DIY Stands

 

Bronze Member
Username: Boulderdashcci

Canton, Massachusetts USA

Post Number: 70
Registered: Apr-07
I would have posted this in the stands section, but that didn't look too active and I figured you guys could probably could probably give some good advice.

Basically I'm looking to move away from my MDF Sanus stands to something steel for improved stability and the ability to sand fill to kill resonance. I've briefly talked about this in a few other threads and have received a couple of recommendations but now I'm ready to look into this a bit more seriously.

Before I drop any money, I wanted to try a DIY design as my dad is a machinist/welder and can easily make something with steel that we have or from his work. I was thinking of a basic 2-pillar design with 2" square tubing arranged in a front/back pattern (I'll attach a pic of a quick 3d model I did). For plate we have 3/8" and 1/4" laying around which I was thinking might be too thin but after looking at the B&W stands which look to be even thinner than that I think it should be fine (we could get something thicker if needed though). He says he can also machine me spikes, but I think those are easy enough to find where he wouldn't have to. All of this would be welded so there wouldn't be any loose joints or anything like that.

These are for the Wharfedale Evo2 10s and Cambridge Soundworks M80s, at 20lbs and 30lbs respectively. Basically I'm wondering if this is an ok design? Are there any guidelines to follow as far as placement/number of pillars (I can do more or of different sizes if that would be better, like I said we have quite a bit of steel around).

Upload

Any help/guidance would be appreciated. This is my first time trying something like this, though it won't really be costing anything so I won't feel too bad if it turns out badly. Thanks..

-Freddie
 

Gold Member
Username: Exerciseguy

Brooklyn, NY United States

Post Number: 2761
Registered: Oct-04
I can't see anything inherently wrong with your design, but since it will be welded, you won't have the option of experimenting with mass-loading the hollow vertical tubes, so it's either/or. I'd go with loading with sand or lead-shot if that is possible.

I would also seriously consider making this a custom, speaker-specific stand. Do a tracing of the outline of the speaker, reduce it on a copier by perhaps 5%, and transfer that onto the top-plate stock.
 

Bronze Member
Username: Boulderdashcci

Canton, Massachusetts USA

Post Number: 71
Registered: Apr-07
I can drill out the plate and cap it to fill them (thats what the black circle on top is). I won't be able to unload them completely, but to the point where I can tune at least.

I was also thinking of making it fit the speaker, but with the curved Evos that may be a bit harder than it sounds. He may be able to mill/CNC the shape but I'm not sure on the specifics of how that would be done. He also thought going with a 3 pillar design (2 front 1 back) would "look better" and be more stable but I'm not sure I like the thought of that.

Thanks for the feedback though, appreciated.
 

Gold Member
Username: Exerciseguy

Brooklyn, NY United States

Post Number: 2762
Registered: Oct-04
The drilling is a good idea, sorry I didn't pick that up from the pics.

There are plenty of three-pillar stands out there, I personally prefer the look of a three-pillar vs. a two-pillar, but that's unimportant. The EVO2-10 weigh less than 18-lbs., and the bottom-plate base of the stand is a rectangular design, so structurally, I don't think it's an issue, but sonically, everything matters.
 

Gold Member
Username: Exerciseguy

Brooklyn, NY United States

Post Number: 2763
Registered: Oct-04
A single, larger, heavy-gauge vertical pillar, might be the simplest way to go. Doubling-up the base plate might also lend itself to stability & overall mass.

What is overall height with the proposed spikes? I would keep it less than 24".
 

Silver Member
Username: Magfan

USA

Post Number: 440
Registered: Oct-07
The 'green' folks would have you avoid lead shot. It is an enviro nightmare. Even the shotgun crowd is now using steel.
To keep this from ringing like a bell, filling the columns is a must, right?
I would experiment with a mix of expanding foam and steel shot. It'll set hard, provide plenty of mass and since the foam is pretty inert, also damp the structure.
Mix ratio is important, so run a couple tests first.
Stand by with a putty knife to scrape off the 'overflow', since you will get a gusher out the top!

Nice rendering. What program did you use?
I've been searching for one which is easy to use, but also flexible enough to draw a few projects I have in mind.............
 

Bronze Member
Username: Boulderdashcci

Canton, Massachusetts USA

Post Number: 72
Registered: Apr-07
I had originally thought of a single pillar but my dad has a LOT of the 2" stock (I wouldn't know the gauge though) around so I figured he'd rather use that before going to something he'd have to order. While I can get the bigger stuff I think he'd prefer to get rid of some of what he has a lot of. The plates on the other hand are limited so I think he'd be quicker to order those for me. Like I said I was concerned about that from the start but then I saw the B&W stands which look very thin and then are powder coated on top of that making them look thicker than they actually are so that made me have second thoughts. I was thinking 22-24" height which my current ones are and seem about right. Like I said I'm not sure about spikes yet, they're easy to find and cheap though he could easily machine me a set as well.

For filling I was just going to use pipe-fill which is like a denser version of playground sand, though the expandable foam seems like a very good idea which I didn't think of. So the steel would just be adding mass and the foam would take care of deadening the steel? I'm guessing that's kind of a one time shot though, no unloading later?

For the model I used Object Creater, a program that went along with Nolimits, a roller coaster simulation. It was made by a 3rd party programmer who did a few tools for NL as basically a cheap/dumbed down version of 3d Studio Max. I can look around to see if I can find the installer, it's a pretty simple program though it's no longer supported (the unregistered version is limited to 10 brushes, though you can get around that with copy/paste) and you can do a lot more with newer programs like Sketchup, especially if you aren't specifically needing to export to .3ds which was the main draw for OC.
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