Audiophile audio rack

6268 Views 56 Replies 15 Participants Last post by RainMan 2.0, Oct 11, 2021

difalkner

Discussion Starter · Jul 26, 2020 (Edited)

Starting a new project for a serious audiophile with some serious equipment. His McIntosh amp alone weighs 125 lbs.! The dimensions alone make this rack impressive; everything is 8/4 and the shelves are 23" deep, 52" wide, and the unit is 31" high. Each shelf will weigh about 70 lbs.

The top shelf is Curly Maple and the middle and bottom shelves are Northern Hard Rock Maple. These will be banded with Curly Maple so from the front you'll see Curly Maple shelves. But since the middle and bottom shelves will be covered with gear there was no need for these to be the much more expensive Curly Maple.

The legs are about 2" x 3" and are Purpleheart. I'll finish the piece in Nitrocellulose lacquer.

While there's no rush on completing this piece I do want to stay on it as much as possible but as other orders come in I'll put this aside. For instance, we got two separate orders for 18" Longworth chucks today so I'll move all of this out and cut the chucks tomorrow, then move all of this back in to begin planing and jointing shelves.

When the shelves are glued I'll take them to my friend's cabinet shop and run them through their wide belt sander. Our SuperMax 19-38 will work but it will be so much easier to do it on their wide belt sander.

As you can see, just the lumber alone overwhelms our little shop and when it comes to assembling this I'll have to do it in the house because I don't have room in the shop to put it together. 😉

Preliminary design -

Furniture Table Diagram Parallel

One shelf, basically, prior to jointing -

Wood Table Furniture Plywood Wood stain

All the lumber for the project -

Wood Hardwood Wood stain Lumber Plywood

Curly Maple close up shots -

Wood Wood stain Floor Hardwood Plywood

Wood Hardwood Table Plywood Wood stain

More photos and updates as I work through this project. Enjoy!
David

See less See more

5

Reactions: 5

1 - 20 of 57 Posts

RainMan 2.0

· #2 · Jul 27, 2020 (Edited)

The Curly Maple looks beautiful . This is one of my favourite subjects , so I’m looking forward to seeing the outcome.

This guy does something very similar , and I was going to copy his construction techniques

https://www.timbernation.com/

Reactions: 5

difalkner

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jul 27, 2020

That's actually one of the websites he showed me for a sample, Rick. But nobody wanted to make one as large as this, at least not for a price that makes sense. It's also not that easy to find 8/4 Curly Maple longer than 48", either. I bought this from Kevin at Curly Maple Wood which is where I've bought all my Curly Maple forever, it seems.

David

Reactions: 3

RainMan 2.0

· #4 · Jul 27, 2020

difalkner said:
That's actually one of the websites he showed me for a sample, Rick. But nobody wanted to make one as large as this, at least not for a price that makes sense. It's also not that easy to find 8/4 Curly Maple longer than 48", either. I bought this from Kevin at Curly Maple Wood which is where I've bought all my Curly Maple forever, it seems.

David

You’d probably stroke out if you seen what it’s worth here

Reactions: 2

tooler2

· #5 · Jul 27, 2020

It will be tricky avoiding it look clunky with those dimensions. Softening the corners may help but I would do a sample with cheap construction lumber to play with and have approved.
Rob

Reactions: 1

difalkner

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jul 27, 2020 (Edited)

Every edge will be rounded or chamfered to some degree, Rob. Build a test piece out of construction lumber ain't happening, though! Two entirely different materials and unless someone wants the test piece afterward it would be a total waste of time and funds. Besides, I'm allergic to Pine so that's rarely ever in my shop.

He showed me a photo and said, "I want one like this but bigger." That's all the approval I need.

David

Reactions: 2

Danman1957

· #7 · Jul 27, 2020

Wow nice project Dave,

I bookmarked the wood source and the other rack maker, inspiration for sure, but of course nice wood is EXPENSIVE !!!

Reactions: 1

roxanne562001

· #8 · Jul 27, 2020

Nice shelf The McIntosh Amp will look great on there with those tubes glowing

had a friend that had one nothing sounds warmer than a good tube amp. I am sure he will love it.

Reactions: 2

TenGees

· #9 · Jul 27, 2020

Beautiful wood and interesting project. Looking forward to progress on this.

Reactions: 1

JFPNCM

· #10 · Jul 27, 2020

Great start and I look forward to further details as the project comes to fruition.

Appreciate the lead on the curly maple.

Reactions: 1

difalkner

Discussion Starter · #11 · Jul 31, 2020 (Edited)

It may not seem like much progress but I have now cut to length and planed all of the Hard Rock Maple, straight lined the edges of all boards on the tablesaw, and run every edge on the jointer. These boards are heavy and I'm worn out!! LOL!

Running the Curly Maple on the jointer was a bit iffy since I have straight blades but they are razor sharp and I took very light passes. The edges came out very clean with very minor tear out in a couple of places but they're in the middle of the edge so it's not going to be an issue. I considered getting a Shelix head for the jointer - PM 54A - but since this worked I'll do that upgrade later (maybe).

I have another project I need to move to this afternoon and that may prevent me from gluing these boards today to get the 23" width but they're ready for that step.

Wood Hardwood Lumber Plywood Table

Wood Plywood Hardwood Lumber Floor

More later!
David

See less See more

2

Reactions: 3

Oscar36

· #12 · Jul 31, 2020

Making good progress. Lumber looks amazing and the project is going to have a ton of wow factor. The craftsmanship will of course shine.

Reactions: 2

difalkner

Discussion Starter · #13 · Aug 5, 2020 (Edited)

Minor update on this audio rack; turns out the straight knives on my jointer were not giving me the clean edge I thought I was getting on the Curly Maple. When I moved the boards into different light and looked at them closer I saw the tear out in a few places. I made some changes and ran them again but with the same results.

So, today I ordered a Shelix cutterhead for my PM54A jointer. For now this project is waiting on the new cutterhead. I have wanted one for a while and never wanted to spend the money but this project is worthy of an equipment change. Besides, any project that requires the purchase of a new tool is a good project - right!!

Light Wood Line Ceiling Metal

Wood Wood stain Plywood Hardwood Floor

David

See less See more

2

Reactions: 2

RainMan 2.0

· #14 · Aug 5, 2020 (Edited)

I’d love to change the head in my jointer and Planer to those heads also , but there ridiculously priced .
I had no idea conventional heads were that bad in this application.

Reactions: 2

difalkner

Discussion Starter · #15 · Aug 5, 2020

RainMan 2.0 said:
I’d love to change the head in my jointer and Planer to those heads also l but ridiculously priced .
I had no idea conventional heads were that bad in this application.

If I hadn't moved the boards into a different room or looked at them closely I would've thought they were good (they're in the house for now :grin

. The areas I looked at were good but I didn't look at all edges.

About $400 for the head, bearings, 10 extra cutters, and shipping. I'm sure it's going to be worth it but I'm also very reluctant to spend money. :wink:

David

Reactions: 1

honesttjohn

· #16 · Aug 5, 2020

Besides, any project that requires the purchase of a new tool is a good project - right!!

Yes it is!!!!!!

About $400 for the head, bearings, 10 extra cutters, and shipping. I'm sure it's going to be worth it but I'm also very reluctant to spend money.

It could be $40 and you'd complain David!! I'm the same way. But I'm sure you'll love it when it all comes together.

Reactions: 4

difalkner

Discussion Starter · #17 · Aug 6, 2020

honesttjohn said:
It could be $40 and you'd complain David!! I'm the same way. But I'm sure you'll love it when it all comes together.

Haha! You've been talking to my kids, right?

I got an email about the order this afternoon and they're back ordered - ugh! They said it could be 3-4 weeks. So I guess I'll work on something else for a while... :frown:

David

Reactions: 1

Bob Adams

· #18 · Aug 6, 2020

Have you already paid for cutter head? Grizzly has them in stock. https://www.grizzly.com/products/Byrd-Tool-6-Shelix-Cutterhead/H7764

Reactions: 1

difalkner

Discussion Starter · #19 · Aug 6, 2020

Bob Adams said:
Have you already paid for cutter head? Grizzly has them in stock. https://www.grizzly.com/products/Byrd-Tool-6-Shelix-Cutterhead/H7764

Unfortunately, yes, I paid for it yesterday. It never occurred to me to check with Grizzly or that this cutterhead fit other machines. Oh, well, live and learn I guess.

David

vkbellis

· #20 · Aug 6, 2020

+1 Echo: Great looking wood! And a wonderful project for showcasing it and your skills.

FYI & FWIW - I was doing some searches for wood identification not too long ago, and came across this excellent resource for discussions about wood species identification, which also offers peer to peer wood sales https://woodbarter.com/, noting that I have no experience actually buying wood from anybody on that forum, just that most of the wood that I seen there is quite beautiful. Prices? Sorry, I don't have any sense of them being high, reasonable, or otherwise.

Reactions: 1

1 - 20 of 57 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.