MTM Stand Build

[bikedave]

I am building stands for my Tritrix MTMs and have all the components necessary to build any of the following iterations but would like some opinions on which would look best. I have the top and bottom plates as well as the hub already made as well, of course, as the Tritrix. The final version of the Tritrix look a little different then this model but are basically the same.

Have a look:

This one does not have a center post:



This one has a black center post:



and this one has a silver center post:

[Saurav]

I like the silver center post, that keeps all the vertical elements silver. The black center post draws a little bit of attention to itself.

[peter_m]

I prefer them in this order:

No post (best)
Silvery post
Black post

Peter

[bikedave]

Thanks for the opinions guys, hopefully I can get it mocked up tonight so I can post some actual (unpainted) pictures tomorrow.

[Jonasz]

No centerpost looks best to me.

[wkhanna]

V creative! Well Done!

The look integrates V well with your speakers.

AFA function, I would think the C/post would add rigidity.....a good thing for your stands.

AFA aesthetics, IMHO:

• No Post

• Black Post (dissapears visualy)

[---k---]

Very impressive design. I look forward to seeing them completed. It always amazes me the creativity people have and how easily they can occomplish it.

I agree with others. No post, silver post, and then the black post.

[bikedave]

I agree with others. No post, silver post, and then the black post.

Thanks, it is quite simple and should go together easily... I hope, we will see how many dowels I snap!

AFA function, I would think the C/post would add rigidity.....a good thing for your stands.

Yes, the center post was my original idea as I wasn't sure how strong the smaller dowels would be. Now, after getting all the components together and loosely laying it out I am quite comfortable with the strength of going without it. So, hopefully it is just an aesthetic question.


Thanks guys for the opinions! Hopefully pics to follow soon!

[Hdale85]

I personally like the no post or black post.

[bikedave]

Update

Well, I have made some progress, I have decided to go with no post in the center. I have all my plates and the hubs cut, glued, painted and clearcoated. Sorry about the poor picture, hard to take a picture of dark shiny black indoors:



Then I made this jig for bending my dowels. I tried a dry run and I was stressing the dowels to their limit and two broke. So, I decided to steam bend them first to relieve some of the stress when I do final assembly:



Then here we have the dowels in the jig after steaming them for an hour or two. The dowels are poplar so nice and soft and they bend well but if there is any knot or coarse grain in the dowel it will break there. I broke two in the process and had to get some more. But, they weren't poplar, but a harder, less flexible wood. They too broke, so I just need to get more poplar and bend till it works. Once they were in the jig I also took the heat gun to them (you can see the scorch marks in places) to start to dry them out as well as temper them a little. I pulled one out of the form after the second heating just to see if it was keeping form and it rebounded very little so it is successful! Oh yeah, the picture:

[bikedave]

Well, I bought 3 more poplar dowels, steamed them for an hour, broke one and got the other two in the jig successfully! I still need to put the heat gun to them but hopefully they are taking shape now. Next up will be sanding them all smooth, tapering the ends a bit, painting and assembly. This is fun! Oh, and I need to install my coupling system which will be how the speaker is attached to the stand.

[bikedave]

On a slightly separate note, I have been trying to change the title to this thread and haven't had success yet. I checked the FAQs and they didn't say anything. Is this something a mod must do? I have just moved on from the aesthetics and into the construction. Thanks

[bikedave]

Triumph and Defeat

Well, I got my stands all finished and they look great! I decided due to the close quarters of all the materials in certain places it would be best to prepaint everything, then touch up, then clear coat so that there would be better coverage. I pulled the dowels out of the bending jig and taped the ends and middle so that I would have some exposed wood for the glue to adhere to. Then I set up my "Paint booth" in the garage, aka hang a big sheet of painters plastic from the ceiling. I painted the dowels, sanded them fine, then added two more coats. Pulled off the tape and this is what they looked like:




Next was to once again dry fit everything to make sure it would go together. Because, as some of you know, Titebond gets tacky wayyyyy to quickly if you are not on your toes. Take away the oxygen and it can bond in a big hurry, like it or not. I ended up adjusting the angle of the holes on the top plate to be less extreme as I was having trouble getting the dowels to go deep enough into them. But in the end I got them all perfect, and man was it tight, really didn't need to even glue! Here is what it looked like:





If you look closely at the top plate, you can see what looks like a fine threaded screw protruding in the center. It is a knob with a male stud like the one below. I also screwed a threaded insert like the one shown into the bottom of my speakers. Now I can securely attach the speakers to stands but also easily remove them for transport.

Image not available





And now for the final product. I mounted up the speaker and.... it sucks! The stand has absolutely zero rigidity! Granted its not glued, however, it is so tight together with friction that I have broken dowels trying to get it apart again. So, I have little hope for this design, unless I was using a speaker which weighs in the neighborhood of <5lbs. However, I'm using my Tritrix, which in their current enclosure weigh in at probably closer to 20lbs. You should see the thing bob and weave when pushed gently.



I was quite confident that the dowels, like the members of a truss, would allow many small components to combine to form a very strong structure. But alas, it was not to be so. My original ideas called for the possibility of a center post. However, my threaded knob is now directly in the center of the top plate...
So, we will have to see, may be back to the drawing board while trying to salvage at least the top and bottom plates. Sigh....

[ThomasW]

On a slightly separate note, I have been trying to change the title to this thread and haven't had success yet. I checked the FAQs and they didn't say anything. Is this something a mod must do? I have just moved on from the aesthetics and into the construction. Thanks

I can rename it. What do you want for the new title?

[bikedave]

I can rename it. What do you want for the new title?

Well, possibly a little erroneous now, but something like "MTM Stand Build"

[ThomasW]

You should see the thing bob and weave when pushed gently..... I was quite confident that the dowels, like the members of a truss, would allow many small components to combine to form a very strong structure. But alas, it was not to be so

Sorry I haven't followed this thread closely since the original design was posted. Given their color in the original post I thought those were metal rods not wood dowels. IMO, metal rods are what's needed given the nature of this structure.