DIY A/V rack? [Text View]

John Martin

02-07-08, 07:24 AM

robbrown

02-07-08, 08:14 AM

It's not fancy, but for my rack I purchased 2 sheets of birch plywood.

Built a very simple rack / bookshelf without a back and stained it.

I used some "spoon pins" so that I could adjust the shelves and it works quite well.

vfrjim

02-07-08, 08:39 AM

Purchase RRT Rackrail and frame with 2x4's to correct opening. Finish with MDF for a low-cost alternative to a rack system. Only thing to consider as you expand is your rack accessories for items that are not rack-mountable.

http://www.middleatlantic.com/rackac/rail/rail.htm#2

jjmj427

02-07-08, 08:41 AM

I am planning on making one 4 tall and 24" wide. Built into the wall in the hall outside the theater with a glass door front. The back will be blocked off and I will use some equipment rack fans to vent into the plumbing room behind the bathroom. I will frame it up with 3/4" ply and faced with stained oak trim. I have access to the rear so a DIY rack seemed a logical choice and much cheaper. Here is what mine will look like in drawing form. I only needed some minor drawings to go by so these are far from extensive.

Here is a quickie drawing of what mine will look like

http://images32.fotki.com/v1092/photos/1/1014235/4135559/EQUIPMENTRACK-vi.png

The HD DVD player there is actually the Oppo I am buying. I think I will stick with Blu Ray since I am unsure of the future of HD DVD. I can replace the oppo with an HD DVD player in the future if I want.

John

I basically did the same thing as John but the total outside width is 21.5", the shelf width is 20". I used the Rockler jig for drilling the holes for adjustable shelves and I highly recommend the jig if you are planning on going that route. Here is the link for it: http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=5876

Here is my rack as it is now.
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/photopost/data/502/medium/IMG_2185.JPG

If you need any early construction shots I will see If I can dig some up and post them for you.

Cheers,
JJ

indianrider

02-07-08, 08:54 AM

indianrider

02-07-08, 08:56 AM

Where can I get glass cut to a custom size for the a/v rack door? Can i get it done at HD/lowes? Or should i go to rockler/woodcraft? Thanks.

killerdoberman

02-07-08, 09:18 AM

See my signature for my DIY rack.

huntrm

02-07-08, 09:23 AM

I bought rack rail, mounted it in the 2x4s of the shelf system, then bought the metal rack shelves to get that rack look. It cost less than a rack, but was still expensive with the shelves ($400+). I like it a lot.

snowkarver

02-07-08, 09:48 AM

I built a simple DIY rack similar to those in the plans above, using pilasters rather than holes and pins to get more of a "rack look". There's a door to the rear which opens into the utility room for cable access, plus convection vents at top and bottom that could be converted to fan ventilation if heat problems arise.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=12750880#post12750880

On the page after, there are some photos of the rack rear, which is supported by heavy-duty brackets.

jjmj427

02-07-08, 11:52 AM

Hi JJ,
Do you have a picture of the back side of your rack in your rack room? I would like to see what you have placed the rack on? Some 2x4's or what? Let me know. Thanks a bunch. I am also going to building my rack this weekend and I am building one similar to yours.
Can you also elaborate on your door on your rack. How does it slide to the side?

Thanks.

Yes, I will try and get a picture posted on here tonight of the back of the rack. I use 2X4s in the back to support the rack.

I used the accuride door slide to move the door out of the way when using the rack. The door slide can also be purchased at Rockler. http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=33&filter=accuride%201%202%203

I believe that my total wall opening is a couple inches wider than the rack itself. This will allow the door to slide to the outside of the rack. I placed my wall studs apart 24" to be able to fit the door opening and the rack into the area. I will try and draw up a plan along with my pictures and outline it as best as possible for you.

Where can I get glass cut to a custom size for the a/v rack door? Can i get it done at HD/lowes? Or should i go to rockler/woodcraft? Thanks.

I checked with auto glass installers in the area. The majority of them sell panes of glass. I had a carpenter build my frame for the door and he gave me the size I needed to order. If you order glass from someone like this make sure that you get it tempered for safety purposes. Once I got the glass back from the company, I went ahead and tinted the glass myself. You could always pay a little extra and they will tint the glass for you if that is how you want it.

Like I said, I will try and get you more details tonight. Let me know if you have any other questions in the mean time.

Cheers,
JJ

YW84U

02-07-08, 02:30 PM

I opted to DIY it by using double-tab adjustable shelving rails with plywood shelves painted black. Used some split loom tubing from the auto parts store to corral the cabling . Total for parts somewhere around ~$60.00

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o306/YW84U/IMG_3304.jpg

For the front, so I didn't have to look at the shelves and gaps, I'm making some RSH style faceplates to finish off the front of the rack - about $30 worth of 1/16th aluminum:

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o306/YW84U/IMG_5208.jpg

I'm almost done; working on fitting the last few panels this week.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o306/YW84U/IMG_5250.jpg

It's by no means a MA rack, but it adjusts and holds things nicely, and I never look at the back all that much :D. The nice thing about the faceplates is it drastically reduces the amount of dusting and swiffering :p

Hope it gives you some options/ideas!

Cheers,

jjmj427

02-07-08, 03:03 PM

Tom,
Nice job on your A/V rack!!! That setup works out really well for heat disapation!

Cheers,
JJ

snowkarver

02-07-08, 03:20 PM

Tom, that's a fantastic-looking DIY job! A couple of quick questions if you don't mind - how are you getting the plates machined, and how are they attached to your rack assembly?

YW84U

02-07-08, 04:05 PM

how are you getting the plates machined, and how are they attached to your rack assembly?

Actually, they are 'hand-machined' :p. First, I cut the blank from the big sheet to 19" by whatever the component is, and trim it to fit. Then, a few measurements:

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o306/YW84U/IMG_5204.jpg

I measure the component dimensions as well as the distance from the upper finished panel. Couple of holes, some jigsaw work (Stay inside the lines!), and then use a flat file to bring the edge right up against the line I traced. Finish sand with some 220 grit to chamfer the edges and not mark up the equipment.

Test fit, and make any minor adjustments

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o306/YW84U/IMG_5205.jpg

The holes for the mounting are marked and drilled with a template I made from some scrap aluminum. Steel wool it to remove any tool marks as well, and notch out for the IR repeater wire....

[http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o306/YW84U/IMG_5212.jpg

A little paint, and then mounting. When I built the rack, I left about 3/4 of an inch of reveal from the molding edge. This was to leave me room to drive the screws in. The screws themselves are standard phillips head drywall screws, with a nickel #8 finishing washer painted satin black as well.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o306/YW84U/IMG_5253.jpg

Actually, I'm just puttering on the next panel as I type this (taking a break :D)....

I figure whenever I swap out for a new component, I can just trace out the plate size from the existing, and cut out a new panel to match it back in later. Seems to be working out well so far - just requires some patience, as I tend to cut just a little smaller, then file it up to size. The gaps are only a couple thousandths if you take your time. I also picked up some steel mesh, and am planning on making a vented panel or two for the lower portion of the rack for intake airflow. That'll be later this week I imagine.

Okay, back to painting :)

indianrider

02-07-08, 04:16 PM

Thanks, JJ for the info on the rack and the glass.

Also,Tom, nice looking diy rack. That Aluminum front plate stuff is very cool. I might try that out.

v1rtu0s1ty

02-07-08, 07:06 PM

Tom,

The plates, they're friggin beautiful and genius! What tool did you use to cut the inside and it's so straight?

Amazing! ;)

jjmj427

02-07-08, 07:31 PM

indianrider,
Tom's A/V rack is a great design covering all the basics, such as heat dissipation, cost, and overall looks!

Tom,
I was actually trying to think of a way to finish off the front of the rack so it looks nice while the door is open. I was going to attempt to build front panels like yours with MDF, but I think it will be a lot easier using the aluminum and will look better. The great thing about your DIY rack is it looks like you spent the big bucks on it.

I used to do sheet metal work in the Navy and know what you mean by having patience with cutting and the finish work.

Cheers,
JJ

YW84U

02-07-08, 08:04 PM

What tool did you use to cut the inside and it's so straight?

Hey v1rtu0s1ty

The WAF got me one of these for Christmas

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o306/YW84U/Misc/Jigsaw.jpg

I just used a very fine point Sharpie pen to trace out, then used that bad boy with a decent metal blade (and avoided too many cups of coffee ;)) to cut just inside of the line. The rest was minor flat filing, and some finish sanding. Make sure to remove any burrs, or it may mark up your equipment! I just finished the Panny DVD a few minutes ago, and I'm waiting for the BFD trim to dry - they don't take very long - about an hour each, depending how picky you are :eek:. As for the finish, I opted for a spray can of "Mar-Hyde Satin Black" - it's made by Bondo (like my truck), and has a beautiful satin finish. The best part is, is that you can re-spray only portions of a surface, and it will blend righ in without any traces. It's used for things like windshield wiper arms, trim and such. It doesn't require primer, and is very durable. Keep it well ventialted, though, since it has nasties like Tolulene, Ketones and God knows what else.......

You have to be quite careful with the aluminum though; it will bend easy or distort if you go heavy on it. Might even be worthwhile to go with a heavier gauge that 1/16ths to give it more sturdiness. For the areas between the components where the aluminum is ~ 1/2 in wide or less, I applied some 'industrial' double-side tape just to ensure that the two junctions stay together if someone presses against them. As well, when driving the screws and washers, make sure that the plate remains flat against the surface as so the screw doesn't start to grab it and walk it out of line - I had to oversize the holes a little to accommodate that. The other bonus is, if you mess up and the component sits too low for your cutout, you can add some rubber feet or some type of shim to bring it up to proper height - I don't think anyone will ever notice, even from the back.

If you want, I can snap some 'process' shots a little later when I start to do up the VCR (I know, I know.....) and the vent panels...

Oh and PS - Easier to work from the top of the rack down ;)

Cheers,

Rickeo

02-07-08, 08:40 PM

it's made by Bondo (like my truck)

I hate to hi-jack your thread OP but that made me seriously LOL. :D

v1rtu0s1ty

02-08-08, 03:09 AM

Hey v1rtu0s1ty

The WAF got me one of these for Christmas

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o306/YW84U/Misc/Jigsaw.jpg

I just used a very fine point Sharpie pen to trace out, then used that bad boy with a decent metal blade (and avoided too many cups of coffee ;)) to cut just inside of the line.

Cheers,

Do you remember the teeth number? And where did you buy that plate?

Chuck1906

02-08-08, 03:10 AM

I am glad I started this thread...these are some great examples of what I can do given the time and patience!

snowkarver

02-08-08, 11:30 AM

Thanks for the detailed plans Tom. I'm totally going to plan ahead for this as it seems like something that can be done over time after the HT is operational. Where does one find sheet aluminum like that?

YW84U

02-08-08, 11:51 AM

Do you remember the teeth number? And where did you buy that plate?

Hi All,

I don't recall the number of teeth; I just went with a Canadian Tire cheapo blade marked for 'metal' (looks about the same as a fine hacksaw type of blade). With aluminum, you can get away with using most 'woodworking tools' according to the guy at the metal shop, seeing as it is soft to work with.

I picked up the sheet from a place called Metal Supermarkets - basically, just a business that sells all types of metal to other shops. A quick look at their 'store finder' shows that they apparently have outlets all over Canada and the US (I had no idea!). Depending where you live, if there isn't one nearby, there should be something else around in your industrial areas that either sells metal, or does machining. A machine or welding shop would likely have some as scrap, and you might even be able to pick it up even cheaper (they might have some odd-size leftovers in a bin they want to get rid of). I built a pushbar for my truck some years ago, and picked up 3" stainless pipe from a shop that does machine work for dairy farm equipment (Who'd have thought dairy? :p).....a few phone calls and you should be able to source something out, and price compare to find a deal.

Cheers,

fillydee

02-08-08, 12:57 PM

Definately make your own and save some money. I have built two DIY ones. 2x4 frame w/ plywood for the sides, top and bottom. Then drill holes for shelf pegs. I just don't see the point in getting a real rack unless you have a good deal of rack mounted equipment (mounted by the front ears). Only a real high end set up is going to have that type components. Most people are just going to have standard consumer grade stuff, then mounting rails are just pointless other than mounting faceplates for a clean look.

ShagMan

02-08-08, 02:09 PM

I opted to DIY it by using double-tab adjustable shelving rails with plywood shelves painted black. Used some split loom tubing from the auto parts store to corral the cabling . Total for parts somewhere around ~$60.00

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o306/YW84U/IMG_3304.jpg

I did EXACTLY the same thing, except I used MDF for shelves which were easier to paint a flat, even black. I opted for door-style surround trim, so it looks more like a window or door opening.

The rack is currently full, so there's no unsightly gaps, but here's what it looked like just after install.

http://www.shagman.org/homes/HuntersRidgeHomeTheater/slides/IMG_3666.jpg
http://www.shagman.org/homes/HuntersRidgeHomeTheater/slides/IMG_3669.JPG

RTROSE

02-09-08, 11:22 AM

Tom, ShagMan,

I was trying to think of a good DIY rack and what you two have done looks incredible! I really like the looks of your racks.

One question though how wide and deep did you make your shelving? I was thinking 21/22 wide by 24 deep am I off base with that? I was thinking those dimensions would accommodate 99% of anything I would be needing to put on my rack.

Regards,

RTROSE

Factor V

02-09-08, 05:55 PM

Has anyone ever used raxess equipment, you can just buy the rails then do a little carpentry work around the front rather than making shelves.

http://www.zzounds.com/item--RAXRKRL

latntekky

02-09-08, 06:59 PM

My turn!.
made by purchasing square tubing and welding a cage.. inserted rack rails.
the fronts are blank pannels custom cut myself with a dremel. you cant tell its diy.

http://themeltedcrayon.com/serverrack1.jpg

painted flat black (rust proof)
http://themeltedcrayon.com/serverrack2.jpg

picked up some 5U shelves on fleabay. the cisco switch is just there to help align the rails
http://themeltedcrayon.com/serverrack3.jpg

dissasembled my old rack which was a closet with shelves to make room for an office behind this wall.
http://themeltedcrayon.com/serverrack4.jpg

behind the wall where server rack stands.. its very clean now. all ziptied and covered nicely. this side of the basement is completely open.. no more overheating issues
http://themeltedcrayon.com/serverrack5.jpg

finished molding around the rack
http://themeltedcrayon.com/serverrack6.jpg

installed a few pannels for now
http://themeltedcrayon.com/serverrack7.jpg

cut some pannels out to fit the equipment
http://themeltedcrayon.com/serverrack8.jpg

this one is a camera phone pic. (poor quality) but it shows the 5U htpc case installed
http://themeltedcrayon.com/serverrack9.jpg

Oh.. and i cant take any credit for this.. i followed a pdf file with instructions on how to make this.. included with cad drawings and all. .its really not hard to do. when i get home ill find the pdf and attach it

jjmj427

02-09-08, 11:12 PM

latntekky

02-10-08, 12:56 PM

actually no. but this welding was done by my brother that works at a welding shop.
he did a good job, i couldnt weld this nice and since some of the cage is visible, it was best left to the pros.

Heres the PDF that i followed written by Tom H. at mojo.cc
PDF on how to build rack. (scroll down to see the square tubing cage)
http://www.hauntedyards.com/images/books/rackbuildinghowto.pdf

enjoy

sumavguy

02-10-08, 02:42 PM

I see that most of the racks even DIY are made of metal, but is there an advantage of using metal instead of all wood? I'm surprised that the metals pass the WAF, as one of my friend said to me, "why do you want a rack? don't you want it to look like a home and not a studio?" I did find it kind of funny and I do see his point as it starts to have a more commercial look if it is noticeable.

One of the main reasons why I was looking at making mine out of wood is I could do it for a lot cheaper and customize it more.

latntekky

02-10-08, 06:24 PM

wood or metal you cant go wrong either way.
for me the winning factor was my concern about the weight of all my equipment.
I have a 400 disk DVD changer that fully loaded is very heavy.. im adding a second one eventually and it would take a really heavy duty wooden shelf or the shelf reinforced with a lot of brackets to hold it all.

Factor V

02-10-08, 07:39 PM

BTW, latntekky, I love the layout of your website.

latntekky

02-11-08, 05:36 AM

BTW, latntekky, I love the layout of your website.

thanks!. I do webdesign on the side, this was a quicky. I used the same layout as my own homepage since I didnt want to reinvent the wheel.

chpwaman

02-15-08, 03:57 PM

I'll see if I can explain what I am envisioning here...

Is there any reason why I couldn't build an AV Rack frame out of 2x4's, in th end it would look something like the MA Slim 5, but be made out of 2x4's. The front of this rack would actually be incorporated into the framing of one of the walls. So the framed box (so to speak) would sit behind the wall...pretty much like a MA Slim rack would be framed into the wall.

Now, I would attach rack rail like this (http://www.milestek.com/search1.asp?ltype=2&search=1&skw=MTRCRK01C&color=4F438B) to the front and back 2x4's. Do I even need rack rail on the back 2x4's...I can't tell exactly, but it looks like any shelves or custom rack mounts only attach to the front rails.

Would having the rack rails attached to 2x4's be strong enough to hold my compenents?

McCall

02-15-08, 04:21 PM

here is ours, each shelf has a turntable mounted to it so the component will turn for access.

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb101/Arwenmark/July07007.jpg

two-rocks

02-15-08, 05:49 PM

One of my favorite features of McCall's is that white thing in the foreground!

dgowen75

02-16-08, 09:39 AM

Has anyone ever used raxess equipment, you can just buy the rails then do a little carpentry work around the front rather than making shelves.

http://www.zzounds.com/item--RAXRKRL

i was actually planning to do exacatly that. i just put a raxess swivel rack together for a client, and it had two extra rails in it. all i have to do is remove my old makeshift rack, and put this in. of course i will need the shelves at $30 each, but it would be worth it for the difference in the look.

i love yw84u's rack, but i don't have that kind of patience in my own home. i could do it for a customer, but between my wife, and two daughters under 5, i can barely find time to read this forum.

YW84U

02-16-08, 08:15 PM

mn_hokie

02-16-08, 08:24 PM

Tom, that is awesome work. I'm in the construction phase right now, but want something similar (love the clean lines) for my rack. If you ever need a place to stay in Minneapolis and feel like making some face plate while here, just let me know :)

Nice job!

silkd

02-17-08, 11:01 PM

What is everyone's thoughts on buying just the faceplates of the Middle Atlantic shelves? I do not have the tools or experience, nor do I trust myself fully to even make those cuts like YW84U has. I'm not even sure where I would get the aluminum unless Home Depot or Lowes has it. I am still very interested in this because even buying the plates @ $58 each for my 7 components ($406) would still be cheaper than the whole setup (slim rack and custom shelves) being over $1000. I would still be saving about $600 here...so what are people thoughts on building your own shelving/rack like mentioned in this thread, but buying the customs plates already made? Would they be able to attached in the same way?

chpwaman

02-18-08, 08:38 AM

so what are people thoughts on building your own shelving/rack like mentioned in this thread, but buying the customs plates already made? Would they be able to attached in the same way?

That is kind of what I have been wondering...I know that between buying the rack rails and face plates...I could achieve the same MA look and this can be done for much less $$ than a MA Slim 5 rack. What I'm not sure about is the actual strength of a wood DIY rack when using rack rails and face plates. If I'm not mistaken, the MA face plates hold your equipment up by only attaching to the front rails (basically cantilevering them in place), I wonder how a 50 pound receiver will sit on a shelf or face plate attached to a rack rail that is essentially just bolted to a 2x4. The MA racks have 4 posts and are made out of metal...I'm sure this offes some weight bearing strength that racks bolted to 2x4's do not...maybe it's not that big of a deal.

Tedd

02-18-08, 09:17 AM

A metal shelf does the cantilevering, with the faceplate acting solely as a cover.

As an opening, I'd naturally double up the 2x4" stud. It'll strengthen the opening, and offer a wide surface to nail trimwork to.

There's no reason just buying the faceplates won't work, with a shelf structure. The faceplates could even be secured by wood screws if there's a wood backer. The tricky part is making sure all gear resides at the correct height for the MA faceplate.

silkd

02-18-08, 10:10 AM

Another reason I was looking to do it this way too was that I would not have to knock out a wall and move a stud over to accomodate the MA Slim 5 rack. I have enough room between the studs as is to fit the widest components I have. I would be able to just cut the sheetrock to have just the components come though and just have to screw the faceplates to the studs/drywall anchors (if need be) and then just put a simple/small wood frame around it. Is there a reason why screwing the plate into drywall anchors if a stud isn't available wouldn't work? The plates can't weight too much I wouldn't think....just a thought. Like I said, I am looking to avoid having to knockout the whole wall to move/add studs.

Just another question: What brand rack rails did you guys use to hold up the components? I just want to make sure it will hold the weight of the receiver individually (41 pounds) and the weight of the all componets together.

chpwaman

02-18-08, 04:11 PM

Not sure what brand everyone uses for Rack Rails, but here is a place where you can order MA rack rails...
http://www.milestek.com/search1.asp?ltype=2&search=1&skw=MTRCRK01C&color=4F438B

You can also order rack rails from here... http://www.zzounds.com/item--RAXRKRL

Not MA brand, but I believe they are suppose to be standard.

This is a good article on using rack rails.

http://www.avrev.com/equip/rackmounting/index.html

Driving_Hamster

02-18-08, 09:12 PM

Thanks for the kinds words everyone!

I finished off the rack faceplates this weekend. After some consideration, I opted not to make a vented panel for the bottom, although I had picked up some steel mesh in anticipation.

Here is the final product:

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o306/YW84U/IMG_5298.jpg

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o306/YW84U/IMG_5304.jpg

I still may make a vented panel later on down the road, but I think I'll see what the temps and airflow are like for now. I thought just a blank panel left it 'cleaner' looking :) . I left the bottom one about 5" wide, although I think it may have looked a little better if I had broken up the space with two panels perhaps.

All in all, it took a little more work, but I think the process was fun and rewarding!

Cheers,

YW84U,

Outstanding work on the Av cabinet! Did you have the metal shop cut the aluminum to the proper width or did you do it yourself?

Hope you don't mind but I am going to borrow (read: steal) your idea for my AV cabinet. Plan to sit it back about a 2.0 - 2.5 inches though from the face of the drywall to account for a frosted glass door that I plan on installing. Due to layout constraints my AV cabinet is in the front of the room and I don't want to see the lights when the movie is going on.

YW84U

02-18-08, 10:37 PM

Hope you don't mind but I am going to borrow (read: steal) your idea for my AV cabinet. Plan to sit it back about a 2.0 - 2.5 inches though from the face of the drywall to account for a frosted glass door that I plan on installing. Due to layout constraints my AV cabinet is in the front of the room and I don't want to see the lights when the movie is going on.

Good heavens - steal away!!! That's the reason I posted, to at least make myself feel better about all of the other ideas I've 'gleaned' from AVS'ers!! :D . I think I owe a lot more if I'm ever to break even! :p

I had some PM's in regards to the shelf brackets, and thought I'd share it here as well -

I found one of the brackets I didn't install, and luckily the tag was still on it:

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o306/YW84U/Misc/IMG_5308.jpg

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o306/YW84U/Misc/IMG_5309.jpg

I think the manufacturer is "IKV", but Google turned up nothing of value....I tried the SKU number - also to no avail. I imagine HD or Lowes should have something comparable. I have no idea what the max load may be, but they sure seem darn strong for what they are!

I'd never realized where they were manufactured before - cool! Now I can say that my rack was made in "Italy"........:rolleyes:

When using these brackets, I should also mention that once the equipment is on the shelf, they will 'tip' forwards about 1/32 of an inch, as the weight will sit a little forward of the actual bracket and there is a little play. The double tangs do prevent any movement once the component is in place and there is nothing to fret over.

Driving_Hamster - The sheet metal comes in panels 4 feet by 8 feet - Metals Supermarkets will sell pieces 4 ft wide by whatever - so I just grabbed a 4 ft x 2 ft chunk, and cut the panels down to 19" with some leftovers. With a jigsaw, it is not very hard to slice them up on my own. They did offer to cut them for me free, but I didn't take them up on it.

Tedd makes a great point - one could use the MA faces, but I think it would be very hard to get them to line up. You would likely have to put some components on blocks to line up with the face and/or have to fashion up slim 'filler' faceplates to go between what doesn't fit. That's why in my case I worked from top-down, to allow for the variances in my spacings. I know at some point I'll upgrade something, but whenever that is, I'll remove the affected component, create another blank and cutout the new profile. I'm hoping I've left enough room between shelves to accommodate most common sizes :confused:

As for the vented panels - here is the steel mesh I picked up originally for the vented design:

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o306/YW84U/Misc/IMG_5310.jpg

I'm still happy with the clean look of the blank panels. Maybe I'll save it for some other project :D

Cheers,

Tom

Mike_Brown

02-18-08, 11:58 PM

I'm new to this site and have been looking around at all the GREAT ideas people have on here. I'm in the planning stages of my own HT room and this forum has some pretty serious fanatics. With that being said, I have to say that this is a VERY nice looking AV rack Tom. I would never have been able to tell it apart from a 'store bought'. I believe I will try to 'borrow' from your design myself. Great Job!!

Btw, I searched your KV shelves. I found them here if anyone is interested.

Mike

*Edit*

Apparently I need to have 3 posts to add a URL... two more to come :D

Mike_Brown

02-18-08, 11:58 PM

Mike_Brown

02-19-08, 12:01 AM

Post # 2 coming up. :p

Post # 3... Damn spammers, :mad: This is silly.

Mike_Brown

02-19-08, 12:01 AM

Post # 2 coming up. :p

Post # 3... Damn spammers, :mad: This is silly.

And finally, here is the link guys:

http://www.amazon.com/Heavy-Shelf-Bracket-Decorative-White/dp/B0006FKOSM******sr_1_17?ie=UTF8&m=A19NXYPR29N4VV&s=hi&qid=1203396570&sr=1-17

Sorry for all the posts.

Link doesn't seem to want to work. Here is the description off of Amazon.

KV Heavy Duty Shelf Bracket Decorative 12 1/2" White
(just google it)

jjmj427

02-19-08, 08:04 AM

Tom,

I used your idea for the panels, and I will tell you it really changes the look for the A/V Rack. I will try and post some pictures of my rack tonight with the panels. I was working frantically on them this week. I was hosting a HT meet this last Sunday and wanted to have them done for the party. :eek: Definitely time consuming!

One of the panels that I made for my receiver has a vent panel above it. I ended up using screen mesh since I couldn't find a small hole steel panel like you have pictured above. I was able to attach the mesh on the back and then I spray painted it while painting the panel. I think it turned out half way decent. My Onkyo Receiver gets pretty hot so I wanted to make sure I had an opening on both sides of the rack.

Again, Thanks for the idea! ;)
Cheers,
JJ

JBLsound4645

02-19-08, 08:30 AM

I’ve ordered a few rack fames yesterday for next-day delivery oh, well it hasn’t turned up yet maybe tomorrow.

x2 24U frame for 19” rack mounting along with a few bags of nuts washers and plastic washers for rack isolation and screws. What I hope to achieve is to build with timbre framing as the support then cover it with a thin layer of MDF sheeting around this area that I have marked out in the image, shouldn’t take more than a day and bit, because the rack farming needs to be precise for framing. I’ll also order at a later date rack tracks to place.

Pioneer laserdisc player CLD-1750 and CLD-2950 also additional rack trays for Sony DVD player Pioneer DVD player and Cello DVD-RW player and recorder.

There should be room to support Kenwood KRF-X9050D THX select with additional Dolby decoding processing Yamaha DSR-70Pro and Yamaha DSP-100

DCX2496 loudspeaker management crossover system at least three will be installed by the end of installation, while only one is being used at present time.

DEQ2496 multiplex of x5 will be packed into the rack if I feel the need to remove one or two items from the rack when installing the equipment, as this is my first time using professional rack mounting techniques but I catch on fast.

AVR is mealy used as decider to support Dolby digital dts and additional inputs and outputs to laserdisc and DVD.
Whilst placed in bedroom will house the amplifiers Alesis RA300 two are now in present use while I need x4 more and x1 Alesis RA500 this isn’t all going to happen over-night this is going to take months of building it together.

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee15/Evolution3417/JBLideaaroundthedoorarea.jpg

If you care to notice that there is a chimney breast in the room so the rest of the wall will be sorted, not a huge issue just minor cosmetic design to make it look as if its all one sidewall in the end, hopefully.

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee15/Evolution3417/MWTMNcolumbo5.jpg
Oh, there's just one other thing.

I forget to mention you see the computer, well there is a power mains point behind it. Also I’ll drill into the wall or lower skirting board which is only about 5” rule of thumb. I’ll then place plastic pipe in the various holes cut to size, then I can feed the cables from the DCX2496 though the hole to the Alesis RA300-RA500 on the other side with loudspeaker cable coming though a different hole in bundles then tracking-off into different locations around the room.

Something like 300 feet that I have calculated for the 15 feet length room by 10 feet around the width area, this will all be hidden in cable trunking placed around the room with easy to get to means.

Cable for LF and HF LCR fronts
Cable for sub bass extension
Cable for LFE.1 only!
Cable for sidewall surround arrays
Cable for rear back surround arrays
Cable for matrix height surround arrays

And that’s that.

Lee L

02-19-08, 08:59 AM

The company that made the shelf brackets is Knape & Vogt. http://www.knapeandvogt.com/ They make a wide variety of millwork and shelving items but do not sell direct. I think those or similar brackets are available at Home Depot and Lowes. I know lots of cabinet supply houses sell them also.

And no offense to anyone else, as all the racks here are good, but Tom, yours is the nicest looking DIY rack I have ever seen.

Chuck1906

02-20-08, 03:31 AM

YW84U

02-20-08, 11:30 AM

Since a lot of the more expensive racks have cable management built in, what are you all doing for the ones your making either out of wood or metal? Im kinda riding the fence on racks right now. I don't mind making one because it would be cheaper but then the metal ones are good looking! LOL!

For mine, I started with spaghetti:

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o306/YW84U/IMG_3300.jpg

I used split loom tubing (automotive store), running the outside perimeter of the rack This way, I could loom the wires from one shelf to the next inside the tube, and direct them out to whichever shelf I liked. I combined both the power cables and some of the input feeds (except optical):

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o306/YW84U/IMG_3305.jpg

I started along the bottom, secured it to the lowest shelf with zip ties or cable mount clips, and then ran it up one side of the rack.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o306/YW84U/IMG_3304.jpg

This way, everything is relatively tidy, and can be removed/changed if necessary. Perhaps this is not as grandiose as some of the commercial solutions, but I figured for about $20 and a day's effort, it just makes things a little nicer to work with.

I used heat shrink tubing for some of the cable ends to finish the split loom in some places - here's a pic of the wall plate terminations (I used $0.99 banana plugs with heat shrink tube and a dyno label, and heat shrink to cover the exposed copper speaker wire as well):

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o306/YW84U/IMG_3313.jpg

And a shot of the rear of the components that kind of show where my cables go :D

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o306/YW84U/IMG_3306.jpg

By no means a commercial cable management system, but I've only monkeyed with one cable in there over the last year, so for me it's been effective. As for looks, I never go back there much (neither do guests, really), so it's not an issue :p

Hope that helps!

Tedd

02-20-08, 05:05 PM

I have a converted 2 post computer rack installed in an av closet. I bought open slot wiring duct to use for cabling. I bought three 6' runs to separate the 120v power chords in one, and the rest of the cabling in two other wiring ducts.

http://cableorganizer.com/wire-duct/

knightgambit

02-25-08, 09:27 PM

YW84U,

That is an awesome job ! I don't think I have that talent, but you have inspired me to do something creative.

How wide did you make your opening in the front? The panel edges are very well proportioned.

YW84U

02-26-08, 12:42 AM

YW84U,

How wide did you make your opening in the front? The panel edges are very well proportioned.

The opening is a standard 19 inches (from moulding edge to moulding edge), with 3/4 inch of reveal in behind to allow for the screws. I based it on the original premise I would use computer rack panels / blanks - before I threw caution to the wind and opted to make my own :)

Cheers,

armstrr

03-16-08, 01:09 AM

source for shelf brackets...in white, but a can of spray paint does wonders

http://www.leevalley.com/hardware/page.aspx?c=2&p=40003&cat=3,50659&ap=2

or if you really like black...

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?Offerings_ID=106&TabSelect=Details

mdesmarais

03-17-08, 11:04 AM

Tom, that rack is AWESOME.

This is a source I have used for hardware over several years- they have just about everything, and for reasonable prices.

http://wwhardware.com/

markd

aaronlinkous

03-17-08, 05:19 PM

def. not as nice as y'alls but Im trying to contribute more :)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3057/2340837557_d2e5938890.jpg?v=1205788552

right now im just using a power strip, but my panamax is on backorder so I have to wait more(over a month now)

its on these (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FKBSRE?smid=A2IG6WPSXSP0UY&tag=nextag-tools-tier4-20&linkCode=asn) wheels to move back and forth

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2233/2340840397_76c24033bb.jpg?v=0

**edit just noticed the wheel is sitting on the washer in this picture... off to go fix that right now ;)

ejhuzy

03-17-08, 09:09 PM

I like it. What are the dimensions of those shelves (wxd)? And is that 3/4" MDF they are made of?

pmeyer

03-17-08, 10:11 PM

armstrr

03-18-08, 01:52 AM

I would like to do DIY, but my problem is rear-access to the rack. As in "I have none". So I really would like a 'pull out, rotate 90' type rack. I'd like 3 42" racks eventually. At $600 a pop (without shelves) for a 20 space MA AX-SXR, I'm talking $1800! That's more than halfway to a real anamorphic lense!

Anybody come up with any creative pull out/rotate solutions? I've been thinking about using pool balls and a routed wooden track, or just some heavy duty ball bearing coasters.

http://wwhardware.com/catalog.cfm/GroupID/Cabinet%20Drawer%20Slides/CatID/Drawer%20Slides%2C%20KV%20Heavy%20Duty%20Full%20Extension/SubCatID/%20500%23%20Class%20Precision%20Ball%20Bearing%20Slides

PLUS

http://wwhardware.com/catalog.cfm/ProductID/UF54450

aaronlinkous

03-18-08, 02:13 AM

I like it. What are the dimensions of those shelves (wxd)? And is that 3/4" MDF they are made of?

3/4" MDF and they are 24wx20d the top 4 are 25 wide as I forgot that the sheets are 49x97 instead of 48x96. live and learn. live and learn.

ifeliciano

03-18-08, 12:01 PM

I would like to do DIY, but my problem is rear-access to the rack. As in "I have none". So I really would like a 'pull out, rotate 90' type rack. I'd like 3 42" racks eventually. At $600 a pop (without shelves) for a 20 space MA AX-SXR, I'm talking $1800! That's more than halfway to a real anamorphic lense!

Anybody come up with any creative pull out/rotate solutions? I've been thinking about using pool balls and a routed wooden track, or just some heavy duty ball bearing coasters.

Get the "pantry" heavy duty slides and a "lazy susan" swivel bearing. Just make sure they're rated for the weight you plan on having on each rack.

Lazy Susan Bearing (http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=2273&cs=1)

Slides with Bracket Kit (http://www.accuride.com/products/woodworking/details.php?p=9301bracketkit&c=heavyduty_wa)

silkd

03-18-08, 09:28 PM

Well I finally completed my rack. I just wanted to Tom for the inspiration to do this. I ended up doing like I was originally asking here. I bought the RSH faceplates from Middle Atlantic as I lacked the tools and skills to do the cuts. I bought the rest from lowes and went to town. I got a black faceplate for the Xbox 360 and bought a replacement case for the Wii. I saw people asking how the PS3 would look because of it's design, and it's really not too bad at all. It doesn't stick out very far. Here is the final result:

http://i31.tinypic.com/11mgbqo.jpg

I am very pleased with the outcome. I still have to build a cabinet on the back side as it is in my laundry room. I haven't organized the wires yet either, so no pics for you on that one. I will update more if someone wants to see it. Anyways, thanks Tom for the advice and everyone for the inspriation.

PS - What's the best way to paint that cable box or mine? It's the only non-black component up there and it's killing me!!
- Kevin

BFauska

03-18-08, 11:23 PM

Instead of paint (since I assume the Cable company owns the box, and they charge a fortune if you can't return one or ruin it when it's upgrade or change time) you could try some black vinyl with an adhesive back, like people use for their laptops, ipods and cell phones. Some of the vinyls are made to only temporarily stick and would come right off later, you can just get some in black and cut it to fit. Just search for black adhesive vinyl on google and see what you get.

mn_hokie

03-18-08, 11:58 PM

Very nice work. I want to have the custom face plates from mid-atlantic as well. I definately need to do some research, as I downloaded the RackTools software and still have no idea what unit to even start with for my space. I'm guessing it's the frame, the rails, and the faceplate?

I love how everything is nice and flush up front. Great call on the Wii case swap as well.

silkd

03-19-08, 07:38 AM

I didn't buy the rack or shelves. All I bought was the faceplates alone. If I had bought the rack, I would have had to cut out a stud. The studs in the wall were already 17 1/2"-ish which was perfect for the components.

http://bellsouthpwp2.net/s/i/sims_kevin/100_1409.JPG
http://bellsouthpwp2.net/s/i/sims_kevin/100_1409.JPG

Back (Needs some serious cable management and a cabinent built....I just got in in over the weekend, gimme a break)
http://bellsouthpwp2.net/s/i/sims_kevin/IMG_0476.JPG
http://bellsouthpwp2.net/s/i/sims_kevin/IMG_0476.JPG

pmeyer

03-19-08, 09:22 AM

Thanks for the links!

I just bought a pair of Accuride 9301 slides (28" full extension, 500 lb limit) and a 12" lazy susan (1000 lb limit). I guess that commits me to the DIY route...

silkd

03-19-08, 10:43 AM

Searched for black adhesive vinyl and couldn't find anything....any advice?

aaronlinkous

03-19-08, 10:57 AM

window tint maybe??

EM3

03-19-08, 12:05 PM

elspankdog

03-19-08, 05:31 PM

Tom, your awesome rack and simple design have inspired me as well to make a custom rack for our modest living room setup. I used a dead enclosed space to house the cabinet, but since it is enclosed I installed a bathroom fan and attic thermostat switch like I believe you have. Quick question, what temperature should I set the switch to cut the fan on at? It ranges from 50 to 120 degress F.

YW84U

03-21-08, 01:27 PM

Love the flexy rack aaronlinkous! (Oh why oh why does the BFD have to be silver, anyways? :p)

silkd - fantastic job! I really like the brushed/anodized look that the true RSH plates have (plus the trim pieces). I may have to bug you for a trace of the 360 plate one day if I decide to absorb the kids' equipment into my rack :p If you own the Cablebox and want to paint it, I would urge you to consider the Mar-Hyde Satin Black paint (same I used for my plates). It looks like the actual faceplate doesn't have any lettering or markings that you would have to worry about covering up (that's what keeps me from painting the BFD in my rack).

I used a dead enclosed space to house the cabinet, but since it is enclosed I installed a bathroom fan and attic thermostat switch like I believe you have. Quick question, what temperature should I set the switch to cut the fan on at? It ranges from 50 to 120 degrees F.

elspankdog - I think mine was originally set around 85 to 89 degrees, maybe a bit lower - I actually changed it a while back to run constantly when the equipment is on, as I figured the fan is very quiet and the constant airflow/exchange will always be beneficial. I think one method may be to run your equipment and take temps in the space periodically to see where it rests when you have your Tstat at different settings - then you could tweak it up or down from there to maintain a stable target temp while keeping the fan from kicking in too often for your tastes.

Cheers,

indianrider

03-21-08, 02:00 PM

Can anyone forward me a link to where I can buy the RSH Faceplates? I want to buy a few and adapt it to my plywood rack. Thanks.

silkd

03-21-08, 03:02 PM

I bought mine from www.stayonline.com

msdesigngroup

03-24-08, 10:55 PM

Searched for black adhesive vinyl and couldn't find anything....any advice?

Go to your local sign shop and get a small piece, or scrap, of black sign vinyl. They should have gloss, semi, and matte. Even though you'll be using a solid piece, and not cut letters or logos, make sure it's still over-masked with application tape. It'll keep the vinyl stiffer and easier to work with which will help to reduce wrinkles and bubbles.

SierraMikeBravo

03-24-08, 11:23 PM

Hey silkd,

What did the face plates run you, and did you have to send them dimensions? Also, can you get them with screws? By custom, I assuming you get them the way you want them correct?

silkd

03-25-08, 07:20 AM

Face plates were $59 each. From stayonline.com all you had to do what tell them what component you have and they will cut to that component. I ended up buying screws at home depot because I had to screw the plates into studs. The trim strip (little plate that covers the screws) came with screws and washers that attach the strip to the screw. I just used the washer from those on the wood screws I bought from Home Depot.

landshark1

03-25-08, 10:18 AM

ifeliciano

03-29-08, 01:15 AM

Thanks for the links!

I just bought a pair of Accuride 9301 slides (28" full extension, 500 lb limit) and a 12" lazy susan (1000 lb limit). I guess that commits me to the DIY route...

Those are some tough slides. I think you need to also buy a mounting bracket for the 9301. Either for bottom mount or side mount. Check out Accuride. (http://www.accuride.com/Woodworking/Product/Details.asp?ProductID=72)

I began building the base for my extending and rotating rack. I think I might order the M/A rails.

http://lh5.google.com/ifelici/R-2jeQjyx5I/AAAAAAAABqE/Bu5cDR1rGxQ/s800/P3280071.JPG.jpg

http://lh5.google.com/ifelici/R-2jeQjyx6I/AAAAAAAABqM/VQLqP-c4Pno/s800/P3280072.JPG.jpg"

Here is a small video I made of it : DIY A/V Rack (http://s296.photobucket.com/albums/mm181/aifeliciano/?action=view&current=P3280073.flv)

armstrr

03-29-08, 02:23 AM

the following might also give anyone wanting to build a rotating rack some inspiration

http://www.avrak.com/main/Avrak_Brochure_06.pdf

http://www.avrak.com/

vfrjim

03-29-08, 01:09 PM

I bought mine from www.stayonline.com

Thanks, finally ordered mine for the Buttkicker amp. I hesitated because everyone wanted too much money. Good prices. Thanks!

pmeyer

03-30-08, 10:15 AM

Those are some tough slides. I think you need to also buy a mounting bracket for the 9301. Either for bottom mount or side mount. Check out Accuride. (http://www.accuride.com/Woodworking/Product/Details.asp?ProductID=72)

I may get those brackets, but I don't believe they are required. They want $39 for a pair of brackets, which just look like angle iron with lots of hole tapped. I'll probably go with some angle iron and drill my own holes.

pmeyer

03-30-08, 02:56 PM

Just ordered two pair of RRF-27 MA rack rails. My current plan:

A 3/4" plywood base that rides on a pair of Accuride 9301 28" extension slides. On top of that will ride a 12" 1000 lb lazy susan from Rockler, with another 3/4" ply base on top of that.

Up from there will be 4 ~38" RRF rack rails, standard 19" wide. The rails will be attached to 3/4" plywood on the left and right side, likely with holes in them for ventilation. The top will also be 3/4" ply.

The sides will give good cross bracing to keep the frame from collapsing front or back. I'll likely need to put some plywood cross braces across the back to keep it stable side to side. The front will get some cross bracing from any faceplates I put on (either blanks, custom plates, or homemade).

We'll see how it goes...

ifeliciano

03-30-08, 04:38 PM

They want $39 for a pair of brackets, which just look like angle iron with lots of hole tapped. I'll probably go with some angle iron and drill my own holes.

Yikes :eek::eek: $39 for the brackets. Hell the darn slides were expensive enough. The should come with both brackets free.

v1rtu0s1ty

03-30-08, 05:07 PM

here it is folks, I did it I guess a month ago

http://restricted.dyndns.org/showme/rack/

...have fun :p

pmeyer

03-30-08, 05:16 PM

Yikes :eek::eek: $39 for the brackets. Hell the darn slides were expensive enough. The should come with both brackets free.

Also, many of the mounting options they show want two pairs of brackets. One attaching the slide to the floor or wall, one attaching the slide to the drawer or shelf. $70 for two pairs of brackets, $130 for slides.

I'm likely going to bolt the slides to 2x4s: one fixed 2x4 on the floor, one attached to the bottom of the rack. The slides have enough clearance for a pretty good bolt. The 2x4's should be just fine under compression. My only concern would be upward pressure on the back bolt on the fixed 2x4 when the fully loaded rack is pulled forward. I'll probably just use a bit of steel on top of the 2x4 back there with lag bolts through the steel plate into the floor.

pmeyer

04-04-08, 09:51 PM

Anybody have a recommended 'best spacing' from the front rack rails to the back? I'm thinking of matching the spacing on a 26" slim5 rack. I've looked at the middle atlantic engineering drawings, but they don't seem to show the spacing I need. It'll clearly be ~26", but is that from the front of the front rail to the back of the back rail? Or from the inside's of the front to the inside of the back?

I see lots of specs for standard width on racks, but little on standard depth for full shelves with back support.

I'm being paranoid because I don't want to buy a 26" rack shelf and find it's 1/8" too large to fit my rack, or the screw holes are off by a quarter inch.

Paul

dododge

04-06-08, 11:18 AM

I'm being paranoid because I don't want to buy a 26" rack shelf and find it's 1/8" too large to fit my rack, or the screw holes are off by a quarter inch.

The easy solution is to get adjustable-depth cabinet shelves with telescoping rear brackets:

http://www.stayonline.com/images/products_240x240/4505.jpg

Also keep in mind that unless you're dealing with equipment over 60 pounds or need the extra depth, most of your shelves will probably only have front mounting brackets. The rear rails can still be handy in those cases for mounting cable management accessories, patch panels, lights, and other shallow equipment that doesn't need to be accessible from the theater itself.

clevername

04-06-08, 12:26 PM

this is a quasi rack question, so I'm going to add it to this thread.

I'm in the midst of my DIY and have a problem I'd like some opinions on. I have a power wire running through the wall in the area I'm installing the rack. Unfortunate, but I think I can work around here.

Well, I'm working on the spacing of my shelves so I can get all the RSH faceplates to line up correctly and the wire is throwing a kink into that. I have everything fit in above the wire except my pre-amp (an Emo MMC-1) and don't have enough space to entirely fit the MMC-1 and shelf in above the wire. Here are some pic's of the situation:

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i249/everyonealive/IMG_0043.jpg

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i249/everyonealive/IMG_0045.jpg

The spacing works out so that I think I would be able to fit everything and have the faceplates match up if I put the shelf in such a position that the power wire sits on top of the shelf and runs just underneath the front of the MMC-1. This gives me some heebie-jeebies, though, and wanted to see what you folks thought before I even attempted it. Otherwise, I'm going to have to use a lot of blanks to cover all that space up.

ifeliciano

04-06-08, 01:07 PM

Either you or an electrician can re-route the cable to clear the area.

clevername

04-06-08, 01:11 PM

RTROSE

04-06-08, 01:31 PM

pmeyer

04-06-08, 01:40 PM

well, yeah, but I'm trying to avoid that. Don't want to pay the electrician and I've never done anything like that. The wire runs to an outlet about 3 feet to the right of the rack and runs out of sight in the other direction. There isn't any slack.

Could I do something as simple as taking the existing wire and splicing it to some excess wire in order to get it out of the way? What would I use to splice the two wires together?

Yes, you can. That's what an electrician would do. The only trick: each of the 'splices' needs to be inside a junction box, and that junction box needs to be accessible. Since it looks like the attic back there is accessible, that isn't a problem. You can just attach junction boxes to the studs out in the attic. If you follow a few rules, you'll meet code. The rules make sense as well, they aren't arbitrary. You want to do it right.

This really is NOT hard to do. You can do this if you are doing any other DIY like building that rack. (Disclaimer: I only play an electrician on TV)

what you need:

- two plastic junction boxes (you can get metal, but then get 4 romex clamps that fit the knockouts in the boxes)
- a few (6) wire nuts. Check the sizes to make sure they will handle two 12 gauge or 14 gauge wires.
- Romex wire of the same gauge as what is there now (read it off the casing). You need a ground and 2 conductors. It'll likely be 12/2 or 14/2. If you aren't sure, look at the breaker size. If it's 20 amp, use 12/2. If it's 15 amp, use 14/2.
- insulated romex staples (they'll be in electrical supplies)
- electrical tape (optional)

Quick summary:

- find the circuit breaker for that wire. Turn it off. Double/triple check that there is no power in that line (you can check it at the outlet if you are 100% sure it goes to that outlet). Even when you are sure, make your first cut of the cable with wire cutters with insulated handles. If there is power, you'll blow the circuit rather than zapping yourself.

- screw/nail a junction box to a stud on each side of your opening, or maybe one stud over.

- cut the wire on one side, making sure the wire still reaches the box on that side with 3-6" to spare. Put the wire into the box (through clamps if metal box). Do the same on the other side of the opening.

- cut new romex and run it up/over the opening and into each box.

- strip back the outer sheathes, strip back the insulation on each wire (read the wire-nut packaging for how far). Pair up the wires (black/black, white/white, ground/ground). Get the ends to line up on a pair. Use pliers to pre-twist them a bit if it helps. Apply wire nut, screw it on. Screw it until the wire pair twists around itself a few times. Make sure the connection is firm and you can't pull out either wire. I then wrap with a bit of electrical tape, but you don't really need to. Repeat for all three wires in each box (including the bare copper).

- hammer the wire staples to secure the romex to studs. You need a wire staple on each cable within a foot of each junction box. Add one every couple of feet on the cable over the opening.

- Fold the wires carefully into the j-boxes. Attach the cover plate. Test the circuit.

clevername

04-06-08, 01:48 PM

well, that definitely seems doable. I hadn't even thought of adding a junction box on the other side (it's actually the space underneath my stairs) and I'd actually feel relatively comfortable handling that. I've done some wire work (hooking and unhooking up outlets/changing outlets out, and speaker wire of course) so it's not completely foreign to me. I just want to do it right/safely and the junction box method makes me feel much more comfortable than just splicing a wire into the path as is.

pmeyer

04-06-08, 01:56 PM

I am not an electrician but I think just splicing the wires together is a BAD IDEA without using some type of junction box. I would think leaving spliced wires in the wall would not be the best idea.

Yes. Bad idea and violates code. Romex itself is pretty safe, but anywhere that there is a wire splice is a potential danger point for sparking, overheating, and starting a fire.

To protect splices, code does a few things (my take, grain of salt time)
- splices must be in junction boxes (essentially, protected boxes where a bit of heat or sparks won't start a fire)
- The splices must be well done (hence code requirements on the wire nuts and connections, essentially looking for secure/protected connections)
- the wire must be secured so that if somebody trips over it it doesn't pull the junction out of the junction box and defeat all of the above. Hence the staples and/or wire clamps for metal boxes.
- junction boxes MUST be accessible. This way if there is a problem later, somebody can come fix it, or check the junctions. You can't drywall over a junction box.

pmeyer

04-06-08, 01:57 PM

pmeyer

04-06-08, 02:08 PM

(Whoops, posted before I was done typing. Post coming)

Back to my DIY rack progress. Here is a sketchup of my current plan. This shows the rack 26" deep with solid sides. I'm leaning towards a bit shallower (~20) and I'm still debating on solid plywood sides or just angle bracing.

http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z196/pgmeyer/avspics/rackdetails-1.jpg http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z196/pgmeyer/avspics/rackdetails2.jpg

I've been mostly concentrating on the bottom sled detail. I'm going to use a pair of 2x4's lag bolted into the floor as my base. The accuride 9301 slides (1" thick, 3" tall when side mounted) will ride between that base 2x4 and the 2x4 mounted to the bottom of the sled. The sled will be 20"x20" 3/4" plywood with a 2x4 along each edge and a couple of cross 2x4's.

On top of that sled will be the 12" lazy susan (only ~1/4" thick). The rack will mount on that.

The hardest part (and most unexpected to me) is trying to figure out how to get it all put together. For the slides and the lazy susan, all the bolts are hidden when it's assembled.

Look at the picture above. The lazy susan is in the 3/8" slot between the sled and the rack. The heads of the bolts live in the lazy susan and the bolts go up and down into the sled and rack. To get it to work, I have to pre-drill the holes in the bottom of the rack to match the lazy susan, then attach the lazy susan to the sled. I've then got to drill a 1/2" hole in the bottom of the sled that lines up with a hole in the lazy susan. I can then slide a bolt up through that hole through the sled and lazy susan and into the rack base. Rotate and repeat.

It sounds easy now that I describe it, but trying to picture it all in my head and make sure it will all work has taken some work.

ifeliciano

04-06-08, 02:11 PM

Im glad ya'll chimed in. Junction boxes, wire nuts, romex in required gauge, etc...

armstrr

04-06-08, 10:31 PM

Look at the picture above. The lazy susan is in the 3/8" slot between the sled and the rack. The heads of the bolts live in the lazy susan and the bolts go up and down into the sled and rack. To get it to work, I have to pre-drill the holes in the bottom of the rack to match the lazy susan, then attach the lazy susan to the sled. I've then got to drill a 1/2" hole in the bottom of the sled that lines up with a hole in the lazy susan. I can then slide a bolt up through that hole through the sled and lazy susan and into the rack base. Rotate and repeat.

It sounds easy now that I describe it, but trying to picture it all in my head and make sure it will all work has taken some work.[/QUOTE]

it sounds like you know what you're doing, the lazy susan should come with good directions (as should the drawer slided) to aid you if you are still uncertain.

mn_hokie

04-06-08, 10:49 PM

pmeyer

04-07-08, 09:01 AM

Do you guys see any issue with mounting a 19" knockdown rack in a 22 1/2" finished opening? I was thinking I could just screw some wood supports into the drywall (and into the studs behind) to close the gap, followed by some trim around the front edge to hide the exposed wood.

Thoughts?

I wouldn't think there would be a problem. What kind of rack? The middle atlantic slim5 is 19 1/8" wide, leaving 1 11/16" gap on each side. Unless the rack needs the strength, I wouldn't even put wood supports in. Just cover the 1" gap with trim and you are good to go.

mn_hokie

04-07-08, 09:31 AM

Paul,

I was looking at one of the Middle Atlantic knockdown racks. I'm having my EQ closet finished off with drywall, so I guess I was more concerned about the finished look. Even having to screw a few pieces of wood into the studs on both sides to provide a snug fit shouldn't be a problem. I had the area framed out much higher than a rack just to be safe, as I wasn't sure what I'd be doing. I'm thinking once the rack is installed, I can add some type of cabinet (or just drywall) over the open area above the rack.

mn_hokie

04-07-08, 11:10 AM

I had the guys add a double layer of drywall on one side of the rack. I could afford it there but with all of my boxes places on the opposite side, i I had to stick with a single layer there. That should buy me an additional 1/2", so I'm thinking the finished area will be around 22" now. Considering that the rack is 19 1/8", that gives me 1 7/16" of play on each side. Hey, every little bit counts :)

pmeyer

04-07-08, 01:05 PM

You should have no problems. I think the only question is: do you need any wood pieces in there. If the rack is going to be permanently mounted, a few pieces of trim nailed to the wall around the rack will do the job. You can line them up flush with the edge of your rack. Behind the first 1.5" of trim will be air space, but no big deal.

If the front of your rack will be open and you are concerned about how the inside sides of the rack will look, attach some thin plywood to the side of the racks before you slide it in. Might be easier than attaching it to the walls.

One thing that will help: explain why you wanted the few pieces of wood. Are you concerned about the rack shifting, or looking at aesthetics? If you are looking at structural support, just cut eight narrow strips of 3/4" plywood about 20" long. Double them up for 1.5" thickness. Place one each at top/bottom left/right. Let the bottom ones just lie there. Screw through the top ones into the studs.

pmeyer

04-07-08, 01:08 PM

I ordered to 2u blank front plates (thick ones, 1/8" steel, black brushed anodized). I'll use them to determine spacing of my rails.

While waiting for those to come, I've been working on my sled:

http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z196/pgmeyer/avspics/DSC_9764.jpg

Works great. With a 3/4" shelf on top of the lazy susan, there is about 1/8" clearance to the sides when it spins. I can shim it up with paper if it turns out I need more once the rack is loaded.

armstrr

04-07-08, 01:36 PM

Driving_Hamster

04-07-08, 01:41 PM

I'm having a heck of a time finding sheets of aluminum to make face plates for my equipment. Will keep calling places but this is getting frustrating!

BFauska

04-07-08, 03:43 PM

I'm having a heck of a time finding sheets of aluminum to make face plates for my equipment. Will keep calling places but this is getting frustrating!

I don't know where you live, but we buy all our aluminum for work at a place that is mostly advertised as a copper and brass supplier. They deal with non-ferrous metals, which includes aluminum, and they have a cut-off bin that would meet the needs of most of us, they sell the scrap by the pound.

Look for metal suppliers or more specifically try looking for copper and brass. Good luck.

Oh, and the Seattle answer to the question would be Alaska Copper and Brass.

elspankdog

04-07-08, 05:42 PM

I'm having a heck of a time finding sheets of aluminum to make face plates for my equipment. Will keep calling places but this is getting frustrating!

I just used 16 gauge sheet metal for mine. Little harder to cut, but I got it for free. Hopefully, I'll be done by Wednesday so I can post pics.

aaronlinkous

04-07-08, 06:09 PM

have you checked HD? its with the threaded rods and nuts and bolts and what not. out of the 3 or 4 around here, all of them have it??

Driving_Hamster

04-07-08, 06:17 PM

Thanks for the options guys. I'd didn't even think to check the big box stores. Will also look into the copper places.

pmeyer

04-07-08, 09:44 PM

the commercial products that use this pull out and swivel design use one top shelf mounted drawer slide to ensure there is no major "racking" (pun intended). it does not need to be heavy duty like the bottom ones

Looking at the MA AX-SXR, it looks like it has two flat mounted slides.

The MA SRSR appears to have 4 normal drawer slides mounted vertically.

Even my heavy duty slides are only rated 150 lb (for the pair) if they are flat mounted. I've tried them on their sides. They are made of heavy gauge steel, but they still flex a bit when extended 28" flat.

Mounted like they are, they are rated 500 lb and are very stiff. I'm willing to sacrifice 3", especially since that 3" will be flush to the ground and be covered by baseboard. Besides, they are easier to mount this way. I can build the whole thing outside the hole and then just lag bolt them in place.

I don't think racking will be an issue (if you mean the base twisting between the door slides and jamming). The bases are secure and will be (very) parallel. I've never had racking issues with any drawers I've made with accuride slides.

We'll see, though.

dododge

04-08-08, 06:10 PM

Thanks for the options guys. I'd didn't even think to check the big box stores. Will also look into the copper places.

You can also mail-order sheet metal from places like www.mcmaster.com and www.mscdirect.com. I think they both ship from the MD/PA/NJ area so delivery is pretty fast. McMaster's website is easier to browse; a quick check finds 12"x24" sheets of 0.05" (about 16g) aluminum for $12-$40 depending on alloy (and yes they do describe the differences in the alloys).

armstrr

04-08-08, 09:27 PM

I don't think racking will be an issue (if you mean the base twisting between the door slides and jamming). The bases are secure and will be (very) parallel. I've never had racking issues with any drawers I've made with accuride slides.

We'll see, though.

but have you ever built a 48" tall drawer that extends 28" with 300lbs of rack/equip?

by the look of your work, i'm sure it will work out fine. when you're done you may find that the top of the rack has a little latteral movement, most of which will depend on how your rack system (not the sliding mechanism) is built. ie if you use a welded square tube rack frame, you're gold. if you use 2x2s and finish nails.... either way, in the end if there is any side to side movrment that you don't like, you can add a single flat mounted drawer slide at the top and it will fix all. i'm interested to see how your project works out. as you can tell, i have put some thought into this myself. i had an avrak (sp?) and bought the same drawer slides as you with the intention of building a better mousetrap but ended up selling the house. the theater i'm building now i have made sure i have access to both sides of the equipment to avoid the hole issue. the biggest pain was leaving enough extra cabling at the back without it becoming an unsightly mess. i always had one speaker cable work loose...p****sed me off when i'ld go half way through a movie till i figured out why the sound track sucked...

keep us updated on your progress!

pmeyer

04-09-08, 12:10 AM

[QUOTE=armstrr;13592974]but have you ever built a 48" tall drawer that extends 28" with 300lbs of rack/equip? [QUOTE]

That would be a no :rolleyes:. I'll definitely report back.

I'm not too worried about the slides themselves jamming. The rack 'racking' forward and back I'm not too worried about because I'm essentially building solid 3/4" plywood sides firmly attached to steel rails at the front and the back. I'll drill big holes as needed for ventilation.

I *AM* a bit worried about the rack racking laterally. For the back, I'm planning to go with 5" tall plywood at the bottom and top, and some steel cross braces.

The front is tougher. I clearly don't want angle braces on the front, and I'm too cheap (for now) to buy heavy duty face plates for all of my equipment and machine them. I've got two HBL2 2U (3.5" tall) thick aluminum front blank plates for the top/bottom. I'm hoping they give me some racking support in the front. We'll see.

The funny thing is that I'm WAY overbuilding this for some potential future use. For now, I'll probably have:

AVR: 30 lbs
PS3: 10 lbs
Cable Box: 10 lbs

When I'm done, my RACK will probably weigh as much as all the equipment combined! :D

But, I'll have a lot of fun building it! And for years, I'll be able to talk about how it'll be able to handle my separate amps and video processors and HTPC's and all the other stuff that I'll actually never get. But I'll have racks that can handle them!

armstrr

04-09-08, 08:43 AM

[QUOTE=armstrr;13592974]

I *AM* a bit worried about the rack racking laterally. For the back, I'm planning to go with 5" tall plywood at the bottom and top, and some steel cross braces.

the side to side racking is what i was referring to. i have built rolling cabinets (3'widex 4'highx3'deep) with full extension slides. my only regret was using 1/4" material for the back. 1/2" or 3/4" would have made it much more resistant to racking. make sure you rebate the sides,top, and bottom panels to accept the back panel. if you can afford to have more than 5" at the top and bottom, that would be better or something like this
____________
l
l -----------
l /
l/
that's 1/2 of it. 5" in the middle tapering out to 8-10" on the sides

pmeyer

04-09-08, 08:52 AM

[QUOTE=pmeyer;13594261]

if you can afford to have more than 5" at the top and bottom, that would be better or something like this
____________
l
l -----------
l /
l/
that's 1/2 of it. 5" in the middle tapering out to 8-10" on the sides

That's a good idea. Get some more bracing without sacrificing center access. I can do the same thing on the bottom. I had planned 3/4" ply for the back.

kezug

05-07-08, 12:24 AM

For a DIY rack, how deep should the rack be? I was thinking to do around 24", but my receiver is only 13" and most are around 15 to 17" for depth. So 24" seems to be too deep and am now thinking to do 20".

Will this be sufficient? Am I missing something?

Staffy

05-07-08, 01:42 AM

What about using an old PC server rack? Too bad you weren't in Michigan or I could get your one :)

I am using one I had in my basement because I almost blew ou tmy bellybutton getting the thing down.

http://jaycarnley.com/images/Server%20Rack%20After.JPG

Choots

05-11-08, 02:47 PM

When I was setting up my theatre, I chose to put all electronics in the adjacent mechanical room, but couldn't (and didn't want to) expose them in the theatre because I couldn't get at the common wall due to all the mechanical equipment occupying that space.

So since I didn't want to expose it through the hallway wall near the theatre, that left me with a simple option. Knowing I'd eventually move (this isn't my dreamhouse) and probably build another HT, I wanted something that would be freestanding, look good, be adjustable, and moveable. I ended up building a rack out of birch plywood, with a tiger maple face frame, a fixed shelf halfway up, and then five adjustable shelves. I used dado construction, and left it natural with a satin polyurethane finish. It is 74" high, 22" deep, and has adjustable legs underneath.

It looks and works great, although few people see it unless I'm showing it off. I've got my HTPC, and a NAS server and monitor in it, followed by my Pio Elite 74 TXVi with Beheringer FBQ2496, a Toshiba XA2, a Denon DVD 1920, a Samsung HD receiver, and my networking gear (16 port Netgear gigabit switch, a wireless router, and the DSL modem), and some left over space waiting for a Bell ExpressVu 9200 HD/DVR. Check it out (looking through the door to the mechanical room):

http://www.visi.com/~pwwiebe/house/img_0156a.jpg

http://www.visi.com/~pwwiebe/house/img_0159a.jpg

http://www.visi.com/~pwwiebe/house/img_1003a.jpg

http://www.visi.com/~pwwiebe/house/img_1005a.jpg

http://www.visi.com/~pwwiebe/house/img_1008a.jpg

http://www.visi.com/~pwwiebe/house/img_1009a.jpg

On the back view, you can see 3.5" wide pieces of plywood that will hold vertical power bars and the cable management system that I will install, once I get the HD DVR up and running and route cables to my rear speakers.

Finally, one last thing I want to do is replace the CRT monitor with a smaller LCD panel to make better use of the rack space. With this setup, I don't have to worry about fan noise or cooling, since I can just close the door on it!

Choots

kagolu

06-02-08, 11:52 PM

Great thread and great work everyone. I will be building a horizontal floating shelf for my av rack and have been kicking around some ideas in my head and this thread should help alot.

kagolu

06-05-08, 06:01 PM

Whats everyones opinion regarding fans. Hook them up with a thermostat to around 80-85 degrees or have them come and run with the avr?

RTROSE

06-05-08, 07:57 PM

Whats everyones opinion regarding fans. Hook them up with a thermostat to around 80-85 degrees or have them come and run with the avr?

FWIW I plan on having my cooling fans come on when power is on the AVR. That way there is no guessing when the equipment that causes heat is on the fan is on. IMHO it is just one less thing to think/worry about.

Regards,

RTROSE

kagolu

06-05-08, 09:40 PM

FWIW I plan on having my cooling fans come on when power is on the AVR. That way there is no guessing when the equipment that causes heat is on the fan is on. IMHO it is just one less thing to think/worry about.

Regards,

RTROSE

Less wiring as well, thanks for the input.

pmeyer

06-18-08, 09:36 AM

Assembled my rack last night. 1/2" birch plywood on the sides, 3/4" on the bottom, back, and under the lazy susan. Mid-Atlantic rack rails and face plates. The rack is sitting on a 12" 1000 lb rated lazy susan from Rockler (spins great!). [Still need to hacksaw off the tops of the back rails].

http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z196/pgmeyer/avspics/DSC_9951.jpg

http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z196/pgmeyer/avspics/DSC_9952.jpg

http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z196/pgmeyer/avspics/DSC_9953.jpg

When done, this rack will be able to slide in and out 27" and then rotate. The whole thing will sit on the 2x4/accuride slide assembly shown here:

http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z196/pgmeyer/avspics/DSC_9956.jpg

(Also posted in my thread. Sorry for the double post, but I wanted to get this in the DIY Rack thread as well.)

kagolu

06-18-08, 11:42 AM

Assembled my rack last night. 1/2" birch plywood on the sides, 3/4" on the bottom, back, and under the lazy susan. Mid-Atlantic rack rails and face plates. The rack is sitting on a 12" 1000 lb rated lazy susan from Rockler (spins great!). [Still need to hacksaw off the tops of the back rails].

When done, this rack will be able to slide in and out 27" and then rotate. The whole thing will sit on the 2x4/accuride slide assembly shown here:

(Also posted in my thread. Sorry for the double post, but I wanted to get this in the DIY Rack thread as well.)
Looks good! Keep the info progress reports coming. Have not started mine yet, the honey doo list growing out of control :eek:

pmeyer

06-19-08, 12:54 AM

(Cross post from my thread since this is directly rack related)

Finished the rack. I attached the lazy susan to the bottom of the rack, the base plate to the sliding rails, and then attached the lazy susan to the base plate. That last step was the only hassle, as the lazy susan was already attached to the rack bottom. I had to use holes drilled in the rack bottom to push the nuts down through the lazy susan and out the bottom of the base plate. It was worse than it sounds getting it all to line up.

The rack is in place in the back right corner. It'll eventually be about 1.5" higher to make sure the slides clear any carpet and pad. It's got three paint cans sitting on the back acting as a counterweight for now, as I haven't yet lag bolted it to the floor. Without the paint cans, the rack tips forward about when it's fully extended.

http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z196/pgmeyer/DSC_9961.jpg

http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z196/pgmeyer/DSC_9962.jpg

http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z196/pgmeyer/DSC_9963.jpg

swithey

07-19-08, 09:16 PM

http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z196/pgmeyer/DSC_9963.jpg
Paul,

Nice job on the pull-out and swivel rack so far. I'll thinking of building something similar. Please post progress shots as you go -- I need more inspiration :D

pmeyer

07-20-08, 08:46 PM

Paul,

Nice job on the pull-out and swivel rack so far. I'll thinking of building something similar. Please post progress shots as you go -- I need more inspiration :D

Not much progress, but I painted it. Ugly job, I happened to have a bit of black satin interior paint left over in the pan after rolling out part of the ceiling. Masked the front and slopped it on. The only part of the black that will be visible is the interior side walls, though, and they look fine.

http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z196/pgmeyer/avspics/DSC_0338.jpg

jamis

07-20-08, 09:04 PM

I swear I didn't know pmeyer's color scheme...

Here is mine in progress (I took the shelves out to paint it).

http://www.mostlyharmless.org/theater/paint4.jpg

yamahaSHO

07-20-08, 10:32 PM

That looks very good. Are you going to have some type of active cooling?

jamis

07-21-08, 05:58 AM

That looks very good. Are you going to have some type of active cooling?

It will vent into a utility room... but there is an HVAC supply line that runs through the top of the closest, so I have options. :)

mwardncsu

09-14-08, 09:28 PM

I'm about to embark upon a similar custom wall rack so thanks to all for posting this info previously...

This is probably a silly question, buy when using a "standard" rack or rack-rails and using rack-mounted shelves, how to you mount the custom face-plate so that it is flush with any "blank" panels, since the shelf screws in from the front and thus would offset the faceplate panel vs. blank panels that would be directly mounted to the rack?

Do you just use spacer washers or something to bring everything into alignment?

Majedesi

12-08-08, 05:33 PM

After a little inspiration here is my almost finished rack. I still have to build face plates and decide how I want to trim it. I don't have any high end equipment so I was going to cover it with an Ikea glass cabinet door but I didn't take into account the width of the finish trim and the door ended up about an inch to small, it's killing me. Because I had planned on using the glass door I didn't finish it the rack to standard rack widths but I did install the outer stud framing to the standard rough in width for a rack (20 1/4") that way if I ever want to use wider components or a standard rack all I have to do is remove the trim and unscew some studs and the rough in framing will be exposed. I had to do a little reframing and electrical but this project only took about one weekend.

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d178/majedesi/AVRack6.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d178/majedesi/AVRack12.jpg

Before
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d178/majedesi/AVRack18.jpg

Thanks for all the ideas.

pmeyer

12-13-08, 09:41 PM

Getting closer on mine. (partial repost from my build thread)

My problem: Since the rack is sitting on a lazy susan, there is nothing to keep it from rotating just a bit when it is in it's normal position. It can also be tilted ~1/4" side to side, since the lazy susan has a bit of play. It's not going anywhere, but before I install trim around it, I wanted to know it's going to have a fixed position.

I took some scrap hard maple and used the band saw to make 4 shims. 1/4" at one end, 5/8" at the other, one face sanded very smooth with 100 grit sand paper. I glued/stapled them to the side of the rack near the top and bottom of each side, with the thin end toward the back of the rack, smooth face out.

I then slid the rack into place and pulled a shim (normal lowes hardwood shim) between the stud and the maple shim, thick end towards the wall, thin end out. The thin end of the shim stuck way out into the room. I adjusted all the shims until the rack was vertical and had the spacing I wanted relative to the studs. I marked each shim where it met the front of the stud.

I cut off the shims at that spot, sanded the rack-side face smooth, rounded over the rack side of the thin end with sand paper, and glued/stapled them to the stud.

Now, when I slide the rack back into place, it glides right back into perfect alignment, squeezed between the hard-wood shims. It doesn't wiggle side to side at all (perfect, better than I'd hoped) and has a consistent placement so I won't have any trim sizing issues.

I had planned to use some bees wax (I used it on lathe work) on the sliding faces of the shims, but it doesn't need it. It doesn't stick at all.

Pictures:

http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z196/pgmeyer/avspics/DSC_0692.jpg

http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z196/pgmeyer/avspics/DSC_0696.jpg

http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z196/pgmeyer/avspics/DSC_0694.jpg

ragged

01-03-09, 05:00 PM

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o306/YW84U/IMG_5298.jpg

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o306/YW84U/IMG_5304.jpg

I still may make a vented panel later on down the road, but I think I'll see what the temps and airflow are like for now.

That is definitely a sweet setup. A rack mount cooling fan would be awesome for the last rack!! I'm sure with your skills you could build something like this from coolerguys.com

RobertR

01-03-09, 07:23 PM

I love what Tom did with his setup. I especially like the way he did the faceplates. I used 1/16" steel. The shelves are supported with Unistrut:

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z268/Robert487/DSCF1887.jpg

nsgrossman

01-14-09, 08:06 PM

@ aaronlinkous

I just realized that's homemade. Nice man! I've seen that pic a few times and thought you bought it. looks real professional!

ejhuzy

01-14-09, 08:18 PM

Here's a shot of my DIY rack. Mine's real simple, but spacious and effective. It didn't have to be real pretty because it's living in a closet.

http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq132/ejhuzy/Home%20Theater/DSCN0851.jpg

Get's the job done and it only cost around $75 for materials. Shelves are all adjustable. I used those furniture moving pads on the bottom to make it easy to move around.

KKfromLA

03-15-09, 02:55 PM

This thread is awesome and it has definitely made me want to do this as well. Check out my thread i posted for pictures of whats going on right now:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1129476

I want to do it the way quite a few of you guys did it in the sense of building an enclosure... it just looks much more sturdy to me. The hanging route does look like the much more easy/straight forward route though! I am just worried about weight and the number of components I have. I have a preamp, amp, receiver (for home audio), directv box, blu-ray player, vhs player, 400cd jukebox, power conditioner and I want to add a gaming system to the theater as well.

If you look at my pictures, I am going to try my best to do it facing the right side wall and bring the door back to close the closet. The other route would have been to build one on rails that slides into place right up against the door opening you see and then slide back for access purposes. I imagine it will be really hard to get that to look like its built in and clean like the rest of the posted setups.

I have a few questions...
1) I want to add drawers (like 2 of them) so how do I go about incorporating them into this rack? I want them to sit flush with all the rest of the faceplates of course.
2) how do the faceplates screw on? I don't get where they attach...
3) does someone have a pic before they put in their final molding/borders? I want to see whats going on there
4) how do I ventilate the closet? Its completely sealed, above it is a staircase also. I have no idea how to ventilate rooms, but I know this room needs it BADLY. Thats why we took off the door because even when everything is on standby, that closet got warm. If I do this install, the door will be closed (or I will be blocking the door if I go with the second option), so ventilation is a must.
5) Which method should I go about doing this? The one where you basically are hanging the brackets to support shelves. or the one where you build that squared off cage? I doubt you can have drawers with the first option right?

Thanks!

tlllava

03-15-09, 07:36 PM

Here are some pictures of the construction of my shelving unit and pull-out and spinning rack. I've never done anything like this before so it took a long time but came out nice!

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_XWzI1LlxdUY/RzZ1KLZ1y-I/AAAAAAAACRM/1BYGzMZ9wX8/s288/Theater%20Equipment%20Cabinet%20004.jpg http://lh4.ggpht.com/_XWzI1LlxdUY/RzZ1LLZ1y_I/AAAAAAAACRU/vq-RBWlKVcs/s288/Equipment%20Cabinet%20009.jpg http://lh6.ggpht.com/_XWzI1LlxdUY/RzZ1MrZ1zAI/AAAAAAAACRc/NtavZXhQ3Z4/s288/Equipment%20Cabinet%20011.jpg

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_XWzI1LlxdUY/RzZ1NbZ1zBI/AAAAAAAACRk/Xb8TE4mdFYY/s288/Equipment%20Cabinet%20013.jpg http://lh6.ggpht.com/_XWzI1LlxdUY/R187cvDoQDI/AAAAAAAAChg/5Ic7RU7Pu8s/s288/All%20Done%21%20025.jpg http://lh6.ggpht.com/_XWzI1LlxdUY/R187WvDoP-I/AAAAAAAACg4/qEUIHu2WQPo/s288/All%20Done%21%20014.jpg

bzeller

05-29-09, 11:22 AM

So call me a copycat, but I just outfit my media room last month. I initially thought I'd just put it all up front as that is where the builder had wired everything. Well that just wasn't good enough since the builder obviously did not know what he was doing when wiring a media room. I decided then and there to move everything to a closet in back. My wife thought I was crazy when I started cutting large holes in our drywall, but I have to say I'm pretty happy with the look so far. Now I just need to make the face plates to surround the units and clean up the wiring in back, but taking a break for a couple weeks.

El Gabito

07-06-09, 09:49 PM

This is a great thread! I'd love to see some more!

BritInVA

10-24-09, 10:45 AM

Here's mine - nothing special just functional

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k242/BritInVA/rack-1.jpg http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k242/BritInVA/rack-2.jpg

Its a mess so lucky its hidden

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k242/BritInVA/HT/IMG_4737.jpg

Abeers

10-24-09, 11:02 PM

What did you use for the "cable organizers/hooks" on the back of the rack?

Abeers

10-24-09, 11:06 PM

BritInVA

10-25-09, 01:51 PM

What did you use for the "cable organizers/hooks" on the back of the rack?

I used Intellinet Rack Mounting Cable Management Rings (http://sewelldirect.com/Intellinet-Cable-Management-Rings.asp#)

Dy-no-mite

01-01-10, 12:49 PM

Hey guys, my rack is in no way "original" just a mish mash of other ideas shown here. Thank you to all who posted here before me, there were some great ideas. The Rack is on a pull out slide, and on a lazy susan, so it pulls out and rotates to access the back. The shelves on the side of the rack just lift out and that frees the rack to rotate. The drawer in the bottom houses the iPod dock, and Harmony remote charger and rf extender. Just got a PS3 for Christmas, so that will be replacing my old dvd player. That will still leave a blank shelf for future expansion. Thanks again everyone!

stormtrooper1015

01-01-10, 09:16 PM

The beauty boards to trim out the equipment aren't yet done, but the rack is up and running... 1"x1" steel frame welded, with adjustable feet, and rails tapped at 1" increments. Shelves are 3/4"MDF bolted to aluminum "L" extrusion, and then mounted to the rack. Quite sturdy, and surprisingly light (before the MDF was installed :)).

http://i45.tinypic.com/sox30h.jpg

j2048b

02-03-10, 04:23 AM

Nice set ups guys! i am currently trying to find a rack that does not cost over $300 but need to fit in 9-12 items!

the biggest being 5 spaces and 20.5 deep (onkyo nr3007)

i am also looking to get another rack for my computer stuff, my computer along will take up 12 spaces! i guess maybe a custom drawer beside it for all the software cd's and such, as well

but any suggestions on where to get a few of these that dont cost over $300 and have both sides and a lockable front?

I have tried fleebay but no one will deal something like that,

so maybe a custom on, might have to be the ticket?

If i do a custom one, can i just buy the sides of the rack in order to fit my shelves into?

MatrixDweller

02-04-10, 03:15 PM

Just got a PS3 for Christmas, so that will be replacing my old dvd player.

PS3's are like mini space heaters. They vent from the from and sides to the back. Do you have any additional fans in your rack?

The reason I ask is I've bought a 28u rack and plan on modding it up to make it look nice and be functional. It came with a noisy 3U AC fan unit, but I think I'll ditch it and go with 3 or 4 120mm fans mounted on the back door and one on the top. www.coolerguys.com have a good selection. I might make, buy or cobble together a thermostat controlled unit.

I plan on cutting up aluminum (or buffed black plexiglass) for the front as some of the nicer racks have here for blanking panels. How tight is the fit between the faceplate and the components. I know it's probably not air tight. How are you guys controlling the air flow?

MatrixDweller

02-04-10, 03:23 PM

I have tried fleebay but no one will deal something like that

The rack itself is cheap. It's all of the accessories that make it expensive, like shelves, sides, doors and drawers.

I found an old rack on www.kijiji.com in my area. It's a bit rough, but for $60 it was a steal. I need to paint the side panels and door because they were grey and rusted/flaking in places. It needs shelves too.

A good place I found for shelving is www.proaudiostash.com. There are lots of others around too.

j2048b

02-04-10, 03:37 PM

The rack itself is cheap. It's all of the accessories that make it expensive, like shelves, sides, doors and drawers.

I found an old rack on www.kijiji.com in my area. It's a bit rough, but for $60 it was a steal. I need to paint the side panels and door because they were grey and rusted/flaking in places. It needs shelves too.

A good place I found for shelving is www.proaudiostash.com. There are lots of others around too.

cool, thanks for the help!

what did you search as a title? server rack or something to that extent?

also are any body's racks front heavy and do any pose a tipping hazard? If so how do you combat that?

thanks!

kagolu

02-04-10, 03:39 PM

jamis

02-04-10, 03:39 PM

The rack itself is cheap. It's all of the accessories that make it expensive, like shelves, sides, doors and drawers.

I found an old rack on www.kijiji.com in my area. It's a bit rough, but for $60 it was a steal. I need to paint the side panels and door because they were grey and rusted/flaking in places. It needs shelves too.

A good place I found for shelving is www.proaudiostash.com. There are lots of others around too.

Similar to my experience... it's definitely the accessories that run the bill up.

I got my rails for free by doing some dumpster diving at work prior to a building move (we tossed a few full sized racks). Pulled one out of the dumpster, unbolted the rails and tossed them into my car.

I've probably spent about $500 on shelves, plates, screws, and drawers for the rack, though.

Cult_Daddy

02-08-10, 02:21 PM

Here is the rack I made using a couple of rackrails, some aluminum, and a bit of patience.

http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs178.snc3/20570_324861920239_637930239_5079236_8098863_n.jpg

http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs198.snc3/20570_324861950239_637930239_5079238_3406446_n.jpg

This link (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=17951507#post17951507) takes you to the details in my build thread.

jikkjack

02-08-10, 02:44 PM

my diy rack:

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r287/jikkjack/Royal%20Fortune/IMG_5108.jpghttp://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r287/jikkjack/Royal%20Fortune/IMG_5102.jpg

Stephen Hopkins

02-08-10, 03:16 PM

I didn't go as far as custom face plates, but I did incorporate some wire management into my design. Materials (MDF, trim, adjustable shelf track, shelf tabs, hinges, handle, clasp) cost aronud $100. I sealed the joints and nail-heads and painted the trim after the pictures were taken. Walls have also been painted since then. The inside is painted the same color as the walls (creme brule), though it looks an awful lot like raw MDF or cardboard in the pictures. Some equipment has changes since then as well (WDTV => Acer HTPC, UP5000 => BDP-83, SR805 => NR1007).

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/131/dscn0976du2.jpg

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/3388/dscn0978wv4.jpg

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/8366/dscn0970ww2.jpg

bline22

02-23-10, 09:06 AM

I am enjoying this thread. I am trying to mimic YW84U post on the first page. he used aluminum to cover his components. I am having a hard time finding a sheet that is around 16 gauge so trying to find alternatives to get the same look. Do you think plexiglass painted might work?

Dy-no-mite

02-23-10, 11:11 AM

PS3's are like mini space heaters. They vent from the from and sides to the back. Do you have any additional fans in your rack?

I have 120MM Computer Fans cooling my rack. There is one on each shelf plus two above the door drawing the warm air out. All but one of the fans is wired to the same power source, which is plugged into the switched outlet on the back of the Denon amp. When the amp comes on, all but one of the fans powers up. The other fan, the one that rests on the shelf with the Tivo is wired to it own power source, and is plugged in and is on constantly. I was worried that the Tivo never powers down, and would alway be producing some heat. This set up seems to be working great. The PS3 gets only slightly warm to the touch, even after playing for hours. The Denon receiver is the major heat maker, and there is no top to the shelf, so with a fan blowing across that and the top fans exhausting the air out of the closet, there is very little temperature rise in the closet even with the door closed. There is a little air gap at the bottom of the closet door to help draw in cool air from the tile floor. If I had to do over again, I would spend a little bit more on fans that were a bit quieter, I got a great deal on fans from Frys, but the do hum a bit. Although from my living room, even with the volume muted, you can just barely hear the fans blowing.

Spec4

02-23-10, 03:43 PM

Do you think plexiglass painted might work?

It would be worth a shot and you might be able to backlight the plexi from inside the cabinet and give it nice glow?

Nice looking rack Stephen, do you mind sharing the dimensions of your shelf and also the H x W of the opening? This is similar to what I was planning and any help is appreciated. BTW I'm really liking the DIY cable management.

Thanks
JB

Stephen Hopkins

02-23-10, 05:48 PM

If I remember correctly, the ID is 20w x 36h x 22d. I ended up adding 2 more entrance/exit holes at the bottom... one directly to the right of what is pictured, and one on the right side wall. The side-wall hole is for speaker & HDMI, and the two bottom holes are just for power cables. I also now have my cable modem, wireless router, and powerline network router on the top shelf pointed backwards (behind the BluRays and Wii games).

macadoo

11-03-10, 09:42 PM

Better late than never. It's simple but serves my needs.

http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/k598/Mac_48/Equip_rack_1.jpg

http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/k598/Mac_48/one_down.jpg

Ceiling comes next.

omesh

09-19-11, 02:46 PM

Yes yes, I know I'm resurrecting a year old thread, but it is indeed a great thread. After I went through all 6 pages, I got some inspiration. I've finally finished the basement/media-room and the new AV equipment is on order on the way! I was going to just place all equipment, hidden, inside of the under the stairs closet as you can see in the picture. That is where I ran all A/V cabling to and will serve as the equipment 'room.'

Then, I stumbled across this DIY thread and my eyes widened at the DIY media racks built in to the wall. I am deciding if I want to emulate this and attempt a DIY rack similar to those in this thread. The first problem is the stud-spacing in the closet itself. I believe the wall is a supporting wall as you can see the 3-coupled 2x4s together. I had the electrician put a 20A 4-outlet box on the 2nd stud (its really the 3rd..but ehh...reference pic), and that is probably the stud I would need to 'cut' around 36" from the ground to do the in-wall DIY rack. However Im here to see the help of you more advanced DIYers. Would I need to redistribute the support weight of that single stud? If so, what is the best way. Unfortunately the studs are 16 on-center, and not wide enough for me to NOT have to cut that 2nd stud if I wanted to attempt the in-wall rack.

Also, should I double up on the studs (assuming I cut that current single 2nd stud (well its really a 3rd...since the 1st one is the door edge).

Would love to hear some thoughts from you guys....or ideas....I consider myself fairly handy - when provided some additional direction :)

Let me know if you need any additional details.

-Omesh

hanesian

09-19-11, 04:06 PM

Some feedback from someone with just enough experience to be dangerous: I wouldn't fret it too much. Like the wall where I built my rack, that is not a load bearing wall so you can cut one of those studs without much problem. Here is a link (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=19141274#post19141274) to my build thread where I did a similar thing. And here is a follow up link (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=19157239#post19157239) showing some more work.I'm happy to say, my house is still standing.

Briefly, here are a few photos lifted from those links to give you a quick idea of how I did a similar thing, although my main obstacle was a stud behind the wall, but still right in the middle of where the rack opening had to be. You can see there isn't a lot of reinforcements needed in such a situation. Follow the links to my thread for much more detail if you're interested.

http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr79/hanesian/AVS/005-2.jpg

http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr79/hanesian/AVS/DSC_0001-2.jpg

http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr79/hanesian/AVS/DSC_0002-3.jpg

http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr79/hanesian/AVS/DSC_0005-2.jpg

And I highly recommend doing this in your situation - it's great to be able to bury all that messy wiring back there but still easily get at your equipment without having to actually go into the under stairs closet area.

omesh

09-19-11, 04:14 PM

Thanks for the reply. It supports the doorway entry to the closet, and a doorway entry to the bathroom 3 feet to the right. Is there a way I can positively confirm if it's load bearing? Uh, without waiting for my ceiling to collapse.

It supports the stairs from the side, too :) It runs perpendicular to the ceiling trusses. Would any pictures from certain angles help?

omesh

09-19-11, 06:09 PM

gregdpw

09-20-11, 06:28 AM

Here's my DIY rack.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fR04FKpioc&feature=youtube_gdata_player

hanesian

09-20-11, 11:25 AM

I attempted to take a few more pics.

I took a picture of the 'full wall' from the outside so you can see the two doors.

Also the second picture is inside of the under-the-stairs closet looking up to the left of the door, as you can see the door is strangely framed, no king or jack stud, HEH.

The 3rd pic is looking even further up (to the left) of the vent, you can see the top of the studs is cut to allow the vent to run through it (if I were to reach left, with this view, i would touch the drywall for the bathroom). also there is a plumbing pipe running through the top-plate. I cant imagine a supporting-wall being cut, and having a pipe run through it. ehhh?

omesh,

Doesn't look like a bearing wall to me, but in any event you really should take this specific question into your own new thread to get feedback, rather than hijack this one. Just put a link to your new thread so anyone who sees this discussion here will be able to jump to your thread to help out.

Good luck!

Exterous

09-24-11, 07:13 PM

Here is my rack - just finished painting today. I had hoped I would be able to friction fit all the pieces easily but it appears a couple of pieces have warped a bit and will need to be secured to the rack (The one around the Monster Power unit, top of the blueray player and the corner of the computer covers)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v170/exterous/IMG_1666.jpg

Very simple and cheap. I spent less than $40 on it. I used a sheet of MDF I had laying around and cut shelves for the components. I picked up some brackets at a local re-use center. They don't all perfectly match in color but I don't think anyone is really going to care

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v170/exterous/IMG_1659.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v170/exterous/IMG_1605.jpg

I used some cheap laminated plywood ($5 a sheet and I needed 2 sheets) and cut openings for my equipment

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v170/exterous/IMG_1658.jpg

After making sure they all fit I painted them black with a $3 can of spray paint to get the look in the first picture

I recessed the equipment and the covers in case I ever wanted to add a tinted glass cover to the entire rack. I placed quarter-round backwards (so the flat side was out) to cover the indent in the wall and make a flush seem with the trim - well, almost flush. I recessed one side about 1/8" so I could bend and fit the cover pieces in and not have them fall out. Would have worked well if I hadn't taken so long to cut the pieces and have one of the sheets warp in the garage. I'll just tack the corners down on those two sheets so its still easy to remove if I change equipment

secondhander

09-25-11, 04:31 PM

Abs777

12-21-11, 11:07 AM

For the guys who mad your own face plates for your rack. What did you do for your gaps or did you cut the cut outs perfect? I would like to get it down the first cut, so I was planning on cutting a 1/16 or 1/8 bigger, if I do there will be a gap around the components. Not sure what to do about that.

Thanks, Joe

PhysEdTeacher

12-21-11, 09:49 PM

Great thread here, will use the ideas in here to build my rack. What is the typical size I need to have the rough opening to incorporate my a/v equipment. Receiver, Cable Box, Blu Ray right now but want to have enough space for when I add equipment. If you can post your Height and Width of the opening would be great. I'm thinking 48"H x 22"W and making shelves 20-22" deep.

nezff

12-21-11, 10:39 PM

Im debating on putting my gear in one of my side walls. How far are some of you guys runs on sub, speaker, and RCAs? My room is in my sig. I have about 3-4 foot crawl space on each side of the walls.

ten8yp

01-07-12, 12:25 AM

but have you ever built a 48" tall drawer that extends 28" with 300lbs of rack/equip?

That would be a no :rolleyes:. I'll definitely report back.

I'm not too worried about the slides themselves jamming. The rack 'racking' forward and back I'm not too worried about because I'm essentially building solid 3/4" plywood sides firmly attached to steel rails at the front and the back. I'll drill big holes as needed for ventilation.

I *AM* a bit worried about the rack racking laterally. For the back, I'm planning to go with 5" tall plywood at the bottom and top, and some steel cross braces.

The front is tougher. I clearly don't want angle braces on the front, and I'm too cheap (for now) to buy heavy duty face plates for all of my equipment and machine them. I've got two HBL2 2U (3.5" tall) thick aluminum front blank plates for the top/bottom. I'm hoping they give me some racking support in the front. We'll see.

The funny thing is that I'm WAY overbuilding this for some potential future use. For now, I'll probably have:

AVR: 30 lbs
PS3: 10 lbs
Cable Box: 10 lbs

When I'm done, my RACK will probably weigh as much as all the equipment combined! :D

But, I'll have a lot of fun building it! And for years, I'll be able to talk about how it'll be able to handle my separate amps and video processors and HTPC's and all the other stuff that I'll actually never get. But I'll have racks that can handle them!

LOL... sounds WAY too much like me and my plans for what I'm going to build.

Here's a shot of my DIY rack. Mine's real simple, but spacious and effective. It didn't have to be real pretty because it's living in a closet.

http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq132/ejhuzy/Home%20Theater/DSCN0851.jpg

Get's the job done and it only cost around $75 for materials. Shelves are all adjustable. I used those furniture moving pads on the bottom to make it easy to move around.

The area that my components will be housed looks almost identical to that. However I'm going to turn them 90 degrees to the left and open a hole in the wall on that side as that is the room my HT is to the right. Cant wait to get started on the new house and project then post pics.