I picked up a shelf unit from Stands Unique today that will soon be home to my JVC HD1. Had some fun and games over positioning and eventually had to settle with the shelf being erected onto a plasterboard wall. This worried me to start with as the JVC is a big fella at almost 12Kg, but I think I have managed to secure the shelf sufficiently.
Below are a few pictures of the install process.
OK yes, I am a little trainspotter when it comes to ensuring all the bits are there before starting. All bits present and correct
Unfortunately, one of the holes in one of the carbon fibre cylinders was too small to allow it to be bolted to the glass.
Kind of annoying given it is a standard part of the shelf, but I guess it does prove that it is hand made and not run off in the order of millions on some production line. I could have either waited and taken the part back to Stands Unique (I picked all bits up in person as they are not too far away from me) or try to fix it myself. I didn't fancy waiting as it would be some time before I had time to sort it out and make the trip so decided to see what I could do myself.
After careful inspection, it seemed that the hole was 1mm too small for the bolt. The hole is actually threaded which lead to a few choice words being shouted, however, it seemed that the thread was deep enough to trim 1mm from. So out came the trusty drill to widen the hole slightly (don't tell the missus I had power tools out unsupervised
)
Note the use of goggles ... Safety first and all that.
The drilling worked out perfectly and left sufficient thread in the new wider hole to allow the bolt to bite nicely. A few moments later and carbon fibre cylinders were securely attached.
I have to say that the instructions for assembly are not the best in the world and left me scratching my head at several points trying to work out what was actually meant (diagrams are too small to see any detail IMO).
But I applied as much common sense as I could muster to get me through.
The shelf needed to be mounted quite high on the wall and over a large mirror which you can see at the bottom of the picture. I also had to leave enough room above the shelf to fit on the projector so it didn't end up wedged against the ceiling.
I marked up the holes to be drilled using the steel bracket as a template, which sounds a lot easier than it actually was as it weighs a ton. You try holding a 2-3Kg weigh still above your head with one hand whilst trying to mark the hole with the other!
I drilled small pilot holes first to check out how thick the plasterboard actually was (32mm thick) which was great as it meant I could use the bigger of the wall anchors I had bought from B&Q. With the full 10mm holes drilled, out came the convincer (aka my hammer) to firmly plant the anchors in their new home. I wish I had charged my cordless screwdriver as never moved my wrist for so long in my life
, but seriously, I really suggest using one as it took ages to screw in the bolts as they have a really small thread.
Five holes and lots of screwing later, I had mounted the bracket. It is worth spending some time at this stage levelling the bracket and it is a really painless task. The holes on the bracket are laid out in such a manner that they can be slid in almost any direction easily.
I didn't take any photos at this stage as my arms hurt and I needed both hands to hold everything in place, but it really wasn't that interesting anyway.
I had screwed the 30W fluorescent tube to the wooden backboard in preparation and then mounted the backboard onto the awaiting wall mounted bracket. This could not have been simpler and was literally just slotted on.
The supporting spikes were next and reminded me of the spikes found on speakers for use on carpets. They are sharp (trust me I worked that one out the hard way) and come with a pair of locking nuts.
They were screwed into place and tightened with the supplied spanner.
The glass was then lifted into place and the spikes positioned to fit into the bottom holes of the carbon fibre cylinders. Spikes were then untightened as the glass was woefully leaning to one side. A quick adjustment soon sorted it out to be level and the small plastic grub screws on the back bracket allowed for fine tuning with the levelling.
The shelf was very sturdy on the wall and I am feeling better about putting 12Kg on it tomorrow. The brown cable you can see trailing down on the left is for the light mounted behind the wooden backboard.
The shelf looks much better in real life with the lights on than it does in the photo. I think it has something to do with the flash. Anyway, The touchlight system works well and allows you to switch on and dim up to four lights using a metal foil "pad" (which is actually metal foil tape) connected to a bare wire coming from the control unit. I have yet to work out where to fix this on a more permanent basis so for the time being it is just hanging behind the sofa.
I was looking all proud at my DIY skills and thinking how professional it looked when I spotted the mess on the sofa:
Just like a true professional
.
They also say a true professional puts his money where his mouth is when it comes to the quality of his workmanship. This thought is now going through my head a lot given the view I have now from my seat on the sofa ...
Think it might be time to swap with the missus, now where did I put that insurance form
I am impressed with the Stands Unique shelf and may look to getting more in the future for the AV kit. I will see how this fairs first and let my wallet recuperate as well.
Will post a couple of pictures when I get the pj up there.
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