how to build a rack?

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dmbfan1981

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I am going to build two racks for each side of my desk. I know how to build them, my only question is this. What is the standard DEPTH? I dont want them to be any deeper than I need to hide equipment, but at the same time I want it to be versatile enough to accomadate the deepest of rack gear.

Thanks guys.
 
I would guess 18 to 20 inches would be adequate. My deepest piece of gear is my Alesis HD24 which is 17" deep, according to the Alesis website.
 
are you going to make them angled? I would love to be able to do something like this.
 
nah...probably just squared. Angled towards my seating position. Then I will have a trapazoid shaped board attached between them that will hold my monitor. That way everything is right at my fingertips.

I was going to angle them through the desk top, but I am currently in the process of moving and wont be building the desk until after the move. This way, I can build two 6 space rack cases to hold all the gear I buy and protect it. Then when I move I can build the desk and attach these to the top.

I attached a VERY VERY VERY crude drawing of what I mean. Its uneven, but you get the point.
 

Attachments

I've made a number of rack boxes for my studio. Wood 18 inches deep is easy to find and is pretty much a standard size. I've never felt the need for anything deeper than that.
 
thanks guys. yeah it would be helpful if i used a depth that is a pretty common size of wood so that that saves me a few cuts.
 
Go to home depot or lowes...they've got some pretty deep book shelf stock. You can find it in solid wood, plywood or MDF. I'm not a fan of MDF since it makes a huge mess and heavy as heck. I don't have a single piece of rack mounted gear deeper than 13" but you might. Just remember, if this is going to be a desk top item, the deeper it is the smaller your work space gets. Also, you can get pieces cut at those places places I mentioned. You'll have to spring for a 1/2 sheet or full sheet of plywood and have them cut it. They have those big vertical saws and can do a better job than you can with a hand saw.

Depending on how handy you are with the tools and what tools you have available, the worst of this little project is going to be getting square cuts and what to do about jointery. Quick, easy and pretty strong are the buscuit joints...you'll need a few long clamps to hold it all together but for your work they should be plenty strong. Using counter sunk screws, glue and a few dowel plugs to fill the holes work nicely too. Call around, you might be able to rent what you don't already have. Again, with a real square clean cut and straight boards.

Don't try to reinvent this thing...copy someone elses design...here's a site worth looking at http://www.nice-racks.com/

Notice the dimensions on this simple unit http://www.handmadestudioracks.com/16_space-Nice_Racks_16_space_studio_rack_149_99_179_99.html

And this one http://www.handmadestudioracks.com/Nice_Racks_Studio_Racks-6_space.html

Remember, the rack holes need to be measured/placed properly but then, the face of the gear needs to fit between the upright wood rails. Rack gear usually has an oval hole in the ears to accomodate a slight amount of left/right slop. I'm just sayin' you don't want the opening to be too tight and well, too far apart would suck too. Measure and be sure of the width before you cut. Might want to read this on construction ideas https://homerecording.com/make_rack.html. It's complete with dimensions!
 
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If your gear is going to sit in the same place permanently, you could consider buying a second hand hifi cabinet and mounting a lot of gear in there.

Before I discovered some great priced rack trolleys, I considered doing that. Now that people are selling their old 80s hifi sets to second hand shops, you can pick 'em up for kids' money. The black cabinets with the glass tops and fronts can make things look pretty stylish.

'Course, if you try and wheel them about the plastic wheels can come off. But apart from that - flawless!
 
yeah, I am probably just going to do a simple box. Brad nail it together, add a couple screws just for stability and a cross section bracing just below the lowest space on the rails. I will probably take a small piece of gear ( the v-amp is pretty tiny ) and attach the rails to the side of it and then use that to measure before having any cuts made.

I might try to get ahold of some of those silver corner brackets that are on a lot of the factory boxes just not only for protection of the corners, but to add to the stability.
Thats my idea so far. probably much easier said than done.
 
Remember that the gear itself adds stability, each rack unit is essentially a crossbrace. So there's no need to get too crazy with bracing if this will be sitting in your studio.

What I did on my racks is sink three screws per joint. You can also apply furniture glue to the joint when you put it together. If you want some extra bracing then a couple "L" brackets on the inside of each joint will do nicely.

The silver corner brackets are just ugly, and in my opinion are not necessary unless you will be using the rack on the road. If you will be gigging with this rack, then "all of the above" methods should apply.

The inside measurement of a rack is 19 1/8 inches wide. You see them from 19 1/8" to 19 1/4" wide. Again, that's the inside measurement. Each rack space is 1 3/4 inches tall. I've found it a good idea to add 1/8-1/4" to the top and a 1/8-1/4" extra to the bottom as well, for a little extra breathing room.

Cut the top and bottom boards to 19 1/8-1/4" wide and you are all set. Then add up how many rack spaces you need, multiply that times 1.75, add a quarter inch or so for breathing room, then add the thickness of the wood you are using for the top and bottom pieces (x2) and that will give you the height you need for the side boards.
 
so I built my two 6-space rack cases. Unfortunately they wound up being too wide ( somehow they ended up being like 19.5 inches. ) So I went to lowes and got some of those freebie paint stirring sticks. Cut them to 11 inches, painted them and used them as shims to mount my rackrails on. now it fits like a glove.

The only bad part is that the satin finish black spraypaint doesnt seem to be very durable on the plywood. Maybe it just needs time to sit.

Anyway, All in all it was a quick and easy project. I bought some 10-32 screws and nylon washers at lowes. I will probably get better rack screws later, but these work well enough for me. I will try to take some pics soon.

Thanks for all of the help guys.
 
Adam P said:
I would guess 18 to 20 inches would be adequate. My deepest piece of gear is my Alesis HD24 which is 17" deep, according to the Alesis website.
Click to expand...

You sure that's not in metric? 13.5" is what my HD24 measures. ;)

My longest piece of gear is a Lexicon LXP-15 at around 15". I am building a console for my board and some of my rack gear on the sides, and I gave 17" deep horizontally from the face of where they will be racked. The side racks of the console are at an angle and also will not be flushed against a back wall, or I may have gone a little deeper.
 
I've made accouple of racks. Pretty simple, depth has never been an issue since my desk was what determained how deep i needed to go, way deeper than necessary. Just mesure your biggest peice and add accouple of inches.


Interms of material. I have found that many places you can get funature grade plywood with slight imperfections for the faction of what a perfect peice would cost. Then you get something you can make look really nice without spending to much money. Another great thing to use is if you have an old desk that is laminated mdf (or whatever you call it when it has the "wood" look). Just a desk you took apart and you know will never go back together. As long as all the visible parts are covered, cheap, and will match most desks fairly well.
 
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