Bartop build...'Black Ops' finished (look at the pretty lights)

[Rick]

You know what I hate about this build?  The same thing I hate about Ond's build.  You guys are CONSISTENTLY raising the bar!  How do you expect ANYONE else to compete, when you bring builds like THIS to the table?!  Seriously.  I hate you guys and your (superior) quality workmanship.  Seriously.

_{/me wrings his hands in angry anticipation of his own build, which will undoubtedly have to become a lot more work to attempt to live up to the enviable heights the bar has now been raised to.}

 

[EvilNuff]

Good thing we're not in a competition.

To reply to my own question, I am guessing you used a 3/4" hole for the jig.  That's a tight fit for me for the current happ buttons, I have a bunch of older happ's that are slightly bigger so measurements are slightly off for me sometimes.

[Lewis Black]

You know what I hate about this build?  The same thing I hate about Ond's build.  You guys are CONSISTENTLY raising the bar!  How do you expect ANYONE else to compete, when you bring builds like THIS to the table?!  Seriously.  I hate you guys and your (superior) quality workmanship.  Seriously.

We are not in 2003 anymore, that's for sure... back then it was all boxy black cabs.   I can't wait for when someone posts about their hovering-holo-mame machine in 2015.

[Rick]

Good thing we're not in a competition.

+1.  (Hopefully everybody recognizes the winky in my post.  Don't take any of my post seriously - I LOVE this build.  Besides, it gives a LOT of direction that I'll need for my cab.)

[chris77]

OMG, this is sooooo AWESOME!!!   I love your work   

[opt2not]

Hey ninja, after re-reading through the thread again, I was looking at that feedback I gave you for the artwork and was thinking, how would you feel about removing the soldier guy's head completely?
...and instead, putting an outlined silhouette of 1-3 soldiers striking a pose?
Just brain-stormin' here, but I messed around in photoshop for 5 mins with your art concepts. I figured something more simple might work really well. Anyways, just some more feedback to think about is all...

[ninjasquirrel]

Evilnuff-Yeah I pretty sure I used a 3/4" forstner bit for the jig hole, but like you said I think I must have reemed it out a little.  I think the actually measurement for the hole should be @ 0.78"+ Then I cut a small piece of dowel to place in the bottom of the button (if it's too loose place the dowel into water for awhile it will swell the end making it tighter) once it was placed in the jig.  Don't push the dowel in too far or the blade will hit it while it cuts through the button top (it won't hurt anything, just makes it harder to cut through) I actually had enough room to hold onto the button "legs" while i pushed it through the cut *warning-do at own risk*  Hopefully that makes since, if not tell me and I'll make it more clear with pics.  As long as you have a sharp blade it cuts through quite easily and I'm sure that with a negative tooth saw blade it would be even easier.

wxforecaster-Thnx! I've concluded it is impossible to get used to this 3rd shift zombie feeling I can't shrug off 

Santoro-So many great projects on here I it's easy to overlook anything

Rick-hehe, it helps to have an art and woodworking background! Your project looks VERY promising...very original idea, can't wait to see where it will go!

chris77-thanks! stay tuned in

opt2not-Great idea with the silhouette! I've taken a step back from the artwork but now you've got my head spinning again. I definitely like the simplistic look, I'm considering changing the top section also. Getting rid of the the scratchy look, maybe blacking it out and placing a glowing green silhouette of a map (much like something you would see in a call of duty game cut scene) throughout the whole thing. Keep those ideas coming! I think I might go with a ' Black Ops ' look

Ok so not much of an update again but it's something at least. I'm seriously considering going with the paint that Bender suggested:
http://alsacorp.com/products/softtouch/softtouch.htm
It's pricey but I haven't found anything else that I like better, and it would go perfect with the look I'm going for, a rubberlike, flat black finish. I went ahead and applied fiberglass resin on the areas around the screen and marquee to seal and smooth out the mdf edges. Next I began to work on the bottom of the cab. After bondo-ing the edges of the plywood to get rid of the fuzz and shooting some primer and paint on them, I came out with something like this:


I just laid the screens in there to show how the thing would look. Next I found a piece of scrap laminate that looked nice (burl wood grain) rough cut it, and placed it on top the bottom with the screens...it's all still loose at this point.




Next my attention was focused on getting juice to the motherboard, so I rigged up something to hold my extension cable to the aluminum back I had made. It is simply a piece of ply that I cut out and epoxied the cable onto. Then I countersunk some screws and attached it with lock nuts on the back.






That's pretty much it for now. The next few updates will probably be small but at least the ball is rolling again. Attaching all the fans and creating the screens for them will be my next step. I'll try to get a little done this weekend and update it.

[Roo]

Those screens turned out really nice!  I love how you embedded them under the laminate! 

Looking sweeeet!

[EvilNuff]

My calipers measure it at .778" heh so yeah 3/4" plus some sandpaper should be perfect.  I never thought about a hole for the smaller diameter piece.  I am planning to go with my miter saw which has a negative tooth blade on it.  Any suggestions for how to find a place to cut the acrylic?  I'm betting thats cheaper than the washers I found.  Not sure what to look for though.

[ninjasquirrel]

Finally had a couple minutes to work on the beast. Sorry I haven't been more involved lately but still crunching those 7 days a week at work and after family time the glass is empty for hobbies 
Ok so directly in line with OND's amazing finish work on the Astro, I too am in the painting process. Since the last update I've placed a piece of laminate on the bottom of the bartop, bondoed the seam between the laminate and side, sanded and primed, which left me with:





Don't mind the last pic it shows after painting.

After sanding, and sanding, and some more sanding...and after going through a couple cans of primer I was left with a decent surface to paint on.



A while back I bought a SATA minijet HVLP gun which came in handy during the next process of painting. A quick trip to the local NAPA store to buy some black paint, sandpaper, lacquer thinner, and scotch bright pads. This is the gun and paint I'm using:



So after applying either the first or second coat, can't remember they all blend together, and sanding down with 400 grit I was left with a couple imperfections.  These only showed up after the shiny paint was applied...yay me!
So sanded back down to get rid of most.





After applying another coat, I wet sanded with 600 grit paper, cleaned off and shot I think the 3rd coat. And this is where I am at right now, after 3 coats and alot of patience.





This was immediately after shooting the bartop so it looks a little orange peeled. It has since flattened out quite a bit and doesn't look too bad. I'll probably put one more coat of paint on and then get onto the good stuff...in case I haven't said anything about it yet, I bit the bullet and bought the soft feel clear coat from Alsa corp that I was mentioning earlier in my posts. I'm pretty excited to see what this stuff looks and feels like. I should get a chance to shoot the clear withing the next couple of days. So for now that's it, gotta get ready for work...boy it always gets in the way of our fun doesn't it?!?! 

[kop]

Just wanna say this project is awesome.    Great attention to detail.


The finish looks great as is without the clearcoat.  The end result should look fantastic!

[emphatic]

Great to see you back on this! 

[jipp]

man, i may as well throw the towel in.  how am i suppose to even come close to the creativity on this forum.  sigh if i was not so far in my cab i would stop. laughs. but its good to have the bar set so high..  its motivation in the end..  thanks for sharing.

chris.

[DaOld Man]

Man this is some fine work here.

Dont feel too bad Jipp, just take a look at some of my projects, Im sure that will make you feel much better about your work. LOL

[Bender]

looking great!

Can't wait to see the soft feel

[ninjasquirrel]

Good and bad news...I was able to decide on how to bake the rubber cleat coat on. I grabbed some 3/4" insulating foam from the local hardware store, lined it with aluminum foil, and seamed it with aluminum tape. When trying to decide on the heat source, I happened to think of how I heat my actual garage. So I turned my ready heater toward the rigged oven and took a feel at how hot it could get inside:



The next step in the painting process was to shoot two coats of the clear on bartop and place it into the oven to dry:



Ok so here is where it gets rough...in the beginning of the 'baking' I had the heater a good distance away and all was going well. After moving the heater back and forth to circulate the heat around the arcade, I was running out of time and had to go to work soon, so...I moved it a little closer to quicken the process. This stuff takes a long time to flash off and dry to the touch. That's when the bad news hit, of course, anytime you get in a hurry! The back right hand corner of the bartop, the area where the curve was made with expanding foam, fiberglass, and bondo, pushed out and expanded, from the added heat:



The rest of the finish looks pretty good:





The finish itself is really nice! It gives a matte finish and does feel rubber like their website said. I think I'm going to scuff it and give it one more coat, given the fact that once I saw the mistake, I touched the area near it and smudged the heated paint 

As far as the puckering is concerned, I might come up with an external solution, something to place on both sides to camouflage the spot. Suggestions are welcome  More on that to come. Next step is to work on the back panel again!

[opt2not]

You did what, and that's a what?!? 

I swear, i'm envious of you guys and your space. You have the room to do the cool ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---. 

[javeryh]

Wow dude.  Unreal.  That is one of the nicest finishes I've seen.  I can't even tell that there is an imperfection or anything either.  I love this thing.   

When sanding the curved area how did you guide the sander?  Is it all just by eye or is there some sort of trick to getting it so perfect?  You've got skills. 

[Bender]

Man that looks awesome!

What do the directions say about the baking process?
I have a project down the line I'd like to use this on, I think mine is small enough to fit my oven

[ninjasquirrel]

opt2not- I wish I did have proper space  I'm in a one car garage with a table saw (with extensions of course), a jointer/planer, dust collector, air compressor, shop vac, router table, tools, my old dining room table (used as a work top), misc holiday decor, scrap wood...well you get the picture  In the picture you can see the small isle I made through the mess to dry the bartop. I actually shot finish on the piece on top of the table saw! I guess like everyone else I want 'more'

javeryh-thnx! As with most flat paints, because of no reflection and shine, it shows every little thing. That finish is far from perfect, especially with the expanded area where it is puckering now, but it's good enough for the abuse this thing will get from friends and family 
As far as sanding the curve, I started out with an electric random orbital sander to get the rough sanding done. Next I simply hand sanded with rough grit and worked my way down to about 120 grit. It is all accomplished by eye and feel. When using a sander on a curve, the main key is to keep the thing moving. 'Never' stop moving it or a flat spot will be created...also don't push on the sander much. Let it do all of the work, you are simply steering the sander.

Bender-I called alsa corp to ask about the whole baking process and if it was needed. The tech guy said I could get away without baking it, but it would probably take up to 10 days to be dry to the touch. Since I'm working in an unheated garage I had to flash it off quick so dust etc would not land in the finish. I think the recommended drying temp is 150 degrees for about 40 min. Take a look near the bottom at the specs on the resin
http://alsacorp.com/products/softtouch/softtouch.htm
Is your oven the same you use for food? If it is I would think twice about that...this stuff is super strong smelling when curing like most catalyzed finishes! Might not be too healthy for the house if ya know what I mean 

I did give it another two light coats of finish to get rid of the finger smears, and I'm happy with it for now. That finish is strange stuff. Almost impossible to scuff sand because it balls up like sanding a rubber band!  The next hard part of the work is attaching the exhaust fans to the back panel. I've come up with an idea to use 3.5" pvs pipe to make the transition but more on that later

[Bender]

Ninja,

Thanks so much for the info, and for being my guinea pig on this
does the finish seem pretty scuff/scratch resitant?

I cook all types of non-food things in the oven then just run the self clean cycle afterwards and leave the house for a bit
it all makes the bacon tastier  

[ninjasquirrel]

Bender-so far the finish seems to be pretty tough. On the backside, where there is overspray, I took my fingernail across it. It probably needs to cure some more but it left just a slight scuff mark. I rubbed it once or twice with my finger and it disappeared. This stuff is pretty weird. Next time I post pics I'll show you one of this stuff after it set up in a scrap container. It's about .5" thick and you can't tear it apart...it's flexy but won't tear or break, promising!! I'll keep ya updated on how resistant it is when it's fully cured.

p.s. I was wondering where your third eye was coming from?!   

[zorg]

I come in late, ut you can quite easily make a oven of big size using some spare parts.
an old metalic box, thermal gun, thermometer and some other parts.

see pics for details http://id19p.over-blog.com/article-12820140-6.html (french text, but pics are self explanatories)

[ninjasquirrel]

zorg-thnx for the link, looks interesting!

Ok not much going on over the holidays with all the chaos and all but I had a chance to work a little more on the artwork for the cpo. I need some feedback on the new design before I move on to the marquee art.



On a side note, the finish has cured fully and it is still impressing me. It is quite scratch and mar resistant. I would definitely recommend it.
Hopefully construction will resume soon this week on the back panel.

[ninjasquirrel]

Well it's been awhile but don't worry I haven't given up on this beast yet...life and work are still just slowing me down. It's my little girls birthday this weekend and I was hoping to get it into a playable condition but...of course I ran out of time. I did want to update you guys with some pics on the progress.
After drilling and counter sinking the back for the misc fan attachments, button, power module etc, I used lock nuts to attach everything so they shouldn't slip down the road and I bondoed over the screw heads:


When thinking about how to attach the outlet fans to the alum. back, I decided to make some plywood blocks and secure the fans to these. By drilling out the center of the plywood to the same diameter as the back, I was able to find a piece of PVC the perfect size to epoxy into the ply. After screwing the plywood to the alum and letting the PVC stick out a little on the front side of the alum back, I simply sanded the PVC down to make it nice and flush to the curve of the back and bondoed it. Soon after this I used my router to round over the back side on the PVC transition and painted it black.





On the coin insert area, I bought some Neutrik usb ports, predrilled the holes for them, chiseled out the correct depth to make them flush to the plywood, attached them and used some bondo to cover the screw heads etc, sanded the bondo, applied the carbon fiber decal, and superglued 2 o-rings to finish off the over all look of the front:



Focusing on the bottom- I placed the grills in, attached the sub and fans with screws, contact glued the laminate in place over the screw heads etc, and routed the edge.



Moving back to the rear panel-After scuff sanding the whole panel and cleaning it off with lacquer thinner, I began to stick the carbon fiber in place. Once the sticker was down, I trimmed it, placed the power button in where it belonged, and very slightly sanded the edges around both fan holes. By sanding the edge, some of the white PVC began to show through and surprisingly enough I really like the way it looked and how it tied the white fan blades into the whole piece so I kept it instead of trying to paint it:





Like I said, sorry I haven't been updating, but like everyone else, life has been hectic. I hope to have the building aspect done within the next week or 2 and then begins the wiring, software, etc. I better get the Advil ready because I know it will be a headache from here out 
More to come

[emphatic]

  That looks great!

[Ginsu Victim]

How did I miss this project? This is AWESOME. I'm working on a cabinet right now (I haven't posted about it) and boy does this make me feel like even more of an amateur than I already do.

Great work!

[swaffar]

Any updates?  It'd be a shame to not see this thing get finished.  Great work!

[ninjasquirrel]

I know, it's been TOO long since the last update.  Work has been crazy with working the whole 7 days a week thing and the off shift...but I have had a little bit of time to tinker on it. I'm hoping to find a new position of employment soon and that will allow more meee time hopefully for the things that are important like family and hobbies! Regardless, the graphics have been finished, ordered, and have arrived. Some of the internal wiring has been started, etc and I'll hopefully return to posting on the forum very shortly.  I want to have the entire bartop completed by the end of the year. Don't give up on it yet!! And thanks for reigniting the interest in the project  Updates to come soon...

[Bender]

Can't wait to see!!!
Glad your back at it, even if it's just a little at a time
I've been missing the updates on this!

[Shortbus]

Wow, thats a sick(in a good way) cab, outstanding work, awesome, absolutely awesome!

thank you!

[TopJimmyCooks]

just caught this for the first time after poking around here for fourteen months.  Being a slave to the rectilinear, I am totally impressed with the laminate and painting techniques - can't wait for more on this.   

[TheShaner]

Um wow!  Incredible work!  Do you have any pics of those nifty buttons of yours lit up at night?

[ninjasquirrel]

Sorry about no updates for multiple months guys...man I hate 3rd shift 

Bender- so have I man, it's been eating me from the inside out not being able to contribute anything to this project for so long.

Shortbus and topjimmycooks- thanks for following the thread and stay tuned

TheShaner-I don't have any pics of the lit buttons yet but I'll be working on those puppies soon enough and will definitely get those night pics when I do


But good news, hopefully I will be able to slowly work on this beast from here out, regardless of how long it takes and how slow I go...progress is better than nothing. So over the long break off, I was able to get the graphics printed out, which included the cp overlay, the marquee, and the joy surrounds (that are actually marquee material, more on that later).
As far as construction, I made a jig for my router and recessed a 1/4" section around the joysticks to make a top plate. This top plate also houses a few LEDs that will mark the standard up-down-left-right positions and will light up the joystick surrounds which have graphics that correspond to these positions. So without further adieu...pic time.

This pic shows the routed recess around the sunken joystick housing that will accept the top plate:


Next is what the top plates look like from the bottom, where the LEDs are glued and press fit into the plywood. I soldiered extensions wires to the LED leads to give me more room to play with underneath the cab during wiring up:


This is a pic of the top plate screwed down to the CP and sanded flush with the surrounding area. I still need to bondo the countersinks etc and give it a once over sanding:


A shot from below the CP and a quick hookup to see if everything still works...it did thankfully. The LEDs are rated at about 3v each, are wired in series with a small resistor and give off about a 1.5v output. I didn't want to push them, I needed to keep the heat down (if any) and didn't need the brightness they gave off at 3v. The power source will be a 12v line:


Image of the LEDs on and the graphic surround next to it:


Picture of CP as of now with the surround taped down and lit up with the LEDs:


Surround being lit up in the dark showing how the graphic matches the light sources coming from the LEDs:


Ok so like I said I apologize for no updates for so long but I'll try and keep it going, even if slowly, from here out. Next step will be to finish the top plate surrounds, sand the CP smooth and stick the CP overlay on. It feels good to be back in the hobby again 

[Green Giant]

Good god almighty, another one of these professional wood workers is back and building again.



Damn!!!!!

[jimmy2x2x]

Very nice work

[Turambar]

Good god almighty, another one of these professional wood workers is back and building again.

There are so many cabinets on here where the craftsmanship is awe inspiring.  One thing I have decided is that after my current build (which is hopefully only a few weeks out from being complete), I will definitely be purchasing better tools and aspiring to learn to use them all better. 

Keep up the good work, Mr. Squirrel.  We are all watching!

[jmike]

   

Welcome back ninjasquirrel. We've been waiting patiently   

Keep us update when possible

[Le Chuck]

Innovative as usual, glad to see you're back with it!

[yotsuya]

So Ninjasquirrel is already calling his 2012 BYOAC award, huh?