Introduction: Make a Replacement Music Score Stand for Korg Dp-3000c Electronic Piano
Bought a used Korg DP-3000c piano keyboard. Works great but was missing the music stand. Looked online but couldn't find a replacement. So made one from parts on hand, in less time than I had spent searching online.
Step 1: Get Some "Pins" for the Drop-in Holes
I had some machine screws left over from another project. I believe they were between 1.25" and 1.5" long, and 1/4" diameter. I checked and they fit firmly in the original stand holes. They were long enough to stick outside the hole a good bit, so they could be attached to a stand.
Step 2: Measure Distance Between Holes
The distance between the two holes was 34 cm. It didn't measure to something normal in inches, so I figured since it was a non-American company, the manufacturer probably was using metric. My measuring tape had both cm and inches, so I just used cm for this part of the job.
Step 3: Decide Depth of the Stand Tray
the thickest music book I use is about 1.25" thick, so I decided 1.5" should be a reasonable depth.
Step 4: Cut Tray Stand and Back Support
I had a piece of plywood that was about 1 cm thick. that was thick enough to be able to mount a 1/4" screw through the middle. The piece was about 30" wide & 11.5" high. I measured the top of the piano and that was a good width so that it wouldn't overlap the speakers. I cut 1.5" off using a bandsaw. This left the height at 10", and also ensured the tray was from the same piece as the backing, so the wood would match. I also had another scrap piece of plywood the same thickness, but about 27" wide. I cut two 1.5" x 27" strips from this, for the back supports. since it would be in the back, it was ok that the wood wasn't as nice, and was shorter.
Step 5: Drill Holes for Support Screws in Back Support Strips
I measured out two holes in the back support strip, 34 cm apart, centered. put the holes about 1 cm in from the edge, since it's plywood and that will help keep the plywood from coming apart. Drilled holes with a 1/4" drill bit. This was a bit tight for the machine screw, so I screwed them in with the electric screwdriver.
Step 6: Test the Positioning of the Support Screws
Before attaching more parts, I tested the position of the support screws. They fit into the holes. A little tight but ok. The long part of the support strip goes to the FRONT, because I want the stand to tilt backward a little and this will provide a tilt zone for the stand.
Step 7: Make Sure Stand and Front Support Line Up As Desired
While the back support is in the holes, I set up the front of the stand to make sure the width is good, get an idea of how far down to attach the front support, and to ensure I will be able to tilt it.
The width was good.
I saw I could attach the support directly to the bottom of the back support. A direct 90 degree connection would work fine, which would make it easier to attach.
To accommodate the tilt, I put a vertical support board on top of the back support (with the screws) and tilted the back stand to where I wanted it. It looked like the easiest way to get the proper tilt would be to attach the vertical back support about 1/2 cm in from the edge.
Step 8: Attach Front Support Tray to Back
So the support screws weren't visible, I screwed them in from the back of the stand.
I held the tray and stand in place, and on the back/bottom I marked 4 location for screws. I wanted to predrill holes for the screws, because plywood splinters easily. I drew the marks across both pieces so that they would line up exactly.
I used 4 wood screws (1/4" diameter, about 1.25" deep). I predrilled 1/4" holes at the marks, in the middle of the short edge of the tray, and on the back of the stand. The back holes I drilled high enough so that the bottom of the back piece would line up with the bottom of the tray.
Once the holes were drilled, I started the screws into the back. Then I lined up the tray and drilled each screw a little bit into the holes in the side of the tray. I only started them in a little, so that if the holes were slightly misaligned, I would be able to get them all into their approximate locations before driving them in the rest of the way.
Just like replacing a spare tire on your car, it's better to finish driving the screws in an alternating pattern. If you just screw them in from left to right in a straight line, any misalignment will get worse by the end. By alternating, any misalignment is spread evenly across the whole piece, and not concentrated at one end.
When it was screwed in, I held it up and it looked good. The base was at a 90 degree angle, it was flat, and the screws weren't visible from the front.
Step 9: Attach Vertical Back Support to Back Piece
the vertical back support needed to be inset a little, so that the back stand would be able to tilt.
I marked the location of the screw holes from the front piece, onto the vertical and horizontal back supports. Then I set the vertical back support on top of the horizontal support, moved it in from the edge about the 1/2 cm I'd chosen when it was on the piano, and marked that distance in from the edge, at each screw location. I also put a mark on the other side of the vertical support, so I could see where to center the screw holes.
Predrilled holes in the vertical and horizontal supports, then screwed them together like the front tray piece.
Step 10: Attach Music Tray to Back Support
This part goes quickly, because of the careful prep work from before.
Insert the back support piece into the holes. Set the front tray and tilt as desired.
At this point I noticed a slot in the tray area of the piano. To give clearance to this slot, I moved the tray off-center to the right. It didn't overlap the right speaker, so I wasn't too concerned about it being an inch off center. If I were to do this again, I'd make the front support about an inch narrower.
I put a music book on the tray and tilted the stand. I also tested the tilt with some sheet music. It seemed adequate.
I decided to use two more machine screws, with washers and wing nuts, so it would be removable.
I measured the width of the tray, & set the washers on the tray at 1/3 and 2/3 of the width. Then I marked the center hole of each washer, so the height of the hole would accommodate them.
While holding the front support at the desired angle, pressed firmly against the back support, I drilled the first hole through the tray, and all the way through the back support. Made sure the drill hole was level with the top of the piano. Then I put a washer on the first machine screw, drilled it through the front and back hole, put a washer on the back, and tightened a wing nut.
After making sure the angle was still good, I repeated this for the second machine screw support.
Step 11: Check It, and It's Done!
I think it took longer to write this up than to do it.
Check it one last time. The angle still ended up a little steep, but the papers and books seemed ok so I'm not worried about it.
It would be easy to remove & spraypaint this black at a future date.
