Cab built for easy disassembly? Suggestions?

[DougHillman]

Anyone built their cab so that it can be assembled/disassembled with relative ease?   It's likely that there's a move in my short term (~ 1 year) future.    My current house has pretty small door openings, including the one at the top of the stairs to the basement rec room.   I'm gonna hafta assemble it in place, which isn't that big a deal.  Taking it apart when it's time to move is a bit of a worry though.  I'm afraid that the screw holes will loosen up enough that it'd have a bit of wobble to it after it gets to its new home.

I could use carriage bolts for the major assembly, but I don't like the aesthetics of the big bolt heads on the sides of the cab.  

Those of you who've used T-nuts, would these be effective?  I could use a countersunk bolt of some type on the outside for aesthetics, I assume.

Any other easy, relatively simple solutions?  The half-turn locking things such as are used in the "assemble it yourself" furniture biz (and which I think are used on some of the pre-cut assemble it yourself commercial cab kits) seem like they're fairly involved to get set up.

D

[FractalWalk]

I used 2x 2's to attach my panels together using standard deck screws. I've taken it part and put it back together about 4 times now and its as sturdy as the first time.

[dmsuchy]

Mine is t bolted in three parts, the top "hood", the control panel, and the base. Everything is held together with 1/2 inch bolts and quickly disassembles in no time with a rachet. Although the top and base are still kinda heavy it makes for way easier transportation.

[shmokes]

I'm doing something like what you're doing (I've been doing it FOREVER -- between school and work I average about one or two days per month to work on it).  Anyway, check out the picture in this thread that explains how I'm doing it.  I've tested it out and it's super sturdy.  I've actually changed the carriage bolts shown in the picture to T-nuts, but the concept is exactly the same.  It doesn't sound like you were planning to do laminate, but if you get creative you could always cover the holes with well-placed side-art.  Or just putty them and paint.

http://www.arcadecontrols.org/yabbse/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=7886;start=msg56895#msg56895

[hyiu]

if you have not started your cab... maybe you should consider plywood instead of MDF...

(I think plywood is better than MDF if you need to unscrew and screw a few times...)

also.. if a screw hole is getting big / loose because you have unscrewed a few times... what you can try is stuff a few toothpicks in there... and then sequeeze a little wood glue in there also before re-screw it in.... that will make it hold very tight again... (but I don't know if you want to do this multiple times..... )

or maybe do what I did....
I measured my cab so that it fits thru the narrowest door in my house.... (which is about 26in...) so.. my cab's external width is 25in.... no need to take apart... just disassemble the CP....

(wheels on the bottom helps also...)

[paigeoliver]

If easy cab movement is important to you then I have a couple of suggestions.

#1 Build for low weight, rather than easy dissasembly. That means use plywood rather than particle or MDF, and don't do any interior framing other than the standard 1x1s where the sides meet the front.

#2 Do not make your basic cabinet more than 27" wide or 27" deep. 27" fits through even those narrow 28" doorways (you might have to take the door off the frame, but it will fit). Make sure that your cabinet makes that magic 27" number in either width or depth. Otherwise you WILL eventually encounter a situation where you can't move the cabinet somewhere. You don't have to beat that number in both width AND depth, just beat it in one of them. One of my games (Sprint 2) is like 3 feet wide, but it isn't that deep, so I can still move it around easily.

#3. If your control panel is wider than your basic cabinet, then make it easily removable. This helps out in both the area of weight, and it makes things less awkward.

#4. Finally, if weight is still going to be an issue, then make your monitor easily removable. I know from experience that even a fully loaded plywood cabinet with the monitor removed is an EASY move job for two guys, even up and down awkward stair sets.


Making your basic cabinet multi-piece ins't really the answer, and a basic plywood cabinet really isn't that heavy. To give some easy furniture comparisons. A full standard plywood cabinet with the monitor out is lighter than most couches, and closer to the weight of a larger dresser with no drawers in it.

[pmc]

A full standard plywood cabinet with the monitor out is lighter than most couches, and closer to the weight of a larger dresser with no drawers in it.

And not the Ralph Cramden / Ed Norton version where they took out all the loaded drawers and piled them on top of the dresser before moving the whole stack. "This is much better! Ya see Norton! You just gotta use your head!".  

[Wade]

Doug,

   It only takes a little bit more effort to make a cabinet that will totally disassemble vs. a regular cabinet.  In fact, I wasn't building my cabinet for disassembly but if I had not countersunk and filled over the heads of 4 large carriage bolts on each side (and used so much glue) my cabinet would be totally collapsible.  Some of the tips already posted here are very good and should get you going.

   I wouldn't worry too much about weight or size, IF you plan to make it majorly collapsible.  If your basic design is a base and a sturdy monitor frame, the large sizes can bolt right to those and you pretty much have all the stability you need.  Then all your front/top/rear panels can screw into 1"x1"s  or 2"x2"s and that will further strengthen the cab.  All your pieces will be small enough to fit into a regular car, with the exception of the two large side pieces (which still might fit into a car, if your rear seats fold down).

   Even though I don't plan to move for a LONG time, I wish I had thought about this ahead of time and made my cabinet this way.

Wade