Len Morgan's Studio Build Diary

what's the real purpose of the tables (except beeing tables)? Are you hiding your panels/cables in there or what? a

AndreasB wrote:

what's the real purpose of the tables (except beeing tables)? Are you hiding your panels/cables in there or what?

The short answer is yes. :-) I wanted some place to set down drinks, sheet music, guitar picks, etc. I wouldn't want a new customer to try and set them down on the black strip between the rooms because they would have to put their hand through the glass to do that. ':shock:' By making the colors very different and having molding around the edges to highlight even more, I shouldn't have a problem. By having a fairly generous amount of table space, I shouldn't have to add "moveable" furniture to the rooms. Since the tables don't move (I hope) once I know the room, I know the room. Having tables that could be moved around might change the way the room sounds. It's possible that I could have built some sort of panel resonators but I won't know that for sure until I get the room finished and start testing it. Just in case, on Knightfly's recomendation, I will be glueing MW to the inside faces of the tables to dampen any ringing. I also needed some place to mount the patch bays/connector panels and the table openings are 19 1/8" wide to accomodate that. There will also be a door under the rack panels so I can store cables and such under them to keep them handy. ... and [b]I[/] think they look cool. :-) len

8) 8) 8) 8) well they do look cool..

Thank you!!! It's makes all the painting and sanding worth it! Wait until it's done though. There's going to be a lot of trim going on those tables once the poly-urethane dries. :-) len

haha your crazy :twisted: I'm working part time as a carpenter building furniture and interior designs for ships/boats/yacths but I would never do that many layers, it'll be like glass :shock: Isn't there any paintshop around who do that for you in a whizz :?: :?: a

AndreasB wrote:

Isn't there any paintshop around who do that for you in a whizz

You obviously have not looked on a map to see where Big Spring, TX is! :-) I'm sure I could find someone to do the painting for me but at this point, it's really just the door trim and table tops that need the work (which is almost done) and in order to get the finish I want (like glass as you said), they are going to have to work a little, let it dry, come back and sand then put on another coat, etc, etc... I've worked out a pretty good system where I go down there about 6:30 in the morning, sand/paint/poly what needs it, then leave. Then I go back just after lunch (when it's all dried) and repeat the process. After dinner I go back again and do a third layer of something. I wouldn't normally spend so much time on what seems to many to be a minor detail but this is going to be a commercial facility and as such, people are going to see the studio long before they hear it and that first impression is going to be important. Shiny door trim and table tops that look like glass won't make the recording sound any better but clients might percieve it as better until they can hear it for themselves. It's just basic showmanship. :-) If a new client thinks the place LOOKS great and professionally done, then the music has to be at least as good, right? :-) len

Appearance does mean a awful lot to an awful lot of people. :-) Besides -- we work way too hard on our projects for them to come out looking like crap -- right? ;-)

well, some do look like shit, Swedens most popular (and Internationally renowned) studio, Atlantis, is an old cinema, looks pretty dirty and messy, but is defenitely one of very very few studios that actually is still up and running. (Polar, Warner, Universal etc. is closed) And that studio is all about the sound, nothing with the looks. (and of course the owner is damn damn good at running the place, recording, mixing etc.) BUT :wink: I don't disagree, shiny objects and flashy surfaces are good as long as they appeal the viewer (read; customer) and your Orangy Twangy color DO appeal to me :lol: can't you guys comment and read my topic regarding the glass wall thing, THAT is all about surface :twisted: a

AndreasB wrote:

. . . your Orangy Twangy color DO appeal to me :lol:

Len! Quick! Register OrangeTwangy.com! It's available now! ;-) :lol:

I had an Orange Twang once but it turned out to be too many carrots. A little ointment cleared it right up. :-) len

omg :lol:

sharward wrote:

Len! Quick! Register OrangeTwangy.com! It's available now! Wink Laughing

Not any more! :-) len

hahahahahahahahaha :lol: http://who.godaddy.com/whois.aspx?domai ... twangy.com

Hey Len... Just following along your thread... Great work my man! Keep it up!

Thanks Stan! Unfortunately, the A/C went out AGAIN and we're still hovering around triple digits on the temperature. :-( The joints seem to keep cracking (but just enough to let the Freon out, not enough to bubble reliably when trying to find them). I'll have to have the guy back for the third time to find the leak and fill it up again before I can proceed too much further. len

Ugh! I feel your pain Len (or, rather, I felt your pain a few days back. :( Hang in there, man... --Keith :mrgreen:

Thanks, Keith. At least I've got a good guy to work with. He's Trane's "factory man" in this area and services all of the commercial accounts (like the 6 prisons in town). Apparently they leak more Freon than I could ever use so I get my Freon for free. :-) He also did the install for $50 and this will be his third time out there. He can't make it until Sunday afternoon but as they say, beggars can't be choosy. :-) At least we've had a break from the triple digit heat lately. Only supposed to be in the mid 90s this weekend which for us is like cold front. len

I just learned something valuable here. When it comes time to run the lines to the mini split in my project, I'll want to have the lines pressure tested before drywalling. Imagine if there were a leak from one of the lines between the leaves! :shock: (There will be a few feet where this will be the case...) --Keith :mrgreen:

Aren't the lines on the mini-splits flexible plastic hose? Or are they copper tubing like a "real" A/C? :-) No matter what they're made of, maybe if you used a larger diameter PVC pipe to put the ducts through you'd have less of a chance of damaging them during construction. Just drill the right sized holes on a couple of end caps at each end and stuff it with FG. I'm pretty sure that when we had to change out the coil unit, the coupling that joined the old line to the new coil is where the leak is. The guy that did the install used a high silver content solder that supposedly doesn't require as much (any?) cleaning with emory cloth before soldering. I'm beginning to have my doubts. Then again, the compressor is not really in a secure location and someone could have just come up and let the Freon out at the fill valve. Since I haven't opened up yet, I don't think I've pissed off anyone enough for them to do that. Then again, maybe it the guy that tried to steal the compressor the first time I just set it out there. len

len-morgan wrote:

Aren't the lines on the mini-splits flexible plastic hose? Or are they copper tubing like a "real" A/C? :-)

They're "real."

Since it looks like the tubing is already insulated with foam (although not very much), unless you really man-handle it in the process of installing it, I think you're probably pretty safe. I don't remember seeing how you were going to run these lines. Are they going to go in a pretty much straight shot from condensor to indoor unit? If not, are you going to be able to snake it around where it needs to go before the DW goes up? len

The line will have to be about 50 feet long. I'm planning to mount the indoor unit on the back (south) wall, so the line will have to go up a few feet between the leaves, through the outer leaf ceiling into the attic, then through the attic towards the back of the house (south) perpendicular to the trusses, out a hole in the attic (possibly the same vent near the southeast corner that the old spa electrical conduit goes through, which is going to be repurposed to power the outside unit), then down about 10 feet to the ground where the outdoor unit will be. --Keith :mrgreen:

Hey Len! Did you ever get your A/C fixed in your building? It's been about six weeks since you posted an update on your project -- surely you haven't been idle the whole time... Have you? :? Better watch out -- I'm catching up on you, buddy! :lol: --Keith :mrgreen:

Well, I was a little bit idle a couple of weeks ago. My wife needed a vacation <b>BADLY</b> and <b>I</b> needed her to have one. Other than that, I have been busy and taking lots of pictures but at this point, it's been a lot of little stuff like painting the doors and trim which isn't all that exciting. I'll try and update soon (maybe this weekend). As to my A/C system, it seems that someone came during the night and loosened the fittings where the coolant comes in and out of the compressor (it sits exposed near the street unfortunately) so it was just empty. It works like a charm now and even yesterday (at 103) it was nice and comfy. Yes, you ARE catching up fast. Does it count if I drag all my equipment from home down there and record a few seconds worth so I can say I'm "finished?" :-) len

P.S. Keith, Thanks for finding my thread for me. It moved off the first page! :-) len