[sdiy] DIY ManCave

[Ben Lincoln]

In terms of keyboards (especially keyboards being used as synth engines 
operated via a separate controller), I'm a big fan of the stainless 
steel baker's racks (AKA "wire shelving") that are reasonably cheap at 
Costco, if you have one of those near you. They're inexpensive enough 
that if you want to build a tower of keyboard "synth modules" (e.g. the 
ones from the 80s that aren't a lot of fun to program from the front 
panel anyway, as opposed to something like Sound Diver), you can just 
buy two and use the second one as a source of extra shelves. You can 
also get creative and combine multiple racks into a single giant L or 
squared-off U shape if you live in an earthquake-prone area and want to 
make sure it will absolutely not fall over.

You can get similar racks at Target, but they're not nearly as 
heavy-duty, and I don't think they include wheels like the Costco racks.

At my first real job back in the 90s, one of the guys had a rack like 
that, but his had come with very tall backs for the shelves (also made 
out of stainless steel), and he converted one of those into a keyboard 
tray/desk surface by wedging it horizontally into one of the shelves, 
and supporting the front via cables from the two furthest corners up to 
the top of the rack. It worked out really well. Unfortunately, I've 
never seen those tall backs anywhere else. The Costco racks include 
short backs, but the one I'm thinking of was about three times as tall. 
The Target racks don't include them at all.

For the table/desk, consider looking at surplus office furniture places, 
if there are any near you. We retired a pair of *great* metal table/desk 
units with integrated overhead shelving at work a couple of years ago. I 
could have had them for nothing, but I don't have the space for them. I 
believe that's a common theme when office furniture is no longer needed, 
and since it's sold for commercial use, it's *much* more durable than 
anything sold for home use these days. I could have jumped up and down 
all day long on those table surfaces and not damaged them. That sort of 
thing is usually designed to be disassembled and reassembled as well, 
which makes them a lot easier to move than the typical Ikea-style 
"disassembly is permanent" model.

On 2011-12-24 18:41, BARRY KLEIN wrote:
> I'm looking for suggestions for implementing my synth mancave....
> I'm finally getting a room for my own.  It will house my synths, my photo editing station, and an area where I want to do macro-photography.
> It may incorporate some or all of my electronics bench too but I'm not sure - I'm keeping that in the garage for now.
> Several years ago a local Sam Ash store went out of business and I bought a bunch of the slat-wall keyboard/shelf brackets.
> I don't have slat-wall though - I'd have to buy that.
> Now I'm wondering if I want to invest in this or sell the brackets and really minimize the keyboards on display that way and instead use traditional 3 tier or so racks or steel open racks to house them.
> I'm also looking for a work desk.  Mine now is a huge heavy oak desk that I'm not going to move upstairs.
> I know a 4'x8' folding table does many of you just fine but I'd like to hear suggestions for going forward.
> I saw a nice desk at Guitar Center for $300 with an optional rack sidecar thing....
> I have the tools to make my own from 3/4" or 1" plywood or whatever.
> Is there a forum which everyone has posted photos of their studio you may recommend?
> Presently my flooring is carpet.  I'm kinda liking the porcelain flooring that looks like wood.  My room is upstairs and they used crappy wood and it squeeks when you walk on it.
> I'm thinking maybe the porcelain would lessen that.
>
> Barry
>
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