Building my own rack / shelf decoupling and isolation

I think @JimDog’s answers were easier…. But thanks also @frenchrooster :flushed:

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That’s quite a different solution - that system involves damping, my solution specifically avoids damping.

The brass cups are not playing a damping role ?

No

I thought the brass cups/ceramic balls were playing reflection?

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It’s all very well explained in the original thread @JimDog linked to above, here’s another link :slight_smile:

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Progress today. I have trimmed the shelves to the required depths but not width yet.

Legs and sides now cut to length:

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Hi all

Today’s progress.

Cutting a rebate in which each shelf will slot:

Cutting the shelves square and to length (nothing beats a radial arm saw for this):

Cutting an angled rebate in the corner legs for the shelves to sit in:


Shelves, legs and sides ready to be hand sanded:

The next job is to cut notches in the shelves so that they can slot into the legs and sides.

Cheers all!

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Awesome! Can’t wait to see it coming together. Very professional looking work.

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Thank you! It’s a little nerve wracking posting photos during a build as I hope it turns out! I did take inspiration from you posting your speaker cabinet builds.

Next job is to mount the pins for each leg. A friend gave me some ideal countersunk pins. I’ve played around with mounting the threaded rod and I’ve decided to go for screwing it directly into the wood, into a hole very slightly less diameter than the thread. That way it will screw in without splitting the end grain. I’ll put a little glue in at the time but once in it won’t come out again without the use of pliers.

Anyway, here they are ready to drill, next to a test

A floor standing drill press makes it easier to get an vertical hole and accurate depth:



Top right one a bit rough on the outside but the thread goes in 17mm so that’s ok.

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Man I’d love one of those! Looks like you have a great setup! Don’t be worried about sharing your pictures and progress. I think I speak for everyone when I say that it’s really interesting to watch. It adds another dimension to the forum. Keep up the good work :+1:t2:

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I agree with Mark.
Having built my racks and other things in my back yard, I’m very envious of the workshop!
I’m looking forward to seeing work progress.

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I’m lucky to have a nice big garage under the house. It’s taken about ten years to collect and renovatea variety of old woodworking machines, but recently it’s got to the point that it’s all usable, and I’m really enjoying using it.

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@anon39880737 I dream of having a garage to do that, well done and enjoy!

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It looks like very high quality work indeed, you know what you are really doing as using methodical steps gradually building each piece so that it will all precisesly fit together. I wish i could do the same and make my own as well.

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Thank you.

A big part of it is having machines that can cut accurately. I have learned a lot from doing this and have developed an even greater respect for joiners who this all the time, especially those from the past.

I have found it quite difficult, for example, to profile the shelves, legs, etc, to a near identical thickness. The thickness planer is very good at trimming to a consistent thickness, but some woods are more susceptible to tear out - especially the more attractive timbers that you want to use for projects like this one. So you end up needing to sand it as well, and the sander is not nearly as accurate.

Regards, Ian

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Of course traditional tools have much lower cut rates, and sanding by hand makes for much smaller changes of thickness; however, working that way, it all take a LOT more time though.

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A few months down the track, a few other finished projects and I’ve returned to this one.

First I had to sand the edges of each brass disc to reduce it from 1" diameter to something that would fit in a 25mm hole, as that’s the size of the forstner bit I have:

Next, bash a depression in each disc using a steel ball bearing and a mallet. (Hat tip @Xanthe !) It was easier than I expected. A thin rag was quite effective at containing the ball bearing and I lost only one somewhere in the garage:

Lastly, time to sand the shelves before drilling the holes for the brass discs:

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Looking good and can’t wait to see the rack complete.

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It’s coming along. After chiseling out each rebate to adjust the fit and sanding, sanding, sanding, I’m finally at the point of gluing it all together.

I’ve decided to use dowel pegs as joins.

The Japanese pull saw in the picture is a wonderful tool to use. It cuts the dowel ends flush to the wood but as it has no kerf, doesn’t damage the wood. It’s extremely sharp and leaves a clean surface which just needs a little more sanding to achieve a smooth finish

So far I haven’t put any finish on the wood, just sanded with progressively finer grades. The top has been sanded to 400 grit then 0 and 0000 steel wool and finally a plastic abrasive pad, which creates an amazingly smooth finish.

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