Stupid Stereo Cabinet!

[dnoyeB]

I guess you can call this a sob or a whine...

My stereo arrived today. I had built the cabined based on the size of a cabinet I bought from somewhere a long time ago. Unfortunately I put the face frame on it and left a 1/2" lip on either side. This reduced my width by 1". The stereo would not fit into the opening. The cabinet is about 18" wide, the steteo 17.5" wide, the face fame opening is 17" wide :(

So I ripped the stupid face frame off the cabinet. Damnit! I'll have to make a new face frame thats flush with the cabinet inside walls. But at least this time I'll nail it to the cabinet _before_ I stain it so I can hide the nails (that was ugly).

On the bright side the cabinet is 18" wide :) First times can really suck.

[GeeDubb]

was the back of the cabinet removeable or more easily so than the ff? If so I would have inserted the equipment from the back and left the original frame on.

Gary (but that's just me....)

[bent]

I'm dying for a response

[Greg G]

Doh! Slaps forehead...

(Not the OP, but amusing nonetheless.)

Greg G.

[Dukes909]

Only semi-OT: this isn't as bad as building the cabinet the right size for your stereo, but too large to fit out the door to your basement, and THEN, even worse, finally getting it through the door, only to find it won't make the sharp 90 degree turn up the steps.

Stupid 90 degree turn!

Cheers!

[Rick Samuel]

Almost as bad as building a Harley in your apt.......back in the early '70s.....

[Leon]

I suspect you could not turn the amp sideways to fit in either?

[dnoyeB]

I havent put the back on yet :P

Seriously though, the whole cabinet is nailed into a casing and there is only about 4-6" clearance to reach the back from the side. It was easier to slide the receiver into my lap out the front to put the wires on as you really have neglidgible rear access.

[dnoyeB]

its about 8" tall. Diagonally its more than 18" so it wouldnt sit if I inserted it cocked to the side. With the face frame off I slid the amp into position with about 1/4" clearance on either side...

[Dukes909]

Just wondering; is this going to give the components enough room for ventilation? 1/2" on each side is awful tight.

[N Hurst]

Ouch! That's definately no fun. I was fortunate enough to get handed down my dad's first attempt at a stereo cabinet, which has a similar problem. Now that I'm building my OWN stereo cabinet, one of the mistakes I didn't make was dealing with the component access... sliding rear doors, 25" wide openings, and adjustable height shelves...

Now if only I could have kept that router stable when I was finishing the trim.

Oh, and a tip for putting your trim back up, which someone here passed on to me: Try using masking tape to hold your trim up while it's gluing. You can avoid using nails, and the tape comes off nice and clean. If your trim is warped, though, you'll probably have to use nails to straighten it out again like I did.

[dnoyeB]

yes, there are no vents on the side, only the top. Perhaps the bottom but I didn't check. Heat generally raises, but if they would have put intake vents on the side it would have been an issue. But I wont be driving it hard anyway.

[dnoyeB]

well i had botched it anyway since originally I wanted to put a door on it, but then didnt feel the mount was strong enough. Im not sure a glued on face frame, glued onto the ends of plywood would be strong enough to support a door? Im going to give another shot at making a frame that can support a door.

[ranck]

Most electronic equipment, including stereo components, are built to just fit into a standard 19-inch rack. There is an EIA standard RS-310C which defines the dimensions and required opening width, etc. I have shelves that I built years ago to that standard opening width for this very reason.

Bill Ranck Blacksburg, Va.

[CW]

Or not.