This blog documents my studio build started back in 2009. I'm keeping this live for reference as it may help others who are thinking of taking on such a project.
- Details
It had just occurred to me that I hadn't posted here for ages. Truth is that life has been rather hectic and although there hasn't been a great deal of progress with the studio I have completed a number of tasks. The main reason for the slow progress with the studio is that since the middle of last year my main project has been our two-storey extension to the house. Although I am not building this myself, I did do all the work in getting the project through planning with the local authorities. I even produced the planning drawings myself. I had an architect produce the constructional drawings to present to building control and for the builder though. So I have been, understandably, drawn away from the studio for some time. Having said that I have had time to finish of the silencers boxes in the rear corners and fill the areas with mineral wool (corner absorbers), start work on the front corner absorbers and finish the ring main wiring. And that is about where I am at the moment.
The extension itself is actually nearing completion with only the internal finishing touches to be done, which should be completed within the next 2-3 weeks. I have some landscaping work that I am currently working on; ripping up the old patio, dig out and construct a new decking area off the new french doors and re-lay the lawn.
Both projects are in fact part of the same master plan with the house it's just that they have sort of converged a bit and one has taken a back seat...slightly. But there you go I'm rambling on and I'm not entirely sure why I'm writing this anyway! I have been taking photos of the studio which I will post up at some time.
To be continued...
- Details
It was time to have a clear up in the studio, there was quite a bit of drywall dust around so I spent a good hour clearing up. Next thing was to finish off the caulking for the last ceiling layer of drywall. I had the screw heads to conceal and the joints to finish filling.
- Details
I finished the main body of the right hand silencer and glued and screwed this in position. So I now have essentially the carcases of the silencers finished ready to insert the baffles and secure the lids. Before going any further I now need to plan how I'm going to construct the corner bass traps which fill these alcoves and enclose the silencers.
- Details
The first silencer is starting to take shape. I created the middle partition gluing and screwing two MDF fins into place. Along with two smaller pieces of MDF at the top which blocks in the side channels where the air exits the box. I wasn't sure exactly how I was going to construct the internal baffles but with a bit of experimenting I decided to use rectangles of MDF as the base and stretch the material over and pin underneath. Again, with a bit of practice I came up with a fairly decent method and the baffles fit very snugly into the middle section of the silencer. I'll need to make a similar version for the other corner but I thought I would finish this one first to iron out any problem areas. So far this seems to go together pretty well. I'll have to assemble the box in situ as I'll be unable to secure it to the sides as there will be limited space to access with a screwdriver. This is probably for the best as the finished box will be quite heavy if fully assembled so I'll be able to fit this comfortably without any help.
So to assemble the box in situ:
Attach sides to the wall allowing 18.5mm for the back to slide up
Make the main body with back piece and internal fins to create the channel along with the bottom attached
Screw the top to the ceiling
Slide the body assembly up the back and screw in situ
Glue and screw the bottom to the sides
- Details
I finally made a start on the studio again. I've decided to get the ventilation system finished before anything alse. All I need to do here is make a couple of silencer boxes, one for the air intake and one for the air out. Though in actual fact I've still not decided whether the fan will suck or blow...though this doesn't really make any difference to the room as the fan is located in the garage so all I need do is turn the fan round in its mounting. So I can experiment with this once the air system is finished. I can't remember how much detail I have gone into this but the system is very basic with a fan on one side and an open vent on the other to bring fresh air in or old air out - depending on the fan direction.
As well as supplying airflow into the room itself I need to provide an airflow through the airlock area to provide a ventilation path to the PC which will reside in there. For this I'll simply tap of from the air flow into the top of the silencers through the wall into the doorway (airlock). I'm going to start with the air IN (I'm calling this in at the moment) so I first cut the hole through the 3 layers of plasterboard - I had already put some timber in the position in the stud-work. Dusty work as usual with plasterboard and with a combination of drill/jigsaw this was fairly easy. I had already draw up a basic design for my silencers boxes but I needed to fine tune this taking into account of the measurements and positions of the vent holes. This was my main objective here though I did actually cut the back piece of the box to fit into the alcove up to the ceiling (1000x460mm). Oh well its a start and from this the rest will take shape. It is basically a 18mm MDF box with baffles cut from Mineral wool which is then covered in material to keep the fibres intact. There is a partitioned middle area where the air flows down to the bottom then round the outside and back up and out of the vents into the room (images will probably better describe this) In fact these images are possibly the final layout (roughly anyway) for the silencers. Once these boxes are built and in place they will be covered with Mineral wool which forms part of the rear corner chunk absorbers - hopefully to further silence the ventilation system.