Main > Project Announcements
Bartop project from Emdkay's bartop kit.
Stobe:
Alright, ready to finish this badboy up!
I got a couple cheap computers from a local guy here via craigslist. The deal was good, and upon picking them up, it was clear that this guy liked building quality computers for himself. Both were in nice Antec cases, and both motherboards were high quality. I've built plenty of computers over the years, and every now and then I'd opt for an ECS or Gigabyte mobo because I couldn't spend the extra on a high-end Asus. So with that being said, I felt somewhat funny about ripping these computers apart, but that's what I bought them for, so....
Here is it mounted on another scrap of wood. Again, no time to oder PC standoffs, so I used the Bic pen method (search if you don't know what I'm talking about). Another method I just saw the other day on another project I'm working on was some winged twist nuts with the tops cut off. Might have to use that next time.
The power supply is sitting on end with just 2 screws through the "lip". Feels sturdy enough, as long as the bartop doesn't receive any excessive lateral acceleration.
I haven't permanently attached the video card yet. The height of the mobo didn't allow the "bend and screw" method. So I'll probably use a hot glue gun like I saw someone else around here do. I just wanted to make sure the cheap video card that I was using held its weight under my "load testing". So far so good.
The next 2 pictures will show a mounted button which is wired to the power button input on the mobo. Also, you can see that I had to notch the t-molding in order to be able to remove the back "door" (which is a sheet of peg board, in case it wasn't apparent on any of the other pictures.)
I know I might have skipped a few steps in the documentation, but once I got towards the end, I got on a roll and didn't snap as many pictures. If you have any specific questions about the build, just let me know.
And here it is. All finished (well 99.9% at least, I smart enough to know its never done). I'll disclaim again that I didn't put as much work into "pretty"ing this project up. It was more of a case study to see what I could build in a short amount of time using one of these kits.
Yup, I just noticed that the pacmaze gradient is opposite between the CPO and the marquee. Uhhh.... I meant it to be that way... ya, that's the ticket!
The floor is now open for questions/comments.
-Stobe
Epyx:
Definitely a functional kit. Are you going to be creating a bezel to hide the monitor and prevent the innards of the bartop from showing? Nice assembly, otherwise.
Stobe:
--- Quote from: Epyx on August 18, 2010, 01:39:32 pm ---Definitely a functional kit. Are you going to be creating a bezel to hide the monitor and prevent the innards of the bartop from showing? Nice assembly, otherwise.
--- End quote ---
Yes, that's part of the .1% in-complete-ness. ;)
There's 2 things working against me that are accounting for that:
1. The holes in the pegboard in back obviously allow light in.
2. I didn't put a "back" panel behind the marquee light. That accounts for most of the problem.
Without these issues, the smoked plexi does a pretty good job hiding everything. But in any case, I just picked up some black foam core, and will cut a functional "light-blocker". It will hide all the innards, but I'm not certain I will do anything fancier than that (artwork, instructions, etc).
-Stobe
leapinlew:
Is the T-molding slot on the marquee area offset or is your t-molding a hair too small? Looks like I can see wood all the way across.
Stobe:
--- Quote from: leapinlew on August 18, 2010, 03:53:37 pm ---Is the T-molding slot on the marquee area offset or is your t-molding a hair too small? Looks like I can see wood all the way across.
--- End quote ---
Can't get anything past Lew's watchful eyes!
Yes, the t-molding slot looked to be off a little bit (was included with the kit).
BUT
I cannot swear to you that I used 3/4" t-molding. :banghead: This was an unlabeled roll that I already had. I just checked my email confirmations from t-molding.com (from eons ago, thanks Gmail for never deleting anything!) and I did not see any orders for 5/8" T-molding. BUT, I didn't see any orders for black T-molding either. :banghead:
So it is possible that it was 5/8" that I acquired along the way somewhere. I can cut a small section of some more t-molding that I know is 3/4" and verify. (Or I could try to run a Sharpie along that edge also, lol.