Entertainment center with extruded aluminum?

[oneplustwo]

Has anyone tried making an entertainment center/equipment rack with extruded aluminum? I'm trying to figure out how I want to execute my next project. Needs to hold a 50" HDTV, a couple amps, AVR, DVR, PS3, Wii, and a center channel (ZDT 3.5.)

I might just do a wooden one, but wanted to see if folks had tried the modular extruded aluminum route.

[oxcartdriver]

Hello

I built a stand out of wood with a concealed steel frame. I choose not to go with Aluminum due to the deflection with readily available Aluminum. Found a local metal shop willing to sell 1in square stock steel with just under 1/8in wall.

Used wood legs 3x3in legs morticed to hold 1 inch square steel. Then ran a front to back steel bunk between each leg. Ran 3x 1inch steel horizontal below the top shelf and bottom shelf. Horizontal steel was welded to the steel bunks with a couple cross links as well.

Steel was covered by veneered BB plywood on top, with a piece of edge trim and hanging down below the plywood. You cannot see the steel, but the steel does help the integrity of the unit.

No sag, holding a bit of a load. 75lb center speaker, 100lb flat screen (on 23in bearing which may spread the load a bit), ~50lb amp. Plus numerous other electronics and accessories. Nearly 3 years now and zero sag.

Even during construction the sag was less than 1mm supporting 500lbs.

Problem is the weight. The unit weights about 250-300lbs empty, and looks like wood construction.

Only regret is not building in a cherry finish.

[JonP]

You might check out these guys... http://www.8020.net/Default.asp Bosch also has a very similar, modular construction system.

Kinda pricey but very cool... and looks pretty nice. The pieces due to their structure are a lot stronger than just a piece of flat or angle aluminum. Truly deserves their tagline "The Industrial Erector Set".

[oneplustwo]

Thanks for the link JonP. I actually spent some time on their site as part of my research previously. To your point, it seems kinda pricey. Not sure if there are other suppliers that are less expensive but it's a good baseline at least. Also, not sure what the WAF is on something like this. I might be better off with wood at the end of the day.

[gbegland]

I've been considering the same thing now that the speaker project is almost complete. I saw a guy over on the Legacy Audio forum 2 years ago post a pair of equipment racks made from t-slot aluminum from the 80/20 company. I think he used the super heavy duty 3" stuff and it looked like i would withstand a bomb blast! They looked totally professional. I've had that in the back of my mind ever since.

Try these links also. All similar product, but maybe cheaper. I honestly have not asked for any quotes yet. Also, 80/20 has a clearance Ebay store that might have what you need.

http://www.tslots.com/Home

http://www.faztek.net/

http://stores.ebay.com/8020-Inc-Garage-Sale

Keep us posted, you might beat me to it. You know, Ikea has some nice looking, thick butcher block countertop material that makes great shelves for a project like this. I bought some a while ago on clearance just for this project. Gonna look sweet.

Greg

[JonP]

Yep the stuff is fairly expensive, but it does have a pretty finished and pro look... anything you might make out of stock aluminum would probably take a lot of work to get to a finished look.

I've had a thought of making some kind of dipole panel, using the 8020 stuff as a frame, kicking around in the back of my head for years...