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Wall Shelf and Vibrations

O

onlysleeping

Active Member
I recently had a wall shelf built in hopes of isolating my turntable from vibrations. From just putting my hand on the shelf, it feels like it is vibrating more than where I originally had the turntable. The shelf is a 3/4 inch width block of wood on two shelf brackets. The block of wood is touching the wall on two sides - would shaving off a bit from the sides keep it from vibrating so much? Are there any suggestions on how to better isolate the shelf?
 
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Purpose built turntable wall mount shelves (such as Target) completely isolate the surface the table sits on from the wall. So yes, it should not touch the wall. Also, the platform should be isolated from the brackets in some way, the Target stand uses spikes but you could try Sorbothane or the like. You can get Sorbothane at the local drug store in the form of certain insoles for shoes, just cut little disks out of it and put them between the platform and brackets.
 
Yes a picture would help diagnose the problem. Was the DIY wall shelf screwed into the wall studs? If not and just into sheet rock with lag bolts it wont work. AK member Arcorob built a very nice looking and functional wall shelf for about $50, you might want to search it out in the old threads. As for the Target wall shelves they are excellent and very well designed especially the older ones, I have 2 large vintage Target shelves for my two large/heavy tables along with a smaller Sound Organization wall shelf for my large/heavy CD player. IMO my older shelves are far better than the current production Target shelves. My shelves as I said are vintage and preowned and the prices were what I would consider a screaming bargain. As for vibration reaching my tables there is absolutely none, you could drive a big Mack truck thru the house and the tables and CD player wouldn't miss a beat.
 
onlysleeping said:
I recently had a wall shelf built in hopes of isolating my turntable from vibrations. From just putting my hand on the shelf, it feels like it is vibrating more than where I originally had the turntable. The shelf is a 3/4 inch width block of wood on two shelf brackets. The block of wood is touching the wall on two sides - would shaving off a bit from the sides keep it from vibrating so much? Are there any suggestions on how to better isolate the shelf?
Click to expand...

Touching the sides of two walls does not accomplish the goal of isolation.

It would be helpful to see the brackets, sounds like a corner installation?

Two heavy duty wall brackets, lagged into wall studs, with a thick solid board on top, the board not touching anything but the brackets. The gap between the board and the wall allows the cables to come down. The trickiest party is making the shelf level.
 
Make sure you use a shelf bracket that has a support brace. Also as mentioned don't let the board touch the wall. Mine seems to be working great, I couldn't walk across the floor before, 1950 wood subfloor farmhouse. Works great now.20160806_094021.jpg
 
Hi,

FWIW the best mounting for a shelf is a solid brick wall when suspended floors are involved.

For a solid floor and stud walls, a rigid floor stand is the best option, its also fine for solid walls.

Suspended floors and stud walls is when its gets very complicated, however all walls are
not likely to to be stud, so obviously go for the solid wall for shelf mounting if it exists.

I suspect that the best for suspended floors and stud walls is a stand in a corner.

rgds, sreten.
 
@onlysleeping, if you use a wallmount shelf, it should be fastened into the studs of a supporting wall, not just into a partition wall. Supporting walls are under load, and the compression makes them more rigid, and less prone to vibration at low frequencies.

Since I could not mount my shelf directly to the studs, in the preferred location, I mounted a piece of 7/8" plywood directly to the studs, and fastened the shelf to the plywood. My Target Pro shelf has the shelf insert sitting on spikes, as well. No vibration gets to the table.
 
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Thanks everyone! Here is a picture. After this picture was taken I went and had 1 inch cut off the sides touching the walls, as it was set up in a corner. I also grabbed some tapered rubber washers to out between the brackets and the wood.
 
After choopping an inch off the back qnd side, it's better, but I still feel some vibrations on the shelf. The top of the bracket / bottom of the shelf has 6 places for screws. By cutting off 1 inch from the back, and wanting to use the original screw holes, I couldn't screw in the two screws closest to the wall. I don't think this will be an issue.

The table does sit on some sorbathane, which I was hoping I wouldn't need since leveling the table can be tricky.
 
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