Reel to reel rack/cabinet - what's a good design?

[gerard]

This is all I can find, thought I had more. Here's a few shots of the board stand in bare wood. There's a 2 X 4 under the board in the front. I was going for a "retro" look, the last picture shows what a little paint and stain can do. I have a 1 3/4H X 19"W rack draw under the desk/patch bay area for odd's N end's. You can see part of the 2 bay rack in the first picture about halfway built. Hope the pics help!

Jerry

 

[M1Fanatic]

I love it!

How wide is just the console itself? And how wide is the total desk?

Do you have plans anywhere you could share? I'd like to do something like this for mine when I build out my studio. A 6' steel bench just doesn't have the same vibe.

 

[dodgeaspen]

Looks really nice gerard.

 

[gerard]

Thanks again for the comments! I'm at wowrk right now but will take some measurements tonight. Can post a few pictures of the patch bay/desk area as well that may give you some ideas. I think I still have the hand drawn sketches for everything. Total cost for the stands was about $200(?) and the work was spread out over about a month working on and off.

Jerry

 

[dethride]

Gerard, I'm a long-time woodworker and I LOVE what you did. Totally inspired to copy you! The black and stain is a nice touch. Gotta get off my new mower and get into the shop. Please post any pics you got on this work.

 

[technoplayer]

I did not see the EBAY listing for rack the rack that Beck shows, but I recognize the pictures. I actually bought that exact rack off of local Craigslist in Arlington Texas when he probably could not sell it on EBAY.
I tried a reel to reel and some various rack gear in there before it ended up being a stand for my M-308 mixer It places the mixer at an angle where I can see the control settings better when sitting down. It does not have internal rack rails, and would need to be a bit wider to accommodate them. Rack gear does drop in and sit in there nice however.
If you are interseted I can take some pictures and provide dimensions.

If I were to make one of these I'd add an overhead bridge like Corys "giveaway" Russ Land Ampec console.

 

[dethride]

If it's not much trouble, I'd like to see some pics. I'm thinking of doing the same thing with my Tascam 106 mixer, angling it more, so anything you did would give me some ideas. I like the way a deck sits in the slightly sloped one in a previous post. I can put what few rack stuff right underneath it and gain some valuable floorspace.

 

[sweetbeats]

LUNE...

Where are you at on the coast?

PM me...I could probably be convinced to bring it to you for a nominal delivery fee depending on where you are located.

The console is 10U below and 3U above so it wonzt fit all recorders, but most halftrack recorders will fit...the width is standard 19 inch rack spacing...holes may need to be drilled in the rails.

ooooh, that looks pretty cool - love the rack loft! - and R2R decks with ears slide right in the place of the 440?

if I had a van/truck I'd go over and get it, but I guess I'd have a hard time strapping it to my bicycle...

 

[gerard]

Dang, can't find the drawings.......yet. Will keep looking. The overall dimensions for the board stand are: 66"W x 45"D x 39"H. The desk section is standard 19" rack mount width for the patchbays (9U), equipment bay (4U) and the wood desk. All the stands were built with hand power tools and LOTS of wood putty and sandpaper.

I tried to take some pictures of the underside to show how the mixing board and stand interface, along with the desk and patchbay section. Hope I'm not boring you guys/gals with to many pictures. Will/can take more if anybodys interested or let me know what area you want shot.

Jerry

 

[M1Fanatic]

Thanks for posting the photos. I've saved them for reference to build my own. I really like the retro look of your desk. If you can find the sketches, I'd be interested in seeing those too.

Great job.

 

[sweetbeats]

Jerry,

I have to jump in and add to the kudos.

Its not boring at all.

I remember way back when you brought that M-3500 "home"...it was frigid and you had concerns about storage in the cold weather while you got the furniture built and then the adventure getting up the stairs.

You were very humble about your woodworking skills. It doesn't look anything like I imagined it would based on your disclaimers.

It looks fantastic. Job well done and I think any additional info you can put up will be, at the very least, and inspiration and encouragement to others to do the same. All the pieces really look great.

 

[technoplayer]

dethride...I'll post some pics and dimensions tomorrow. If I were to build this I would add some rack space below on the flat front as well as an overhead bridge.
One nice this I did not mention is that although there are no rack rails, the dimensions are such that rack gear will just drop in and the ears sit on the edge of the cabinet, so no need to screw them down....gravity keeps it in place. I had briefly used this for my non-rack mount 80-8, and with proper underside supports, it sat nicely in between the sides.

Since the mixer is wider than the cabinet, I added some brackets to the bottom using the existing screw holes in the mixer and some home fabricated brackets made from Home Depot galvanized fencing brackets. All they do is keep the mixer from sliding off the base.

 

[gerard]

Ahhh! The good 'ol days Cory! Seems so long ago! Thank you for the kind words. Just so you folks know, after finishing the mixer stand in my garage, I had to take it apart to bring it upstairs to the "play room". Didn't fit in the stair wells. It was a face palm moment.

 

[gerard]

Found the drawings but......

seems like a bunch of jiberish. The first 3 are for the rack, and the 4th one is for the tape machine stand. I'll have to post the 2 drawings for the mixer on another thread, maxed out the "upload space". Sorry for the bad drawings, thought they had more info on them and....welll....better, they look like I made them with a blindfold on. I don't consider them drawings or skeches, maybe "abstract art" Sorry for the dissappointment fellers, if I only had a brain.

Jerry

 

[gerard]

Mixer stand

More mumbo jumbo, again, sorry. I must have "winged it" when building these things, they kinda look like the drawings but........... I have a few pictures of the home made mic input/cue panels/boxes and a "cue equipment stand" I made for the left over scraps, may give you guys/gals some more ideas. Lemme know and I'll post them up.

 

[sweetbeats]

I think...

Those sketches are fabulous...

 

[M1Fanatic]

Thanks for posting those. They'll come in handy down the road.

 

[technoplayer]

Ok, so I have pics and a dimensions on the rack I have. As you can see it is currently holding up an M-308, but it can accommodate a reel machine upto 24" tall or other rack gear.

 

[dethride]

NICE pics from everyone! Gerard, the drawings will come in handy when I get to my project. Nothing like some dimensions to work with. Nice drafting work. I have a ("analog", of course) Vemco drafting machine and draw everything I build, so I appreciate your efforts here.

Technoplayer, the mixer on the slanted cabinet is soooo what I want to do. Wheels, too. Drop-in feature has me thinking. Some monitor stands have to be designed and built, and some comfy stools are on the horizon, but I'm going to the store for them. I have my limits.

Not sure if I have enough space. Maybe if I move my drafting board out.... wait, never mind that last bonehead idea.

All these ideas and work are really good. I need to finish up in my orchard and complete some remodeling and get in the shop. And practice my guitar! Wifey and I played last night and it was like I was brain-dead. I have too many interests.

 

[blougaville]

I made these myself and I'm really not to good at wood working. If you can handle a saw and a screwdriver, maybe you can make your own over a weekend. The rack and tape machine stands have nice wheels on them (hard to tell). The one with the Otari holds tape on the bottom and the other one can hold 19" rack gear. Got everything from Home Depot and didn't cost too much, they work fine and look pretty cool (I think!). Hope this helps.

Jerry

I love the look of the reel to reel racks you built. I'm going to attempt something like the one you did with the 19" rack below. If you happen to have any of the measurements you used handy, I would appreciate seeing them!