I tackled another DIY podcast studio project today (see detailed pictures at the bottom of this post) and I’m happy with the results thus far.
I built a desktop rack mount which I’m calling the Podcaster’s Rack Mount because of it’s relatively small footprint. Designed to fit a mixer and two rack mountable pieces for recording in a home studio environment.
I created this rack because it couldn’t be purchased. This is the smallest rack mount for a desktop that I’ve seen. The unit is only 13″ tall, fitting standard rack units (19″ wide). I also included a base that tilts the mixer towards the user making it much easier to monitor levels and adjust knobs.
Perhaps a Kickstarter project in the making? Not likely;) But I plan to put together a more detailed look at how I constructed this. The rack was built for less than $20.
I purchased a spray paint finish called “Wrinkled Finish – Black.” I wanted something a little different than your average flat black so I took a gamble. Ultimately I would of loved a powder coat finish but that wasn’t very DIY friendly. So the textured spray paint was my next best option.
I setup a spray painting area on my driveway and went to work. I placed the finished pieces under my (very hot) work lights to speed the drying and wrinkling process.
The wringle finish, black spray paint didn’t turn out exactly how I wanted but I’m happy with the finished product. The rack is black and has space for one more rack mountable piece of gear. If I determine that I need another piece for my recording setup then I can simply drill some new holes. There should be enough space for one more unit however in this small form factor I’m hesitant to put too many pieces of hardware too close together. Doing so may cause unwanted interference/noise.
The final dimensions of the rack are 19 inches wide at the font tapering to 17 inches at the back. 15 inches deep and just 13 inches tall. This is smaller than anything you can buy and seems to be a perfect size for the average podcaster in a home studio. It fits one large mixer (Mackie ProFX 12 in this case), two standard 19 inch rack mountable pieces of hardware and one mini headphone amp that I have sitting on top of the upper most mounted rack.
Total cost for this project was approximately $30. However the rack (depending on tools you may or may not already have) can be made for approximately $15.
$10 of the project was spent on spray paint and shipping for that paint. Additionally I purchased larger bags of screws than necessary. In the end the only necessary cost is the aluminum L-brackets which make up the structure of the rack.
Here’s how I built it:
Parts:
3 – 30 inch aluminum L-brackets
10 – screws/washers/bolts
1 – small hacksaw
1 – power drill
1 – 3/16″ drill bit
1 – flat head screwdriver
1 – tape measure
1 – can of spray paint (not required/color of your choice)
Pictures from the build (click any to view the entire gallery)
Completed rack mount in use
