PedalBoard Construction 101

[The_Yeti]

I made these 2 pedalboards over the last two weekends.

(The smaller one for me, the larger for my brother.)

 

I bought the plywood, aluminum, black formica, and hardware

all at HomeDepot. Tools used: table saw, hack saw, drill gun.

 

I tried to mimic the flight case style.

 

I used 1/2" inch plywood, and then covered the boards with

thin black formica that I glued down using Formica brand glue.

I plan on using 3M Dual Lock to attach my pedals.

 

The formica was surprisingly rigid, and was tough to work with.

 

I bought the aluminum in one long channel that I cut with

a hacksaw and mitre box.

 

Here are the pics:

 

[NITEFLY182]

looks classy, where did you get the aluminum channel material?

[Narcosynthesis]

Originally posted by NITEFLY182 looks classy, where did you get the aluminum channel material?

 

home depot

 

David

[Armoredfist316]

looks nice.......i built 2 like that, but i think im gonna go back to one bigger one. I found that aluminum stripping at lowes but the biggest peice was like 4 feet and it was pretty expensive. What size did you get and how much?

[The_Yeti]

Home Depot, but Lowe's has a better selection.

 

I took me a while to track it down, since I still don't

know what to call it and the people who work at these

Mega hardware stores seem to know less about what

they carry than the cashiers at GC.

 

It's usually described as corner or edge covering for 1/2" plywood.

 

The new Lowe's by my house has all of their aluminum

neatly organized in a bin.

[Armoredfist316]

I bought some from lowes, and it was in the hardware isle and i just called it aluminum stripping.

 

I was wondering how big of a peice you got and how much it was.

 

To go around a small board it was like $30 at lowes.

[deadwrong666]

Love it, I gotta make one.

 

Questions;

 

How big are those?

 

Whats 3m dual lock?

[Hessian]

Very nice man, very clean and professional look to those. How did you mount the aluminum on there, and what was your total cost for materials?

[The_Yeti]

Thanks for the compliments.

 

Dual Lock is just super beefy velcro. It's the best.

You can search google for some pictures.

 

Total cost per board was about $20 a piece.

 

For the aluminum, I was able to find an 8 foot piece

for around $6.50 and a 6 foot piece for $5 something.

 

The bigger board is 17" by 24" the smaller one is 16" by 22".

 

Constructing the boards didn't take that much time.

I spent most of the time in planning, searching for materials,

and learning how to properly deal with formica. Once you get

the hang of it, it's not so bad. I'm going to build another

that will be 16" x 30".

[The_Yeti]

I mounted the aluminum using 1/2" sheet metal screws

underneath the board.

[deadwrong666]

With the Formica, how did you cut, what made it difficult?

[The_Yeti]

The problem is that it doesn't want to cut.

A utility knife won't cut all the way through.

 

You need to score it, and then bend it until it

breaks along the line that you scored.

Surprisingly, this leaves a nice straight edge.

 

To score it properly, you need to apply a lot of downward

pressure. Again, a utility knife won't hack it. I bought

a steel scoring tool which allowed me to safely apply the

pressure I needed.

 

If you are not using any sort of aluminum edging,

cut the Formica a 1/4 inch bigger than you have to

and use a router to make it flush with the end of the

board. This lets you be a little less exact with

your breaks.

[GuitArtMan]

Looks very similar to the one I built, only I used carpet (mistake) instead of formica and I added a top shelf. I also used truck bed liner (available in spray cans from WalMart, Nappa Auto, etc.) on the back side.

[The_Yeti]

Cool.

 

I nearly gave up the hunt for black formica.

 

But low and behold, Home Depot had a couple of sheets.

 

I only needed one though.

[papa taco]

I tell's ya, get a big plastic cutting board.

[papa taco]

http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/product.asp?catalog_name=USPlastic&category_name=72&product_id=13478&utm_id=36&utm_term=polyethylene

 

Here ya go!

[The_Yeti]

Wow, you know, those are cheap and the dimensions are

about right.

 

Making my own was just as much about finding an

excuse to use my table saw, as it was about getting

some new pedalboards.

 

And the homemade ones are still cheaper!

[papa taco]

Here's the thing you have failed to see that papa taco is the master.

[Andersonology]

UpdatesPics?

[ollenorin]

 

Originally posted by papa taco http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/product.asp?catalog_name=USPlastic&category_name=72&product_id=13478&utm_id=36&utm_term=polyethylene Here ya go!

 

 

how do you fasten velcro to that yellow thing ?

[bikescene]

Those two pannels look amazing. Was it difficult to make the aluminum edges like that from one channel?

[papa taco]

 

Originally posted by ollenorin how do you fasten velcro to that yellow thing ?

 

 

Glue?? Hmm....

 

Actually, if I do the cutting board thing I'm going to use the bike chain link method of attaching pedals.

 

taco

[guitarchris]

 

Originally posted by papa taco Glue?? Hmm.... Actually, if I do the cutting board thing I'm going to use the bike chain link method of attaching pedals. taco

 

 

Then you can't swap out things as easy. This may cure gas pains but will be hell when you switch out pedals for the flavor of the week. I always THINK I'm set, then 6 months down the raod I decide to "try" out something else. stick with velcro, it's cheap, I bet screw holes in the the plactic board will strip after several on and off pedal swaps.

But, I like the cutting board idea....that's "thinking outside of the stompbox"

[jkg]

Nice pedalboards.

 

Questions:

How do you cut the aluminium edges???

How do you attach it to the boards???

 

Thanks

[surfcat]

I have a similar one I built-but it's bigger-31" by maybe 18". The problem is, what are you going to carry it in? For mine, keyboard cases that are close to the right length aren't wide enough. So, I'm still looking for a good pedalboard. Buying the case first and making the board would have been the thing to do.