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Elektron Rack – Do it yourself

By 01-06-2013June 3rd, 2013No Comments

Few people asked me how did I make my Elektron rack, which have been part of my live setup for the last few years. I used it in RPE Duo and Space F!ght among others. That’s why I decided to make a guide or at least posted few photos showing the rack in detail. Hope it is useful. I will be making pdf to cover more details so please email me if you have any questions or suggestions.

Background

It all started after reading this thread. I decided to do this rack/stand to fit both Elektron machines into the hand luggage. The aim was to have secure solution for travelling via cheap airlines and reduce the flight costs for my gigs in Europe. It also meant saving space on my desk which filled up with new gear quickly. Unfortunately it didn’t fulfill the security for gear promise, as its too temperamental to travel with once its folded. It did definitely saved the space on the desk and more importantly made my playing more fluid. It is much easier for me to play while having both machines in front rather then side by side.

Tools and materials needed

The crucial thing here is to have access to woodcutting equipment. You can find those in schools, universities etc. people have saws at home so might be worth asking for help from someone who did it before. For me it was the first wood cutting project ever, which turned to be very satisfying and fun experience.

  • Wood cutting machine (watch your fingers!)
  • wood or plywood
  • sand paper to polish the wood
  • drill
  • small cupboard hinge
  • metal saw to cut the hinge
  • 9x screws (4x to attach the rack, 4x for the hinge, 1x to secure it from sliding
  • wood glue (to glue screws to the wood )
  • measuring tape or ruler, or ruler app for your iPhone!
  • pencil

I made it for my Elektron machines (Machinedrum MK2, Monomachine Mk2 then swapped the Monomachine to Octatrack). You can make it for any two devices. Adjust the size to the height of the knobs and width/height of your own gear.

Action!

[aside title=Dimensions] Hight: 6cm  –  1.8cm-2cm above the machine (covering the knobs ) – can be slightly lower.

Width top rack : 17.5 cm

With bottom rack: 23,5cm (adjust these to your needs)
[/aside]

What I did first is took carton and measured the machines, came up with design and cut it out with the scissors,  stack it to the sides to see if its going to work. That helped before cutting the wood. Then I drawn on wood following the carton model, cut it and sanded the wood to adjust the angle (milled it). Also glued on top the thin pieces of wood (leftovers from cutting) to protect the jack connections. Watch out for this. I think mine opens as wide as it gets without damaging the jacks.

The difference between the top and bottom part of the rack is triangle (6cm bottom x 6cm hight 90 degrees). Also measure the distance for screws you attach the rack with. Once you have it cut, drill the holes inside and try attaching the gear with the screws. Then drill the holes for the hinge. I made few mistakes at this stage and had to redo the wood cutting, so just double check where you drill.   Install the hinge on the rack so the top part can slide on the bottom one. It makes it foldable (easier to take the cables off after the gig). Note the little block I used to adjust the angle (I wanted to have it as wide open as possible). Also note that machines are still standing on their rubber feet. Worth to drill slightly wider hole (just few millimeters) on the outside of the rack to hide the screws. I installed little piece of metal to protect the top part of the rack from sliding off. Its useful once I am really into tweaking the gear during the gigs. The longer ‘ear’ of each rack can be made even lower (half the size of the knob for each panel), you would have to adjust the angle though. The first plan was to transport it once folded.  I disconnect the machines now during the travel and use guitar pedal case for Octatrack (useful as a stand as well) and wrap Machinedrum with bubble wrap. It would have to have better locking mechanism to secure the machines while in the bag.

Thanks

Elektron Users forum and especially to Indigo Fire who encouraged me to do after posting his photos. Here is the thread with other designes.

Thanks to Psychology Department Workshop team at the University of York for help in making this rack and especially Marc Green for assistance and ideas.

.. and all those who asked how I made it, as it encouraged me to create this guide. 

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Radek

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