I'm really sorry. I'm a HUGE stickler for detail, and now that I've realized my original wood working was sub-par, there was no other answer than to start from scratch. Look for progress this weekend. I know I will.
Dammit. There's never enough time, is there?
This weekend, I had a couple of hours to myself, and in that time, I was able to redesign the top and sides how I wanted them. (Let me clarify. My Wife wasn't feeling good, and was having a nap after a super-busy and wonderfully horrible week. My three year old was outside with me, letting me know he wanted to 'help'. His definition of help - because he is three - is to ask to be pushed on the swing, helped down the slide, and driven around our backyard in his non-functional Power Wheels jeep. Let's just say it wasn't the most 'arcade productive' couple of hours, but it certainly was fun.)
I am proud to say, that now, instead of five pieces for the top, it is now comprised of three. (Yes, I guess I must explain.) I determined (with help in the woodworking forum from The Lumberjackass) that, to get the angles I wanted, and with my current tools and budget, the only way everything was going to work was with joinery. Thinking for a bit, I figured out that I didn't require five cuts, as I had done previously, but three would do. I rebuilt the top using a large rectangle (24" x 9") and then the front 'wings' from two, separate pieces of stock, to be inserted from the front, using biscuit joinery. I was able to use my table saw to give the rectangle it's customary 15 degree bevel, both front and back, and then I used my mitre saw to carefully cut the two wings from 2" x 3" stock, and mitred in the appropriate angles. After some measuring, I used my router table to slot some biscuits in there, and voila! I now have a wide, strong control panel, with the least number of joins required to get the look I want.
...and yes, I am very, very impressed with the result. So much so, that I am considering setting fire to my original attempt, lest anyone else ever see the sad mish-mash of wood thrown together...)
So, I now have the majority of my pieces cut - I have the top, the back, the two sides, and some miscellaneous internal support pieces which will support the bottom. Oh, I guess I didn't mention that - my plan is to have the control panel accessible through the bottom, upon disassembly from the cabinet. I'm setting some internal support pieces 3/4" (or 5/8" - haven't decided, but am leaning towards the 3/4", as I do need to make another 'wood run' soon) from the bottom edge, and installing some t-nuts, so that the screws will be nice and neatly tucked away from view.
I have printed my hole cutting diagrams, and they're currently sitting on my dining room table. I visited Canadian Tire on my lunch, and found that it's near impossible to find a 1 1/8" Forstner bit (checked CT, HD and even Princess Auto - no dice) so I had to sacrifice for a hole saw kit... When I'm ready to do some cutting, I plan to be as meticulous. I plan to clamp some extra stock beneath the panel, pre-drill using a 3/8" drill bit (to get the hole nice and square) and then start in with the hole saw. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that everything goes as planned.
My Wife is out of the office until 6pm tonight, so after picking my Son up from Daycare, preparing some dinner, and tidying up the house a bit, let's see if we can't squeeze a little 'drilling time' in there somewhere...