If you want a protected finished surface for the top you can look at wood tops for tool boxes.
In the US they sell wood tops for tool boxes (without the tool box).
They have a waterproof finish on them. Not super cheap but you could just screw or glue legs/sides to the bottom.
It’s basically a pre-finished nice looking strong and durable wood surface.
Also, clamps 
and wood glue are your friend if you don’t have much for tools.
Thanks for the inspired idea, much appreciated 
I have the OT in the middle and it sits on the 2 stands. Just joined them so that it (OT) is not moving too much when pushing encoders.
I can actually remove 4 screws to separate them easily if necessary.
Came across this thread when looking for options and ended up ordering this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07J2KK11L
will see how it goes.
Used a shoe rack for years! Perfect size for a handful of desktop units.
I looked at shoe racks too, but just wasn’t confident they would work for me. I actually ended up getting the LOCI https://loci.life/ stands for the smaller synths, as they can be configured in quite a number of ways.
I also have some older Zerack Zerack stands for Elektron kit.
Then for some larger pieces of kit, I got a few monitor arms with trays : Help me decide on this product: suptek Laptop Arm for Desk, Monitor Arm with Laptop Tray, Laptop Desk Mount Adjustable for 13 to 27 inch LCD LED Screen or up to 15.6 inch Notebook (MD6421TP004) https://amzn.eu/d/0EyigGH
Finally, I have a few rack mount stands for other stuff.
