Using MDF for building recording studio furniture

If you are building a studio, the time will come when you need to create custom furniture to suit your needs and the equipment you own. You can buy it, but it’s expensive and may not be exactly what you want. Typically a studio may need ..

1. Workstation desk, with room for a computer (monitor, mouse, keyboard), monitor speakers and control surfaces
2. 19” racks
3. Bespoke stands (eg to angle monitors or remotes, etc)
4. To create acoustic panels (eg reflectors, absorbers etc)

Our first builds used good quality wood and designs tailored to the exact needs of the equipment we had at the time. But experience has taught us that this does’t work and here’s why ..

Studios are a work in progress. They are never finished, they just evolve as gear is added and exchanged. Therefore building inflexible furniture tailored to a fixed equipment inventory can often be a waste of time.

What most studios need is furniture that is ..

1. Cheap, so it doesn’t matter if you scrap it when your needs change
2. Easy to build and customise
3. Modular
4. Mobile (put castors on everything!)

The answer is to use MDF (medium-density fibreboard) board. Here’s why ..

1. It’s cheap
2. Very strong
3. You can get your local timber yard to cut pieces to the exact sizes you need (measure twice!)
4. It’s a breeze to finish with an electric sander and fine hand held sandpaper (no splinters)
5. It’s easy to varnish or paint
6. If you screw it together you can disassemble it and re-use it
7. It’s easy to install rack strip, cable management devices, and cut holes for cable runs

Our advice is ..

1. Use 18mm (thick) MDF. 15mm is too thin, will easily warp and is harder to join with screws.
2. If you’re going to glue it, use good wood glue and clamp the pieces together for at least 1 hour.
3. Use steel right angles to improve strength and hold pieces together before you drill and screw them.
4. For large items, such as 19” racks, use screws approx 50-60mm long and pre-drill holes with a bit that is just a little thinner than the screw.
5. Use a countersink bit so the screw doesn’t stand proud of the hole.
6. Always finish surfaces with paint or varnish. MDF will disintegrate on contact with liquids. We prefer satin or hard gloss. Apply 2 coats and sand with fine sand paper between coats.
7. Try and think modular. Four stackable 10u 19” rack cabinets may be better than a single 2 column 20u cabinet.

We hope you find this advice useful.

Thanks for reading.
FairFax