speaker stands for summer build
Jim Shearer
Posts: 369
My summer speaker build this year will be a pair of Fonkens (which use Fostex FE127e drivers.) Since Fonkens are stand mount speakers, I thought I would begin by building stands. And meanwhile, my wife & I have been having trouble finding CD storage racks, so I decided to kill two birds with one stone: speaker stands with CD storage. Now before you get all worked up about CDs rattling beneath my speakers, let me say (for those unfamiliar with these single driver speakers,) that the Fonkens only go down to about 100 Hz. Bass must be supplied by a subwoofer. So, as far as the CDs are concerned: there wont be a whole lotta shakin goin on.;)
These arent speaker cabs, so I chose to build w/ real wood--my wife selected solid oak. What they call 1 thickness, which is actually 0.75. As you may know, real wood isnt quite as flat & straight as Baltic Birch plywood, so I avoided fancy stuff like mitre joints. In fact, I used dowel pegs and glue to join the pieces; any slight gap or other imperfection was ignored.
Judicious application of a 3/8 round-over bit in the router and a curve on the footers help reduce the home made look. I also added adjustable feet, as I wasnt able to get the footers perfectly flat to the floor.
I tried several types of finish on scraps of the oak, including oils, but ended up with plain old Minwax polyurethane (in satin.)
In the photo below, I have one of my Polk RTi6 speakers on the stand for testing. Since not much of the wood in our house matches, I dont find the cherry RTis all that out of place on the oak stands.
These arent speaker cabs, so I chose to build w/ real wood--my wife selected solid oak. What they call 1 thickness, which is actually 0.75. As you may know, real wood isnt quite as flat & straight as Baltic Birch plywood, so I avoided fancy stuff like mitre joints. In fact, I used dowel pegs and glue to join the pieces; any slight gap or other imperfection was ignored.
Judicious application of a 3/8 round-over bit in the router and a curve on the footers help reduce the home made look. I also added adjustable feet, as I wasnt able to get the footers perfectly flat to the floor.
I tried several types of finish on scraps of the oak, including oils, but ended up with plain old Minwax polyurethane (in satin.)
In the photo below, I have one of my Polk RTi6 speakers on the stand for testing. Since not much of the wood in our house matches, I dont find the cherry RTis all that out of place on the oak stands.
A day without music is like a day without food.
Post edited by Jim Shearer on
Comments
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They look good. I like the dual purpose idea. Like you said, you're killing 2 birds with one stone. How many discs can you get it them?
The finish looks good, too. Sometimes you just gotta let nature show her stuff...
About these Fonkens, where did you get the design? -
Thanks.
I think I'll be able to put about 17 CDs per shelf (each is 11.25" long.) So 68 CDs per stand. About enough to take care of our current overflow.
The Fonken design comes from http://www.planet10-hifi.com/boxes-fostex.html. Dave is generous sharing his designs & hosting plans from others like Scottmoose.
Cheers, JimA day without music is like a day without food. -
Those look nice from here. And you do need to be careful of environmental factors. Humidity, and even insects :eek:, can be considerations in the long term.
Here in the northeast, we have wild swings in humidity which can seriously affect wood. This is one of the reasons I try to make sure everything gets finished/coated on ALL surfaces.
Cheers, JimA day without music is like a day without food. -
Nice work Jim. Any thought into putting spikes on the bottom for carpeted areas?Michael
In the beginning, all knowledge was new!
NORTH of 60° -
Jim Shearer wrote: »These arent speaker cabs, so I chose to build w/ real wood--my wife selected solid oak.
...
Since not much of the wood in our house matches
Might I suggest you pick the wood next time.
Sexy stands though. Props on finishing all sides and edges, even if it requires extra application sessions. -
janmike: Thanks. As for spikes: the Fonkens are a near aperiodic enclosure & have no real bass extension w/ the Fostex FE127e. No bass = no need for spikes.
ShinAce: I think you're forgetting that the RTis are just sitting there for test purposes & won't be sticking around there. Of course, you may just hate oak in general. The oak will look nice w/ the Fonkens (although the exact details of their finish are yet to be determined.) The way all surfaces get covered is that I apply finish before assembling the parts. I work VERY slowly compared to most of the DIY guys. I read posts where they put together speakers in a weekend, while I need a couple months to get the job done. Unfortunately, even though I work slowly, I still can't produce true furniture quality products. No one will ever confuse me w/ Norm Abrams!
Cheers, JimA day without music is like a day without food. -
amulford,
As I was loading CDs into the stands just now I remembered my earlier reply to you about storage capacity. I should have said: 27 to 28 CDs per shelf (not 17.) So total capacity is about 116 CDs.
Cheers, JimA day without music is like a day without food. -
Jim Shearer wrote: »janmike: Thanks. As for spikes: the Fonkens are a near aperiodic enclosure & have no real bass extension w/ the Fostex FE127e. No bass = no need for spikes.
ShinAce: I think you're forgetting that the RTis are just sitting there for test purposes & won't be sticking around there. Of course, you may just hate oak in general. The oak will look nice w/ the Fonkens (although the exact details of their finish are yet to be determined.) The way all surfaces get covered is that I apply finish before assembling the parts. I work VERY slowly compared to most of the DIY guys. I read posts where they put together speakers in a weekend, while I need a couple months to get the job done. Unfortunately, even though I work slowly, I still can't produce true furniture quality products. No one will ever confuse me w/ Norm Abrams!
Cheers, Jim
I love woodworking myself. The only wood I hate on is pine. Stupid pine! -
^Not Bad
I have mine on a set of purchased steel tube stands and they have the oak enclosure (it would be nice to have oak stands).
Watch out for ay bending in the wood since the oak might *shape* a bit. -
Jim Shearer wrote: »amulford,
As I was loading CDs into the stands just now I remembered my earlier reply to you about storage capacity. I should have said: 27 to 28 CDs per shelf (not 17.) So total capacity is about 116 CDs.
Cheers, Jim
Not too shabby, 232 storage between the two of them? In what would be pretty much wasted space? I like it...
