{"id":130,"date":"2007-06-27T18:50:26","date_gmt":"2007-06-28T00:50:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/brucearmstrong.net\/wordpress\/2007\/06\/27\/new-d-i-y-av-component-rack\/"},"modified":"2008-04-15T23:27:56","modified_gmt":"2008-04-16T05:27:56","slug":"new-d-i-y-av-component-rack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brucearmstrong.net\/?p=130","title":{"rendered":"New D-I-Y A\/V Component Rack"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Completed<\/a>For quite some time, I’ve been wanting to build a new rack for my A\/V components in the home theater. I’ve got a three-year-old photo<\/a> that claims that the white wire laundry shelf I was using was “very<\/em> temporary”.<\/p>\n

After years of waiting for the proper inspiration to hit (read: “procrastination”), it finally did hit in the form of the “Flexy Rack”. I’m surprised it took me so long to come across this style of home-made racks, because once I knew what to look for, it turns out they’re super-popular. A Google search on “flexy rack”<\/a> reveals that there are thousands of web pages about them. The original seems to be The TNT FleXy<\/strong> Table<\/span><\/a>. Please note that “flexy” doesn’t mean that it twists or sways from side to side, but that the design is flexible<\/em> in that it’s easy to change shelf spacing.<\/p>\n

\"Flexy-Rack-SketchUp\"<\/a>Once I decided on this style, I started by drawing up simple diagrams on graph paper to make sure my equipment would fit. Next, I used a 2D drawing program to refine my dimensions further. Then I discovered Google’s free 3D drawing program “Sketchup<\/a>“. It was fairly easy to learn, and soon I had created a design I liked. (Soon is a relative term. The reality is that I might have spent more time creating the 3D drawing than I spent on actual construction. If there’s any interest, I can post the Sketchup file.)<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>At this point, I was ready to purchase materials. I elected to go with MDF panels because MDF is cheap, sturdy, and easy to work with. I went with 5\/8″ all-thread rods. My length choices were either 3-foot or 6-foot. I wanted 4-foot. Instead of cutting 6-footers to size, I went with 3-footers and 1-footers, held together by couplers and extra nuts to lock them in place. I thought this extra hardware actually added to the overall “industrial” look. I originally bought casters that were too small, eventually returning them and getting a set of 2″ swivel casters. The full parts and price list appears below. Bottom line: I built this nice solid rack for under $150.<\/p>\n

Now it was time to cut the MDF panels to the correct shelf sizes. I don’t have a table saw, but I have a decent saw guide that I bought for my still-on-hold arcade cabinet project. I got good straight cuts that were easy to round over with the router. I used clamps and a wood-boring bit for drilling the holes.<\/p>\n

\"Another<\/a>\u00a0\"A<\/a> \"Shelves<\/a><\/p>\n

It had been raining for several days and was extremely humid when I was ready to paint the shelves, so I ended up painting in the dining room over a plastic tarp. I used one coat of Kilz primer, and two coats of black semi-gloss paint. Michelle complained of headaches from the fumes, and they were<\/em> bad: At one point I couldn’t remember my A-B-C’s.<\/p>\n

\"Putting<\/a>\u00a0\"First<\/a> \"First<\/a><\/p>\n

After the paint dried, I used a counter-sink bit to drill the holes for installing the swivel casters. (Man I wish I had drilled these holes before painting!) Once this was complete, I was ready to start putting it all together. I don’t know how many revolutions it required to spin all 56 hex nuts into the correct positions on the all-thread rods, but my fingers sure got a workout. The pattern of nut-washer-shelf-washer-nut became second-nature after a while.<\/p>\n

\"Drilling<\/a>\u00a0\"Casters<\/a> \"Leveling<\/a><\/p>\n

After leveling all the shelves (with a couple of nut-turns: this shelf is flexi<\/em>ble, Man!), and tightening everything down, it was time to install the A\/V equipment and call this project done. Here’s a comparison of the Sketchup rendering and the real deal, and a comparison of the old wire rack and the newly completed and populated flexy-rack.<\/p>\n

\"Flexy-Rack-SketchUp\"<\/a>\u00a0\"Completed<\/a> \"Old_wire_rack\"<\/a> \"Completed<\/a><\/p>\n

Funny that I just noticed that every piece of equipment except the Dish 921 PVR has been updated since the wire-rack photo was taken.<\/p>\n

Full photo gallery here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Things I would have done differently:<\/p>\n