Advice on Building Studio Racks

An audio community like no other.

Moderators: rick, Mark Bassett

Advice on Building Studio Racks

Postby Text_Edifice » Tue Nov 03, 2015 8:19 pm

Hi all,

need some advice on material for building some 15ru+ racks. Pre-built stuff looks cheap or is prohibitively expensive when you add the bass strait tax.

I am thinking 9mm marine ply or similar is the go for the boxes but (being down here at the end of the world) have been thinking about using wood for the mounting rails - rather than rack strips.

I could use the same 9mm ply but think I need hardwood and maybe something a bit thicker for the rails.

Any advice?
Dave Carter

http://www.twitter.com/davecarter
Text_Edifice
Valued Contributor
Valued Contributor
 
Posts: 1030
Joined: Sun Nov 27, 2005 12:00 pm
Location: Wellington

Re: Advice on Building Studio Racks

Postby The Tasmanian » Tue Nov 03, 2015 8:43 pm

Talk to me....
C h r i z t o w n o
The Tasmanian
Valued Contributor
Valued Contributor
 
Posts: 1901
Joined: Thu Nov 27, 2008 8:04 am
Location: Deep in the woods....

Re: Advice on Building Studio Racks

Postby Text_Edifice » Wed Nov 04, 2015 8:24 am

That's always good advice - I'll give you a call later in the week.
Dave Carter

http://www.twitter.com/davecarter
Text_Edifice
Valued Contributor
Valued Contributor
 
Posts: 1030
Joined: Sun Nov 27, 2005 12:00 pm
Location: Wellington

Re: Advice on Building Studio Racks

Postby waitup » Thu Nov 05, 2015 9:19 am

If you decide to go for proper rack rail (which I would highly recommend over using timber) these guys are good and cheap.

http://www.proaudiostash.com.au/racking/rack-rail/
Nick Franklin
Record Producer: http://www.nickfranklin.net
Custom Built Audio Electronics: http://www.nfaudio.com
User avatar
waitup
Frequent Contributor
Frequent Contributor
 
Posts: 773
Joined: Fri Jul 31, 2009 3:13 pm
Location: Sydney, NSW

Re: Advice on Building Studio Racks

Postby stosostu » Thu Nov 05, 2015 6:12 pm

Good tip, thanks Nick. Cheaper than Penn-Elcom.
Bob Charman - Stockport Sound, SA
The Road Goes On Forever and the Party Never Ends..........
User avatar
stosostu
Regular Contributor
Regular Contributor
 
Posts: 458
Joined: Fri Jul 23, 2010 3:17 pm
Location: Clare and Gilbert Valleys, South Australia

Re: Advice on Building Studio Racks

Postby Sammas » Thu Nov 05, 2015 7:49 pm

Yeah, I would strongly recommend proper rack rails as well. I would probably suggest going with something a bit chunkier than 9mm ply as well. You can buy 18mm x 600mm x 1800mm laminated pine boards at bunnings for $42 a pop. I have used them a few times for racks and they work great and are thick enough to screw the rack rails straight in to.
Sammas
 

Re: Advice on Building Studio Racks

Postby TimS » Thu Jan 21, 2016 12:49 am

A lot of guys I knew years ago that had home studios (ssshhh,don't say anything), used to use these from Ikea.
Cheap, made well and light..
Probably not what you're after, but for small stackable systems, might be able to be stacked..

http://www.ikea.com/au/en/catalog/products/00181977/
Image

Width: 30 cm
Height: 6 cm
Length: 48 cm
Weight: 4.08 kg
Tim Spencer
Pressurepoint Studios
User avatar
TimS
Valued Contributor
Valued Contributor
 
Posts: 1734
Joined: Tue May 15, 2007 3:11 pm
Location: Sydney

Re: Advice on Building Studio Racks

Postby Chinagraf » Thu Jan 21, 2016 6:07 pm

The Samson SRK units are good for the money, really solid once you grind you knuckles off putting them together. They come flat packed. 12 or 16 RU. Black metal but you could screw a veneer on the sides if you wanted. Or fur or whatever floats your boat.
I sit a couple of old analog synths on top of mine, but I can stand on them no worries and they have really good chunky castors that also lock. Rack rails front and back.
I have no affiliation with Samson. Or Delilah.
User avatar
Chinagraf
Valued Contributor
Valued Contributor
 
Posts: 1608
Joined: Wed Jun 22, 2005 1:09 am
Location: Melbourne

Re: Advice on Building Studio Racks

Postby audioio » Fri Jan 22, 2016 2:36 pm

David Rodger
audioio
Regular Contributor
Regular Contributor
 
Posts: 420
Joined: Wed Jul 28, 2010 4:05 pm

Re: Advice on Building Studio Racks

Postby simonstav » Fri Jan 22, 2016 7:02 pm

All of the ply racks we have used for touring is ¾" (17mm) ply. I actually had the thought the other week to maybe get server racks with the steel chassis and then screw a 6-9mm plywood veneer on the sides.
Regards Simon
simonstav
Regular Contributor
Regular Contributor
 
Posts: 265
Joined: Sun Oct 23, 2005 1:27 am
Location: Geelong VIC

Re: Advice on Building Studio Racks

Postby rowmat » Sat Jan 23, 2016 8:41 am

We had a cabinet maker build these out of 25mm birch plywood for our studio control room.
These are obviously not designed to be portable.

Pic here...
https://www.dropbox.com/s/74kpowo3rd9fb ... 7.jpg?dl=0

1x 42RU rack and 1x 14RU rack with sloping fronts.
(2 sheets of 2400mm X 1200mm ply)

I drew and supplied the plans.

I'll fit the racking strips and caster wheels myself and we'll stain them with a timber oil based satin finish.
I would not use wood strips. Definately get metal rack strip.

Not sure of the exact final price yet but I think it is around $800.00 including the ply which the cabinet maker also supplied. We chose birch ply over standard ply as it is denser and better finished.

Picking up the racks next week.
rowmat
 

Re: Advice on Building Studio Racks

Postby Wiz » Mon Jan 25, 2016 8:47 am

just curious.

I have used wood for rack rails for years... and I am actually building some new ones at the moment and planned on using wood rack rails again...


My logic...

I can place the units, exactly where I want.. I can have space between the units, for airflow, wherever and how much I want.

Whats the reason for not wanting wood?

cheers

Wiz
Peter Knight

Cant ego loquemur Latine

http://www.peterknightmusician.com
Wiz
Valued Contributor
Valued Contributor
 
Posts: 1147
Joined: Thu Dec 03, 2009 10:17 pm

Re: Advice on Building Studio Racks

Postby Text_Edifice » Mon Jan 25, 2016 9:07 am

I should give an update.

Chris Townend lent me his excellent carpentry skills and valuable experience to build a really nice bay-rack (wood rails) out of ply while I stood around holding things and feeling useless.

They're great and perfect for what I need as gear isn't going in and out of the racks and, as Wiz said, I can sit the bits of gear where I want them and leave a bit of extra ventilation on some units that need it.

I'm in the middle of rewiring everything at the moment and an unexpected advantage for me is that the wood rails help with the grounding scheme I'm using.
Dave Carter

http://www.twitter.com/davecarter
Text_Edifice
Valued Contributor
Valued Contributor
 
Posts: 1030
Joined: Sun Nov 27, 2005 12:00 pm
Location: Wellington

Re: Advice on Building Studio Racks

Postby Wiz » Mon Jan 25, 2016 11:25 am

Text_Edifice wrote:I should give an update.

Chris Townend lent me his excellent carpentry skills and valuable experience to build a really nice bay-rack (wood rails) out of ply while I stood around holding things and feeling useless.

They're great and perfect for what I need as gear isn't going in and out of the racks and, as Wiz said, I can sit the bits of gear where I want them and leave a bit of extra ventilation on some units that need it.

I'm in the middle of rewiring everything at the moment and an unexpected advantage for me is that the wood rails help with the grounding scheme I'm using.



cool...

would love to see a picture?

cheers

Wiz
Peter Knight

Cant ego loquemur Latine

http://www.peterknightmusician.com
Wiz
Valued Contributor
Valued Contributor
 
Posts: 1147
Joined: Thu Dec 03, 2009 10:17 pm

Re: Advice on Building Studio Racks

Postby The Tasmanian » Tue Jan 26, 2016 11:46 am

I agree Wiz - wood rails are great,
especially if one uses softwood for the rail part, as it has more give, easy to screw into, and wont split.
Its perfect for setups with custom sized airgaps, and as Dave indicates - solves some earthing issues, and as long as one is not continually changing their hardware - it makes sense.
I have built many racks with wood rails, and steel rails.
At my studio, I keep the steel rail racks for stuff that moves in and out of my studio, and the wood ones for permanently installed hardware.
If i do need to take out an item from the wood racks - they go straight back into the same spot when re-installed.

wood is good
C h r i z t o w n o
The Tasmanian
Valued Contributor
Valued Contributor
 
Posts: 1901
Joined: Thu Nov 27, 2008 8:04 am
Location: Deep in the woods....


Return to The Turtlerock Forum

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 9 guests


cron