New Project - Oak Equipment Rack - Suppliers?

[siwatkins]

Have reached the usual impasse of not being able to find what I want from commercial suppliers, at any reasonable price. Either in quality or design, there is just nothing out there that I fancy So, I've decided to build my new equipment rack myself. I have a design in mind, and am playing around with the CAD drawings at the moment, but will need some fairly hefty oak panels for the shelves, each approximately 120cm (L) x 50cm (W) x 38 mm (D) (possibly slightly different eventually but thereabouts.)

Oak boards of that sort of size don't seem to be readily available (at least I've not found any online). However, solid oak kitchen worktops, made up of staved oak would seem to fit the bill nicely, both in terms of being a) available, and b) cost (if you say it quickly).

I don't want veneered board - I want to do this from solid oak. So am looking for reasonably priced suppliers in my area (High Wycombe/Great Missenden). Long shot, but does anyone know any good priced suppliers of solid oak kitchen worktops and/or suppliers of Oak boards of that kind of dimension for cabinet construction?

Ikea do some very reasonably priced solid Oak worktops (just £58 per piece of the size I want). However, they have long delivery delays, no stock, and would need to deliver direct from manufacturer, for which they want another £50 delivery So I need another supplier... Hope someone can help!

Simon

[siwatkins]

Think I might get a better response with this in the DIY section.

Mods - any chance of moving the thread please?

Cheers

Simon

[ian_guinan]

The difficulty of using oak panels for the shelves is that the amount of heat your gear puts out may warp the shelves. I'm having a oak cabinet made at the moment and ended up compromising over veneered MDF just for the shelves.

Ian Guinan

[D J Fryer]

Have you tried calling Parkside Laminates in High Wycombe - they do all sorts of kitchen worktops but I doubt they will be as reasonable as Ikea.

EDIT - also that size of solid oak shelf is going to be a very substantial weight - is that thickness necessary?

[siwatkins]

Originally Posted by ian_guinan

The difficulty of using oak panels for the shelves is that the amount of heat your gear puts out may warp the shelves. I'm having a oak cabinet made at the moment and ended up compromising over veneered MDF just for the shelves.

Ian Guinan

Ian, it's a fair point, but one I hope I've addressed in choice of material. The worktops are made up of staves, rather than being a single piece. Essentially a blockboard construction, without the surface veneer (which isn't required given that the blocks are made of Oak). I can only presume that this construction is chosen for worktops to prevent warping within the kitchen environment - lots of heat and damp sources.

Secondly, I'll be having plenty of ventilation as it is an open design, and will be suitably braced, so I don't think it will be an issue.

D J Fryer - no, not tried Parkside - will try and see. I've looked extensively at online supplies, and most are several magnitudes greater in cost than Ikea, so I don't hold out too much hope. The Kitchens chap in Ikea said that the supply shortages were a direct result of their very low price, and the difficulty that they had in getting the Raw materials in the first place.

Having seen the comparison prices for the oak elsewhere, the £50 delivery charge doesn't seem so bad at all from Ikea.

As for the weight - yes, it will be heavy, but I want a substantial piece of furniture. The fact that it is a hifi rack is almost inconsequential - I don't want to compromise on what we want, otherwise we may just as well buy ready made. We've a lot of Dutch Oak furniture already, and they don't tend to skimp on the wood over there like we do in the UK. Nipping over to Holland again might always be an option mind you!

Cheers for the input guys,

Simon

[pemberto]

Here are a few you can try.

S.L Hardwoods, http://www.slhardwoods.co.uk
James Latham, http://www.lathamtimber.co.uk
W.L. West & Sons Ltd, http://www.wlwest.co.uk - Very large timber merchants, with very good stocks of oak. Will provide all pre cut and planned timber.

[ntslik]

We are partnered with The AV Partnership who are releasing a range of hand made Oak AV furniture, I can keep you posted on their release, should be very soon

[siwatkins]

Originally Posted by ntslik

We are partnered with The AV Partnership who are releasing a range of hand made Oak AV furniture, I can keep you posted on their release, should be very soon

Yes please - my project is on hold for a couple of weeks at the moment due to the need to find a new house! I plan on doing something soon after that, so if you have any news, it would be handy to know before I go down the DIY route.

Pemberto - thanks for the links, will check them out.

Simon

[ntslik]

Originally Posted by siwatkins

Yes please - my project is on hold for a couple of weeks at the moment due to the need to find a new house! I plan on doing something soon after that, so if you have any news, it would be handy to know before I go down the DIY route.

Pemberto - thanks for the links, will check them out.

Simon

The initial designs are now complete and we will be rolling into manufacturing very shortly, hope to have a demo unit up and running and ready for show, although I do have the CAD drawings/images if you would like a look

http://www.audiovisiononline.co.uk/x7324.html

[pemberto]

Simon,
I would be interested to see how you are getting on. I am just about to commission my cabinet with a very good local firm to me. Its over 11ft wide oak finish on main cabinet with six solid oak doors. It should cost about £1500.00
Pemberto