling the tubes with sand or lead shot.

jd

jdombrow September 01, 2003 23:25

Nice job.

lugnut September 01, 2003 21:26