Build Quality

Built Like a Tank

300 Pounds on a 14U Rack Case
300 Pounds on a 14U

Our cases can hold 300 pounds or more of equipment.

With just four pieces of wood joined together, rack cases are deceptively simple. Strength comes from the details.

We designed our cases so that the top piece completely sits on top of the sides. This allows the weight of anything on top of the case to be transferred to the sides and down to feet.

Another point of weakness is “racking” (like the swaying of a tall building in the wind). All four sides must be firmly attached to their neighbors to prevent this from happening.

We secure our joints with a solid block of wood that binds the sides together with steel bolts. Our rack cases are strong enough to park your car on (I actually did it to test the strength).

The Wood

We chose to build our cases with plantation-grown Monterey Pine for its beautiful flame like grain pattern. Sustainability was also an important factor. Our wood is only sourced from renewable, plantation-grown lumber — never from old-growth.

When trees are transformed from a tall, majestic monument of nature, there are some parts that are not as beautiful as others. Instead of it getting thrown away, it is often used as the inner laminations of quality plywoods. This maximizes the amount of the tree that can be used and is good for the environment.

Solid wood furniture is an extravagance that consumes more wood than is needed. You only ever see the outside of the wood. The interior should be strong but does not have to be the best looking. Plywood is strong and maximizes the use of our wood resources.

We build our cases with the best quality, furniture grade plywood that is 3/4″ thick. Furniture quality means that the outside layers are thick and beautiful and the inner layers are strong and stable.

Steel Rack Rails

All of the weight of your expensive equipment is borne by the rack rails. We only use rails from Pennelcom, the industry standard for quality rack rails. They are 1/8 inch thick, black powdered coated, full hole and tapped for #10/32 screws.

Steel Bolts

All of our fasteners are steel bolts capable of withstanding 100’s of pounds on their own. Some rack manufacturers only rely on wood glue or basic screws to hold everything together.

On our furniture quality Premium Series, the bolts are never visible from the finished side. They connect to the wood using threaded inserts which are like nuts but are embedded in to the wood.

Furniture Quality Premium Series

Our Premium Series rack cases are designed to blend in with your existing furniture in your studio or living room.

While most other equipment racks are just a simple rectangular boxes, our Premium cases use solid wood mitered corners and set-back reveals for depth and style.

Every case is thoroughly sanded multiple times with progressively finer grits to a leave a silky smooth wood surface. A final inspection with a powerful light highlights any places that need more work. Only when an obsessive perfectionist can find no more flaws is it ready to move to the next step.

We exclusively use Trantint wood dyes instead of generic stains. While stains are like a paint that sit on top of the wood, dyes soak deep in to the wood. Stains tend to hide the natural beauty of the wood because they buildup on the surface. Dyes penetrate the wood fiber and retain the natural wood characteristics. We apply one to five coats of dye using a high-pressure spray gun until the color matches our master color samples.

Then the cases are sprayed with multiple coats of furniture quality, satin lacquer. After each coat we lightly sand the lacquer to ensure a smooth final finish.

Never Partial Board

Partial board is made of small chips of wood glued together to form a sheet. It is extremely weak and cheap. This is the worst thing to use to hold your expensive equipment!

Some big name manufactures use this stuff to save money at the expense of your equipment. Who hasn’t bought a cheap book shelve made of this junk only for it to crumble and break when you try to actually put books on it?

A horrifying account of a particle board catastrophe from Studio DIY

“… my 20-Space Raxxess mobile rack disintegrated on me with all of my most expensive gear in it.  The bottom collapsed and then the whole thing twisted breaking the sides as well.  I was not at all impressed with Raxxess’ design after looking at it closely.  The entire weight of both sides of the rack is held up by 6 metal pins in 3/4 inch particle board.  Not a good design.”