Thoughts on making a gig case for keyboard and stuff.

[sgbotsford]

I have a full length keyboard (Arturia keylab 88). By itself it weighs in at between 40 and 50 lbs.

Add a 3 pedal unit (5 lbs) A pair of 8" self powered speakers (20 lbs) a laptop comptuer to run it (4 pounds), a sound mixer ( 1 lb)
A 20" monitor used to display scores (6 lbs). Cables, etc, It all adds up to somewhere between 60 and 90 lbs.

I want to make a dedicated gig case.

* Legs can be at 2 lengths, one for sitting, one for standing.
* Internal storage for mixer, and laptop.
* monitor built into lid.
* lid works as a music stand if I don't use monitor.
* storage space for all the cables.
* Wheels so I can move it like moving a dolly. Wheels have to be big enough (8") to deal with stairs.
* Single power bar internally so that evertything powers up with 1 cord.
* eyes on top to bungie anything else.

I don't want the box to be any heavier than I need.

I want it to be cheap to build. If this works, making these could be a good side gig.

Thoughts:

The actual walls don't have to be very strong.
* Baltic birch plywood at 1/8 or 3/16.
* G1S fir plywood at 1/4" (strongest)
* Good quality trailer paneling (the kind with a 1/32" layer of philipine mahogany on the back would be fine.) (weakest?)
* Or I could dado grooves into the frame, and put in laminate flooring with glued edges. (longer builds)

Functioning.
* Leg top end cut at an angle so legs splay when deployed.
* Clever leg design allows legs to also be 'wheel barrow' handles?
* Lid includes the front, so two sides hinge up.
* Inside of lid is 22" monitor
* Side parts of lid contain cables, foot pedals, yada yada.
* Hooks or eyes on top.
* raised rim so something bungied on top stays on top.

Twin length legs:
* Build like oldstyle survey tripods with 2 outer struts and a movable middle strut.
* Build like wooden crutches.
* Middle piece pivots. The short end allows sitting. The tall end standing.
* metal slider around all 3 struts moves down to lock in place.

Looks:
* Classy looks. Wood that took stain well would be nice.
* Strong enoguh to bump up and down a zillion stairs, allow people to sit on it.
* Light enough to be under my 120 lb target weight ready to go. Case weight of under 30 lbs.

Dimensions:
* Box itself about 60" x 16" x 8"
* Default legs for 26" standard desk height and 36" standard counter top height. I'd like a system that allowed 1.5" increments from 21" to 42"
* Wheels: 8" semi-pneumatic, 8-10" diameter, mounted on brakets 4" below bottom of case, about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way back.

Suggestions and gotchas welcome.

 

[nadogail]

GOOD LUCK

 

[rsanter]

Make a form and have the outer part of the case vacuume formed.
Aluminum extrusion for the part line and hinge.
If you don’t want to do this then use flat carbon fiber panels and aluminum angle for the edges/perimeter

Frankly my daughter does gigging and I think you are approaching this the wrong way.
If you were going to have a truck or van with a lift gate then I would build it all into a single cart (like a big toolbox)
But you mention stairs and such.
Build a case for the keyboard.
Make the monitor clip onto brackets and have quick plugs

 

[Lassen Forge]

The actual walls don't have to be very strong.
* Baltic birch plywood at 1/8 or 3/16.
* G1S fir plywood at 1/4" (strongest)
* Good quality trailer paneling (the kind with a 1/32" layer of philipine mahogany on the back would be fine.) (weakest?)
* Or I could dado grooves into the frame, and put in laminate flooring with glued edges. (longer builds)

They DO need to be strong, otherwise you risk damaging your gear. You also need stabbility to protect the integrity of your keyboard while in transit. Means framework, which means weight. Not to mention everything else in your box.

Looks:
* Classy looks. Wood that took stain well would be nice.
* Strong enoguh to bump up and down a zillion stairs, allow people to sit on it.
* Light enough to be under my 120 lb target weight ready to go. Case weight of under 30 lbs.

This puts you at your cross purposes. Your gig box needs to protect your keybpard, soyou can't go cheap or light... and the wood is heavy and/or fragile (or both). Only way I can see around it is Carbon fiber with wood laminate over it, and a Titanium frame to take the bumping... and protect all your stuff inside. How much money you want to throw at this????

- - - - - - - - -

I went through a similar project for my Yamaha Workstation when I came over here, and IMO you're asking your desired materials to do too much. Your gig cases #1 most important do or die job isn't to look like furniture, it's to PROTECT YOUR GEAR. Thats who concert boxes look the way they do (and weigh a bit)... I had a box built specifically for the keybopard, and never regretted it. Itself is more than 30 lbs, but my Yamaha arrives in one piece. It isn't finished wood, it's pebble finish laminate like any other concert box. If I had need for more stuff, I'd do 2 cases (protect them keys), and turtle them - one om the other - and make attachment points for the hand truck to move it. If you want a grain wood look - carbon fiber walls and a laminate cover on that. You DO need your case walls strong...

Your weight and materials and capapability reqs are your "gotcha" - you want one piece of lightweight furniture that doubles as a piece of rough and tumble armor that everything not only fits into but modularizes itself into a presentable keyboard stand that looks good. And lasts. And can be bounced up and down stairs. Ouch.

Good luck on this - you have aninteresting engineering project on your hand! Bring imagination and a lot of money!

 

[MR2FC]

Could the laptop double as the monitor? Would save space and weight if so...

 

[sgbotsford]

Make a form and have the outer part of the case vacuume formed.
Aluminum extrusion for the part line and hinge.
If you don’t want to do this then use flat carbon fiber panels and aluminum angle for the edges/perimeter

Frankly my daughter does gigging and I think you are approaching this the wrong way.
If you were going to have a truck or van with a lift gate then I would build it all into a single cart (like a big toolbox)
But you mention stairs and such.
Build a case for the keyboard.
Make the monitor clip onto brackets and have quick plugs

My idea is that the case is integral. NOTHING comes out of the case., except the foot pedals. It unfolds into a usable form. So I want it to be attractive enough to be presentable on stage. Scenario: I have a gig to busk at a festival:

• Put the laptop to sleep.
• Put the pedal unit and the page turner units in it's compartment.
• Unhook the speakers.
• Close and latch the lid.
• Lift one end, fold that end's legs. Latch.
• Repeat for other end.
• Extend wheelbarrow handles.
• Wheel to car.
• Open tailgate.
• Swing handle end onto car opening
• Collapse wheel barrow handles (which also locks wheels)
• Move to wheel end.
• Pick up and slide into back of car. (Pair of furniture sliders on handle end of box.

At the site, the process goes in reverse. Key features:

• I don't have to leave *some* of my gear in one place while getting the second load.
• I don't have to make multiple trips.
• Quick to move back inside once I get home.

Doing it by a form makes lots of sense if there is going to be a production run. I'm looking at making ONE box for me as the initial production run.

I've done work with fiberglass, doing canoe layup. A flat fiberglas panel feels flimsy, and oilcans easily. Composite panels need to be either produce with curves to make them stiffer, or need to have frames for stiffness.

Materials: I've not worked with carbon panels. My experience with aluminum is that it is all too easy to bend.
I do have some experience with some of this. At one point I developed some expedition dog sleds with green ash frames, and a HDPE sliding surface. Sled weighed in at 35 lbs for an foot long x 16" wide. In use they started a trip with between 300 and 450 lbs of gear and food. I saw one dropped off the roof rack of a bus. It bounced.

At this point my idea is to construct a frame out of salvage 3/4" hardwood flooring, ripped to 3/4 x 1.5. Use 1/4 G1S fir for the skin. 3/4 x 3/4 hardwood elements for the legs.

 

[sgbotsford]

Could the laptop double as the monitor? Would save space and weight if so...

Tried that: I can't read it at the distance I am from the keyboard. I like having a 2 page display. 23" TV's are cheap, and the laptop runs it as an external display. Figure on useing a flat plate vesa mount to attach to the lid, then some ensolite foam wedges glued in to reduce vibration. 23" allows 2 pages of music or 1 page and menu.

 

[sgbotsford]

More follow-up: Plywood structurally is very strong. On another project I made food boxes for canoetrips out of G1S fir plywood with 1x1 diagonal cut corner braces. Boxes were about 2 cuft, and if cleverly packed would take aobut 100 lbs of food. The box weighed about 15-20 lbs with straps and hardware. They were still in use 18 years later. A few had died. Two got lost in rapids. One smashed on a rock in a rapid. One was opened by a bear. Over the years they were dropped, sat on, kicked. One box was left outside at the end of trip cleanup, left under the edge of the eaves. Filled up with water. They were NOT designed to be watertight. Glue and screw and 4 coats of paint....

A (60" x 16" x 8") 5' x 1 1/3 foot x 2/3 foot box has aboaut 2 x (6 2/3 +3 1/3 + 1) = 22 square feet of side. If I'm clever I may be able to tweak that to get 3 boxes out of two sheets of plywood.

Framing needs 4 times that same set of numbers = 44 linear feet. In practice, it needs additional frames partway. Probably 2 additon frames. These also are integraded into the compartments for storing this and that.

Normally if building a box I like the frame to be outside the panels. Means that the plywood edges are hidden.

***

I'm not part of a band, and likely never will be. If I gig, it will be me, my car and my kit. Don't know if this makes a difference.

I don't even know if there will be places without elevators. My limitied experience is that in lots of small community halls, you have a few steps to get in. May be in a basement. Also. Parking is NEVER convenient. When attending these sorts of things, I've often had to park several blocks away, or pay $20 for parking.

 

[Montauket]

Should have taken up the piccolo. LOL .

this is coming from a guy that had to haul around a 12 pc Tama kit with a cage system like Tommy Lee. No way I was doing it in one trip . The others bring up some good points as to the validity of going with 2 smaller rather than a jumbo. Stairs, elevators, grassy fields, getting it in the truck solo all come to mind , BTDT. Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[southalabama]

Sounds like something Adam Savage would love. He loves building special purpose built boxes for equipment and props.

 

[captaindiode]

What you are describing is a flight case. Look here for ideas:

DIY Road Cases™ Store - Road Case Hardware

How to Build Your Own Road Case - How do you protect your gear from a long day of performances? You build a road case! Protect your instruments and equipment, DIY Road Cases Store.

www.diyroadcasesstore.com

 

[slowtwitch73]

Gonna be heavy, won't be cheap, results not guaranteed to please.