Console Table Construction

[frederic]

The rain stopped yesterday (sorta), so I managed to get some welding in the morning, and will have time to get some more done today. It's actually bearable outside, amazingly enough.

For those that don't recall, my console table will be constructed mostly of steel, almost the width of my home studio, and shoved under the slanted ceiling since that space is useless to me otherwise (stand up and hit your head!). This console table will support a lot of gear, including six Tascam TM-D1000 16-ch digital mixers, one TM-D4000 32-ch digital mixer, an Akai DL1500 remote control for my farm of Akai DR16 recorders, some patch bays, two computer monitors to start (eventually four once I splurge for lighter, LCD monitors), and more than likely, two posts for supporting studio monitors. I've decided to construct this in assemblies, as humping up a 12'6" wide steel table up a flight of stairs into my studio is going to be impossible. The idea is to build it in three top sections, then bolt it all together, on to of the legs and truss support, which I haven't decided whether the truss should be of steel or wood. Wood is lighter, steel is stronger, I'll figure that out later.

Here is the video in real audio format: (Please, right click and save-as)

9MB Video (Real Audio format)

And some pictures:

 

[DDev]

It sure is nice to see you at this stage. I remember discussing this (gasp!!) about a year ago (my how time flies!!). The assembly shown, are those section openings your drop-in spaces for the mixers? I'm just trying to maintain a visual image from what I remember of your design.

Keep at it. Almost there (well, except for the patchbays, wiring, etc etc etc).

Darryl.....

 

[frederic]

I'm just trying to maintain a visual image from what I remember of your design.

Yes. The round tube, which is nothing more than cast steel schedule 40 black pipe normally used for natural gas feeds in dwellings, is what the mixer's curved palm rail will rest on. Its absolutely critical that the different sections line up perfectly, for visual reasons.

The steel square tubing that is welded perpendicular to that round tube, will support the feet of the TMD1000's, for a minor sloping angle towards the console operator. The open space between each of those perpendicular pieces is just open space, since there are no mounting points underneath there is no reason to fill this in. Each of the TMD1000's have vents down there anyway, so they aren't blocked, not that its ever been an issue.

The reason for extending the perpendicular square tubes a little further back than the back end of the mixer, was to provide a place to mount cabling management pieces, whereas I can tie the cables up behind the mixers and now have anything dangling below. This way if I choose to mount gear under the table, I can do so, if that is determined to be necessary down the road. Not fun climbing under a table with large knots of wires hanging down. One might accidentally choke him/herself.

Of course I could have forgone all this work and just made a very wide, flat table and sit all the gear on it. Would have been less work for sure, but it would have looked like a large piece of plywood draped across the width of the room, whereas once all the welding beads are ground down, and the table is painted to match the moulding (dark green), its going to look a little nicer, I think.

I am concerned however that the three sections aren't going to line up perfect enough for my tastes, so sad to say, I may end up making the tabletop as one huge unit, and rest everything on that. Hopefully not. Its getting miserably cold to weld, this time of year!

 

[frederic]

Okay, both "wings" are completed, at least roughly. I have a lot of grinding to do to hide the beads, which I'll do when the weather gets better. Right in the middle of welding together the second wing, it started to hail. I kept going because I had everything clamped correctly, but after a while the hail started to hurt as it got larger.

Hail, in December, scary.

Anyway, now that the wings are constructed, I have to be honest, and say I'm not 100% pleased with them. Well, the wings themselves are okay, I just still haven't figured out how to tie them appropriately to the center section, which I haven't built yet. What looked good on paper seems to not pan out accurately "in real life", so I have to redo the center section design and tweak it a little bit.

Though, thinking about this further, I started revisiting the entire console table (in my head), and was thinking about something a little more interesting...

Make two legs per side, essentially an upside down "T" either out of steel or out of wood (2x8?), then box out a crossframe the width of the console table out of 1x8" poplar (which is really 3/4"x7.25" for some reason), then put "ribs" across that, making the area the little mixers will rest on. Instead of my usual "black pipe" thing where the curved overhangs on the front of the mixers will rest on, I could remove them, and flush mount it within the console table "box", must the way Argosy does with their console tables. The more I think about this, the more I like it, but I guess I'm lacking the confidence in my woodworking ability.

Oh well, I'll have some fun sketching and drawing, and we'll see what we come up with. Worse that happens is I continue what I've started, certainly no harm done.

 

[TexRoadkill]

Even if you go with wood facia I would still go with steel or alluminum for the main beams especially if you are using any CRT monitors. If you can make a padded armrest for the front your elbows will thank you later.

 

[frederic]

There will be padding across the width...

Just have to figure out what to attach the padding to, wood or metal!

 

[frederic]

Okay, I was extremely unhappy with the original configuration, too many design flaws, so I redid everything. Just because I like wasting steel

12' 6" wide open frame top. Next, I have to weld in the 1" square tubing for the supports, have to make the legs, the leg supports, and drill and tap everything that needs to be drilled and tapped.

Then prime, paint, install the feet, and carry upstairs into the studio in sections.

This is fun

The end result will be that the legs bolt on, the two halves bolt together, thus no piece is larger than 6'3" and no piece weighs more than 50-60lbs, meaning I can carry it up the stairs by myself without injuring myself.

 

[fitZ2]

Hey frederic, looks like ANOTHER frame I'm familiar with Now your on the right track! Lookin good my friend. Keep up the pics! By the way, in a few minutes my Autocad will be loaded on my new computer. I'll post a few sections and details and pics of my pad assembly. Makes it easy to build. But depending on your frame, youll have to add a member or two, or drill some holes in it.

fitZ

 

[frederic]

Spent most of the day making one leg. Not because its difficult or overly time consuming, but because of the constant interruptions.

More to come tomorrow!

 

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

Hey frederic, what are you using to cut the tubing?

 

[frederic]

Ryobi compound miter saw.

Materials with an 1/8" wall or less, or 1/2" solid rounds or less, I'll use a $99 ryobi compound miter saw with a $60 metal cutting blade. I get the blades from my welding supplier, and they last a long time. I've used DeWalt and other blades from home depot and lowes and they cut fine, but don't last that long with the amount of cutting I do.

For thicker materials, I'll either use a milwalkee sawzall, or a miller plasma cutter depending on required accuracy in the cut, shape of the cut, etc.

I debated using round tubing, in which case I would have cut the tubing using a tubing notcher, which if you aren't familiar with those units, its essentially a large steel brace with a rotating shaft that you attach a bi-metal hole saw, and attach your drill on the other end, for a perfect fishmouth cut every time, even at angles. I went with square tubing for this just because its much easier to cut and weld, gets the "outside" of the project over with quicker. I'll be covering portions of this desk with poplar, but I'll be doing that inside where its warm. Wood doesn't spark when you cut it

 

[punkin]

I'm getting drawn into this and find myself very intersted...tell us about the hinges in your last set of photos. Up until I saw them, I thought I had an understanding of the build but that lost me.

You're doing a hell of a job! Very generous of you. Thanks.

 

[frederic]

I'm getting drawn into this and find myself very intersted...tell us about the hinges in your last set of photos. Up until I saw them, I thought I had an understanding of the build but that lost me.

Sure, be happy to explain. Keep in mind you're only looking at one half of the table, and its upside down The first picture shows more or less how the hinges were designed, essentially they are a 3" long, 1.5" wide by 1/8" thick flat steel, spaced a hair further apart than the leg is wide, the leg being the 2" square tubing thats about 18" long.

The long threaded rod is 1/2" diameter, and not part of the hinge. I'll be using bolts, but the long threaded rod allows me to line up the center holes of the front leg, and the back leg, a lot easier. Once I wended on the horizontale 2" square tube that rests on the floor to both legs, there isn't going to be any play whatsoever. This is because the welding will hold the two legs rigid. So if the centerlines of the hinge pins (bolts) aren't perfectly aligned, the leg won't move easily and bind.

The second picture zooms in a bit, for more detail. Again, ignore the threaded rod, as its not part of the design, just an alignment piece. 2nd picture shows things before welding.

Picture three shows things after the hinges were welded to the bottom of the table (again, its upside down), and I've spaced out things using 1" square tubing so that the foot is set correctly to the two legs, so I can weld them together. Actually, you'll see two 1" square tubes, they are just there for spacing. They aren't part of the structure.

In picture four, you'll see the leg is sticking straight up, and the foot is welded to the two legs. If the hinge pins (bolts) are somewhat loose, the leg moves freely. If you look closely at picture four, the back of the table is furthest away from you. A bolt-in angled piece of metal needs to be there, which isn't yet, and will be bolted on to a bracket that I have to make for the underside of the table, as well as attached to a threaded hole on the back side of the leg. You'll see pictures of that tomorrow, after I acquire the steel for the angled leg supports. I forgot to pick it up today... ooops.

Did that help at all? Even though a picture is often associated with 1000 words, I realize its difficult to visualize what i'm doing here just yet. While I know in my head which is the top, front, side, etc, its probably not apparent to anyone else just yet. A few more days of pictorials will make things much clearer.

If anything is unclear, let me know, I'd be happy to expand.

You're doing a hell of a job! Very generous of you. Thanks.

Thanks!

 

[punkin]

OK...I'm with you now. When I thought table, I wasn't thinking folding legs. I envisioned removable at best with all the heavy duty welding going on. Very cool. I'm supposing that you're planning for some sort of locking mechanism to keep the legs from the dreaded "auto-fold syndrome"?

Again, thanks...carry on.

 

[frederic]

OK...I'm with you now. When I thought table, I wasn't thinking folding legs. I envisioned removable at best with all the heavy duty welding going on. Very cool. I'm supposing that you're planning for some sort of locking mechanism to keep the legs from the dreaded "auto-fold syndrome"?

Again, thanks...carry on.

Maybe this will help... its not a complete sketch, but its readable.

http://www.midimonkey.com/~frederic/console/design.gif

Once the diagonals are bolted on, the legs will not move and support the weight I'm asking it too. For portability, I can take out the diagonals (which I haven't made yet), and flip the legs flat against the underside of the table top, or I can remove the bolts entirely, making more seperate structures, that are lighter. This is getting very heavy very quickly, which is one of the reasons why I'm making it in bolt-together sections.

Originally, the legs were going to slip into square openings that would hold the legs perpendicular to the underside of the table (and in turn, the floor), but constructing such a thing would have tripled the time I spent attaching the legs, so I passed over that idea for simplicity. Keep It Simple, Sam!

BTW, if you're interested, in a few of the pictures you can see my white pickup... if you look at the black bumper with the two ridiculously large driving lights, you might notice that I made that myself, welding together 1/4" thick steel plate

 

[punkin]

OK...Ok...I'm getting it now. Look like a serious piece of furniture. It should be very stable and transportable. I get what you're saying about slipping the legs into the box openings...I tried this on a previous project (different application). It didn't turn out as stable as I would have liked. I think this approach is much more sound.

Thanks man. I can't wait to see the finish work!

 

[frederic]

Yep. Though transportable isn't a big deal, once I install it, its there until the house burns down, or I die.

Just need to get it up the stairs by myself, since my wife is pregnant and kinda weeble-like!

7.2mb real media: Console Leg Assembly Video (12 minutes 4 seconds)

 

[frederic]

I've made other things out of steel also... here is an engine test stand. Tested a 600cid, twin turbo stroker engine on it the latter part of this summer.

Also made a dual-throttle body intake adaptor for the 600cid, twin turbo stroker motor. Grafted two GM throttle bodies onto one big Ford engine!

And a huge bumper for my truck:

Though my wife often mentions how all of my hobbies are grand-scale, grand-priced, hobbies. Cars, computers, and music ain't cheap

 

[Michael Jones]

I wish I could weld.
I'm going to be limited to wood, glue, and screws.

 

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

Cars, computers, and music ain't cheap

Damn, I can remember when I was happy with just a guitar. What happened?

I'm going to be limited to wood, glue, and screws.

Limited? Michael, just be happy with that. You can do PLENTY with it. Start welding, and then you need.......grinders......and then, a metal cutoff saw etc etc etc .....and then before you know it you want a CNC Laser at $100k , and then the shop, and then........opps, what happened to music and the studio????
fitZ