Hi-Fi rack - joining two boxes together with gap

[chowman]

Hi all,

I've started building a simple hi-fi rack that can store an amp and records below. It will be three boxes that sit on each other with a say 10mm gap. (Will post a picture when I figure that out) Have almost got the first box finished but thinking ahead, what would be the best way to connect the boxes together. One idea I had was to use 4 discs of timber (~40mm dia) and inset them away from the edges so it would appear to still float. This would be screwed from the underside and countersunk.

Any better ideas?

[elanjacobs]

The usual way to do it would be with strips of timber/board between boxes, simply because it's easier to cut than a disc. 9mm MDF painted to match/contrast would be my suggestion, set back and screwed as you were going to do.

[GraemeCook]

That was so modern in the sixties!

I did it by screwing two wine cases together - some wine still came in pine boxes, then - using a 15 mm length of half-inch copper tube ('cause I had it) and a long screw. Like this:

494592

Neat and easy. I inset the screws from the edges by about 25 mm; in retrospect, 50 mm would have looked better.

Worked well. Only problem was that some "friends" kept returning vinyl records to that gap. Diffucult to extract with my fat fingers - chopsticks.

[GraemeCook]

I also used the wine boxes as bookshelves - I was a student, then. By stacking the cases like this, you got a lot more storage space for the same amount of wine.

494593

"Mum, I am working on some more bookshelves ..." The dedication of a student.

[chowman]

Thanks for the suggestions, think I'll go with the strip - sounds like the simplest. Attached it a sketch of the design for interest.