Mixing desk....build or buy?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Seeker of Rock
  • Start date Start date
Seeker of Rock

Seeker of Rock

Proud fucking American
I have a Mackie 24.8 with meter bridge, outboard gear and an HD24 hard disk. I have one of the desks you buy for keyboard/computer at MF and similar right now, but all it really does is support the board and monitors while all of the outboard is in a tall outboard rack that is probably going to interfere with the sound in the room. I think it is 60" tall or so and there is not really a place to 'tuck it away'.

Sooooo, I figure a nice desk that is made for the 24.8, matches the board slant, cushioned armrest and lots of rackspace to house effects, patchbays, HD24 and board power supply. I've priced out a little (Omnirax, a local place in Miami) and they seem to be a little pricey. So does anyone know of a cheap manufacturer of wood desks custom fit for a Mackie 24 ch 8 bus?

If not, I may give a shot at building it myself, but would rather buy at this point. Quite frankly, I'm sick of building things at the moment. :mad: :(
 
Three prices so far....$1440 shipped from Omnirax, approx. $1000 shipped from a custom builder online, $940 built, not shipped, from a local Miami company. Not sure I want to drop that kind of dough on a desk, unless someone knows of somewhere cheaper. I would think $600 range would be fair. Otherwise, I may give it a shot myself.

Before I start searching, anyone know where one can purchase a black, one-piece, 6' wide metal leg assembly with about a 300 lbs support capacity? I would prefer to buy that instead of using wood supports, and then build the wood desk area myself.
 
Seeker of Rock said:
Three prices so far....$1440 shipped from Omnirax, approx. $1000 shipped from a custom builder online, $940 built, not shipped, from a local Miami company. Not sure I want to drop that kind of dough on a desk, unless someone knows of somewhere cheaper. I would think $600 range would be fair. Otherwise, I may give it a shot myself.

Before I start searching, anyone know where one can purchase a black, one-piece, 6' wide metal leg assembly with about a 300 lbs support capacity? I would prefer to buy that instead of using wood supports, and then build the wood desk area myself.
Click to expand...

How much is your time worth? If whatever time you will spend on this project is worth a $700 savings from Omnirax, go ahead.

Personally, if I was running a studio, I would want to maximize the return on my time. It Shure would not include building my own desk...

Do you already own the tools necessary? That would have to be figured in along with the costs of raw materials.
 
I own basic power tools to build it. The only thing I don't have is a jig saw, but my neighbor has one I've borrowed recently to cut out holes for my recessed lighting. Checked into some 3x8 Oak laminated plywood sheets today. I wonder if I could knock it out in a couple of days. If so, that's not bad. Anything more, it may be worth having it built.

Foreverrain4, desk looks great!
 
That's the cat...akalu I believe is his name.

Pickup is easy because I have a truck, but you forgot to note the "reserve not met" fine print. When I called him he gave me a price of $940 for a basic finish, extra if I wanted an Oak trim or their "Onyx" finish. He would probably haggle a little, but that's a pretty high base to start from. Seems a little high right now, and the wife didn't seem very supportive when I mentioned it earlier. I'm getting ready to dump some $$ into a PCM91, so the desk needs to come in a little cheaper for wife approval. :(

He's still an option if he's willing to negotiate, unless I end up at Home Depot and a truck full of materials tomorrow. We'll see.
 
You might try calling a couple of small local cabinet shops with some sketches and see if they'd be interested in helping with a custom design. I expect winter is pretty slow for most, and they're set up to work quickly with sheet goods like 3/4-inch plywood (which I'd highly recommend over MDF, particle board, etc). Or, you could start with a design you find online and tweak it to suit your needs.

Also, if you start with some good plans or draw them up carefully yourself with good measurements, you can often get a local lumberyard to mill (cut) the sheet goods for a great price. (Some details/ideas on my tutorial, below.) Not the big home centers, but the local mom/pop shops. This way you end up with a bunch of pieces that will fit in the back of your car instead of 4x8 sheets of plywood. Then you can just fasten it all together how you want and stain/paint it to match. A lot of furniture purchased online is "knocked down" like this, too, for shipping.

If you do end up buliding, I have several online tutorial on the topic that may be helpful. I've built a bunch of these, so let me know if you have any q's if you go the build route.

http://plans.thefrankes.com/Tutorials/Workstation5 - "How To Build A Studio Rack" (basic inexpensive desk with lots of photos)
http://plans.thefrankes.com/Tutorials/RackRails - About rails and the EIA 310-D 19-inch rack specification as it applies to us
http://plans.thefrankes.com/Tutorials/RackTips - Ideas and tips for customizing plans
http://plans.thefrankes.com/Racks - Some for-sale plans; you can get some ideas here, too.
 
Foreverrain4,
You have the metal stand legs I am looking for. Where did you get that?

alexfranke,
Thanks for the links. Haven't hit them yet, but I will if I go the DIY route. My neighbor builds custom cabinets but unfortunately had a stroke a couple of weeks ago. He just got home yesterday, but his left side (arm/face/leg) is not doing so well right now, so it may be awhile before he's back in the swing of things. I may check around for some cabinet builders/wood craftsmen though...that's a great idea.
 
I happened to sit down next to this guy at a bar in atlanta. they do custom cabines, furniture, etc. he said they do a lot of flight cases and stuff. the website is opti-case.net. I haven't visited there...just have the business card. his name was David. He's the owner. I think they're based out of texas.
 
Seeker of Rock said:
Foreverrain4,
You have the metal stand legs I am looking for. Where did you get that?
Click to expand...

they are not metal, they are wood.
 
foreverain4 said:
they are not metal, they are wood.
Click to expand...

I could only really see them in one of the photos, but 2-by material, I assume?

I'd really like to find a metal leg assembly I could mount the desk portion to. I'm leaning toward building this myself. It sucks to take the time, but the money is starting to get a little tight with the other few items I need. Ethan's traps for the other two corners I am not going to budge on...I want those so I can match the other two I have. Absorption on the back wall I may be open to building myself and saving a little $$. Can't build a PCM91 myself, so that's an expense. Hmmmm.

The 4'x8' sheets of Oak veneer plywood were $36. I would probably need two. One for the desk surface and one to cut the dividing braces the separate mixer and rack gear to either side in the inner portions and then two matching as ends, all cut at the 24.8's slope, then level at the tops for about 12"-14" for a bridge across for monitors, etc. I would use 3/4"x12" planks for this if I didn't think I would need to go higher than 12" high...I have the meter bridge and a cover for the board, so I need a little play room above the meter bridge to place the cover. If I do this, obviously I'll take some measurements for the height and see what I need. I've never done laminate, but I'll need some 3/4" laminate for the large surface board which would be exposed on sides and back. The upright 'dividers' on the ends would be the surface of the Oak, so that would just be a stain.

Sorry....just thinking my way through this. I started a sketch last night with a couple of quick dimensions for board width and rack with including the 3/4" dividers.
 
pdlstl said:
Metal legs?

Try here.

Or do a search...
Click to expand...


You, sir, and a gentleman and a scholar. I wish they had an assembly with a connecting crossbrace about halfway up, but this is a good place to begin. If nothing else, I'm sure I could make one if I find the finished product is wobbly. $98 pair is well within budget, another $100-150 maybe in wood, $50-75 in hardware/rack rails/armrest pad/trim.

Alright, time to figure some materials and quantities and hopefully knock this thing out in a weekend or two.
 
That's a good price for oak plywood. Remember that many lumberyards will do all the cutting for you for just a few dollars a cut -- they're very accurate, and if they do mess up, they'll re cut it for you. (Nice to have someone to blame if something goes wrong... ;) )

Also, rack cabinets or little shelving units make good bases for desktops. They make the project a bit more complicated, but you get more storage space at your fiingertips.

You can get good prices on rails from Amazon (links on my site at http://plans.thefrankes.com/Tutorials/Workstation5/) or even ebay -- usually a little over $1 per U for a pair. Sometimes you can get blow-out deals on long rails from places like Guitar Center. A few years back I bought out their supply of 16U rails for an unbelievable 99 cents per pair because nobody else was buying rails that long. A few minutes with a cheap hack saw and I had a great selection of sizes!

I'd suggest renting/borrowing a biscuit jointer or buying/borrowing a doweling jig to make construction go a bit quicker. They're both really easy to use and add a lot of strength to the joints.

You gonna be positng pics?
 
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Absolutely I will post pics once I get ta gettin'. :D

Bought the materials so I'm committed. HD did the rip cuts for me. I'll do the length cuts, as I have a finish blade. I was going to use 1x12 planks for the dividers, but the 1x12 Oak is $7 something a linear foot, so I opted to make those out of ripped pieces of a second 4x8 Oak plywood sheet, which they ripped to 13" for me, and another at 17" for the bridge/top shelf. I had them rip the desk platform sheet at 41" (I figured 25" from front of mix to roughly where the meter bridge starts, and then 16" deep from the face of the rack units back). 17" top shelf will give a little overhang in the front for cosmetic purposes only. I'm using angle brackets for the dividers to attach them to the plywood base and again to the bridge shelf. Of course on the bottom I'll also screw up into the plywood to join the dividers as a secondary connection so my connections are strong, and of course wood glue as well.

Now, if I can only muster the motivation to get started :( :(
 
Quick update....I cut the dividers to shape, with a nice curve where bottom of meter bridge meets board, cut the top bridge to length with filleted ends, cut the desk surface to length. Potential hangover providing, I'll assemble it tomorrow. If the hangover is a little much, next weekend :(

Hmmmm....need to figure out how to make the padded armrest. I'm sure I can buy black vinyl at a fabric store, just wondering where to get the foam padding in a continuous 7' length.
 
just wondering where to get the foam padding in a continuous 7' length.
Click to expand...
A sporting goods store. Use the 1/2" thick foam for under sleeping bags. Works great. :)
 
RICK FITZPATRICK said:
A sporting goods store. Use the 1/2" thick foam for under sleeping bags. Works great. :)
Click to expand...

You da man, Fitz. Thanks for the lead! :) :) :)

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to RICK FITZPATRICK again. :(
 
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