Thread: Advice sought on Huon pine guitar rack from new member

Hi David,

I did read your initial post however I didn't reply as I didn't quite know where to start. It might be easiest just to list my thoughts on the subject and you can grab anything that may be useful.

Attaching the Huon to the stud wall - I like the idea of the French Cleat but I would look at aluminium instead of timber so that it doesn't project too far from the wall. Here is an example but you may have to search around to find it: http://www.rsjcrisp.com.au/product.html I am not too sure about RSJ Crisp but if you click on the link it comes up with a detail of the product and it comes in 2m and 4m lengths, predrilled holes every 100mm and will only project 5mm or so from the wall. At $4.50/m it seems like a good deal. The small projection from the wall (5mm or so) will just look like a small shadow line around the Huon and will look good. The good thing about the french cleat is that to "knock" it off the wall you need to give it a really good whack in an upward motion which is highly unlikely.

The aluminium cleat should run the length of your Huon board as it would provide support along the entire length. With any luck depending on where you put it on the wall you could attach into 2 or 3 studs which will help distribute the load/weight.

As for attaching the guitar supports I personally would go for small bolts all of the way through the Huon. If you drill a larger hole in the back of the board you could recess the nut so it doesn't cause any issues with the cleat. As there are three bolts per support it will be strong enough. Measure the existing holes and get bolts to match. It would be worth looking around to see if you can find a bolt with a good looking head (perhaps rounded) and maybe painted black to match in with the supports.

I would leave the hard burnishing oil on the shelf. Whilst I have seen some great results with it I have never been able to achieve them. A couple of coats of shellac will help protect the Huon and make it a little easier to keep clean. I have concerns about leaving it raw as I feel that it may get a little grubby over time ..... but if this happens it wouldn't be too difficult to remove the hardware and sand it back again.

Order of operations - Lay out all of your supports and make sure you are happy. Mark the holes required for the bolts. Drill the bolt holes from the front, and then turn over and enlarge the holes at the rear to accommodate the nut. Give the Huon a sand to your required level and give it a few coats of shellac - don't worry about it getting in the holes. I would coat the front and the back.

Attach the cleat to the wall, making sure it is level, the right height and secured to as many studs as possible. Measure carefully the cleat location on the back of the board again making sure that it will be level when hung - use screws to attach to the Huon in as may of the predilled holes that are available. Bolt on your guitar supports and then lift it all only the wall cleat ...... hang guitars.

Hope this is of some use.

Dear Sir Stinkalot,

Many thanks for taking the time and effort to write such a detailed and helpful post. I actually contacted RSJ Crisp and they are willing to cut a piece to size for me. All I would need to do then is drill an additional hole to match the wall stud spacing.

I think I have all the info I need now to start putting it together.

Thanks again for the great advice from both yourself and from Bill.

Cheers

David