Speaker stands

Jan 25 20:13 UTC 1998

I finally found the enter button in backtalk.  ;)
Anyway, I've made a pair of speaker stands for small sized speakers.  I
have not finished them, but they are durning out nicely so far.

They are about 11" square at the base, 7" at the top, and about 28"
tall.  I am still debating how the top will be made.  Right now the back
and one side extend above the top face to provide a strong place to bolt
the speaker on (mounts in the side of these speakers).  I may just cut
those off, though.

They stand on four bolts sticking out the bottom of each stand.  They
will be partly filled with sand when done to prevent vibration.

They have dramatically increased the clarity of high tones.  Low tones
are a little worse right now since they aren't fully screwed together
yet.

If I had been more careful measuring and cutting I could have fit all
the pieces onto one half sheet of 3/4" mdf.  I used quite a few feet of
3/4" square molding for screw attachments inside, and about 7' of 1x6
pine board as part of the mounts at the top.

I have drawings that could be made useable by others if there is
interrest.

response 2 of 24:

Jan 27 01:20 UTC 1998

A point I worried over for some time.  Three legs with the current stands
wouldn't be stable.  With the limited tools I have, triangular stands, while
visually interresting, wouldn't have been built with reasonable effort.  My
current workaround for the four-legged-dilema is that I have a carpeted floor,
so vibration should be minimized.

response 4 of 24:

Jan 27 12:16 UTC 1998

But that would tend to remove the intended effect of strong mechanical
coupling to the floor, wouldn't it?

If bolts are used correctly, they will have adjustable length.  You can also
sharpen the ends so they will penetrate the carpet and dig right into the
floor.  I've seen stands that use that approach, the idea being that the
better coupled the speakers are with the floor, the better the bass since the
speaker can't move as much.

response 6 of 24:

Jan 28 04:23 UTC 1998

Less stable as too much weight would be outside the area of the base. 
I've been considering sharpening them as well.  At my current place
there is cement under the carpet and pad, so sharp wouldn't be a
problem.  I still have to decide where I am going with the top part.  I
went a long way out of my way to make them the way they are, but I am
considering cutting away the top.  I just don't see a way to get
vibration free mounting this way.  (Before I didn't realise how
sensative that would be).

response 8 of 24:

Feb 2 19:15 UTC 1998

tee nuts are a *wonderful* invention!  what a hassle saver.  for those who
don't know, a tee nut is a short tube, threaded on the inside, which has at
one end a plate, like a washer, with little teeth on it.  to use one, you
drill a hole just larger than the tube, and then gently hammer the tee nut
into place.  this creates a threaded hole, which is much easier to deal with
than just a nut on the other side of the hole, because you'd have to hold the
nut with a wrench every time you want to remove or replace the bolt.

response 10 of 24:

Feb 3 22:40 UTC 1998

depending on the force being applied across the threads, and the hardness
of the wood, that may or may not be sufficient...  :P

response 12 of 24:

Feb 4 12:24 UTC 1998

Every now and than I like to build an item without metal fasteners.  A
few years ago I built a wardrobe using only wooden pegs and glue to hold
it (most of it that is...) together.  (Since it was very large I made it
so it could be disassembled into front, back, right and left sides.
Otherwise it wouldn't have fit through the doors, etc.  I used 6 long
bolts to bolt the front to the back and the sides were clamped into
place.)

response 14 of 24:

Feb 4 15:31 UTC 1998

'Well of course there are!  Tapping wood is called cutting threads, you
usually put in a metal insert instead.  Harbor Freight catalog sells sets of
taps, much cheaper than buying them individually.  They come in different
price ranges, will check it out and let you know.  Metric or English?

response 16 of 24:

Feb 5 23:04 UTC 1998

Thanks much, both of you.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled drift.

response 18 of 24:

Feb 8 00:19 UTC 1998

A set of taps.  Better described as "thread cutting taps and dies", these look
like futuristic bolts (taps) and nuts (dies) which are used to cut threads
onto rod stock or into holes.  You could use a tap to create threads into a
hole on something, such that you cousd then put a regular bolt into it.  The
operation is simple, you just pretend that the threads are already on the
object, and screw a tap or die into/onto it.  The tap or die is make of much
harder metal, and has cutting edges to cut matching threads as you screw it
in/on.  Naturally, the rod or hole has to be a certain diameter for it to work
properly.

response 20 of 24:

Feb 8 05:53 UTC 1998

check the grainger catalog.  if it ain't there, it likely just ain't.
but tap and die sets will be there.

response 22 of 24:

Feb 8 16:10 UTC 1998

Harbor Freight has an 800 number.  Call for it, call them for a catalog. 
Tools range in price from cheap (Chinese) to moderate-priced.  Grainger
carries the moderate to expensive ones (for professional use).  Also Northern
Hydraulics (medium-priced only).

response 24 of 24:

Feb 13 03:42 UTC 1998

        Try Stadium Hardware, one of the few real hardwares left. They have
tap sets or individual taps and dies.