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Mike's Sound Cart Build


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Beautiful work.

I would have forgone the wood down the sides and found front and rear fixed rails, but your solution is elegant, light and cheap!

Thanks for the kind words.

I had seen those and considered using them but the cost was too much ($20 a pair..I would need 16 total=$320) and they didn't seem sturdy enough. The wood sides keep the SKB from warping, which is important when I strap it to the cart. They also help keep the drawers sliding smoothly.

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Mike,

Great work! Your designs have really inspired me and I have begun my own designs based around skb racks. Without welding experience, I'll be going with the T-Slot aluminum from 80/20 but the overall design will be similar. So keep an eye out for a new thread with my progress soon.

Keep up the awesome cart!

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Mike,

Great work! Your designs have really inspired me and I have begun my own designs based around skb racks. Without welding experience, I'll be going with the T-Slot aluminum from 80/20 but the overall design will be similar. So keep an eye out for a new thread with my progress soon.

Keep up the awesome cart!

That's fantastic! If I may offer some advice I would suggest using foam filled tires. They cost a little bit more but I'm sure it will be worth not having to pump up your tires every so often.

Good luck with your build. If you have any questions then feel free to ask.

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Scott,

That may be hard to find since most pneumatic wheels start at 6". If they did make a 5" wheel you still need to factor in the mounting bracket/plate, which will probably be 1" from the top of the wheel. So, you can have what you want although you may not be able to use the quick release mounting plates since they will add another 1/2" to your height. Or you just have to find a way to recess them in to the bottom of your cart just like I did. I hope that makes sense. What would you be mounting them to? Your magliner?

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  • 2 months later...

Michael,

Very inspirational build. I don't have the talents, gear or worksop space to to do any welding. I'm going down the skb reinforced

collapsable style of sound cart I think.. still working on it.

If you can design it then it may be cheap enough to have a welder put this together for you. Just as how Producers try to buy the gear themselves to do sound this is also one of those occasions where its cheaper to just hire a welder in lieu of trying to get all the tools and learn how to use them. Unless of course you're just one of those guys that likes to build stuff anyways. hehe.. Where are you located?

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I think that possibly a part of Michael's decision to work in wood is that he is ABLE to work in wood (and to do it very nicely). I know that I have done so many things certain ways when building carts specifically because it was working with materials that I know how to handle and with the tools that I own and know how to use. So many things I would have liked to be able to machine, brackets, mounting hardware, etc., but I don't have a lathe and haven't operated any machinery like that since Metal Shop in high school. So, I cut little bits of aluminum with a hacksaw and drill holes with a hand drill --- these are things that I can do.

Most of the carts in the past I have designed, cut the aluminum, done most of the fabrication and then taken it to a person who has a full Heli-Arc (welding) setup to do the main frame. The last and present cart, I used the 80/20 profiles and did not require any welding. Again, this choice was made primarily because I do not own any welding equipment (and probably lack the expertise to do it properly). Looking back on the whole adventure and having now used the "new" cart for a few years, if I were to build another cart I think I would go back to a welded aluminum frame as the basis (and not use the 80/20 profiles again).

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Michael - wish i could do the wood like you man. I made my cart shelves in old teak wood. I did not have the space or the tools so i had to rely on a (bad) carpenter. Wish you were here in India man, or i was there in the US. Would surely spend my living days with DIY, with all the access to stuff out there!

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Jeff is correct. I built the shelves out of wood because that's what I know how to work well with. It was also a cost decision since I was able to build all my shelves, and have plenty material left over for another set, while spending less then I would for a single 3U metal shelf.

In the past couple of days I've had a couple of members hit me up for welding services. I was talking to Gene from the Audio Department about possibly bringing my welder to his shop one Saturday and doing some quick welding type jobs for all you locals in need. I wouldn't necessarily be able to weld up an entire cart but more so adding handles, brackets, etc. If enough people here need this type of help then I don't mind doing some "quicky" type welding jobs for ya'll.

Here's some pics of my favorite wood project. Forgive the crappy iPhone pics.

IMG_1894.jpg

IMG_1891-1.jpg

IMG_1893.jpg

IMG_1892-1.jpg

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Curious as to why? Weight? Stability?

I'm considering an 80/20 frame for a mini cart. Just curious. (Like I need another cart.)

Both weight and stability (rigidity over time) are the main concerns. I could get an overall lighter weight with greater strength and rigidity with raw aluminum stock cut and welded as I have done on previous carts. Not really significant but I have had to tighten up some of the connecting joints on my 80/20 cart (but after a few years of use). The differences are not so substantial that I would NOT build another cart with 80/20, it's just that I found a greater appreciation for the old welded way and would seriously consider going back to that in the future.

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I love my welded aluminum cart of many years but after I build a new follow cart w 80/20, I'm thinking of building a new main sound cart from 80/20 stock. Now a question mark has arisen. Hmmmm.

CrewC

No questions except the ones you need to ask of yourself I think. I may just be the contrarian, with myself, or have "builders remorse" or something. There really isn't any significant reason to not use the 80/20 stuff. Anyone wishing to consult with me directly (Crew especially, of course) feel free to contact me and we can discuss it further.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I know we are talking 80/20 If I may I would like to see if anybody here has built a cart with mini speed rail. I ran into a guy on a shoot a couple of years ago who had a cart built from the stuff that looked pretty interesting. Especially the fact that from what I could tell he just needed an allen wrench and he could reconfigure/ break it apart in many ways. I would love to find photos of that cart or one similar as I have thought of building one along those lines for a while.

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I will look through the vast quantity of pictures in the Gallery of Sound Carts --- I know there are a few who have gone that route, using mini-speedrail for a sound cart. I have considered mini-speedrail and still think about it today --- but again, the main attraction is it is a building material I can work with --- speedrail is easily cut with pipe cutter and assembly is, as you say, easily accomplished with a hex wrench. That said, using a round stock for the essential frame poses some other challenges when building it out with shelves, rack rails and so forth. Now, if you're talking about building a wheeled base for a case based cart, that might be a good idea.

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jeff

I have looked in the pictures section and don't believe there are any there unless I missed them. Like you said the main attraction is the ease of use and the ease of modification if I decide I want to change the dimensions or layout of the cart, little welding etc. I think If I was going to do a rack type cart as opposed to a bag cart I would find some L-shaped aluminum or steal, that either has holes or tap them myself, and weld directly to the pipe. Essentially making the frame of the rack out of speed rail then all I have to worry about is walls and venting.

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