MH Rack ~ DIY

[vratenza]

After failing to find a suitable rack to hold my planned MH pendant, I decided to go the DIY route. Found some inspiration from the forums on the internet and decided to go fo aluminum structure for strength and aesthetic. I was mentally prepared to do some drilling, cutting and rivetting. So today I went down to:
Teck Cheong Aluminium Pte. Ltd. Address is Blk 803 King George's Ave #01-246/248/250.Tel: 62949650 / 62989936. (not to advertise for them but to prevent my PM from being flooded! )

To my pleasant surprise, I discovered a very customizable and easy system that takes away all the mess of drilling or riveting. You only need Allen keys to tighten the structure. These are the stuff I bought:



You have to buy the aluminum bars at 5 metres length but they are willing to cut to lengths for you. They have external and internal brackets (I went for the internal brackets~ neater), plastic end covers, alot of other customizable add-ons to suit your needs.

The finished product over my new glass terrarium.





Hope the above will provide some ideas and option for people who are keen to DIY.

[Casablanca]

Beautiful!

Is it strong enough to support the MH without toppling?

cheers,

[bossteck]

Looks very neat. Mind taking some close-up shots of the joints?

[vratenza]

Is it strong enough to support the MH without toppling?

I do hope so... but the alu bars are very strong with a solid core (different from the alu trunking that most DIY racks uses) and thus weight down the whole structure giving it some resistance to wind/gust..the internal brackets (L-joints) are cast iron..so pretty sturdy as well... the only problem I may have is the narrow base relative to the tall height...a quick hand pushing and pulling test shows that it's pretty steady as well

[vratenza]

Looks very neat. Mind taking some close-up shots of the joints?

Yeah, will do that tonight.

[Ian Lim]

Hi Vratenza,

Please PM to me the total price you paid for it. Thanks.

[Shadow]

cool DIY, how much does the 5 meters aluminum cost?

nice design, will follow soon

[vratenza]

5 metres of the size I got was about $40+. The brackets and nick nacks area about $15+. For my setup, I used up only 3 metres or so...balance of 2 metres in my storeroom in case I decide to modify the design

Oh, the good thing about this is that since it is not riverted, you can alter your design anytime you want.

[vratenza]

as promised~

The joint:


The cross-section to illustrate my point about the structural strength of the bar compare to a simple hollow alu trunking:

[BFG]

I believe this aluminium bar can withstand a 3ft tank or even larger. It can be made into a cabinet too.

[hk75]

bro,

can show photos of the parts to secure the ligth set.

thanks

[bossteck]

Thanks for the close up shots and the contacts. Cool!

And once again.. it is so neat looking, with the grooves, you can hide your MH power cable nicely too.

I might consider getting that next time I decide to use my MH lights as well... right now, the lights are just sitting in my bomb shelter. Very tempting.

[BFG]

What are you waiting for Eric, go for it! Here's a website where I've learnt what can be done with that aluminium erector set.

http://www.8020.net/


Hope this helps!

[vratenza]

What are you waiting for Eric, go for it! Here's a website where I've learnt what can be done with that aluminium erector set.

http://www.8020.net/


Hope this helps!

wow..good info and source of ideas!
The system is versatile and it seem like the possibilities are limited only to your imagination Almost like a grown-up version of Lego.
Will definitely considering building a few more structures to solve my structural/storage needs

[bossteck]

Thanks for the link Rohaizal!
Will look at it to get more ideas.

[illumnae]

this is very interesting. I wonder if it's suitable for a nano set up to hang DIY PL lights above. Given that most nano setups are braceless and coverless, i've always found it a waste that the available lightsets have to be clipped on or sit on the glass. The only options otherwise are the ADA lights or the recently released CADE lights. I've had to use slightly more expensive but more beautiful looking lightsets (Arcadia Pod) in order to have a nice looking nano in office. But I still find it less than ideal. With such a setup, wouldn't it bring the beauty of nano braceless setups up a notch?

[vratenza]

Did a little modification on the existing structure (I love the modularity and customisability of this system). Modified it such that I liberated the view from being blocked by the 2 vertical upright supports :

[vratenza]

someone asked for the close up of the hanging attachments?

[hk75]

thanks bro

[bossteck]

I think your first design is structurally safer than the second one.