Building a Flexi / Flexy Rack
Background
Flexi Racks (sometimes called Flexy Racks) are wonderful things. They can be built
to look like anything you want, in any style you want,
in any any size you want; hence the name flexi. It
was late 2002 when I decided that I needed a flexi
rack. It was shortly after the purchase of a
rear-projection TV, and my old component stand just
wasn't going to cut it. I treked on over to the Home Theater
Forum and did a quick search for flexi rack. I
came up with a
post that had been archived, that gave
me a good starting spot. A friend of mine had also
built a
flexi and was willing to share with me his
pitfalls and accomplishments.
Building
Materials
6: 36"x16" bull nosed MDF (available at Home Depot),
cut to 24"
4: 3'x5/8" coarse threaded rods (available at McMaster-Carr
P/N: 98841A035)
1: 50 pack 5/8" hex nut (McMaster-Carr P/N:
90473A233)
1: 10 pack 5/8" acorn nut (McMaster-Carr P/N:
90532A300)
1: 50 pack 5/8" neoprene washer (McMaster-Carr P/N:
90133A056)
1: 50 pack 5/8" flat washer (McMaster-Carr P/N:
98017A215)
1: Can of gold Rustoleum spray paint
1: 4 pack of 5/8" chair feet (picture)
Assembly
One board was randomly selected to be the 'top board'
and marks were made 1.5" from the corners
in order to mark where the poles where going to go.
After the marks were made, the boards were clamped
together using several 'Quick-Grips'. At this point,
I was wishing that I had a drill press. I had to use a
hand-drill, and it is near impossible to drill
straight through 4" of wood. Knowing that, I decided
to drill the holes at 7/16" instead of the 5/8" size
of the threaded rods.
The extra 1/6" space was then
dealt with during assembly by securly tightening the
nuts. This method proved very useful, as even with
the larger holes, fitting the rods through all 5
shelves provided a challenge.
With all the holes drilled, it was time to 'dry
fit'
the assembly. I only used 3 of the 5 shelves at this
point, because even with the coarse threaded rods,
threading all of the nuts was more work than I really
wanted to do. I also did not put the neoprene washers
on at this time, because it was merely a quick fit.
Once I was satisfied everything would work, I took the
whole thing apart and got ready for finishing.
Finishing of the hardware was done by laying out all
of the washers and nuts on a piece of cardboard,
spraying them with the spray paint, letting them dry,
flipping them over and repeating.
It is important to
not apply too much paint on the inside of the nuts, as
it makes threading them onto the rods difficult. The
rods were painted by standing them up in a scrap piece
of wood and spraying them. This allowed coverage of
all sides at once, and prevented the rods from rolling
away. Once they were dry, they were flipped in order
to get the very tips of the rods. With painting the
rods, I spent a a lot of time ensuring that the paint
was uniform, but not on too thick. Applying too thick
will cause the paint to flake off when threading the
nuts on it. Applying too thin causes the underlying
silver to show through.
Most of the people who I had seen doing flexi-racks
before spray painted the shelves in a acrylic black
and then used a marbalizing kit, available at a
hobby store to add character. While this method looks
very good, it wasn't what I was going for. Lucky for
me I had a friend who was willing to apply a piano
black finish to the boards, using a polyester finish
(the same kind that actually goes on pianos). I sent
the boards away (after paying a fortune in shipping)
and waited 3 weeks. Fortunately, the person doing the
finishing of the boards has a digital camera, and took
pictures along the way. The boards came back
better than I had hoped for, and I began to do the
final assembly.
Final assembly of the unit took about 2 hours once I
got everything prepared. I began by threading a nut
to about the center of each rod, followed by a flat
washer, and a neoprene washer. I then put a shelf in
place, and added the 3 items in reverse order
(neoprene washer next to the wood, followed by a flat
washer, and a nut). The board was leveled first by
tape measure on the four legs from the floor, and more
precisly by using a level. Everything was tightened
down using a cresent wrench. I personally wrapped a
cloth around the nut I was tightening in order to
avoid scratching it. I ended up putting holes in a
few rags, but it was better than repainting after
aseembly. It is vitally important to get the nuts
tight, because the holes are bigger than the rods.
The neoprene washers help here, as they prevent the
washers from scratching the wood/paint. The top shelf
had acorn nuts placed on the rod instead of the
standard hex nuts for asesthetic reasons, and to prevent
my from stabbing myself on the threaded rod.
The key point in assembly is that for each shelf there
is:
* Nut
* Flat Washer
* Neoprene Washer
* MDF Board
* Neoprene Washer
* Flat Washer
* Nut
Add Stuff
The easiest part of the project is putting the items
on the rack. Here's mine:
More Information
Pictures of the complete process from start to finish
can be found in The Flexi
Gallery
Pictures of a completed 'flexi desk'
can be found in The
Flexi Desk
Gallery