Mine sure took more time and effort than just mail-ordering one and as for price..? I don't know, not much I guess and it's nice("Yes, I built the custom rack myself." Can't say that about too much these days.).

Only advice I have is to "make one of the measurements 19" - PLUS a safe bit... I built a small rack for under a table and I made it 19"(Or so I thought.). Actually, when I screwed the whole thing together it was then apparently just a shade under 19...... Now, whenever I put a new piece of gear in I've got to get a file first to shave out a little bit more room... And it was all so nicely stained and urethaned and all...... Oh well - it works nice and looks pretty good - if you don't look too close.

Just screwed & glued, made of Poplar and nice-looking 1/2" plywood for the top - it's built like a podium, so my mixer sits, angled, on top, under my work station, with a white enameled strip of wood keeping the mixer from sliding off the front and I can put a strip of tape on the white wood strip, labeled to show what's what today on the mixer... Nice to build ones' own, as it can be just the right size(At least if one measures correctly.). Could build the whole thing of wood except use strips of steel, drilled and tapped for the rack screws, if you need to put stuff in and out alot. I just used wood and put fiber washers under the wood screws to hold gear, as I don't do much re-arranging. If I need to, I can add the steel strips later - after I've stripped out the wood(It'll be a while...). For BIG rackes, I'd go with factory-made steel racks, I suppose - I wouldn't know whether too much warpage or sag would occur over time? And these days, just putting the things together from the flat box they'll surely come in would be "project" enough for me.

If "used" is OK, you might find used equipment racks, even at used office or computer or industrial supply places? Virtually ALL equipment racks are 19", not just audio(Take your ruler along!)...

TG