Mounting a keyboard on the edge of a shelf

[jellyjim]

Any thoughts on a mount or bracket that gets me from picture one to picture two/three? Minus the pillow, obviously!

Bit crap at DIY so it should not be made by my clumsy hands, the desk is a nice piece of furniture so it shouldn't gouge great troughs out of it, and the keyboard can't rest on the lower shelf as it's a sliding shelf and still needs to move.

It might not be possible. There's not much room and most of the weight of the Nord Lead is over the edge of the shelf. Just a thought, in the neverending journey of studio ergonomics!

[jellyjim]

The images don't load for me if I click on them but I'm sure the thumbnails give the gist!

I've just posted a new reply further down the thread with these images made zoomable for you MW

[Bob Bickerton]

Pretty hard to see from those pics. Is there room to mount the keyboard on a tray under the shelf? (https://nz.pinterest.com/pin/synthkeybo ... 693210121/)

Bob

[Wonks]

Any thoughts on a mount or bracket that gets me from picture one to picture two/three? Minus the pillow, obviously!

Bit crap at DIY so it should not be made by my clumsy hands, the desk is a nice piece of furniture so it shouldn't gouge great troughs out of it, and the keyboard can't rest on the lower shelf as it's a sliding shelf and still needs to move.

It might not be possible. There's not much room and most of the weight of the Nord Lead is over the edge of the shelf. Just a thought, in the neverending journey of studio ergonomics!

The images don't load for me if I click on them but I'm sure the thumbnails give the gist!

I think you are linking to thumbnails, which don't link to the bigger pictures.

And your original post had a URL tag around the IMG ones, which didn't help.

[MOF]

It looks like you’re going to have to get some mdf cut at B&Q to make a shelf using wood glue that slots under the furniture top shelf with sides that you’ll have to cut the angled slope.
I would suggest giving it a back section for support and structure and cut out a hole at the base if needed for wires etc. It’s not clear if you need access to the keyboard just visible at the back?

[Wonks]

Stagg do these keyboard brackets, meant for 'slat walls', the type you often get in music shops.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Keyboard-Slatw ... OIRF&gQT=1



But if you mounted a couple of blocks of wood underneath the top desk tier, drilled some holes in the flat 'wall' end of the arms, you should be able to screw them into the blocks and mount the keyboard on them.

[Drew Stephenson]

There's a chap who comes to Synthfest who makes extruded aluminium racks and, I believe, does custom options.
Now I just need to remember his company name...

[zenguitar]

https://www.obelisquedesign.co.uk/ams-stands/

Is this what you remember Drew?

Andy

[jellyjim]

It looks like you’re going to have to get some mdf cut at B&Q to make a shelf using wood glue that slots under the furniture top shelf with sides that you’ll have to cut the angled slope.
I would suggest giving it a back section for support and structure and cut out a hole at the base if needed for wires etc. It’s not clear if you need access to the keyboard just visible at the back?

Oh ffs, gah! Why do I always forget cabling when thinking of these things

Yes, that adds a dimension ...

[Martin Walker]

Here are jellyjim's images, which I've now made zoomable:

[Drew Stephenson]

https://www.obelisquedesign.co.uk/ams-stands/

Is this what you remember Drew?

Andy

That's the dude.

[jellyjim]

Here are jellyjim's images, which I've now made zoomable:

Bless you, Martin. You are a giant amongst men!

[jellyjim]

I'm wondering whether something like this might work. Obvioulsy the drawing's quite crude and not to scale. There'd be two such mounts and the weight of the keyboard itself would secure them and rubber pads between the mounts and the desk would prevent slipping and protect the wood. Am I missing something?

I'm lousy at DIY but pretty handy with CAD software. It wouldn't be so difficult to get some prototypes laser cut in MDF or ply.



(image failed to load for me, so tweaked it for you. MW)

[Drew Stephenson]

Unless you're going to screw into the desk I wouldn't be trusting that.
Personally, if this was my desk, I'd create a similar set of holding brackets, but ones that hooked over the rear of the shelf.
I'll knock up a quick pic.

Summat like this:


The weight of the keyboard at the front keeps a balancing upward at the back. Additional pressure at the front (from playing) doesn't then cause it to move away from the shelf. The arms that go front to back can be shaped to go under your screen but over the mount. Hook the back in place, drop down the front, add your keyboard to make it secure.
Could either do as two separate arms (with a couple of horizontal studs for stability) or run a couple of bars between the two arms (probably what I'd do).
Could probably cut all of it out of a single length of 4x1, but I'd need to knock up a couple of scale drawings first.

[jellyjim]

Thanks Drew, that looks good

Yeah I wondered if with my design the downward force ultimately brings the keyboard forwards

[The Elf]

Unless you're going to screw into the desk I wouldn't be trusting that.
Personally, if this was my desk, I'd create a similar set of holding brackets, but ones that hooked over the rear of the shelf.
I'll knock up a quick pic.

Summat like this:


The weight of the keyboard at the front keeps a balancing upward at the back. Additional pressure at the front (from playing) doesn't then cause it to move away from the shelf. The arms that go front to back can be shaped to go under your screen but over the mount. Hook the back in place, drop down the front, add your keyboard to make it secure.
Could either do as two separate arms (with a couple of horizontal studs for stability) or run a couple of bars between the two arms (probably what I'd do).
Could probably cut all of it out of a single length of 4x1, but I'd need to knock up a couple of scale drawings first.

Could this be 3D printed?

[Drew Stephenson]

Could this be 3D printed?

Don't see why not? Not an area I'm familiar with. If you were going that route you could refine some of the design to eliminate stress points and make installation a bit easier as well.

[The Elf]

I have to say this idea is something I'd be interested in, and I have been considering a 3D printer of late. More and more I'm finding situations where one would be a useful asset...

[Drew Stephenson]

I've thought about one a few times but I generally find it quicker (and accurate enough for my purposes) to grab a chunk of timber and a saw.

[jellyjim]

I have to say this idea is something I'd be interested in, and I have been considering a 3D printer of late. More and more I'm finding situations where one would be a useful asset...

Yeah it seems like a 'thing' that isn't but should be. I like the possibilty of it being removable, hence not wanting to drill holes.

I did a deep dive into 3D printing when it first hit consumers. It's a lot of fun. It was very 'set and prey' back then, unless you spent big money. Much tinkering was required. Like that's ever stopped the likes of us but still, it was more time to find and more distractions to get lost in. I think things have definitely improved. You certainly get more bang for your buck now. One remaining limitation is the print bed size but people get around it by making composite or even snap-together parts.

[ajay_m]

While it's now fairly cheap to get into 3d printing I can attest that it is a significant skill to master and that's not even considering learning how to do the cad design as well. That said, it is miraculous what you can with even a cheap printer now and I have used mine for all manner of stuff including bespoke downlight flanges for the bathroom as the old downlight holes were bigger than the new lights when the bathroom was remodelled

It is not a hobby for the impatient or those quick to anger, as catastrophic failure 14 hours into a 15 hour print are far from unknown either.

In this case my concern would be that the centre of gravity of the desk would be a consideration with that much weight at the front. I would check this out pretty carefully first, I think.