DVD Rack

     My most recent project came about after a trip to Ikea. I've always read about people hackking their purchases from Ikea, but I've never been there. When I saw these wall mountable DVD/CD racks for $5 each, I went ahead and bought two (see pictures at the bottom) At the time, I had no intentions of modifying them, but  I realized I had no convenient place to mount them. They are designed to hold the cases against the wall, so I knew I had to do something to get them working.

     I knew that I had to design a back plate for these racks to get them to hold media cases as they were designed. After attaching the rear mounts, I noticed that they sat at a pleasant angle on a horizontal surface. I then came up the idea to mount them one on top of the other. I zip-tied them together and I liked how it looked.

     I began by measuring out the size of the racks as they were tied together. I added an extra inch on each side to bend over for extra support. Using our metal break and a hammer I was able to get clean edges on all four sides. I probable could've done more to make it less flimsy, but I have no qualms about that on the finished product.

     I decided that even if the back was supported by the rear panel, the angle that it is sitting at may cause the two ranks to separate in the front. The holes from the mounting hardware are lined up in such a way that attaching them would provide good support in the front. I used a center punch to make the holes in the small pieces of steel that I used to connect the two racks. Overall, it works, but was a terrible way to do it. I wish I would've just drilled holes.

     After my parts were made, I attached everything together with screws and bolts and I really like how the finished product looks. Another thing I should have done, though, was to use some Scotch-Brite to clean and leave a nice design on the rear panel. Since its purpose is to be covered up, I didn't do that. Overall, I can't complain; it serves its purpose very well.