My First Cart (v.1)

[vale]

Hi,

this is my first sound cart and the process of his projecting and building took a lot of months, in the free time between jobs.

I have to say thanks to all of you, because your carts posted here gave me a lot of ideas and made me understand better what cart I wanted to have.
I’m very gratefull indeed to Simon Paine, because his cart is the one that mostly liked and inspired me.

So, it is a rack-based cart, built on a 2cm tubular steel frame with a 10u abs rack case mounted on it.

 

 

I decided to go with steel because i wanted to do this cart as a prototype and then, if i will find it good, i could rebuilt it using aluminum. Moreover, it is easy to work with iron over aluminum and my uncle is a skilful welder, so he helped me very much.

I’ve choosed to take the wheels inside the frame space, so that it can reduce the overall width. Anyway, the back wheels i’ve used has a 20cm diameter and it seems they can easily handle the cart weight (i haven’t it fully loaded yet, so i can’t say how is the actual weight).

 

 

I’ve tried to be more accurated and detailed in the projecting stage, so that it can reduce errors and, for this puprouse, i did a massive use of Google Sketchup application. So, as you can see, once built, the cart is exactly as it appeared on my computer when i designed it. This is a thing that made me really happy.

 

 

Looking at the front, i have three drawers that are built in aluminum (to save weight) and were commissioned from me to a local company that usually makes aluminum doors and shutters.

Then, i’ve painted it in the grey color i’ve used for the whole cart.

 

 

On the back, at the bottom i leaved the space to put a SLA battery (my battery system at the moment) and i thought at a second space in the middle to accomodate my AA and 9V chargers in line.

Then, on right i have a space where i will put the IEC C14 socket, from where i can plug the main electric cable.

 

 

In the next picture, you can see two Boom holders (self made from a iron tube section). Booms are also helded by two QuickFist mounts fixed on the upper handle bar.

This section have two welded handles on both sides, a little tilted to have a better grip when the cart is moved on back wheels only.

 

 

This section is also removable by two screw at the bottom of both sides. this make the cart easy to get in a car.

 

 

On both left and right side, i installed two sets of electric plugs in waterproof cases.

All the electric cables pass straight inside the iron tubulars to go into the plugs cases.

 

 

As you can see, i’ve though at this system to secure the upper abs case, by two self built (red) hooks that take the case steady on the base and are also easily removable by two screws, when i could need to take away only the abs case with the gear loaded.

I’ve also covered with an aluminum limbs the space corrisponding to the drawers side, in order to take them protected from dust and others accidental things.

 

 

And this is how the cart appear…

It measures 110cm height, it is divisible in 3 parts for transport and, of course, I have many little things to add (cable hooks, antenna mast, soft cover for handles, i have to add a patchbay at the back of the thomann rack case, …).

But I just liked to share my progresses now that i’m in the final stage (I hope).

 

 

 

And this is with part of my gear loaded…

 

 

And that's all.

I hope i will improve it to make it better and better...

Advices and opinions from all of you are appreciated, of course.

Thanks,

 

Vale.

[Max Hirtenstein]

Bravo! Well done. What about wireless and antennas?

[Solid Goldberger]

Thats really awesome.  Is all the cable routing going to happen through the front or through some kind of passthrough so you can keep  the back cover on?

 

e.

[vale]

Hi and thanks.

 

@Max: Yes, there will be surely a rack with wireless into the case and a mast with the antennas. It is not yet finished and i haven't all the gear with me at the moment.

 

@Solid: i will mount a patchbay on the back of the case so that i can keep the back cover mounted and all the lines go in the cart through there.

[Soundwil]

Waw, fantastic!

[RPSharman]

That's fantastic.  Really great cart!

 

My only thought was the access to the back.  It's why I favor mounting the case sideways to the handles.  That way the back door can be removed, if required.  A patch bay is great, but sometimes you've just got to get in there.

[vale]

Hi Robert and thanks. That was a problem i've considered when i decided to go with a case.

I guess i've found a good solution for my needs, that is: (apart from the patchbay not yet mounted) i can simply turn the two screw that let me pull off the lateral hooks that secure the case to the bottom base. so, I can easily shift the case forward as much as i need to open the back door of the case, that is free to move at that point.

Anyway, i though (i hope) that is supposed to occur rarely, so i decided that route.

v.

[old school]

Very nice. Looks great. My only concern is the wheel size which I've stated in my comments concerning many of the carts shown here. If you are happy with the wheels, then I'm happy. Well done. Thanks for sharing.

CrewC

[Philip Perkins]

Very thoughtful, very pretty design and execution--the self-built part of the cart puts the ABS rack to shame!  I agree with Crew on the rear wheel size, but wheels as big as we use can't be inboarded like yours.   The cart looks like it's going to be pretty heavy when loaded up--how will you transport it?  Do you have a lift gate or winch/ramp setup on your vehicle?  Nice colors on the panels and drawers.

 

philp

[Jesse Watts]

That is exactly what I have been trying to find for my setup. A vertical cart for my SKB case kit. If this was aluminum I would buy one in a heartbeat. Fantastic craftsmanship, quite jealous ;-)

[thope]

I love the aluminium drawers, I'll

Have to look into something like this too

[piero]

Really nice work valentino!

Hope to see your prototype soon.

A presto!

[Simon Paine]

Great looking cart Vale !

 

I think you have brought some nice improvements over my design. 

 

I really like your waterproof electrical in and outs. Having them plug on the sides is really smart. It's something I would change from my current design. Also, when I built mine I considered using a roto-molded road case like yours but I couldn't figure out a way that I was happy with, to hold the case to the base properly. I think your solution is simple and elegant. Much better then a strap. And it must be quite easy to detach when packing. Wish I had thought of that. I ended up reluctantly going with a traditional built road case, but that in turn lead to me attaching the monitors into the doors, which I like very much, but I digress...

 

I think the wheels should be more then enough. Many folks have told me mine would be undersized and overwhelmed when rolling over anything other then flat floors. but I've not had any issues rolling my cart where I need to, including dirt paths, gravel, snow covered sidewalks and roads, and even the beach. I agree that larger diameter would roll easier, but I think the advantages of having the wheels inboard of the cart are worth the smaller size.

 

Only thing I would be worried about with your cart is the weight. The fact you made it all out of steel. I imagine it will start to get quite heavy, especially when those drawers start getting filled. My base is made from Aluminium and I sometimes find it a bit of a pig. How much does your weight ?

 

Also, the little tabs you have at the back, that line up with the contour of your case, brilliant. That will surely help getting the case on when you're in a hurry.

 

Could you tell me where you got that headphone hook ? I'd love to add one to my cart.

 

Glad my cart could help inspire yours. I think you took the best parts of mine and added some great touches that really improve the overall design. Congrats, I'm sure you'll love your cart for many years to come, now you just need to add some cool ground effects/under-cart led lighting ! lol.

[vale]

thanks for the comment...

 

regarding the weight, when i decided to go with steel i knew that it could have made the cart to be heavier. I considered that I've used about 10kg of iron tubulars, then the drawers and plates are aluminum and the four wheels are not so heavy. Now, i haven't yet measured the total weight, but i guess that all the self built part could be around 13-14kg. The empty abs case itself with only shelves and drawer is 7-8kg.

Maybe, if i have made the main structure in aluminum i'd have saved 3 or 4 kg, but i guess that once full of gear that difference is much less noticeable.... 

Make it by steel had several advantages to me:

i could made it myself with my uncle that is a welder, so we can change ideas work in progress. then, i considered this cart as a prototype, so i didn't want to spend too much money on it. If i will realize this one work well for me, then i could rebuilt it using aluminum. Steel is also easier to work with if you make mistakes and wish to correct them.

At the end, i have to say i was afraid it ended up to be heavier than how it is.

And, if have to cope with hard situations (stairs without elevator, or so...), i could detach the upper case in few seconds and go only with that.

So, now i'm quite happy. When i'll start to use in the field i could test it more. I hope it will work well.

 

About wheels size, i agree with Simon, i preferred to have that inboard over a big size. Anyway the seems to work well, as i've used that in many rented carts before.

 

And Simon, i've bought the headphone holder from here (there i've bought the abs case and all the shelves and drawer too, they seems to have resonable prices to me):

 

http://www.thomann.de/gb/km_49302.htm

 

Thanks for the inputs,

Vale.

[Olle Sjostrom]

Great, great looking! Nice job  

 

I've tried using Google Sketchup for planning a cart, but I find it really difficult to work with, maybe it just takes training. Have you been working with other CAD-like software or was this your first attempt with it?

 

Again, super job. 

[pkautzsch]

This is a really nice cart. Especially I like the hooks which mount the rack to the base.

 

Did I understand correctly that the battery is in the base, and cabling goes through the steel tubes and into the rack? And that the top part holding the rack can be taken off the base? Then how did you do the electrical connections? Do you need to unplug a lot of connectors, or is it just one cable going into a rack-mounted power distribution?

[sergiofucchi]

It seems to me that the wheels are a bit 'small to push your cart over rough terrain.

 

Sergio.

[Jan McL]

Impressive prototype.

 

Very impressive.

 

Congrats!

[S Harber]

The trick to getting a cart like this to roll well from A to B will be to push it backwards with the big wheels first. 

The handles on the back will work as cable hooks but I think you will find (as is the case on my SKB case based cart) that you want to hit things like cable crossovers etc with the big wheels first. This will have you pushing from the mixer side from the top corners of the SKB case or constantly doing wheelies which is silly and has it's own issues.

Also, your axel on the back/big wheels is a hollow tube which will bend like crazy after some curb drops and bouncy truck trips. I'd suggest you go with a solid piece of steel for that part.

 

Otherwise, it looks awesome.

[vale]

@Olle It was the first time for me with a CAD-like sotware and even if some operations are not so easy to deal with, i find it a good tool for the purpose.

@pkautzsch yes, the top part (that one with handles) can be removed from the base by the two screws you can see on the back. power went to the cart through the IEC C14 panel connector in the right side of the base. From that connector, cables runs inside the steel tubes to feed the two electrics plugs panels on both sides of the cart and down to a power supply that will be behind the battery (in the battery dedicated space, too). then, the power supply will output a xlr4pin cable that could float a SLA battery (in the way the jw Power system was explanated here a lot of times) and the only cable that will go to the upper case (the abs case with the gear) will be that cable
from the battery. The abs case will have a xlr4 panel connector that receive power from the bottom part and inside the case there will be a battery distribution (at the moment i have a Remote Audio Hot Box v.2).
I hope i've explained well, it is more simple to do than to say, and my english is not so advanced...

@sergio Sergio, you know our service here in Italy has many carts based on wheels like that ones i've used. I rented carts from them many times in the last 8 years and have worked in many different terrains. I don't like PSC-like wheels configurationtoo much, because i find that bulky and not comfortable to me. I preferred to save the width of the cart in order to access easily throguh doors and narrow spaces (plus, i find easier to climb a stair step by step with whell like the ones I've used), instead of having big wheels that, imho make real difference only in rare occasions. I don't think we will shoot everyday in countryside, that day this should occur i will think how to cope with.

#S Harber When I've previously used carts with wheels like these, i used to tilt up the cart by the handles and roll it only on the back big wheels pushing it forwards... I don't know if this is the best way to go, actually.
Thanks for the advice on the wheel axel, I'll surely keep that in mind when i'll be able to work on that.

Thanks you all,
Vale.

[pkautzsch]

the only cable that will go to the upper case (the abs case with the gear) will be that cable

from the battery. The abs case will have a xlr4 panel connector that receive power from the bottom part and inside the case there will be a battery distribution (at the moment i have a Remote Audio Hot Box v.2).

I hope i've explained well, it is more simple to do than to say, and my english is not so advanced...

 

Thank you, that was precisely what I wanted to know. XLR4 is a good way to go because of its locking connectors and small size.

I also tilt my cart over so it rolls only on the large wheels when in off-road terrain.

[johnskog]

Sweet!  Well done.  

[Jeff Wexler]

Regarding the rear wheels and the best way to move the cart around: Michael Evje, now retired, was the first ever to build an upright style cart with the design being large wheels in back and small casters in front. Several of us copied Michael's design and the whole upright cart idea began to take hold. The plan always was to tip the cart back on the real wheels and make the moves that way. The handles, the fulcrum point, the weight distribution and height of the cart were always considered in the design to make this type of movement easy, stable and safe. It also required that all the equipment be secured, locked down, to the cart shelves. You have to remember that this was way before any significant rackmount gear was in use so each piece of equipment had to have its own mounting scheme. When not tipping the cart back for major moves, small moves were usually done by pushing fro the back and hoping  the small caster wheels could get over whatever cables or bumps were in its path. We very quickly discovered that even a generous sized caster wheel would not even roll easily over small electrical cable so we adopted the practice of doing many little "wheelies" (as mentioned above) and it could at times get a little scary. Scott's suggestion (I think it was Scott) to push from the front and let the large wheels make it over the cables seems to be a good idea though I have never done it.

[Simon Paine]

Hey Vale,

 

Just FYI, I use a 4 pin XLR to get from my power supply (at the bottom back of my cart) up into the road case. It's a short run (probably 3-4 feet of cable total). But through the cables and connectors I end up losing some voltage. Right now it's about half a volt. I've tried different gauges of cable (that can fit inside a 4 pin XLR connector), trying to minimize the loss (the first cable I used lost a full volt, if not more) I even tried running power through pins 2 and 3 along with 1 and 4 to try and bring up the juice. If I were to redo my power connection (from my power supply to power distro in the road case) I might try a different connector that can easily house a thicker gauge wire to try an minimize the loss. Of course once power is brought into the distro box, I would go with 4 pin XLR to all the individual pieces of gear.

[Jim Gilchrist]

Simon,

The Neutrik speakON connectors and Canare StarQuad speaker cable might fit the bill. I used both on my rack system before I dismantled it.

Best regards,

Jim