Beginner Guidance for First Project

[steven taggart]

There is a channel on YouTube called "Woodworking for mere mortals". I would recommend you check it out. He uses lots of common tools, and sometimes builds limited tool projects. He covers basics and how to adapt to the tools you have very well. I watch the video he puts out every week, and am no where near a novice woodworker.

[Jim Matthews]

You need to hold two large panels together, at a right angle and attach them with screws.

Either with a pocket hole jig, or through screws - that's a challenge to do alone.
Kreg offers an instructional video on YouTube and it should give you some idea of how to manage.

Keep in mind that you're working with three rather large panels.
It might be easiest to join the two sides with the front stretcher before applying the rear panel
(which is the largest in your drawing).

As mentioned before, if you had some means to clamp the side panels to something on a temporary basis,
so that they can't move while you're joining the other boards up, that would keep things on the square.

Plywood will fracture, if the adjoining panels are moved after you've driven screws.

I would say that at a minimum, you'll need at least one additional clamp, if you're working alone.
See 1:15 of the video for a nifty time saver.

[Charles Li]

There is a channel on YouTube called "Woodworking for mere mortals". I would recommend you check it out. He uses lots of common tools, and sometimes builds limited tool projects. He covers basics and how to adapt to the tools you have very well. I watch the video he puts out every week, and am no where near a novice woodworker.

Awesome thanks. I will check that out. I stumbled across Jay Bates' YouTube channel and have been watching that. More entertainment for me as I can't do those projects but fun to watch. My dad was not the DIY kind of guy nor do I know anyone who is into woodworking so just watching someone work helps. He has a great starter tutorial for woodworkers using SketchUp which is how I found him. I never used the program before and got my design made in a few hours (pic further back in the thread) thanks to his videos.

[Doug Garson]

There is a channel on YouTube called "Woodworking for mere mortals". I would recommend you check it out. He uses lots of common tools, and sometimes builds limited tool projects. He covers basics and how to adapt to the tools you have very well. I watch the video he puts out every week, and am no where near a novice woodworker.

Steve Taggart just stole my idea, I was about to suggest the same thing. Here is a link to Steve Ramsey's latest video which has some aspects that are similar to what you are building. (hope the link works) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGe4GCVGV94 check it out.

[Jim Matthews]

Half of my assembly time is figuring how to hold things together while the glue dries,
This Kreg 90 degree thingy is really clever, it uses the holes you have already drilled.
I don't use this method, but it seems well thought out.

[Charles Li]

My mini update. Just wanted to say thanks again for everyone's help. I'm trying to take in all the advice and got nervous of how costly my mistakes would be after buying the wood. So I decided to take on a few projects that allow larger margins of error to practice with the new tools. I must say this Kreg stuff is awesome! It's amazing what you can do with the right tools lol. I framed out a shelf with some pegboard and never got cuts this accurate before. Made some silly mistakes but figuring things out. I might be hooked...

[Charles Li]

Well 5 months later I'm finally getting to the project that started my new obsession. I've since bought more tools, watch and read woodworking info constantly, and wish I had more time for this. I get an hour or two every other week but it's better than nothing. I've started the project and already made some mistakes and thought of some upgrades. I plan on documenting the progress (maybe even video) to hopefully help others as I really haven't found similar projects. I guess it's kind of niche, but there are probably a lot of keyboardist out there who would have their gear pull double duty in their family's living space. So here's the update. Another thanks for all the help from people! I'm getting my kids involved in the build which is getting them even more excited to learn piano.

Here's the basic box. I stuck with the pocket holes to make things quick and easy. It was definitely an issue to keep the wood in place as many people noted. Even with the kreg clamp it wasn't dead on perfect. I'm not totally sold on their clamp (at least for pieces this big). Gonna try one of those square brackets next time.

DSC_0006.jpg

I haven't attached the top yet but here's the general idea of the unit. I'm thinking the plywood will be stable enough if I just screw it to the base. I don't want to glue it for easier transport. If there's a better idea let me know.

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To my surprise the keyboard fits exactly as planned! Unfortunately, I never measured the seat and it doesn't slide under the unit. I haven't decided whether to cut out a notch in the stretcher or create a new base for the seat or maybe just push the stretcher back. I'm leaning toward cutting out a notch as the height should work well for my kids. I didn't like the idea of propping them up on cushions to play. This seat is actually adjustable (albeit at its lowest setting) plus I made the height of the keys lower than standard. I do need to make a riser for the pedals which I'm wondering if I could do hinged to make it easy to put up and down.
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So because this is a stage piano it doesn't have any speakers. That's why I have the second platform behind the keyboard as I planned on doing small bookshelf type speakers. Then I realized I could just drop in in-wall speakers! So I bought those and a little amp that I'll integrate into the stretcher. Had I thought of this before I could have slimmed down the whole unit and placed the speakers on the side, back, or under the keyboard. I'm not totally disappointed because my other requirement was to make the unit stable so my kids wouldn't knock it down. With this design there's no way it can tip. Also thought of adding a vertical shelf on the inside for sheet music. I guess that's another downside of the adjustable seat.
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Finally, my wife didn't approve of painting it black and now I have to contemplate a real finish. It's interesting to learn about but stressful at the same time lol. Way too many options! I haven't settled on anything. About all I know is I want to do solid wood edge banding. At least it's finally coming along!

[Glenn Howard]

Looks good. I'm wondering about enough leg room under the stand though, especially if you're going to be using any sustain pedals with the keyboard. The player's leg will need room to raise up and down to use the pedal. You also may want to rethink those speakers. Those are home theater speakers, which are different animals than what would typically be used with a keyboard. You may want to check out the pro-audio section of a Guitar Center or Sam Ash if you have either of those near you. Either place would sell active speaker units (speakers with built in amplification). They essentially look just like bookshelf stereo speakers, but are usually referred to as studio monitors and are engineered to sound better with gear like your stage piano/keyboard. The wall mounted home theater speakers would technically work, but would probably sound really crappy compared to running through proper studio monitors (which you could probably get for around the same $).

Just something to think about before the final installation.

[John M Wilson]

Regarding the "notch" for the seat clearance: IMO, I think this will take away from your simple but elegant look and push it into the "afterthought" category, and look tacky.

How about cutting a gentle arch across the front of your stretcher, proportioned to allow clearance for the seat? The stretcher will still be plenty strong enough, and I think it will look intentional.

[Charles Li]

Looks good. I'm wondering about enough leg room under the stand though, especially if you're going to be using any sustain pedals with the keyboard. The player's leg will need room to raise up and down to use the pedal. You also may want to rethink those speakers. Those are home theater speakers, which are different animals than what would typically be used with a keyboard. You may want to check out the pro-audio section of a Guitar Center or Sam Ash if you have either of those near you. Either place would sell active speaker units (speakers with built in amplification). They essentially look just like bookshelf stereo speakers, but are usually referred to as studio monitors and are engineered to sound better with gear like your stage piano/keyboard. The wall mounted home theater speakers would technically work, but would probably sound really crappy compared to running through proper studio monitors (which you could probably get for around the same $).

Just something to think about before the final installation.

The lack of leg room definitely makes it difficult for an average height person to play. Even borderline for me (5'3"). I'm not sure how I goofed that but considering this is for the kids I can live with it. The height brings it more to their level and I love that it makes it more approachable to them. Like the whole marketing things to kids by making the products eye level. But if someone else wants to play - yah they'll be uncomfortable .

My original plan was to use powered monitors. I normal have the keyboard hooked up to my active Event 20/20's monitors and it's the best stereo sound in the house. However, I've been blown away by affordable in wall speakers lately. My budget was $100 and been underwhelmed by studio monitors for that price. I went with these monoprice speakers and this tiny amp. So far tested the amp on my floor standing speakers and was very impressed. Amp has great dynamic range which I think is the biggest draw back when trying to use that kind of gear as an amp. I also feel like this will streamline the over all look which my wife will appreciate. Paintable grills so a lot of color options too. Lastly, I don't have to contend with securing heavy speakers with wires and such from my kids. I agree I'm rolling the dice a bit but I think it will work out in the end.

I definitely appreciate the feedback though!

[Charles Li]

Regarding the "notch" for the seat clearance: IMO, I think this will take away from your simple but elegant look and push it into the "afterthought" category, and look tacky.

How about cutting a gentle arch across the front of your stretcher, proportioned to allow clearance for the seat? The stretcher will still be plenty strong enough, and I think it will look intentional.

Thanks, I've been thinking of an arch. My only worry is how good of an arch can I actually make heh. I suppose at worst I can detach it and make a new one. My father-in-law handed me down a jigsaw but I have yet to use it (or use a jigsaw ever lol). Something has to be done though to address that and the legroom. I think I can get away with tracing an arched board and go from there.

[Charles Li]

Well, got a little more done over the weekend. I was able to cut out and pop the speakers in for testing. The speakers and amp themselves work as good as expected. I haven't even sealed the enclosure yet and there's plenty of presence. Unfortunately, I didn't take into account the off axis factor. The speakers are aimed directly at the ceiling and the angle is too sharp when you're sitting down to get the most out of the speakers. The sound is still acceptable but a little disappointing. I could angle the speakers but not sure if it's worth it. I still like the function over bookshelf speakers so not regretting the decision. If sound quality is paramount, studio monitors (even at the same price range), is still the way to go.

I cut out the arch as well to fit the seat under. Works and looks good for the seat, however the leg room is worse than I thought after getting some jam time on the keyboard. The biggest issue is the height of the keys before it even reaches the table top. I never realized because I've always used an x stand. My synth is 2 inches where this is 4.5 inches ugh. Now I'm thinking of cutting out the table top under it. I don't know how strange that's going to look but it will be covered by the keyboard itself. Maybe I'll add a stretcher the the middle since I'd lose the front one...