Mom's music system

[whammoed]

Putting this together for my mom.  The cabinet was special ordered from Arthur Brown in maple.  It will have a 19inch touchscreen monitor mounted in the top.  It is a little unnerving cutting a big hole in the top of a piece of furniture my mother spent $600 one, but what the hell.  The monitor will have the ability to tilt up via scissor hinges for times you would like to sit in front and browse for a while.  Gives it a much more comfortable viewing angle.  I am making custom speaker grills for the sides which will hide the speakers that will sit behind them giving it a built in look.
Here is where I'm at so far.

Cabinet with hole and grills sitting on top

Monitor



Another of cabinet with monitor support sitting on top waiting to be installed.

[Rick]

It's a great start!  I've got an older (60's/70's) stereo cabinet that I'm picking up this Saturday (free is always nice) from someone on Freecycle.org, and I was considering doing something similar.  I'll be watching this thread.

[whammoed]

Thanks.  I was just saying it reminds me a little of the record player cabinets of old.
Thought of a good way to lift the monitor up without having to reach into the back of the cab.  A lever of sorts.  I'll post pics if/when it works out.

[Generic Eric]

Looks neat.  Will be watching.

[egosbar]

looks great mate , looking forward to seeing the finished product

what software will you be using?

[whammoed]

looks great mate , looking forward to seeing the finished product

what software will you be using?

Thanks all.
Will be using TouchTone.

[whammoed]

The lever worked out nicely.  I changed the design from what I had originally invisioned due to layout and space constraints but it turned out great.  It provides an easy way to "pop the hood" so to speak to allow for tilting up the monitor.

Lever:


Installed:

[whammoed]

Heres the reason the lever is needed by the way.  The monitor frame is thin an sleek.  There really isn't anything to grab on to to lift up the monitor.

[Rick]

Do you have pics of the lever in action?  I can make out how it's going to work - sorta - but pics would be awesome.  Looking so clean and amazing so far.

[whammoed]

Do you have pics of the lever in action?  I can make out how it's going to work - sorta - but pics would be awesome.  Looking so clean and amazing so far.

This should explain it:

[Rick]

This should explain it:

Dude.  Duuuuuude.  That's awesome.

 

[whammoed]

Here it is with the monitor tilted up:

[whammoed]

Here's a couple shot showing the kickstand.  There are several places for it to rest giving the option for different angles.

[whammoed]

Did a little roundover work on the lever handle.  Feels nice now.

[whammoed]

My part is done.  Mom's going to finish it herself with a dark ebony stain and poly.

[HaRuMaN]

Nice!   Make sure you post some pictures when it's been stained...

[Malenko]

looks fantastic!

[Fordman]

Looks great!

A couple of questions:

1) you have to manually pull the monitor up?

2) what really keeps the monitor from crashing down if the leg doesnt catch?

or did I miss something in the build thread?

Fordman

[whammoed]

Looks great!

A couple of questions:

1) you have to manually pull the monitor up?

2) what really keeps the monitor from crashing down if the leg doesnt catch?

or did I miss something in the build thread?

Fordman

Yes, the monitor must be manually lifted.  I did consider something motorized but decided to keep it simple.
The monitor could take a fall up to about 45 degrees if you let go of it.  There is some friction to the hinges and it could probably take a few falls without damage.  Better to not let that happen.   Also thought about a hydraulic lift but didn't want to add any more resistance to the initial lifting of the monitor for the old folks.

[whammoed]

fordman got me a little worried about the monitor coming down too hard.  Added a spring assist to the lever which gives the monitor a soft landing when you let go of it.  Works great, just took a while to select the correct spring to give it some cushion without popping the monitor up unassisted.

[BobA]

Nice addition to protect the monitor.  Your attention to detail is great.  Looking forward to seeing the juke stained. 

[whammoed]

Nice addition to protect the monitor.  Your attention to detail is great.  Looking forward to seeing the juke stained. 

Thanks.
Going to try one more thing.
By adding a magnet latch I am going to try to use one of the stiffer springs.  Hopefully the magnet will keep the monitor closed until you push the lever at which point the monitor will pop up and stay popped up due to the spring.  At that point you can reach back and pull up the monitor at your leisure. 
(Currently it is more of a two handed operation to pull up the monitor:  push lever while reaching back to lift monitor.)


Thanks goes to fordman for setting the wheels in motion.  Love the feedback I get when I post things here.

[_) (V) (-)]

Really like the retro counsel style design, and the worksmanship looks top notch!

What are you using to protect the monitor while it's in the stored position?
I'd be concerned about stuff placed on the top of the cabinet in the screen area.
Or water from plants, drink glasses, etc...

[Fordman]

Glad I could help! 

I agree, looking forward to seeing it stained and I also love the detail!

Fordman

[whammoed]

OK, here it is stained and finished.  Kept forgetting to take my camera over to Mom's house.

[lilshawn]

that... is a nice looking unit! 

[whammoed]

that... is a nice looking unit! 

Thanks!

It's funny, she was pretty firm on the monitor being flush with the top of the cabinet for aesthetics but I think she usually just leaves it up now.  Could've saved a lot of effort just buying one of those all in one touch screen PCs and just set it on top.