Unusual Question on Building Flexi Rack (1 Viewer)

[KyleS]

Ok so I am looking at building a new Flexi Rack to house my equipment but I would like to use some type of Tubing to run my Wires through (to hide the messy wires. Has anyone tried this? I have a Rack that has Glass shelvings with 2" tubing on 4 sides that has this but want to build one out of wood or MDF. Any solutions for this without making the Rack look too funny? I would prefer if all 4 corners of the stand are supported but not totally necessary.
Thanks
KyleS
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[KyleS]

Plus if you have any directions for the best way to build a Flexi Rack or Pictures of what I described above it would help me to decide what I want to do.
KyleS
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[Mike Boniferro]

Interesting idea.... as for the best way to build the flexi, the most important thing you have to do is use a drill press and go through as many of the shelves as possible when drilling the holes (all shelves clamped together) and then when all 4 (or 3) holes are drilled, use one of those pieces as a guide for your next set of shelves. It is EXTREMELY important that the holes all line up perfectly.
If you are willing to spend the extra few $$$, build it out of veneered plywood. I used 3/4" plywood with a birch veneer already on it. The stuff wasn't cheap, but stained it looks REALLY good. (And for the side you can buy veneer that is the size of masking tape and iron it on and use a veneering tool on the edges)
As for the tubing idea, to build it into the rack I can't think of any nice way to do it, but I'll think about it tonight and let you know if I come up with anything!

 

[Mark Wylie]

Perhaps if you think of speaker ports, you might get some ideas. Drill an extra hole at what would be the back of the stand and install say a 2" flared port that runs from the upper shelf to an 1 1/2 or so above the next self down. Repeat for as many shelves as you have. Depending on the number of shelves you have you may need to increas the "port" diameter as you get lower.
Mark

 

[Damon Athens]

Here are some pics of how I did it.
http://home.ec.rr.com/daathens/DSC00048.JPG http://home.ec.rr.com/daathens/DSC00050.JPG http://home.ec.rr.com/daathens/DSC00054.JPG http://home.ec.rr.com/daathens/DSC00062.JPG http://home.ec.rr.com/daathens/DSC00063.JPG
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"He is a great man. Do you know about Tyler Durden?"

 

[Brian_J]

I thought about the exact same thing when i built mine a couple of weeks ago. But the problem is you can never get the wires where you want them anyway. The above pictures were cool but you still end up with some mess back there no matter what you do. The best way to minimize it is to build your own cable to the exact length that you need.
Additionally, with my flexy, i cannot see the cables in the back because i keep the shelves as close together as possible while still allowing breathing room for those components that require air space above them. The ones that require the air space (like the receiver), i put on the very bottom. The ones at the top of the rack required no air space. So, when you look at it from waste level on up you do not see the rear of the rack. Its only looking at it waste level down that you would see the rear of it.
Mine is pine with a distressed golden oak and wax finish and black rods. Very cool and matches my furniture almost exactly. The black rods match the equipment. I was initially going to leave the rods silver because painting them and threading them after is a pain, but the SO objected. In the end she was right, the black rods and hardware look awesome and almost dissapear because the a/v gear is black.
Brian
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Zed's Dead Baby...

 

[KyleS]

Thanks for all the replies and Pics. Great idea about adding the additional tubing in the center back but I was actually thinking of using the 4 supports (mainly back 2) as hollow cable run areas that way there aren't additional tubing in the back or anywhere else and you could run half the wires on the left and half on the right side. I will try and post a pic of what I am thinking of doing if I can spend the time to make it in Photodraw.
KyleS
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[Blake Middleton]

You could probably use some galvanized pipe or something to hide the wires. You would have to drill holes at each shelf, but that is the only thing I can think of that would be strong enough to hold the rack up and be hollow.
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[KyleS]

Kind of what i was thinking Blake but it is a bi$#% to work with
Though in the end I might have to end up using some kind of steel and cut it, thread it, and put holes at each shelf level for the wires to feed through. What a pain.
KyleS
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[MarkDesMarais]

You could use a T fitting at each shelf to get the wires in and out of the pipe. . .
Or maybe use a large (3"?) pipe (PVC?) as a sleeve over the threaded rod- offset it to the back of the rack so that it hangs off behind your shelves. A lot easier to work than steel.
Markd

 

[Dean Cooper]

Why don't you use that "built in vacuum" pipe and "T fittings" or "but joints" to hold up the shelves, put T on the bottom of the legs so the wires can run down your supports. Then you can paint the tube whatever color you want. should look pretty slick.
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Hope the above rough sketch works
Dean________
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[Pete Mazz]

Try this site: http://www.mockett.com/
Look at the wire managers. Not sure if they sell retail though.
Pete

 

[Chad Anson]

Use 1" - 2" diameter black split loom. Use velcro to attach it to the back of your flexy. Simple, easy, cheap, and looks pretty good. One of these days I'll post pictures of mine.