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DIY - HiFi Racks - Stands - Cabinets


kroozzy

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One stand arrived yesterday, second arrived early today, very impressed with the improvements I'm hearing.  Enough so that I put off my chores today to listen to music and already planning to put the chores off again tomorrow.  Being single and retired does have it's perks!

 

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Here's a rack I completed recently. I wanted something to store records in, and to house the electronics.

This meant I was aiming more towards a bookshelf type of unit, rather than an open rack, as I need the sides to keep records standing up!

In the end I couldn't find anything ready built that was just right, so I went and made it myself.

I'm very happy with the result, and have finally got my records out of storage and in the lounge where they belong!

 

The rack measures approximately 1000mm square, with 2 shelves for records, then one larger equipment shelf and one smaller shelf. The TT sits on top.

 

2036315187_RecordCabinet-finished.thumb.jpg.5a40a3fbdb1de4e89bb0cfdd23f177c8.jpg

 

Cheers,

 

-Al.

 

Record Cabinet and Speaker.jpg

Edited by Alistair W
Deleted one photo
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The panels are laminated Victorian Ash, bought from Bunnings. I used 26mm panels for the sides, top and bottom. The shelves were thinner 19mm panels.

They only needed a light sanding before applying sanding sealer, then 3 coats of furniture oil. Sanded down with 240 grit between coats, and the final coat was sanded down with 240 then 600 grit wet'n'dry paper.

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Excellent thread!! I find hifi racks have been basically the same for a long time. Good reason for that...but the materials / style / appearance doesn’t vary greatly

I am about to make a pair of 5 way active speakers out of GFRC - glass fibre reinforced concrete for the uninitiated.

I will also be making racks out of the same material
2.82m long
.84m high
Each shelf is 50mm thick

It’s 30% the weight of normal concrete. Not easy to do. A lot of steps / ingredients. Effects I can create are awesome from a stone look to sprayed finishes.

Photos are of my 80mm benchtops at home and fire place surround.

Will post details of the racks in due course, I would be interested in making them for others. As the mold is a throwaway, every rack is individual and no two can be identical even in texture / finish

IMG_9214.jpgIMG_9212.jpgIMG_9276.jpgIMG_9369.jpgIMG_9215.jpgIMG_9367.jpg

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Guest Peter the Greek

@explorer2203 nice job on the benches. Do you spray a top coat of concrete first then fill the mold?

 

We've done half a dozen concrete benches in the past 1-2 years....nothing sexy like GFRC, just use high strength concrete and steel.

 

I was toying with the idea of doing concrete cabinets as well - please post more on the technique when you do. (I don't think I can be bothered with it). What drivers are you using out of interest? big builds like that get lots of attention here typically.

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[mention=108130]explorer2203[/mention] nice job on the benches. Do you spray a top coat of concrete first then fill the mold?
 
We've done half a dozen concrete benches in the past 1-2 years....nothing sexy like GFRC, just use high strength concrete and steel.
 
I was toying with the idea of doing concrete cabinets as well - please post more on the technique when you do. (I don't think I can be bothered with it). What drivers are you using out of interest? big builds like that get lots of attention here typically.


Several things you can do depending on the mix. The kitchen benchtops are 4mm spray coat (food grade) with layers of fibre / cement mix (also sprayed) then scrim then structural foam. More scrim and concrete / fibre. It’s a big job but the effect is awesome.

The other things are a hand press mix to create a stone effect. Also incorporates the the fibre / cement / scrim etc. just a different face coat and much thicker than a spray coat.

Also why it’s not cheap. Mess it up and it’s landfill. Molds are throwaways typically. And it is very time consuming.

The speaker boxes will be truly amazing. Big and dominating.
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Peter, please see my thread under speakers section. Using VAF drivers (seas) for everything except the 15 inch. They are peerless (at this stage).

 

So it’s 4 x 15 inch peerless

4 x 8 inch out of Vaf DCX

4 x 6 inch out of Vaf dc7

4 x 4 inch out of vaf bookshelves

4 x tweeters out of those boxes

 

It’s all a bit of fun [emoji16][emoji106]

 

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Guest Peter the Greek
On 02/11/2018 at 10:42 PM, explorer2203 said:

How did it turn out?

Pretty well. Not qite as sharp as I'd hoped, but good enough. Once the joinery goes in it'll look great.

 

PSX_20181104_082437.thumb.jpg.9057c4885a9000733911d06ede2f1805.jpgPSX_20181104_082517.thumb.jpg.d76c0a6c9106f8b5b10a12cc63aea167.jpg

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IMG_6944.thumb.jpeg.732626a17c4efaf851a2bc2534383b47.jpeg

IMG_5463.thumb.jpg.89442f35ac451b0e381c3e7382313e15.jpg.5361379440a37ba3d86d60e125204524.jpg824abbfa07b6c22f0adae50b706ecc21.thumb.jpg.b6a058d716ec05e3e347ea2024970dc3.jpg

 

A couple of different iterations of gear on the rack.

 

Made from bunnings table tops and M24 threaded rod. Very, very heavy. Probably overkill but works well and is adjustable depending on gear used.

 

Unfortunately we are moving house this month so this may have to go...

Edited by caminperth
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Here's mine that I knocked up a while ago.

I used a bamboo bench top from Bunnings, 32mm dowel, threaded rod and those flush mount panel nut things.

The nuts are hex-head which is perfect to locate the spikes from the Norstone glass shelves, which sit on top.

Speaker wiring for two amps is built in :thumbsup:

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IMG_2584.JPG

IMG_2586.JPG

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IMG_6944.thumb.jpeg.732626a17c4efaf851a2bc2534383b47.jpeg
IMG_5463.thumb.jpg.89442f35ac451b0e381c3e7382313e15.jpg.5361379440a37ba3d86d60e125204524.jpg824abbfa07b6c22f0adae50b706ecc21.thumb.jpg.b6a058d716ec05e3e347ea2024970dc3.jpg
 
A couple of different iterations of gear on the rack.
 
Made from bunnings table tops and M24 threaded rod. Very, very heavy. Probably overkill but works well and is adjustable depending on gear used.
 
Unfortunately we are moving house this month so this may have to go...


This will be posted for sale soon. Moving house next week and it won’t fit into the new place.
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My contribution - has taken much longer than is justified by its relatively simple build and small size - but happy with the result!

H5ZSLFi.jpg

 

mRHrNb2.jpg

 

yLxejnK.jpg

 

Made with Blackhole Blackbutt veneered MDF - not going to work with veneer again - takes ages sorting out the edge veneer!

Yes, the top panel, with the grain running the wrong way, was not a mistake, but a disappointing outcome!

Edited by Joe Lighty
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8 minutes ago, Joe Lighty said:

My contribution - has taken much longer than is justified by its relatively simple build and small size - but happy with the result!

srxj9cn.jpg

 

mRHrNb2.jpg

 

yLxejnK.jpg

 

Made with Blackhole Blackbutt veneered MDF - not going to work with veneer again - takes ages sorting out the edge veneer!

Yes, the top panel, with the grain running the wrong way, was not a mistake, but a disappointing outcome!

Nice, well done!.

Edited by Guest
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25 minutes ago, Peter_F said:

Hi Dave,

 

I know your Gale 401C's are in near mint condition but they look so much better with the brown grille cloth replaced in black.  

 

Cheers

 

Pete

I think you are right Pete.

I've got a roll of black in the store room......... might just give it a go !

 

Any tips on getting a perfect finish ?

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11 hours ago, Leinster Lad said:

I think you are right Pete.

I've got a roll of black in the store room......... might just give it a go !

 

Any tips on getting a perfect finish ?

The tedious aspect is carefully removing all the staples holding the brown cloth without damaging the softwood timber frames.  Once that's done I sand the frames and refinish in black stain and then take my reattaching the new cloth to the frame. Not a fun job but very worthwhile.   

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On 02/11/2018 at 1:01 PM, explorer2203 said:

I should also mention the material is very god from a resonance perspective. That’s why I am making speakers out of it...

Is there any more high-level info you can provide?

 

You mentioned 1/3rd the weight of concrete.... but the density of concrete varies quite a bit.

 

What's the rough density of GRFC then?    I originally calculated about the same as high-ish density wood....  but a page I found said 120+ lb/ft^3, which is about double that of MDF.    Google says (heh) that the MOE of GRFC is about 3x to 6x that of MDF.

 

This is all very encouraging.  :) 

 

 

EDIT:  I should move this to your build thread....  

 

Edited by davewantsmoore
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1 hour ago, Peter_F said:

The tedious aspect is carefully removing all the staples holding the brown cloth without damaging the softwood timber frames.  Once that's done I sand the frames and refinish in black stain and then take my reattaching the new cloth to the frame. Not a fun job but very worthwhile.   

You wouldn't have a couple of spare frames by any chance ?

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Is there any more high-level info you can provide?
 
You mentioned 1/3rd the weight of concrete.... but the density of concrete varies quite a bit.
 
What's the rough density of GRFC then?    I originally calculated about the same as high-ish density wood....  but a page I found said 120+ lb/ft^3, which is about double that of MDF.    Google says (heh) that the MOE of GRFC is about 3x to 6x that of MDF.
 
This is all very encouraging.  [emoji4] 
 
 


Will find some data sheets.

It depends on how it is made. A normal bench top for example would be 24 mm thick with 80mm edges. If you want it smooth on both sides then you use foam sheets to plug it then do a thin coat and trowel it off on the underside.

With the speakers, they will be 10mm hand press to get the effect I want then 20mm structural mix. Then polystyrene. I don’t need the inside to be smooth as it’s not going to be viewable.

Weight calculation as follows:

Total speaker weight 228kgs not including back, sound deadening material, foam and drivers.

Breakup as follows:

Sand 183kgs
Poly 18kgs
Water 52kgs
Retarder 2.37
Pigment 7.29
Eco poz 36.45
White cement 145kgs
Glass fibre 14
Scrim 2kgs

I could drop the weight by 25% if I didn’t do the face coat the way I am doing it.

Yes they are heavy but they are big speakers.

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