Rack

flite · Post by **flite** » Fri Feb 16, 2007 1:06 pm

I was wondering if anybody on this forum has built their own racks for their gear and could give me any advice, The woodworking part seems easy... and my father has a full metal shop I could use for that part of it. any help?

crow · Post by **crow** » Fri Feb 16, 2007 1:34 pm

You don't even need a metal shop; you can buy rack rails from places like markertek or even guitar center, and they're not too expensive. another good resource for rack hardware is used computer networking equipment. i know that here in austin, there is a goodwill computer store that has those tall skeletal server racks for cheap. i bought one with for my power amps and mixing board power supplies. it's so tall that there's tons of air space between everything. they're totally modular (dude), so you can hacksaw off the excess to use in a DIY wooden rack.

I sure wish I had access to a machine shop, though. for other things.

ckeene · Post by **ckeene** » Fri Feb 16, 2007 1:49 pm

oh, I just did a sweet sweet rack. I had 4 uprights that were 2x4 mahogany, and around the base, the top and about 2/3 of the way up I biscuited in 1x4 mahogany. So the whole thing is 7 feet tall, about 2 feet deep and, of course, 19" wide inside. Then I got some rack rails from sweetwater and just screwed them in.

I wanted to do an "open" design so I could get to stuff from the sides, since I'm cramped for space.

The wood was about $100 and the rails were like $50

My advice: get decent hardwood for this. For the amount of time you'll put into this and the time you'll spend looking at it, it's worth it not to have shitty spruce 2x4s that are ugly and warpy.

Scodiddly · Post by **Scodiddly** » Fri Feb 16, 2007 4:46 pm

It's pretty easy to build a rack. You can just use wood screws right into the wood if you're figuring on never changing anything, but I'd buy the premade rack rails just to be safe.

brianroth · Post by **brianroth** » Mon Feb 19, 2007 1:43 am

Before building the wooden cabinet, obtain the metal rack rails and then measure everything to ensure that the tapped holes in the rails properly "center" with the rack holes in the gear.

I've seen some rails (typically from obscure or surplus outlets) that required a cabinet opening in excess of 19". This happened because the tapped holes were quite a bit away from the "L" portion of the bracket.

Bri

lancebug · Post by **lancebug** » Mon Feb 19, 2007 5:13 am

Sweetwater has good prices on rails. Free shipping too. And candy. I have made racks out of wood I found in the trash and drywall screws.

thesimulacre · Post by **thesimulacre** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 3:11 pm

Yeah, with the rails I got off of the 'bay I had to make the opening 19 1/8" to properly acommodate all my gear. I suggest the same as Brian, but once you have the rails just hook them up to your widest and narrowest pieces of gear and THEN make the box part. As much as 19" is a standard, it seems like a lot of mfg's like to be a little bit different.

inverseroom · Post by **inverseroom** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 4:23 pm

lancebug wrote:Sweetwater has good prices on rails. Free shipping too. And candy. I have made racks out of wood I found in the trash and drywall screws.

The candy is deeply creepy, IMHO.

I love making rack cases...

RefD · Post by **RefD** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 8:45 pm

inverseroom wrote:
lancebug wrote:Sweetwater has good prices on rails. Free shipping too. And candy. I have made racks out of wood I found in the trash and drywall screws.
The candy is deeply creepy, IMHO.

but you do still eat it, right?

GooberNumber9 · Post by **GooberNumber9** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 8:51 pm

RefD wrote:
inverseroom wrote:
lancebug wrote:Sweetwater has good prices on rails. Free shipping too. And candy. I have made racks out of wood I found in the trash and drywall screws.
The candy is deeply creepy, IMHO.
but you do still eat it, right?

I only eat the Tootsie Rolls, myself. I tried one of those weird cinnamon candies once and spit it out.

RefD · Post by **RefD** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 9:03 pm

GooberNumber9 wrote:
RefD wrote:
inverseroom wrote:
lancebug wrote:Sweetwater has good prices on rails. Free shipping too. And candy. I have made racks out of wood I found in the trash and drywall screws.
The candy is deeply creepy, IMHO.
but you do still eat it, right?
I only eat the Tootsie Rolls, myself. I tried one of those weird cinnamon candies once and spit it out.

what about the Laffy Taffy?

inverseroom · Post by **inverseroom** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 9:03 am

RefD wrote:
inverseroom wrote:
lancebug wrote:Sweetwater has good prices on rails. Free shipping too. And candy. I have made racks out of wood I found in the trash and drywall screws.
The candy is deeply creepy, IMHO.
but you do still eat it, right?

I give it to my kids. And, weirdly, they keep waking up in the middle of the night screaming, HOW ARE YOU ENJOYING THOSE PATCH CABLES WE SOLD YOU IN 2004?!!!??? WOULD YOU LIKE A 36-CHANNEL MIXING BOARD TO GO WITH THOSE?????!!!! ANYWAY CALL ME ANY TIME, MY NAME'S MARCUS!!!!

rhythm ranch · Post by **rhythm ranch** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 10:01 am

inverseroom wrote:
RefD wrote:
inverseroom wrote:
lancebug wrote:Sweetwater has good prices on rails. Free shipping too. And candy. I have made racks out of wood I found in the trash and drywall screws.
The candy is deeply creepy, IMHO.
but you do still eat it, right?
I give it to my kids. And, weirdly, they keep waking up in the middle of the night screaming, HOW ARE YOU ENJOYING THOSE PATCH CABLES WE SOLD YOU IN 2004?!!!??? WOULD YOU LIKE A 36-CHANNEL MIXING BOARD TO GO WITH THOSE?????!!!! ANYWAY CALL ME ANY TIME, MY NAME'S MARCUS!!!!

LMAO!

flite · Post by **flite** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 12:24 pm

Thanks fellers,
Although not really what I was looking for... I was well aware of the availabilty of rack rails. I just Wanted to make some for fun, not so much for practicality or price.

JMS [/b]

lancebug · Post by **lancebug** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 10:50 pm

inverseroom wrote:
RefD wrote:
inverseroom wrote:
lancebug wrote:Sweetwater has good prices on rails. Free shipping too. And candy. I have made racks out of wood I found in the trash and drywall screws.
The candy is deeply creepy, IMHO.
but you do still eat it, right?
I give it to my kids. And, weirdly, they keep waking up in the middle of the night screaming, HOW ARE YOU ENJOYING THOSE PATCH CABLES WE SOLD YOU IN 2004?!!!??? WOULD YOU LIKE A 36-CHANNEL MIXING BOARD TO GO WITH THOSE?????!!!! ANYWAY CALL ME ANY TIME, MY NAME'S MARCUS!!!!

Tee-hee-hee!

You gotta admit, your kids understand the value of customer service.

I do kind of have to giggle when they call to ask me how my rack screws are working out. I mean they are probably paying that guy more money to follow up on this stuff than I paid for it in the first place.

I eat the smartees and give the tootsies to my wife.

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