Help with a project

[wprpalmeida]

Fellow members,

I am about to get married, and although my wife fully supports my sim-racing habits, I will not be able to have a dedicated room for my rig in my future house, due to budget constraints. I have quite a bulky-ish setup, with a T500RS and a local brazilian rig:

So I thought of a solution she's quite happy with: I want to build a swiveling platform that would enable me to quickly and relatively effortlessly move my rig around the room. I would then build a closet that would have a dedicated space for my rig, so that when it's stowed and closed, visitors will be kept inconspicuous as to my unusual hobby. Not to mention the space it takes in front of the TV.

My doubts are how would I build such a platform. I thought about an aluminium frame with swiveling wheels (4 or 6) that would be covered in black MDF panels to match my black cockpit. Has anyone ever done any project like this?

 

[Charlie A]

So the rig in the picture is yours? or are you doing a DIY rig? My suggestion would be to honestly make a wooden platform out of 2x4's or plywood, and If your rig has wholes on the bottom, screw it in. Then drill holes in the plywood or 2x4's and add swivel wheels (Castor wheels I believe the name is). But make sire they are strong, and have a locking mechanism.

 

[wprpalmeida]

mine is that one, yes. the prob is i'm not sure if plywood alone would take the weight. And it does not have holes in the bottom. I think I came up with a nice draft, and I'll post here once my ideas are put to paper.

 

[Charlie A]

mine is that one, yes. the prob is i'm not sure if plywood alone would take the weight. And it does not have holes in the bottom. I think I came up with a nice draft, and I'll post here once my ideas are put to paper.

good, If you need me to, I can think of something up Also, it might be better to PM me:tup:

 

[Paul33993]

I don't really see why the plywood wouldn't work (unless it was some weird implementation of it). I have a very customized cockpit that rolls around. And it's plywood for the base with 4 caster wheels underneath.

 

[Charlie A]

thats

I don't really see why the plywood wouldn't work (unless it was some weird implementation of it). I have a very customized cockpit that rolls around. And it's plywood for the base with 4 caster wheels underneath.

what I was trying to envision

 

[wprpalmeida]

I don't really see why the plywood wouldn't work (unless it was some weird implementation of it). I have a very customized cockpit that rolls around. And it's plywood for the base with 4 caster wheels underneath.

would you mind posting pics? the cockpit is quite heavy. it weighs around 50lbs, plus the wheel (T500RS), plus me, and I weigh almost 190lbs., I just don't know how fragile (or not) plywood is

 

[Charlie A]

would you mind posting pics? the cockpit is quite heavy. it weighs around 50lbs, plus the wheel (T500RS), plus me, and I weigh almost 190lbs., I just don't know how fragile (or not) plywood is

its pretty sturdy, but id make a 2x4 frame. Might make it about 6in taller but...

 

[Charlie A]

Something like this, with wheels on the bottom

 

[wprpalmeida]

View attachment 136105
Something like this, with wheels on the bottom

pretty much what i'm thinking. i'll also try to make a section for the AC power supply underneath the main chassis. there won't be much of a lip though, just enough to make sure it stays in place

 

[Charlie A]

hmm... drill an extension chord to the base. (Or back) I can draw some things up I you want

 

[JogoAsobi]

@ wprpalmeida,

Is your floor wood or carpet?

I used velcro to attach furniture sliders like these under my 80/20 rig (its pretty damn heavy).
It now slides effortlessly from room to room.
I believe you can also get felt-covered sliders for wood floors.

As for the wiring, you can always route that under or along the rig with zip ties and velcro.
I used velcro to mount my T500's power pack to my rig.

 

[Charlie A]

Is your floor wood or carpet?

I used velcro to attach furniture sliders like these under my 80/20 rig (its pretty damn heavy).
It now slides effortlessly from room to room.
I believe you can also get felt-covered sliders for wood floors.

As for the wiring, you can always route that under or along the rig with zip ties and velcro.
I used velcro to mount my T500's power pack to my rig.

hmm good idea

 

[JogoAsobi]

HarborFreight Tools also sells some heavy duty ones for dirt cheap.
They are called MagicMover sliders.
I have actually gone to them now.

You get 8 per pack in two sizes, four of each size: 3x3in/7.5x75.cm & 7x7in/16x16cm.
I cut the slider's dense foam out in the shape of rubber isolation blocks I have under the rig.
Then I attached them using velcro.

You can see three of the sliders under the rig, and T500 PSU velcroed to the rig's rear corner.
I used 14 (7.5x7.5cm) for the entire rig to spread out the weight load. Rig is at least 45Kg with T500.
If you have wood floors, instead of carpet, just glue felt to the bottoms of the sliders.

 

[wprpalmeida]

my floor is going to be tile (Jogo, you might remember how common it is for us to have tile floors here)

due to the fact that I can't scratch it, I managed to find these gel swiveled wheels. each wheel supports up to 40kg.

it seems to be kind of what i'm looking for. if the wedding preparations let me, i'll procure the plywood board and lips from a local wood shop on saturday and will start working on it.

 

[JogoAsobi]

my floor is going to be tile
I managed to find these gel swiveled wheels. each wheel supports up to 40kg.

LOL, yes tiles slipped my mind, we also have them here in the desert clime.
That looks like it will work for what you have to do. Has a brake stopper too.
Seems like Charlie A was on it with the idea of wood supports. 👍

A friend of mine in rio (state) did similar to your idea for his PlaySeat but no wood.

Congrats on your wedding & good luck with your project!
Look forward to seeing rig when you're done.

 

[Paul33993]

would you mind posting pics? the cockpit is quite heavy. it weighs around 50lbs, plus the wheel (T500RS), plus me, and I weigh almost 190lbs., I just don't know how fragile (or not) plywood is

View attachment 136105
Something like this, with wheels on the bottom

That's actually how I'd do it.

http://insidesimracing.tv/forums/topic/8158-roll-into-my-transformable-desk-cockpit/

I never actually posted my setup here, but that's it in the early days. It's undergone lots of changes since. My T500 looks like such a virgin in that screenshot.

I weight 185 - 190. All the wood and junk doesn't weight another 50 pounds, but there's more than it appears (especially on the seat side). Nevertheless, the pic that Charlie posted seems like it's suffieciently over-engineered (which I'm a fan of) for your purposes.

It's probably not a secret why I'm anxiously awaiting the Oculus Rift DK2. I built that in the early days of the Oculus buzz with the hope VR would arrive sooner rather than later. It's basically as compact a solution as I could possibly think of.

 

[lemansfanatic]

Getting closer to most compact, but not quite... Leave it in the closet and race in there. In a few months when Oculus rift comes out we won't need big screen tvs or projectors anymore, then you can leave your rig in a small closet where you can keep all your computer items. Just get a portable air conditioner to cool the closet (it will get extremely hot with computer, wheel, and you in there) and presto: you're got your own dedicated racing room. Also, the acoustics in a closet would be pretty awesome.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007QZ8NII/?tag=gtplanet-20

 

[wprpalmeida]

Getting closer to most compact, but not quite... Leave it in the closet and race in there. In a few months when Oculus rift comes out we won't need big screen tvs or projectors anymore, then you can leave your rig in a small closet where you can keep all your computer items. Just get a portable air conditioner to cool the closet (it will get extremely hot with computer, wheel, and you in there) and presto: you're got your own dedicated racing room. Also, the acoustics in a closet would be pretty awesome.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007QZ8NII/?tag=gtplanet-20

Since I'm going to build my house, I thought of having a dedicated sim-racing room, but due to budget constraints, I won't be able to. And I won't have space to put such a closet (which is an awesome idea) without losing a lot of space in a certain room. When I get home I'll post pics of my current setup.

 

[Charlie A]

That's actually how I'd do it.

http://insidesimracing.tv/forums/topic/8158-roll-into-my-transformable-desk-cockpit/

I never actually posted my setup here, but that's it in the early days. It's undergone lots of changes since. My T500 looks like such a virgin in that screenshot.

I weight 185 - 190. All the wood and junk doesn't weight another 50 pounds, but there's more than it appears (especially on the seat side). Nevertheless, the pic that Charlie posted seems like it's suffieciently over-engineered (which I'm a fan of) for your purposes.

It's probably not a secret why I'm anxiously awaiting the Oculus Rift DK2. I built that in the early days of the Oculus buzz with the hope VR would arrive sooner rather than later. It's basically as compact a solution as I could possibly think of.

lol. Im an engineer guy