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First Project: MegaTokyo MAME!!
Aithos:
--- Quote from: mgb on November 10, 2010, 08:34:49 am ---I see what you're saying about routing out the wood and clicking the buttons into the plexi. I'm not so sure that would be the most stable setup over time. You may want to first try it out on some scrap. What about the idea of using a metal overlay and cutting out the wood below as needed.
I may have missed it somewhere in there, but why not use longer nut type buttons made for wood. Hve you already bought the snap ins?
The Ice buttons with RGBs are sweet.
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I should also mention that I am still planning on bolting down the plexi to the wooden CP. So I won't be using the buttons to secure the plexi, I just want to make sure that the plexi is strong enough for the buttons to stay in place and be durable if I notch out the wood around the button so they work after routing. I suppose I could route a large hole in the wood and use a metal plate with the button holes in it under the plexi too, so I'd have a little bit more strength, but that is making extra work and costing extra money...
Donkbaca:
I don't think it would be too stable because the buttons are essentially being held in place by a flimsy piece of plastic, but hey its not like you are putting this in a public place to get mashed on by kids, so it may be okay, I say try it on some scrap, if its not sturdy enough, you'll have to with a metal CP top.
LeedsFan:
Just get a piece of 2-3mm thick aluminium. It's easy to cut and strong enough to support the buttons. You can still have the plexi overlay on top. Just make sure the thickness of plexi+aluminium isn't over 4.5mm and the snap-in biuttons will be fine. You will need to route out the wood to the same thickness of the aluminium panel so that it sits flush, but this is really easy to do.
I read what you intend to do with the wood panel. i.e routing out the back and then notching the inside of the hole for the snap in button. But that seems like a lot more work to me and I'm not sure it would be as strong. Sure it will work but I always go the path of least resistance.
Aithos:
--- Quote from: LeedsFan on November 12, 2010, 05:06:05 pm ---Just get a piece of 2-3mm thick aluminium. It's easy to cut and strong enough to support the buttons. You can still have the plexi overlay on top. Just make sure the thickness of plexi+aluminium isn't over 4.5mm and the snap-in biuttons will be fine. You will need to route out the wood to the same thickness of the aluminium panel so that it sits flush, but this is really easy to do.
I read what you intend to do with the wood panel. i.e routing out the back and then notching the inside of the hole for the snap in button. But that seems like a lot more work to me and I'm not sure it would be as strong. Sure it will work but I always go the path of least resistance.
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Thanks for the suggestion, I'll talk to my dad about doing this since I'm sure he has the tools to do it. So to make sure I understand you: I'm going to make essentially a rectangle type hole around where the buttons are going to go, then make a couple mm thick piece of metal larger than the hole (so it can attach to the wood on 4 sides) and route the thickness of the metal plate on each of the 4 sides so that it sits flush when attached. It should definitely work and I actually thought about doing that but what originally made me shy away from it was that I'm not sure how much wider the metal piece should be and how that would affect the layout of my joysticks. I'll see if I can't photoshop something up with my layout pictures. I had some unexpected car issues this week so I haven't been able to order anything yet so atm I'm in a holding pattern of making decisions and not doing any work (it's killing me).
LeedsFan:
--- Quote from: Aithos on November 12, 2010, 06:27:02 pm ---
--- Quote from: LeedsFan on November 12, 2010, 05:06:05 pm ---Just get a piece of 2-3mm thick aluminium. It's easy to cut and strong enough to support the buttons. You can still have the plexi overlay on top. Just make sure the thickness of plexi+aluminium isn't over 4.5mm and the snap-in biuttons will be fine. You will need to route out the wood to the same thickness of the aluminium panel so that it sits flush, but this is really easy to do.
I read what you intend to do with the wood panel. i.e routing out the back and then notching the inside of the hole for the snap in button. But that seems like a lot more work to me and I'm not sure it would be as strong. Sure it will work but I always go the path of least resistance.
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So to make sure I understand you: I'm going to make essentially a rectangle type hole around where the buttons are going to go, then make a couple mm thick piece of metal larger than the hole (so it can attach to the wood on 4 sides) and route the thickness of the metal plate on each of the 4 sides so that it sits flush when attached.
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That is exactly the way to do it. Try to get aluminium plate as it's much easier to work with. Just give yourself about an inch (I'd say half inch minimum) of overlap to screw the plate down. Although this measurement isn't critical. Just so long as the plate is solid and firm. I've just done this method on a project I'm working on now.