Fabrication of recording studio desk
My church has a recording studio. I have been tasked with creating this tabletop which will hold the board, speakers, computer monitors and computer tower.
You can see the dimensions in the attached drawing. The entire thing is supposed to be black. This doesn’t have to be museum quality.
The recording engineer suggested that the surface be made of black laminate for an easy to clean, and modern look. He said he doesn’t like the look of painted wood, and he doesn’t want natural wood.
What are my options? Should I use 3/4″ plywood? Or MDF? If I use MDF and paint it, will it look “clean and modern” and will the paint hold up?
The top will be separate from the shelving and computer tower shelf, so it can be moved in and out of the room. It needs to be fairly rigid so that it won’t sag.
So whadaya think?
Marine Engineer
Replies
Mdf is probably a more uniform substrate but the ply will give you more span between supports. I think the laminate is appropriate for the usage and unstated budget. A nice sturdy top can be made by doubling up 3/4 ply all the way across. Laminating both sides will make the underside cleaner and keep knees from picking up errant slivers.
"If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man." - Mark Twain
I like the idea of doubling the ply. Will give it strength. Glue and screws to join the plywood?MDF should be sturdy enough to make the shelving cabinet which will support it, ya think?Marine Engineer
Yes to the glue and screws. I used air-driven finish nails, short enough to pin it well without driving on up through the top, then clamped. But I have way too many clamps.
Can you have way too many clamps? Probably not.
I laid out the curve on the top piece, jigsawed it, then faired it smooth and square, so the edge could be used to pattern-route the thickening pieces, trimmed after glue-up. I needed everything smooth and square for the application of the edge lam stack.
I made thick patterned cauls for the inside fillet curves, to work with long clamps, in gluing on the lam stack. Pinned beveled blocks to the back edge to give the back end of the clamps square purchase.
When doing multi-ply curves like this, I use a laminating adhesive. It is a dark syrupy liquid that is kicked with a powdered catalyst. Nelson Urac Resin Adhesive 185, by American Cyanimid Company. Highland Hardware in Atlanta carries it.
The fully-cured Urac glue cleans up more readily than the Titebond yellow types, and at glue-up time, the long open time makes for a much more relaxing assembly and clampup. I get the sweats if I'm laminating with yellow.
I made the left side base cabinet today from MDF, and I really like the way it cuts.I, unlike you, only have a few clamps, so routing an edge on MDF is easier than glueing the laminate to the edge, particularly with the curves I want. I think doubled MDF would be strong enough, since the sound board is 44" wide and will actually rest on the base cabinets on both sides.To glue two 3/4" sheets of MDF together, should I use regular carpenters yellow glue, or something like liquid nails?Marine Engineer
Titebond, or something other that is yellow, will work for MDF. Good luck.
I'd reply more but . . . . . . . yeah, what Gene said."If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man." - Mark Twain
This one that I made (yeah, I actually did. no help at all) has a plywood top, with the 3/4 ply boosted all around with another 3-1/2" width of 3/4 ply. The front edge is 1/8" laminated maple, five plies of it.
I think yours will be a deeper version of this, and you might need some additional stiffining.
put the final coat of paint on it this afternoon. I used 2 sheets of 3/4" MDF glued and screwed together. I drew a grid on one board, transfered my design, cut with a jigsaw and smoothed things out with a belt sander.
Slathered it with Titebond yellow glue and put an oversized sheet on it, screwed every 6" in all directions. Used a router with a pattern bit and trimmed the second sheet. Cleaned up my cut with the belt sander, and routed a decorative edge.
One coat of primer, 3 coats of black. The engineer will hook up everything on tuesday, so I'll get back and snap a shot with it in service.
Thanks all for the advice.
Marine Engineer
Finally got opportunity to snap some pics.Marine Engineer