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Audio Rack Construction

Happy New Year All!

I'm planning a rack with three wood (maple) shelves using threaded rod as the supports. This will be something similar to Salamander racks. Besides, the metal washers and nuts, I'm going to be using some type of isolation washer that will contact the top and bottom of each shelf.
So...shelf, isoloation washer, metal washer, and then nut.

Questions: 1. When passing the threaded rod through each shelf, should the holes in the shelves not allow the threaded rod to touch, so the only thing touching the shelves are the isolation washers? 2. Besides neoprene, what's a good material for the isolation washers? 3. After leveling each shelf during assembly, I'm planning to add aluminum tubing over the threaded rod and nuts between each shelf for a cleaner look. This would mean that the top and bottom ends of the aluminum tubing would also contact the shelves. Should I avoid this, or additionally add some isolation material between the ends of the tubes and the shelves?
kennythekey

Showing 1 response by br3098

br3098
1,000 posts
 
Kenny, I like the Salamander rack; it is a well-made, affordable product for basic use. But if you are rolling your own you can probably do better. IMHO the main problems with the Salamander racks are that the light weight and rigid design work against the geometry: that is, small movements at the bottom of the rack result in larger movement at the top. This can make it especcially problematic for use with a turntable, for example, if you are on a suspended wood floor. The (optional) spikes are terrible, and I would like to see Salamander offer a floating shelf option for the line.

If you are determined to copy the Salamander design why not just but a unit and make your own maple shelves for it? You could resell the stock shelves and probably recoup most of the cost of the unit. Just a thought...
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