Having seen a truly a monolithic printer, described and filmed in the last post, coming home to my Epson 4900 put things in perspective. Still, this 17″ wide carriage printer is no midget. It weighs in at 52 kg (115 lb.) sans 11 ink cartridges and paper. Dimensionally, it’s no compact unit either, measuring 863 mm wide‎ x 762 mm deep x 405 mm high (34 x 30 x 16″).

Since delivery, last year, this beast has sat on an oak dining table, originally used as my matting and framing work area. The poor thing, with leaf installed, sagged disconcertingly in the middle!

Anyone who has tried to find a printer stand for the Epson 4900 will know there isn’t much out there, other than a few makeshift supports.

Cheapskate that I am, with experience as a cabinet-maker, I had resolved to build something myself, until common sense prevailed. I don’t have all the tools needed to do a good job and my time would be better spent concentrating on photography.

Instead of doing a less-than-decent job, I contracted Bertuccio Modern Handcrafted Furniture to put something together for me. This would be a pretty straightforward job — a “box” as owner-operator Darren Bertuccio referred to the printer cabinet.

Nonetheless, the result was very nice. Built from finished plywood and topped with faux wood Formica laminate, it’s rock solid. The last characteristic is particularly important, considering the throw of the 4900’s hefty MicroPiezo TFP Print Head. All I needed to do was construct a base (finished with felt pads) and stain the unit to match, as best I could, existing studio furniture.

In the end, the height brings the main printer top (not counting the roll-paper housing) level with the rest of my work desk. I’m glad I realized while designing the unit that building to existing height (760 mm/31″) would leave the printer higher than needed. As it stands, I can scoot over on my office chair, from my monitor to the printer, with the bed of the paper eject support at knee level.

As far as the dimensions of the cabinet go, if room wasn’t so tight I might have added a few inches to the width and depth. Firstly to make room for odds and ends and, in the latter case, care must be taken not to walk into or otherwise catch the paper eject support when extended for larger prints.

The final size of the cabinet is 921 x 813 x 425mm (36¼” x 32 x 16¾”), with the top shelf set at 4″.

With the work table reclaimed from the printer, I can continue the quest for studio organization.

While I’m at it, here’s my nifty dust cover. Unless you’re handy with a sewing machine, you’ll need a benevolent seamstress at hand. Thanks Mom!

Check out my comparison of Epson Legacy and Canson Infinity papers.