filling a rack

[timm]

I have been looking into lead shot to fill up the tubes on my new rack... The stuff is expensive -- 45 dollars for 25 lbs... Does anyone know of anything else? I have put in some sand - but, it doesn't really seem to weigh anything down all that much. Not sure if sand would make a diff or not... Is it just the weight I am looking for here?

If anyone knows of any alternatives that isn't going to cost me 100 bucks - let me know... thx. tim.

 

[sleepysurf]

I filled the hollow steel tubes of my (admittedly mid-fi) rack with spray-can expanding foam sealant from Home Depot. It doesn't add any weight, but does minimize resonance/ringing. Only caveat is you need to be real careful when filling, as the stuff keeps expanding like crazy for 10-15 mins, and will ooze out of any openings. I also discovered (the hard way) that the chemicals in the foam can take off the the paint finish.

 

[Bernard]

I have been looking into lead shot to fill up the tubes on my new rack... The stuff is expensive -- 45 dollars for 25 lbs.

Yes, but how much have you spent on the rest of your stuff? :devil:

 

[timm]

Yes, but how much have you spent on the rest of your stuff? :devil:

Yeah - You are EVIL!! I guess I just have a hard time spending 100 bucks on something I can't see - that is inside a tube in a rack.... Hmmm... the rest of my stuff... I don't want to think about that......

I am making a huge upgrade - I think ... Big tv is gone / went from glass shelves under the TV to spiked rack with mdf shelves... Rack will be no higher than 3 feet - maybe less because I am using a double stack of 3 shelf /2 shelf....

Does anybody think the sand does anything? It adds a little weight - but not much at all... The only hole I have to fill is about 1/4" in diameter - so whatever I put in there has to be smaller than that...

 

[Kruppy]

You might want to take a look at your local sporting goods store for air rifle BBs. I'm not sure how big your rack is, but I previously owned Vandersteen 2Ces with Sound Anchor stands that I loadked with BBs and sand. Still might end of expensive, but from what I remember it was a lot less than lead shot.

 

[MiTT]

Yeah - You are EVIL!!
Does anybody think the sand does anything? It adds a little weight - but not much at all... The only hole I have to fill is about 1/4" in diameter - so whatever I put in there has to be smaller than that...

Yes, certainly. You're trying to control vibrational resonance. Two good ways to do that are mass loading (weight) and damping (resonance control). The sand will certainly help on both counts. It may not be the heaviest material around, but it's certainly heavier than air. By virtue of the fact that it would represent literally hundreds of thousands of bits comprising various shapes, sizes, materials and densities within each grain of sand, it is a very inert material with virtually no resonant frequency of it's own as a collective whole.

 

[Beakman]

McMaster-Carr.com is your friend.

 

[timm]

Yes, certainly. You're trying to control vibrational resonance. Two good ways to do that are mass loading (weight) and damping (resonance control). The sand will certainly help on both counts. It may not be the heaviest material around, but it's certainly heavier than air. By virtue of the fact that it would represent literally hundreds of thousands of bits comprising various shapes, sizes, materials and densities within each grain of sand, it is a very inert material with virtually no resonant frequency of it's own as a collective whole.

thanks Tim -- so you are saying that this painful task of filling sand into a 1/4" hole is worth it then? I've got 3 out of my 5 shelves filled - so I am going to continue.

 

[JMAUSGP]

Believe it or not, you can use quarters and motor oil and get similar results or dimes or pennies, depending on tube diameter.

4 quarters is about 1/2 inch so take the tube length and divide by 1/2 inch and you can figure how many dollars you need to put in your tubes. When they get within 1/2 inch from the top put in motor oil. Seal the tube and turn upside down several times so the oil gets between each quarter.

What is nice about this is if it doesn't work it has an iron clad money back guarantee that few tweaks have.

Or not.....maybe the sand is better, although oil and sand.......

 

[MDSPHOTO]

I used plain sand to fill the rack which totally deadened it.