Supporting an 88 key board from only the ends.

[Tobiah]

It's a Yamaha S08. I want to make sliding supports for it
so that I can pull it out from under a huge computer desk.
The unit has three pairs of feet, two on each of the ends,
and two in the middle. The easiest way for me to support
the keyboard, would be to support only the ends.
I'm just a little worried that after playing
in the middle for a while it might end up bowing the unit a little.
It seems like it must have some pretty sturdy rails running
down the inside, but I'm not sure whether they take into
account the sort of suspension that I have in mind for it.

Thanks,

Toby

[Frank Stearns]

Tobiah > writes:

>It's a Yamaha S08. I want to make sliding supports for it
>so that I can pull it out from under a huge computer desk.
>The unit has three pairs of feet, two on each of the ends,
>and two in the middle. The easiest way for me to support
>the keyboard, would be to support only the ends.
>I'm just a little worried that after playing
>in the middle for a while it might end up bowing the unit a little.
>It seems like it must have some pretty sturdy rails running
>down the inside, but I'm not sure whether they take into
>account the sort of suspension that I have in mind for it.

You might look at rigging some aluminum "L" channels to run along the front and back
edges and then attach those channels to your left/right edge supports. And maybe you
use a piece of flat stock to tie front/rear pieces in the middle. The KB would sit
in this framework and get a little better weight distribution. You might add at most
1/8 inch to height and perhaps a 1/4" to the overall depth with such an external
cradle system.

Several different L channel thickness and leg widths can be found at Lowe's, Home
Depot, etc (assuming you're in the USA, or in a country where these stores have
outlets). Such pieces generally come in 4 or 6 foot lengths, and are easy to cut
with a plain old hacksaw, and easy to drill for mounting screws.

I think your fear of "bowing" is reasonable, along with other possible case
distortions/internal component damage possibilities.

Much depends of course on the internal frame of the KB itself, and what the
designers expected would be the support base/system for the KB.

Good luck with it,

Frank
Mobile Audio

--

[Mike Rivers]

On 7/21/2011 12:48 PM, Tobiah wrote:
> The unit has three pairs of feet, two on each of the ends,
> and two in the middle. The easiest way for me to support
> the keyboard, would be to support only the ends.
> I'm just a little worried that after playing
> in the middle for a while it might end up bowing the unit a little.

That's a valid concern. I'm not familiar with the model. but if there
are feet in the middle that obviously can't be the only ponit of
support, they're probably there to reduce the unsupported length. But
they probably thought that it was likely to be supported by a keyboard
stand as well as placed on a table, and those generally have supports
that are about 3 feet or so apart.

If you wantt o make only two slides to mount it under your desk, I'd
suggest that rather than space then to go at the ends of the keyboard,
space them so they're a foot to 16 inches inside each end. That will
give more support to the middle than supporting it from the ends. You
might want to take measurements from some keyboard stands to get a
bettter idea of where their support points are and design your slides to
be similar.




--
"Today's production equipment is IT based and cannot be operated without
a passing knowledge of computing, although it seems that it can be
operated without a passing knowledge of audio" - John Watkinson

Drop by http://mikeriversaudio.wordpress.com now and then

[Tobiah]

On Fri, 22 Jul 2011 11:32:51 -0400, Mike Rivers wrote:


> If you wantt o make only two slides to mount it under your desk, I'd
> suggest that rather than space then to go at the ends of the keyboard,
> space them so they're a foot to 16 inches inside each end. That will
> give more support to the middle than supporting it from the ends. You
> might want to take measurements from some keyboard stands to get a
> bettter idea of where their support points are and design your slides to
> be similar.

I was originally concerned about having support under the middle of
the keyboard, because at regulation concert piano key height, there
is only just enough room for my knees underneath. In favor of supporting
the middle of the unit so as not to risk damaging it, I'm going to
go with two supports such that if I'm sitting at the keyboard alone,
my knees will fit between the supports, and when there are two on
the bench, the supports will fit between the knees of each player.

I got some sturdy drawer slide hardware for the unit to travel on.
They don't lock at the ends (can't find them like that), so I was
thinking of setting something up with hard-drive magnets to keep the
unit stationary until it needs to be pushed under the desk.

It's difficult to get the computer keyboard and piano keyboard to
live together ergonomically. I really want the piano under the
monitor for entering notes into Finale, but that leaves the surface of
the desk for the computer keyboard, which is then too high, and too
far away. Hmmm.... more mental engineering wheels spinning...

Now that I think of it, the piano keyboard would be suitable for
any sort of entry one would want to do into the computer. I could
see each common word or command having a 'chord'. Maybe a stenographic
approach.

Toby

[Kevin Krell]

Do you really want to put any sort of magnets near any computer (or
electrical) components?

Also, I agree with Frank Stearns' suggestion to support the keyboard at
the ends, and tie together the sides with bracing to reinforce the
middle section of the keyboard. You should be able to accomplish that
in fairly low profile and not interfere with your knees placed underneath.

Kevin Krell

On 7/22/2011 9:16 AM, Tobiah wrote:
> On Fri, 22 Jul 2011 11:32:51 -0400, Mike Rivers wrote:
>
>
>> If you wantt o make only two slides to mount it under your desk, I'd
>> suggest that rather than space then to go at the ends of the keyboard,
>> space them so they're a foot to 16 inches inside each end. That will
>> give more support to the middle than supporting it from the ends. You
>> might want to take measurements from some keyboard stands to get a
>> bettter idea of where their support points are and design your slides to
>> be similar.
>
> I was originally concerned about having support under the middle of
> the keyboard, because at regulation concert piano key height, there
> is only just enough room for my knees underneath. In favor of supporting
> the middle of the unit so as not to risk damaging it, I'm going to
> go with two supports such that if I'm sitting at the keyboard alone,
> my knees will fit between the supports, and when there are two on
> the bench, the supports will fit between the knees of each player.
>
> I got some sturdy drawer slide hardware for the unit to travel on.
> They don't lock at the ends (can't find them like that), so I was
> thinking of setting something up with hard-drive magnets to keep the
> unit stationary until it needs to be pushed under the desk.
>
> It's difficult to get the computer keyboard and piano keyboard to
> live together ergonomically. I really want the piano under the
> monitor for entering notes into Finale, but that leaves the surface of
> the desk for the computer keyboard, which is then too high, and too
> far away. Hmmm.... more mental engineering wheels spinning...
>
> Now that I think of it, the piano keyboard would be suitable for
> any sort of entry one would want to do into the computer. I could
> see each common word or command having a 'chord'. Maybe a stenographic
> approach.
>
> Toby
>

[Peter Larsen[_2_]]

Kevin Krell wrote:

> Do you really want to put any sort of magnets near any computer (or
> electrical) components?

Why - as soon as we leave magnetic media out of this - should this be A
problem?

> Also, I agree with Frank Stearns' suggestion to support the keyboard at
> the ends, and tie together the sides with bracing to reinforce the
> middle section of the keyboard. You should be able to accomplish that
> in fairly low profile and not interfere with your knees placed underneath.

The thing is designed to be supported in the middle, so yes: DO THAT!.

> Kevin Krell

Kind regards

Peter Larsen

[Kevin Krell]

On 7/23/2011 4:26 AM, Peter Larsen wrote:
> Kevin Krell wrote:
>
>> Do you really want to put any sort of magnets near any computer (or
>> electrical) components?
>
> Why - as soon as we leave magnetic media out of this - should this be A
> problem?

I'm an old guy, and magnets used to cause problems. And I was
considering magnetic media - modern electronics are apparently not
vulnerable to weak (household) magnetic fields. Guess it's also time to
junk that 20" CRT monitor in my storeroom.

>> Also, I agree with Frank Stearns' suggestion to support the keyboard at
>> the ends, and tie together the sides with bracing to reinforce the
>> middle section of the keyboard. You should be able to accomplish that
>> in fairly low profile and not interfere with your knees placed underneath.
>
> The thing is designed to be supported in the middle, so yes: DO THAT!.
>
>> Kevin Krell
>
> Kind regards
>
> Peter Larsen