Finally built stands for my LST's

[xmas111]

It's bug me ever since I placed the LST's on the bar stools. But I didn't have anything else to use.

Finally last weekend I went up to Home Depot and bought the lumber to build the stands. I got Red Oak lumber. I wanted something stronger then pine because of the weight of LST's. They're about 90 pounds apiece. The threaded rods will be used to hold the top and bottom shelf as stable as possible.

Here's a few pictures cutting the top and bottom piece. Nothing special about this part.

Cutting the angles was little tougher since I had to line it up by eye and free hand cut it. They came out ok.

Here's the top and bottom piece for the first stand.

I'll continue in the next post.

[xmas111]

Now I used my chop saw to make the two post for each stand.

I took 3 pieces of 1"x3"x22" red oak for each post.

Here's cutting them.

Now I had to use a dado blade and cut a groove in one of the pieces so I could use the threaded rod.

Lining up the dado blade.

Now the three pieces for each post. You can see the groove for the threaded rod in the center piece.

Now to glue the boards together.

Now clamping them together and let them sit over night.

The hole for the threaded rod.

continued in the next post.

[xmas111]

Now I had to find the center of gravity (front to back) of the speakers so I could place the post in the proper position.

I balanced the speaker on a piece of wood then measure from the back of the speaker to the center of the piece of wood. 4 1/2".

Measured where to drill the holes on the top and bottom boards so the posts would be in the proper position.

Drilled 1" diameter flat bottom holes. This will allow a 1" washer and nut to fit in the hole. Also the depth will make sure the nut stays below the surface.

Next, using the hole made by the flat bottom drill as a guide I drilled the hole for the 5/16" threaded rod to fit through.

Now that the holes are drilled you can see the center of the post will be 4 1/2" from the back of the shelves. That should put the post right where the center of gravity for the speaker is.

The 1" washers I bought only had a 1/4 " hole in them. So I had to drill them out so the 5/16" threaded rod would fit through them.

Now they fit fine.

The next thing I had to do was cut the threaded rod to length. One thing you want to do is put a nut on the rod so you back the nut off after you cut the rod. That will help straighten the thread out after cutting.

The problem I had with this was I had to screw the nut on about a foot or so and I didn't want to take all day doing that. So I put the rod in the drill press and held the nut as the drill press rotated the rod for me......it was a whole lot quicker this way. You can see the nut in the red circle and the arrow is how far it had to be threaded up.

After cutting the rod it's a good idea to use a wire wheel and deburr it.

After cutting the rod I placed a Nyloc nut on one end of the rod then took a screw driver and hammer and smashed the thread right at the nut. This way the rod wouldn't turn when putting the Nyloc nut on the other end....works quite well.

continued in the next post....

[xmas111]

Everything was trimmed to size and sanded smooth. Didn't want to bore you with pictures of sanding wood......not very exciting.

Ok, time to start putting them together.

One post in place with the rod inserted.

You see the rod on the right hand side getting ready to install the second post.

I wanted to make sure both posts would be parallel with each other so I clamped a piece of stock across each post to hold them inplace while tightening the rods up.

Ok, the rods are tightened and things are looking up. Almost done.

I wanted to put a couple screws in each post so they wouldn't be able to turn. Had to make a quick template so I'd know where to put the screws and not have them come through the sides of the post.

Now I know where to drill the holes for the screws. Drilled the holes then countersinked them so the screws would be below the surface.

Now to put the screws in.

And as you can see the center of the post is 4 1/2" from the back of the shelves.

Ok, let's finished them up.

Put plenty of adhesive felt pads on the bottom of each stand. The square pads are right under the post.

And on the top a layer of felt so the bottom of the speakers wouldn't get scratched.

continued in the next post.......

[xmas111]

And here they are inplace with the LST's in position and sounding wonderful. I'm quite happy with the results. Wasn't the most difficult project to do but took a little more time than I first thought it would.

They are very solid feeling..... I have no fear of them falling if they're bumped into.

Much better than those damn stools!

I can't decide if I'm going to leave the way they are or stain them. I might just put a couple coatings of polyurethane on them.

But first I'm going to enjoy them for a while.

Well it was a enjoyable project that kept me busy for the last two weekends.

[RoyC]

Beautiful work, John!

Roy

[DavidR]

Very clever and attractive design. Looks like you have very good woodworking skills.

Any wood coating? Clear polyurethane, stain, oil, etc.

[ra.ra]

Just like your speaker and turntable projects, this work is once again top notch! The engineering solutions are very clever and the photo documentation is terrific. Also, the locations of the posts have been placed perfectly to fulfill not only the structural need, but also the visual balance of these stands.

Great work, John.

[ar_pro]

What an excellent, well-designed stand - great work.

Thanks for the documentation, too. This could be very useful for LST owners down the line.

[xmas111]

Thanks guys for the kind words.

That's why I try and take a lot of pictures. I hope it helps someone else who might like to try and make a set sometime

Still not sure how I want to finish them. I'll probably work on this weekend....won't be much else to do if the weatherman is right.....could be a major snow storm here in Boston.

[John K]

Very nice.

Great step by step.

Are you going to sell the old stands?

[GD70]

Beautiful! They look like they could be factory made stands.

Any thoughts on matching the cab color like AR-3a stands?

Glenn

[xmas111]

Thanks John K and Glenn.

As for the old stands they'll probably become what they are, stools for sitting on.....maybe. Or they may go in the trash! My reason for that is because on New Years Day I was standing on a stool like those replacing the ceiling vent fan when all of a sudden the stool split in half and I came down like a rock. At first I'd though I'd killed myself. A few seconds later I realized I was ok, sort of. Then I noticed blood was coming through my pants around my left leg shin. Long story short I went to the hospital and ended up with seven stitches in the shin. It still hurts to this day.

After that I started to get concerned about those stools holding the LST's. The LST's (90 lbs each) don't weigh as much as me but still it's a lot of weigh. Not sure I trust those stools for anything after my little accident.

And that was another reason for building the new stands.

Anyway, I don't know if I want the stand as dark as the speakers themselves. I might try a lighter color and see how they look. I can always make them darker but not the other way around.

John

[owlsplace]

Hard to add anything to this ... top-notch work, John.

Just noticing all your furniture is white. You could put a sealer coat on the oak and paint to match.

Roger

[xmas111]

Well guys, wanted to finalize this chapter.

Ended up staining the stands with minwax Golden Oak then polyurethane. Then put three cable clips on each post to keep the speaker wires in place.

I'm happy with the end results and I think the LST's are too.....

Now on to the next project.....if I can find one.

John

[ra.ra]

Always great to see your attention to details - - great work, as always. It appears that your AR-3a stands are also fabricated from oak, yes?

[xmas111]

Thanks Rob. The AR-3a stands were made from Poplar. Poplar is easy to stain real dark, Red Oak is hard to satin real dark.

[ra.ra]

I am treading on thin ice here since I don't quite recognize this webpage today, but here goes anyway.

Thx for response, John, but I'll admit that your reply surprised me. The first pic in post #? clearly looked like your 3a stands had the prominent vertical grain of oak, and certainly nothing like the poplar that I've come across in New England. In my line of work, poplar is never specified for situations requiring a "clear" finish; rather, it is always intended as an excellent substitute for other hardwoods when a paint-grade (opaque) finish is desired. 

Nonetheless... wood species-be-damned.... your projects are always great fun to follow and inspirational lessons for all of us.      

 

[xmas111]

Rob,

    Your are absolutely correct in your observation of the 3a stands. Good catch! They are Red Oak too.   Went back to my old post about making them, here, and sure enough it says right in the post.... Red Oak.    My memory played a real trick on me on this one.   I would have bet dollars to donuts I used poplar.   Boy, getting old is doing a number on me and my memory.

   Funny thing is the red oak I used for the LST stands wouldn't darken up like the 3a stands using the same stain (walnut). In fact it looked lousy. I guess each lot of lumber has different characteristics that cause different outcomes.

 John

  

[owlsplace]

8 hours ago, xmas111 said:

Rob,

    Your are absolutely correct in your observation of the 3a stands. Good catch! They are Red Oak too.   Went back to my old post about making them, here, and sure enough it says right in the post.... Red Oak.    My memory played a real trick on me on this one.   I would have bet dollars to donuts I used poplar.   Boy, getting old is doing a number on me and my memory.

   Funny thing is the red oak I used for the LST stands wouldn't darken up like the 3a stands using the same stain (walnut). In fact it looked lousy. I guess each lot of lumber has different characteristics that cause different outcomes.

 John

  

John,

Try the aniline dyes sometime ...

Roger

[lakecat]

Nice precise work and came out great!...:) Speaking of white and oak, there is a whitewashing method that could look good on those stands. I would thin a quart of oil in almond color with paint thinner. The ratio is three or four parts paint thinner to one part oil. Brush it on like you are staining it and let dry. Water based satin poly only on light colors to finish.

Even though you would think it would be almond color, it isn't. It is a very nice soft wood tone in many shades of white hues. The oak grain makes it different colors but the grain is soft. I have done a few kitchens like this with dark granite or quartz countertops....and it really pops.

[xmas111]

owlsplace and lakecat thanks for the ideas.   I actually look at the "whitewashing" method and thought it was pretty cool looking.

The stands  have the golden oak stain and poly already on them so I'm going to have to stick with what I have for now.  But thanks again for the suggestions guys!

John

[DavidDru]

Wonderful results, great job John.

[owlsplace]

On 2/3/2016 at 2:13 AM, xmas111 said:

owlsplace and lakecat thanks for the ideas.   I actually look at the "whitewashing" method and thought it was pretty cool looking.

The stands  have the golden oak stain and poly already on them so I'm going to have to stick with what I have for now.  But thanks again for the suggestions guys!

John

Or you can have some fun with Behlen's guitar toner lacquer

http://www.amazon.com/Behlen-Guitar-Lacquer-Aerosol-Starcast/dp/B003CMQF9S/ref=pd_sim_60_1?ie=UTF8&dpID=41IseJEFr1L&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&refRID=0567CK8ZM30NZ5AJFXAP

or their Master toners:

http://www.amazon.com/Behlen-Jet-Spray-Lacquer-Toner/dp/B002KA2R8G/ref=pd_sim_60_2?ie=UTF8&dpID=31yAxqt11vL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&refRID=1ECZ5SD9VJJ0584GZ0N0

Roger

[lakecat]

On ‎2‎/‎3‎/‎2016 at 5:13 AM, xmas111 said:

owlsplace and lakecat thanks for the ideas.   I actually look at the "whitewashing" method and thought it was pretty cool looking.

The stands  have the golden oak stain and poly already on them so I'm going to have to stick with what I have for now.  But thanks again for the suggestions guys!

John

Hi John......I am so sorry as I was using my phone when I suggested the whitewash and didn't see your pics of the finished product. Oak always look great in that stain and looks nice!