DIY turntables stand

Creating my own turntables stand turned out not to be as hard (or expensive) as I thought...

I could even sit on it! Me so proud :) 

Made out of birch wood (I think!), and probably a bit too much of it, it cost around £50 from Homebase. It could have been done a lot cheaper if I wanted, using MDF or chipboard, but I decided I wanted it to look nice without needing to finish it (paint/veneer/varnish etc) any time soon. The cheapest one that would suit my needs on eBay would be well over £100 with P&P on top.. perhaps I should start a sideline in custom build carpentry ;)

So I walked in with only a napkin and a biro (no joke!) and proceeded confidently to the timber section to plan out what I thought I'd need for the job. I'd already measured the width required (around 120cm being generous) and the depth (40cm about right) so I hoped they'd have some cuts around those lengths to plan around.

Low and behold, there was a lovely piece at 115cm x 45cm, which I then could plan the rest of it around. For the backboard and legs, I used 3 identical pieces which were about 90cm in length and then some strips of wood to reinforce the joints.

Remembering all my knowledge of joinery from my A-Level Design & Technology classes, I promptly disregarded it all for being too laborious and bought a selection of self-tapping wood screws (the type you don't need to pre-drill a hole for first). Using only butt joints (joints with no mechanical strength whatsoever other than gravity itself), and these screws, I created the stand :)

Even though I could sit on it, I still loaded the records gingerly in batches of 5, fearful the whole thing would implode spectacularly in a glorious shard-like nova of priceless bits of irreplaceable vinyl.

I realised quickly that I wasn't using all the space available, and 'modded' on some extra storage for some of my records! I fixed a hanging pillar of sorts from the top table down to secure the centre of the plank that would support the records and fixed it in with screws at each end.

Nerea is very happy that these aren't taking up valuable space elsewhere now. I wonder if one can technically 'mod' their own creation, in the new sense of the word rather than the traditional meaning. I'll leave that open for the comments..