The hardwood stands listed at the end of our speaker project in issue 264 aren’t the only contenders for holding up these speakers. While the cherry stands may have won the spot at the end of the article, we also designed and built the stands you see here. Rather than matching the rich warmth of cherry, these stands instead lean into the black accenting across the speakers.
These stands are remarkably easy to build, as you’ll see on the next page. Each is only made from four pieces: two sides, a top spacer inbetween, and a thick bottom piece as a foundation. As shown, each piece is doubly thick, glued up from two pieces of MDF. Once these pieces are dry and cut to size, it’s only a handful of steps to complete the stands.
SIDES. After sizing side pieces, there’s one big bit of business to take care of on them: those roundovers. You can see them in detail ‘c’ on the next page, and I made them on the router table just like the chamfer. I swapped in a large roundover bit, then ran the outer front edge of each across the bit. With that done, only some assembly and painting are left.
ASSEMBLY. These MDF stands are assembled using Confirmat screws, as with the speakers themselves. The thick threads of Confirmat screws are ideal for holding both a grainless material like MDF and supporting relatively weak joints like the butt joints here. The main illustration and details on the next page lay out where these screws should be located, as well as the size of pilot holes and counterbores that should accompany them.
PAINTING & SEATING. To finish up these stands, we’ll need to follow the advice of Sir Michael Jagger: paint it, black. Once the painting is done, you can seat the cabinets on the stands. Simple #8 woodscrews are a good choice here. Four driven up through the top spacer and into the bottom cap of case provide a strong seat.
