Making a desk from two small racks

[muhfugen]

I was wondering if anyone ever tried making a desk out of two small racks? Both SuperMicro and HP offer 14U racks which seem to be about as tall as the two filing cabinets which currently support my desktop. I contacted SuperMicro about this and they thought it was a bad idea. I would think if anything a couple of small racks would be sturdier than filing cabinets. Has anyone ever done such a thing, and if so how did it turn out?

 

[Dawg10]

They’re quite common in the recording and broadcast industries.

Sound Construction SSLM 1-2 - Mahogany

 

[muhfugen]

Im looking for something a bit less than $4k, and without a cutout for a mixer. The SuperMicro racks ive seen go for around $850 each, and a desktop would probably bring the total up to $2k for a large desk with 28U of space.

 

[Dawg10]

The link was meant for inspiration... 4K is actually cheap in the pro audio sector. If you can handle working with 14U worth of fans at each knee then there’s nothing stopping you from giving it a shot.

 

[muhfugen]

Another problem is that audio equipment generally isnt nearly as deep as IT equipment, I need a rack 800mm deep. Thanks for the info though. I'm just wondering if there is anything inherent about IT racks which would make it a bad idea to use them as the base of a desk. I know i've seen plenty of NO STEP signs on top of APC 42U racks. But i've always assumed that would be because of the small surface area of a foot, with using a desktop the load would be distributed over a much larger area.

 

[Dawg10]

The desk in the link I provided is 36” deep, although a unit like that would only house silent running equipment.

My 42U EMC rack could hold up a small truck; using welded cabinets for your application would accomplish the same thing.

 

[Blinky 42]

The no step on the top of racks is typically on the little filler panel that pops into the rack, and it you put a lot of weight on it it can bend and go into the rack (which would suck if you stepped and fell ito the rack or the top mounted device). As long as you tied the top of the desk to the vertical supports in the rack well so it is sturdy no reason you can't make a desk out of it.
Depending on how you intend to deploy the desk in the environment, if you can't get to the front and back of the desk enough to access the equipment you might consider building the desk above the cabinets so you could roll the cabinets out to work on.

My personal concern would be total noise of equipment sitting right next to me, but if you have quiet stuff, or the desk is more of a work area than using it for hours every day it might not be an issue.