Materials: Vika Curry leg, Ekby Statlig shelf
Description: The goal was to make a pair of cheap and simple speaker stands. Vika legs are just suitable height to bring the speaker to the ear level when I'm sitting down, and in black they will match the legs of my desk. For the base plate I used an Ekby Statlig solid wood shelf in 19cm width. To put it all together I bought an 8mm threaded rod in the hardware store and a couple of nuts and washers.
1. Vika leg has a bolt welded inside the tube at the top, where the mounting plate is screwed on. It had to be removed to make room for the threaded rod. It's spot welded in 2 points behind the plate, and it comes off after some rocking back and forth with large pliers. I have also drilled a hole on the side for stealthy speaker cable routing.
2. Ekby shelf was already suitable width at 19cm, I only had to make one cut to make it appropriate length. The central hole is for the mounting rod, and the second hole is for the cable. I carved a rough round shape matching the leg for easier centering later. I've used some furniture oil on the wood to make it a little darker and more durable.
3. Feed the rod through, put on the washer and the nut. Do the same on the top side of the base and tighten.
4. Feed the cable through and assemble! The top plate tightens the whole construction to make perfectly vertical and solid. Because there's a nut and a cable under the base plate, stick 4 rubber floor protector pads of suitable height under the plate.
Or for some little extra hi-fi-ness, a set of speaker cones/spikes could be used. They might be more expensive than the rest of the stand, though ;)
~ Max, Finland
From the look of the bottom of the base, it would not be stable since the nut is in the way. The base would not sit flat on the ground.
ReplyDeleteIf you actually read the artice is clearly says "Because there's a nut and a cable under the base plate, stick 4 rubber floor protector pads of suitable height under the plate."
ReplyDeleteI think this is pretty neat. The only problem I face in constructing something like this is that the nearest Ikea store is over 100miles away, and I don't drive!
ReplyDeleteHowever, this article has inspired me to build myself some speaker stands out of similar materials.
Thank you for the inspiration.
To add stability you could fill the steel tube with sand and/or metal shot.
ReplyDeleteWow! This looks great. I can't wait to go and get the materials. Thanks
ReplyDeletePretty cool...are there any instructional videos that can show us how to do something?
ReplyDeleteI am confused because you are saying Ekby shelf was already suitable width at 19cm. I think it's nice information for all.
ReplyDelete@website design company usa:
ReplyDeleteMm.. I don't understand the question. The Ekby shelf is 19cm by 79cm. When I say that 19cm is suitable width, I meant that I only need to make one cut - to shorten it to, say, 19x25cm.
@ikea coupons
No videos from this particular project, no. But it's not that complicated ;)
@NewYorkJosh
True, I'm still considering that. But it would mean sealing off the cable feed through the baseplate, etc.
Thank you. I've been looking for a design for inexpensive speaker stands which look good in the living room, and this beats plastic drainpipe ones. They even sell these legs in red to match our Atacama equipment rack. It isn't clear how the speakers are attached. Are they actually screwed to the mounting flange at the top of the leg? I think I'll just buy the longer shelf (119 cm) and make a platform to match the base.
ReplyDeletePavel
How do you mount speaker to the top?
ReplyDeleteHhere to get the rod with coils?
That threaded rod is called Allthread in the US, or studding in the UK. It can be found in any hardware store or engineer's suppliers in various diameters. Just make sure to pick up the matching nuts and suitable washers at the same time.
ReplyDeleteVery nice hack.
ReplyDeleteYou've inspired me to copy your design :)
The welds in mine were very hard to break without damaging the side of the leg.
For best results I do recommend very large pliers and some heavy duty gloves :)
Pavel, evlo:
ReplyDeleteThe speakers are not attached, they are standing freely on the round base. Of course, one could make a plate for the speaker from another piece of wood and attach it to the top of the leg.
And about the welds, I have to confess, I did ruin one leg before I got the hang of it :) I managed to snap the bolt itself with large pliers and excessive force.
The key thing here is to rock the bolt in the direction perpendicular to the imaginary line connecting 2 weld spots. That way it detaches very easily!
Max, thanks for the information. I'm just refining the design for my version of your stands, which includes some wonderfully heavy butcher's block chopping boards for the bases (sadly not from IKEA, although they have some similar), and X-ring rubber seals at either end of the leg for better isolation and the possibility of filling with sand or shot. I'm still undecided about the speaker platforms, but will probably get a Statlig shelf. The shorter one is already the correct width for my speakers.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Pavel
This is a great idea! I just got my first set of real bookshelf speakers and really need stands, but the only thing I could find commercially available all have very large bases (12") and will not fit in the space I have available. This is a great way of making a nice looking base with a small footprint.
ReplyDeleteIt's so simple an idea, but I would have never thought of it on my own. Thank you!
THIS is an AWESOME hack...Pure genius! My speakers are quite heavy so I'm going to do this with some heavy duty butchers blocks
ReplyDeletehttp://www.only-kitchenware.co.uk/items/item.aspx?itemid=4756583
and use a wood-boring drill bit to countersink the nut into the base.
http://www.partridgeshadleigh.co.uk/catalog/images/Wood_Boring_Drill_Bits.jpg
This is great! We need speaker stands and either they are too expensive or just plain ugly. Just added this to our list of things to get. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteFurther to my commment on 10th Jan, I just finished mine. They are amazing!!!
ReplyDeleteA few mods I made...
Heavy duty butchers blocks for the bases with neoprene to avoid movement/vibrations.
Ikea floating shelves as tops...very lightweight as hollow (keeps stands bottom heavy=good)
Where you carved the rough circle for centering... The leg comes as standard with a plastic foot. I drilled directly through the centre, and it automatically centered itself.
Both the base and top were wood bored to allow both the speaker and base to sit flush with the floor.
I also added rubber grommits to the speaker wire holes to avoid the cable getting caught and cut, and to enable the cable to replaced easily at a future date.
Once again...pure genius. Tahkis for the hack idea and hope thisd post helps everyone. For pics, see link...
http://www.avforums.com/forums/members/508339-albums1296-picture8002.html
just added more detailed pics for you all....
ReplyDeletehttp://www.avforums.com/forums/members/508339-albums1574.html
I am selling two Vike Byske (chrome) legs, if anyone want to try to make the stands with them. Since they already have a threaded rod in them, it should be easy. I will post my results once finished.
ReplyDeleteI have just bought two Ikea Vika Curry legs to build 2 speaker stands, like yours, but I can't remove the welted bolt. How should I do it? It doesn't move! I have tried with pliers and also hammering the sides, and the best I have achieved is to bend it, but it doesn't move, it seems to be well welted and impossible to move. Also, Im really damaging the threaded bolt...
ReplyDeleteedustrier,
ReplyDeleteIt's possible that they use some other type of welding in your batch... In my case the bolt was spot-welded with just 2 points, so it was possible to remove it by rocking, but only in a certain direction. Try looking with a flashlight through the other end to see how it's attached. Cutting it out would certainly be a LOT of work.
Amazing work! I'm gonna try this out myself. I like how you mentioned that the spikes may cost more than the whole stand itself (which is true) hopefully ebay will come in handy for that ;). One thing I might add if you want to take this to the MAXX (and that with 2 x's :)) is to fill up the post with aquarium sand for added weight, try not to use beach sand because that will oxidise and cause long term issues. it's cheaper than the high profile speaker sand they use for stands and it does the same job for anyone that's interested in getting that kind of stuff.
ReplyDeleteGreat Job, I was looking for speaker stands and I came across this, I'll use it for sure. Looks classy and it's a good feeling to know that you put your skills to good use. :)
Happy Hacking!
M
Alright, So I've done the steps provided and I added a couple of things on my own! First of thanks again for the writeup, very handy! I used a different colour wood for that nice rosenut finish, still from IKEA and still from the same "company". I used the same vika curry legs and used all the same hardware, however I added the speaker spikes on the bottom, gives a really nice "floating" effect, and I've filled up the tube with sand from the local petsmart. All in all it turned out very nice.
ReplyDeletehttp://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/562453_390691674299929_399253001_n.jpg
Hope whoever follows this post also turned out great!
Matt
EKBY STÅTLIG seems to have been discontinued, though it should be easy to find replacements, say, Ekby Tony?
ReplyDelete