DIY Stands-Standanddeliver? i Stood, hope i delivered

[magma]

hello all

heres my attempt at some stands for bookshelf speakers.

When i audition various speakers i also do make it a point to see what kinds of stands are availble on display
For the most part either the stands are nothing great and dont impress me or the ones i like are just too expensive.

I have seen 2 kinds of stands
One that are made by local fellows.these are simple.largely two plates of steel sandwiching a steel column.
the joints are welded and the stand is painted
I am generally quoted about 80$ and upwards for these.
Suffice to say the workmanship is poor to fair .
i would not pay 80$ for these.

the others ive seen are branded like warfedale NAs etc
these are budget stands . Most of the time have 3-4mm thick metal top plate and a 14 gauge cloumn.these are held with nut bolt
mostly these are MS powder caoted.
warfedakle uses 12mm glass top and bottom plates.
generally these cost 100-400$
After seeing these i was sure i can build something better for that amount of money

Its not that im trying to save, it only that being a design engg i was sure i can trump these stands for the same amount.


this may turn out more expensive than budget stands i thought ( knowing my hopefully meticulous attitude) but since i was gonna fave fun doing it i went ahead.

[magma]

the finished bottomplate
top view and inverted
P.S in the 2nd pic the smaller granite plate(top plate) on the inverted plate is just stacked there and kept for storage.

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the 2nd pic

[magma]

now below is a pic of a black rubber cap
initially i had thought of getting these custom caps made

they are supposed to fullfill 3 function
a) the ID fits into ID of pipe and the OD is likewise. a hole of the diameter of the bolt would be drilled i between. this allows any movement of the pipe realtive to the top and bottom plates
b) to serve as damping and antifriction between the SS pipe and smooth granite slabs
c) to act as a soft washer so the granite does not crack when the nut is tightened

now the above can be made with various materials howeveri had access to only delrin,PU,nylon,silicone and rubber
Delrin and nylon were ruled out because though they were good for the first function they were not for the rest
Silicone custom made is just waaaay to expensive
that left rubber

Hoever due to some circumstances i could not get just 4 pieces custom made

Alterantively i thoughti could get a steel disc machinedtotheID of my column to take care of the first function but my lathe operater went to Gaaoo and i have been a little unwell so ididnt want to operate the lathe

[magma]

had to get a little innovative now,

the following is waht i came up with
and actaully im happier with this

below is a pic of some custom washers
the white rings are delrin-toserve the 1ST function
the darker red SILICONE gaskets are to serve the 2nd
the softer PU washers ( transparent ) serve the last function

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below are pictures of PVC sheet and the SS tubes that will be used as the central column
the SS tube is grade 304 and is 5 mm thick and approx 63mm OD

The PVC was cut to size and a roll was placed inside the SS tube and put in a baking oven .
the heat caused the PVC to get soft and stick to the insides of the pipe ,
Basically forming a PVC coating.
A knock test gave me very satisfactory results

Buffing will be done to give a cool Matt SS finish that you can see on stands that Quad ususally sells

[magma]

pic of central column

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and another

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the pick shows the top side assembly of the base plate
the tube will rest on the gasket and the delrin ring which has been machined to the exact sizeof the ID will ensure no realtive movement
The same assemble will be repeated at the bottom of the top plate

[magma]

heres the pic of the steel balls and steel pellets
i may or may not use these
or
i might just sand fill the columns

top plate skirting and final assembly with tie rod will be posted soon