DIY Record Holder
NOTES: Is the project too difficult?
This is one of the simplest projects here! A great start into your future woodworking career.
Let’s build a Solid Wood Record Holder
Astronaut optional
Did you know that most of music is broadcast in some lossy format to save space? Your average streaming service compresses files, only a few services offer lossless audio and it typically comes at a price.
For me, records serve as a way to support the artists that create the songs that we sing daily. $15 – $30 for a record is similar in price to buying a shirt from the artist. I have plenty of shirts and I don’t need to support them by having something that gets folded up in a drawer.
I wanted to make a simple stand that showcased one of my daughters first and favorite bands (CAAMP). The stand is on my hidden doorway bookcase.
This one is easy, let’s get cuttin…
Categories and Difficulty
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Difficulty
Tool Level: Alley Cat
I have the street cred and walk the block, but found an alley and acquired some nice things. A bowl that always seems to have food in it and a warm bundle of blankets tucked in a place that never gets wet. These humans keep staring at me making weird pst pst sounds. Looking in their window I see all kinds of cool toys to play with.
Tools required for the DIY solid wood record holder
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Materials
Step 3
give the wood some character
I wanted the edges of the record holder to have lots of character. To do this, I flipped my belt sander over and ran the wood in random patterns useing 80-grit.
I kept the motions slow enough to give the wood a cool set of contours. Once I got the look I wanted, I used a random orbital sander with 120-grit. I popped the grain and hand sanded a second time with 120 grit.
Sanding 101
Compared to other projects, the sanding requirements are pretty lax for this one. If you are new to sanding then I suggest you check out my sanding 101 guide for a quick overview on how to sand properly.
Step 4
Finish the Wood
Walnut has lots of natural color and beauty. As with the shelves, I decided to skip the stain and go straight to applying a semi-gloss oil based polyurethane. Polyurethane gives the wood a nice glow and semi-gloss avoids making the wood look like plastic.
As with most projects, I applied three (3) coats of polyurethane.
My writeup’s are more wordy then most, mostly because I try to write out what was going through my head during a project. It’s extremely rewarding to know that someone found an idea of mine cool enough to try. I truly would love for you to share your finished product with me via email (thecraftycatsman@gmail.com) or by tagging me on Instagram (@thecraftycatsman).
I may even feature your post or pic on the website.
How to Apply Polyurethane
Click below for a basic overview on how to apply polyurethane (it’s not that hard).
Thanks for Reading!
My writeup’s are more wordy then most, mostly because I try to write out what was going through my head during a project. It’s extremely rewarding to know that someone found an idea of mine cool enough to try. I truly would love for you to share your finished product with me via email (thecraftycatsman@gmail.com) or by tagging me on Instagram (@thecraftycatsman).
Step 1
Choose your wood
Choose whatever the heck you want. It should be at least 1″ in height by 2″ wide. I had some walnut left over from the floating shelf project and so i decided to use that.
This project will recommend the use of polyurethane. Some wood looks better with polyurethane than others, for example walnut, spalted maple and oak are all great options.
Step 2
CUT A SLIT
A Dremel’s wood cutting wheel works perfect for this project.
Stand your record up where you want it to be able to sit and mark the center with a pencil. Remove the record and measure 3.5″ from center in each direction (total length 7″).
Using your Dremel, cut along the 7″ line. Go as deep as your cutting wheel will allow.
It doesn’t really matter if you come through the other side, just be careful that you don’t cut the table that you are working on.
For me, this was enough for the record to sit in perfectly but depending on your cutting wheel you may need to widen the line a bit more.
Check the fit by putting the record in the newly created slit
