G'day from Melbourne! - seeking advice on making a Huon pine guitar rack

[xeiss]

Dear All,


My name is David, I have never joined a forum before, so am not exactly sure how this all works, please bear with me if I am not following proper convention.


I am interested in building a guitar rack and was hoping to seek some advice. I have little to no woodwork experience (other than a pencil box I made in yr 7), and also have very few tools, but I am keen to learn and happy to rent equipment (such as an orbital sander) if needed.


Basically, my idea is to mount 6 commercial metal guitar-neck holders to a nice piece of Huon pine timber (see pics - note that the guitars would all be angled at 45 degrees so that they wouldn't be bunched up the way they are in these photos), then mount the piece of timber to the metal uprights of a small flat screen TV panel bracket which in turn would screw into the wall studs. It all seems pretty straightforward, but given these are musical instruments, I don't want to risk this thing falling off the wall.


So, I have several questions:


1. Finishing the timber. I bought the timber direct from the saw mill at Strahan, Tasmania. I spoke to someone there who told me to finish it with "Organoil Hard Burnishing Oil" (see pic). Reading the instructions, it looks like one needs to sand the timber first then apply 2 coats of the oil. Then it says to "burnish" (which I take it is the same as "polish") with a higher grit sand paper - creating a slurry that fills in the imperfections. It all seems designed to give a "satin" finish. However, I'm not actually looking for that silky smooth finish that one sees on pepper shakers etc. But rather, I'd prefer to maintain the rougher timber look - as a contrast to the smooth finish on the guitars. Therefore, is this really the best product for the job? I'm guessing the wood does need some sort of coating to protect it and prevent it from rotting (then again, I've read that Huon pine is pretty resistant to moisture ingress). Also, I love the smell of the raw Huon pine; if I do coat it, will the smell still come through? What about just varnishing the front face, and leaving the back face as is? Or just varnishing the flat (cut) faces and leaving the bark untouched?


2. Attaching the timber to the metal vertical supports. I was looking at something like this for the bracket to mount to the wall (http://bit.ly/1h8Gydy) seems like a simple way to do it. The combined weight of the timber plus guitars is ~25 kg - the same as the max load that the bracket can take. The question is: what type of screws should I use? I have been trying to learn about different types of screws online, lag bolts sound like they are strong enough (e.g. http://bit.ly/1eO1N3w), but it would look a bit ugly on the front. Sex bolts look more aesthetically pleasing (e.g. http://bit.ly/1duGAgM), especially if I cover the flush front side of the bolts with the guitar neck holders. Do you think these would be ok to attach the timber to the metal? How does one use them? I'm guessing I'd drill a hole straight through the timber at the correct spot, then push the bolt through from each side and screw together - but how does one make the bolt head sit flush with the wood? Is this what is called "countersinking" the hole, and if so how do you do that for this type of bolt head (all the countersunk drill bits I have seen online would leave conical holes)?


3. Attaching the guitar-neck holders to the timber. The attachment holes in the metal guitar-neck holders are quite small (see pic), but I assume they are designed to hold the guitars weight nonetheless. Should I just screw these halfway into the wood (which is ~30 mm thick) with a standard wood screw, or should I use smaller bolts that go all the way through the wood?


4. Order of operations. Is it best to varnish first, then drill holes, then attach screws? Or drill first, then varnish (so the varnish can get into the holes), then screw it all together? Or is it better to do the varnishing last?


I have some spare pieces of wood (not Huon pine) with which I was planning to do some test drilling and screwing etc to practice the techniques before trying on the piece of Huon pine.


Apologies once again for what must be very basic and ignorant questions to you all. Appreciate any insights you care to share.


Kind regards,


David



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[tdrumnut]

Great to have you on board David

[billrule]

My considered response:
1. great that you asked BEFORE screwing up the project. That attitude will help you get the result you want.
2. There is an international law against varnishing Huon Pine..you go straight to hell.
3. Whatever treatment you settle on, yes, just doing the front surface is a good option if the piece is living permanently indoors, and not subjected to big swings in humidity. So yes, it'll be fine, and still smell great (mate used to keep a lump in the back of his station-wagon to keep it smelling like home-Tassie)
4. Practising is very sensible. You want to keep it as simple as possible to minimise potential problems, and to keep the focus on the wood.
5. What sort of walls are you fixing to? Plaster on wooden studs? Brick?
6 I'd suggest considering a method that is completely hidden by the wood...more forgiving of inelegant execution. Depending on the wall, you can probably use some fitting that fixes to the rear of the timber, and hangs onto a fitting on the wall..like a massive version of the fitting on wall-clocks. Anyway, just a thought.

Bill

[old1955]

Welcome to the forum David.

[xeiss]

Thanks for the welcome messages.

Dear Bill,

I really appreciate your help. I'm pleased to hear that coating the wood is not mandatory, as I'd prefer to leave it raw, maybe just with sanding on the front face. I guess I had read so many threads (many of them on this forum) which discuss the various means of finishing Huon pine (consensus seems to be: UBeaut White Shellac + Eee), I just assumed that I had to do something similar. Not varnishing it is certainly preferable and easier, my wife is also from Tassie, so I know she'll enjoy the smell of the raw timber.

As for the fixation methods, I really like your suggestion and have been looking at various picture framing hardware. Yes the walls are plaster over wooden studs. There are large D-ring hangers with 4 holes for screwing into the piece to be hung (http://bit.ly/1mySTvo) along with heavy duty (3 nail) stud hooks. According to the stated ratings, these should be fine to support the 25 kg weight securely.

The other option that I have just learned about is a "French Cleat", which is an elegant solution, but in this case I think it would make the wood stick out too far from the wall...

At any rate, I'm learning a lot just by researching all this. Thanks again for your advice!

David

[Christos]

Welcome to the forum.

In this part of the forum not everyone swings by to take a look as it is mainly for introduction. I might suggest posting the question again in the General sub-forum https://www.woodworkforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=11 you will get more people looking at the post thus likely to get more replies.

[billrule]

That hardware looks extremely capable! Well done I'd say. Just to be clear though, I objected to varnishing specifically (ie a cured impervious finish that puts a skin over the wood) as distinct from an oil/ oil-spirit/ shellac etc "proper" finish that is not so "superficial". If you are happy with the dressed finish (ie untreated), that's great. It will still smell the best, but I'd expect to darken over time (usually a good thing IMHO, though if it produces "shadows" of blonder wood where less light falls, it can look a bit disconcerting). Also, it would have little or no resistance to staining if it gets things on it over time.

Looking at your pics again, my 6th sense is saying "make sure you can fit all the guitars properly/comfortably" You'll have a long time to be irritated living with it if every time you walk past, two guitars clunk together. It would be better to lose one of the guitar places and be really happy with the result than endlessly reminded that you measured by eye-and got it wrong.
I'm guessing I don't have to say that it's the common-sense thing to have two points of attachment, on two adjacent wall-studs. They'll be 450mm apart in the body of the wall (though the second-last one near a corner might be a different spacing where the wall length isn't an exact multiple of 450mm)
Cheers, Bill

[xeiss]

Dear Bill,


Thank you once again for your feedback. Given your clarification, I reckon a finish of some sort on the front face would be desirable for protection and to prevent staining. I'll test the burnishing oil (recommended at the saw mill) on piece of scrap wood first, to decide if it is suitable. I'm still aiming for a raw (textured) wood finish to contrast the smooth finish of the guitars.


It's a good point re the spacing of the guitars, will definitely give it very careful consideration. Appreciate the suggestions and info on stud spacing too!


Cheers


David

[xeiss]

Thanks Christos, I will do that now. Cheers David