Equipment Rack

This project developed from a need to store all of my equipment underneath my screen. I had a tough time finding a rack or "entertainment center" that would hold all of my equipment, my center channel speaker, and didn't exceed my height limitations because I wanted it to sit below my screen. I'd seen some DIY designs that were often referred to as "Flexy Racks" and this is where I got the idea from. The rack is composed of 3/4" sheets of MDF and 1/2" threaded rods along with some bolts, washers, and cap nuts.

 

Construction

The construction for this rack is pretty simple. All of my MDF pieces were cut from one 4'x8' sheet from Home Depot. Because of the size of the pieces I decided it would be easier just to have the guys at Home Depot do my cuts for me. They were happy to help and it saved me a lot of time. You'll need 2 60"x18" pieces and one 22"x18" piece. Then you should drill 3/4" holes in the spots designated in the diagram below. You can use a 3/4" drill bit to do this, but those are pretty expensive. I used something called a "speedbore" which I found in the Home Depot drill bit section. It was very inexpensive and worked very well. The 1/2" threaded rods can also be obtained at Home Depot. The lengths of the rods will vary depending on how far apart you want your shelves to be and how many shelves you want to have. I had mine cut at a local sheet metal shop, but a hacksaw works just as well.

After you have your pieces cut and your hole drilled it's time to make the rack look presentable. I seriously considered painting it, but in the end decided it would be easier to cover it with a vinyl veneer. I've always heard good things about the vinyl veneer from Parts Express so I decided to give it a try. I'm very pleased with the results, it was easy to apply and was relatively inexpensive.

It's best to have a friend help you cover the large pieces. The basic idea is that you'll roll out a length of the vinyl and cut it so that you have about 1/2" of overhang on each side of the length, then to trim down the sides so that you have about 1/2" overhang on each side of the width. Save the piece that was left over from cutting down the side of the vinyl, you can use that to cover the edges. Now in order to make the vinyl easier to work with take all of your pieces, lay them out flat, and place the MDF board over them (as shown above). Leave it this way for about 15 minutes or so. When you remove them they'll be very flat and easy to work with. Remove the was paper of the bottom of the large piece so that the sticky side of the vinyl is up. Now, with your friend, flip the vinyl over, each of you grab one side (long ways), stand at kneel at opposite ends of the MDF piece, and hold the vinyl over the MDF, but close to the surface. Now with your fingers check to see that the vinyl is centered over the MDF piece and that there is overhang on both sides of the MDF. Once you've checked this you can lay the vinyl down LIGHTLY onto the MDF board. Now use a heavy object (a rolling pin works well) to press down the vinyl. Start at one end and work your way from the center to the outside of the board, while moving up the board. This entire process might sound complicated, but there really aren't any tricks here, it's just like applying a very large sticker. Once you finish you can do the same with the sides (and the bottom I suppose, but I didn't). Repeat for all the shelves of the equipment rack.

 

Assembly

Now all that is left is to put this thing together. Start by screwing one 1/2" bolt about 1 1/2" onto each rod. Now slide one of the washers down the long end of each rod. These nuts and washers will be the base of the rack. Stand the bottom shelf up and slide each rod's long end through a hole in the shelf. Now lay the shelf down and it should look something like the picture above. Now drop another washer down the long end of the each rod and then screw another 1/2" bolt all the way down the long end of each rod until you've reached the shelf's surface. Now use two pairs of pliers (one to hold the bottom nut in place and the other to turn the top nut) and tighten the nuts on either side of the shelf. Repeat for each of the other nuts.

After you've finished the first shelf you can repeat this process for each additional shelf. The cap nuts should be used on all of the exposed threaded rod ends.