If you're anything like me, you've got a bunch of hobbies that you bounce around
between, and that can lead to stuff piling up all over the place. It's a lot
more fun playing with all this stuff than sorting it, but eventually you've
got to do something about it. Maybe a 19-in rack. I could get all this
outboard gear tucked away nice and neat, and maybe even do something to reduce
the number of cables that are all over the place here. But a decent rack isn't
exactly cheap. You can easily pay thousands of dollars for something like
Elijah used in our 8V8 gaming stations. At the same time, you can't go too cheap
either, or you end up with something that can't even hold one of these power amps. This $200 rack from Samson is in
the Goldilock zone. It'll totally get the job done. But come on, it's still
just a shelf. Surely I can build something similar and save a bunch of
money along the way. That's what I'm here to do. That's right. Buy or DIY is
back.
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the description. With a limited budget and limited tools, I'm going to build my
own version of this rack and hopefully save some money along the way. But, it's
got to live up to Mr. TechTips expectations, so I can't totally halfass
it. Still, 200 bucks isn't a lot to work with. The price of wood is crazy these
days, and I've got to pay myself an hourly wage. But I've got a plan. A
starting point that's under $20 and [snorts] uh might already be sitting in
your living room. Equipment racks like these have been used in the
telecommunications industry since at least the 1920s when AT&T established
this 19in width as their standard, and
they've since been adopted in IT, proauudio, music, and many other
industries. Just like those old racks, this one from Samson lets us densely
pack a bunch of equipment into a tight space, helps us contain all the wiring,
and it doesn't look entirely hideous in your living room. This is an 8U rack,
meaning it holds eight rack units of equipment. Now, a rack unit is 1 and 3/4
in, which means our DIY version needs to have at least 14 in of vertical space to
fit all our gear in it. This is IKEA's
Lax side table. They've been around since the late '7s, and if you've ever
had to furnish an apartment or a dorm on the cheap, you've probably bought one of
these and had money left over for a hot dog. Somewhere in the 2000s, somebody
figured out that these are the exact right size for rack mountable gear and
hence the lack rack was born.
[music]
[music] I think this is going to be really simple. We literally just stick our rack
gear in here, screw it in, call it a
day. >> Yeah, it doesn't get any simpler than that. >> Right now, we've spent, I believe, 17 US
for our lac rack. Let's keep track from there. These rack ears are usually
pretty adjustable, so you can kind of configure exactly how you want to mount
things. So, this is just a power distribution bar. Probably overkill for
a little home rack, but you know, this should fit. We got about 17 inches
there. 17 and 12 there.
Should be no problem. >> Do we want to flatten that a little bit first? >> That does seem a little damaged, doesn't
it? >> Yeah. >> Get a hammer.
All right.
We're [snorts] definitely losing structural integrity as we go up. Feels
like >> we're mostly using music gear as our
example cuz it tends to be shorter.
>> Okay, so this might be where IKEA bites us in the ass.
Wow. Yeah, there's not much holding that there.
We'll have to see how this goes. You know what? Let's try that and just see
how this this feels. This is supposed to be easy.
It's not that bad. We got what? One, two, three, four, five units in there.
So, not quite enough yet.
Send it.
All right. You probably get the Lego.
I lied. >> Okay. [laughter]
We may have detected a flaw in our plan.
>> All right. Well, that was about 15 minutes. >> So, we're like 32 bucks in plus screws.
I don't think Lance is going to approve this. Doesn't even weigh that much.
[laughter] >> You talk about a brick. >> I just want to cut one side off of this
leg and we'll see what's going on inside here.
>> Oh, wow. I think I found the problem. I
just happen to have this 20-year-old lock leg. I'm kind of curious to see if
it's the exact same construction or if they've gotten cheaper over the years.
I'm going to say that's exactly the same. On the plus side, they haven't
gotten worse in 20 years.
The bottom actually got a little better. >> Oh, yeah. >> So, I guess you could say it's uh
lacking. >> Oh, dear. What if we replace the two
front legs with solid wood? >> I mean, yeah, that seems like the
easiest fix. >> All right, let's try again here. So, 17
bucks. Resetting with a little movie
magic. We made this out of a glued up 2x4 earlier. We just got to cut it down
to our leg height and screw it in just like the lock legs.
You can see your uh pencil mark was perfect. Your cut [music] on the other
hand was not. >> All right, I'll go fix that. You get those out of there. Trying to drill into
your leg.
>> Screwing into these legs, it already feels significantly more sturdy.
>> I mean, it's still a soft wood, but at least it's actually a wood.
>> Yeah, it's not air.
>> Okay, that's good. >> It actually does something now. >> Took me about 30 minutes to prep that
stock yesterday. So, that's 15 bucks for just my time. And we just spent another
10 or so with me and Justin cutting them down to size and installing them. I'm
still doing pretty good. [snorts] >> Well, it didn't immediately fall out
this time. >> All right, let's go big or go home here. What about your home server?
>> I think home server.
>> All right, let's flip that over. >> Do the flip. >> Oh, it's a little heavier this time.
Oh, would you look at that? >> That's not too bad. And if you had like
a longer server, you could probably the L bracket into this stuff.
>> Yeah. Into the back arm there. Yeah, for sure. >> Let's add another 10 minutes for us to
install our gear here. So, we are at 52
bucks. >> Also, a lot of this moving. Move that again. Look here. It's actually just
moving on. >> Just moving the server itself. >> Yeah, it's not actually moving the
mount. The real question is, is this going to hold up long term?
What if we're going to pull things out and put them back in >> again? I imagine these holes lasting
maybe doing that once or twice before the holes are just screwed.
>> We got to come up with something better. >> Yep. >> Round three. >> Round three.
>> Got some rack rails from Amazon here. >> Oh, interesting. >> And I'm thinking, can we just mount them
onto here somehow? Okay. But we can't
screw into this holo crap. >> No. And we can't give up any space in
here, I don't think, from what we've seen for installing gear in that one.
>> Yeah, it was pretty tight in there. >> So, if we do another solid leg
and just make it a little narrower. >> Yeah, I think that's all we have to do.
Like just like we [music] basically need the width off of this.
>> All right, I guess we got to make some new legs then. >> Way out of here.
>> Even better. We should put the hole in the top for the screws first
>> and then >> so we know where the center actually is. >> Yeah. And then >> and then trim it down from there.
>> Slim it down. >> Stop judging me. [laughter] >> All right. And just for good measure,
because we're going to be having it right up nice and close just so nothing hits it, we're just going to counter
sync a few of these holes so that way it's nice and flush. Not going to run
into anything. Keep it nice, you know.
Okay, we're good. I should still mark it, though.
Tiny little mark. >> This feels like it's taken us a lot
longer already. >> We got brackets. >> All right.
>> One there, one there. >> Beautiful.
>> Screws to the side. And I think we're laughing. >> Let's do it.
>> I need a Felipe. >> He doesn't work here. I got you.
>> Yo, this company be wild.
>> They're the wrong size. >> Those might be from a different rack.
Oh, yeah. These are for these rack nuts. Well, you know that would make sense.
>> We happen to have screws over here. All right, this is the real test.
>> We the thick boy.
It's not light.
>> Oh god, that's dirty. [laughter]
That's perfect. I like that way better. >> 17 for the lack. But actually, this is
just an extension of the last version. So, why don't we just say 52 plus the 20
bucks for our rails, 72. >> Okay. So, it's our most expensive one,
but it's still cheaper than buying something. >> Still cheaper than buying a rack.
>> I think we give us a little white wash on the legs and show it to Linus.
>> Okay, sounds good. >> Happy little accident. >> Happy little accident.
Little too early to brush that off.
>> Just going to paint a happy little tree right there.
What am I looking at? >> We got version one, version two, and
version three. >> And I guess they get better as we go, cuz I saw the sign before I sat down
that said, "Don't touch this one. >> Don't even breathe here."
Oh, boy. You're risking it. >> Is that bad, huh? >> Oh, yeah. If you want to give it a
little shake or just kind of poke around a little. >> Let's have a look here. The plan appears
to have been wood screws. And uh it
turns out wood screws into cardboard is not a great time cuz this has already
come out. >> It's a little loose, you know. >> Yeah. What do you mean don't breathe on
it? This seems fine. >> You give it a good shake or pick it up
and drop it like a couple of inches and then that server's going for a little
flight. >> Okay. But but that's okay. We had ideas.
I remember Jordan and I talking about, hey, what if you just took the cardboard
legs and replaced them with wood? This
is not bad. >> Yep, that worked pretty good. >> Yeah,
>> this power amp on the bottom weighs more than that server chassis there does and
it holds in nicely. >> Not as much leverage, but still it's not
going anywhere right now. This is kind of freaking awesome.
>> Yeah. >> And all for the low low price of one lakh tabletop plus a piece of 2 by two.
Wait a second. Oh, you left the original back legs. >> Why replace those? That takes time. I
got to pay myself for my time, man.
Our only real concern on this one is if you're going to pull things in and out a
bunch, it's going to wear out pretty quickly. Like maybe you could turn the
legs around to get a little bit more life out of it, but
>> Well, it's got four whole sides. >> Exactly. It's not going to last forever.
>> But neither will you. >> That's fair.
>> Yeah, she's uh like she's good. Yeah.
Like it's pretty solid, you know?
>> Lack rack. >> Hardly lacking at all. But it gets even
better. >> If you guys insist on running servers in your living room, there's actually a
better IKEA product for that. We'll cover that in a Floatplane exclusive
over on LMG.gg/flowplane. We'll see you over there.
>> Wa! This one looks classy.
>> Yep. We got solid wood legs again. >> Yep. >> And proper rails.
>> That's wicked smart. I bet these weren't even that expensive. Did we get them off
salvage or can you just buy >> Those are right off of Amazon.
>> Really? >> Like 20 bucks for the pair. And then you
can put things in and out of it as many times as you want. Basically, you know
what? If I wasn't looking for it, I don't think I'd really notice.
>> You hide it in the corner of your living room. >> Yeah. Like Yeah. It's not quite the
same, you know, wood color or whatever, but >> Yeah. And the paint job is pretty
halfass. I'll admit, but >> Yeah. But the mounting rigidity is full
ass. >> Yep. >> Which ironically is not the same thing as saying something is ass. I don't make
the rules. English. You crazy girl. How'd we do? Well, this guy here, $29
US. >> Yeah. I mean, >> you can go cheaper, you can go more
expensive, but it's, you know, it wouldn't look out of place in the living room.
>> It's pretty nice. And it has creature comforts that we don't have, like wheels
and ventilation. Well, >> we got we got way more ventilation. Come
on. So, the basic guy, we've got $17 for the lack.
>> Okay. >> And we spent about 15 minutes or so of
Justin and my time installing stuff into it. So, that's 15 bucks at our rate. and
then two bucks of screws. >> So, we just saved over 150 bucks.
>> If you want to like rearrange it, you might have to buy a new lack each time. So, that'll, you know, balance out
pretty short term. >> Okay, V2. >> Again, 17 bucks for your lack. Great
deal. It's cheaper in Canada right now, by the way. >> Four bucks for a piece of wood.
>> We paid about four bucks for a 2x4 that we cut in half and glued together.
>> Okay. >> And then 20 minutes to install everything basically. So, we're about 50
bucks all in on this one. >> Still, I think this is going to be the
bang for the buck. It's pretty solid. >> Looks good. It's literally very solid.
>> It's not going anywhere >> and takes very little time. >> Yeah. >> Then we've got the bougac rack, which I
assume we paid maybe what, another 20 bucks for. >> That's about it. So, we're still less
than half price. >> It's becoming a bit of a theme on buyer DIY, isn't it?
>> So far, >> it's almost like doing things yourself is a great idea. Like, watch this. I'm
going to do this segue to our sponsor, >> MicroEnter. Earlier this year,
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more, check the link in the video description. >> If you guys enjoyed this, why don't you
go check out the last buyer DIY? Jordan and Justin are really becoming the uh J
and J of doing things half price. Wow.
The dream team with a J. J R E A M.
>> I'm leaving. We have to make dream team a