I want to build a custom midi keyboard enclosure with a metal base plate and build my enclosure on top of that out of hardwood. The side panels would attach to the base plate with brackets while the front and back panel would sit directly on the metal base plateI want to find out how to achieve the necessary stiffness of the base plate so that it will support the 5kg heavy key mechanism+ the 3kg hardwood and not flex under the pressure of playing. Would a 1.5 mm stainless steel plate do the job if i would have it bent into an L shape so it forms the backside also or would i need to bend it into a U shape. If so, would the front and back side at 1cm and 3cm be high enough to yield the desired stiffness? Could a 1mm stainless steel U shape bent be enough already? Ideally i would want to have only an L shape bend so theres only wood visible in the front side..Picrel is the design im going for but only the keyboard part without the panel above with all the buttons. The dimensions of the base plate are 100cm x 24cm.If anyone has any other approaches they could recommend to achieve such a design it would be greatly appreciated.
Roll a bead or two lengthwise for more stiffness.
>>2827796Ah, havent thought of that, i might incorporate this, but the question of thickness still remains
>>2827751i never understood why moog went so nuts with this synth. i think something simple like the voyager is better. anyway, ignore me, just bumping the thread
>>2827866I'd go as thick as possible. It's about 2kg for every mm of thickness at that size, so figure out how heavy you can tolerate it and go from there.You'd need a heavy duty bead roller for anything above 1mm, but you'd also need a metal brake to get a clean bend on the long side. Either you're spending a lot on tools to make this one thing, you're paying a shop to make the plate, or you're doing a different design entirely. I'd probably just make the base out of plywood. If you need metal for grounding or shielding, use copper tape on the inside.
>>28277513mm steel plate would be fine.
>>2828901I would love to make things out of sheet metal but hate how you need to spend a million on specialized tools to make anything, especially anything curved
>>2827751Personally I think you need to approach the whole idea differently and not treat the wooden part as if it has no bearing on strength and stiffness and is just cosmetic.A shallow tray like you describe will work as a chassis but aluminum makes more sense...and rather than fabricating something from scratch there's all kinds of extrusions that can be combined to make very light but strong electronics chassis...some made just for that purpose (pic related) and others L and T shapes that can be adapted and screwed/epoxied to a flat sheet. There's Eurorack rail extrusions and enclosure systems that may also be worth looking at for ideas.Regardless of how you make the sides of a U shaped chassis tray there's no reason you can't apply the wood outside that vertical part and hide it, or bury the metal in a kerf cut in the wood.Integrated this way the wood can be a major source of structural stiffness, and not just decorating a chassis that does all the work.
