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Element 5 - A small bartop (FINISHED)
justinjstark:
--- Quote from: BobA on November 12, 2010, 09:57:03 am ---Your new monitor will have Vesa mounting holes in the back. Use 4 screws to mount the monitor to a board that is as wide as the inside of your cabinet. Screw that board to a couple of cleats that are secured to the inside side walls of your cab and you have your monitor mounted. Put painted plexi in front of the monitor and you do not need anything else for a bezel.
--- End quote ---
That seems to be the new plan. But there are a few things I need to figure out:
(1) Plexi or glass? The consensus seems to be glass. I think I can get a tempered piece for $10-$15.
(2) How to hide the area around the monitor? Should I paint the back of the glass/plexi black? I'm worried about the quality of this solution. If I get tinted glass, would that hide the insides of the cabinet? Also, the monitor has buttons on the front which I'm afraid would be pressed by having glass pressing down on them. I have another idea. I am thinking about putting a piece of hardboard between the monitor and glass that could be painted black. This hardboard piece would also help align the monitor and I could carve a very small amount out where it would press against the monitor buttons.
BobA:
Regarding the quality of using paint on plexi see this thread paint on plexi It works just as well with glass. You can use painted hardboard but it will not look as smooth as the look you get from painted glass or plexi. As for the buttons a few spacers can place the glass or plexi an eigth of an inch away from the monitor. Just glue them to the monitor in an area hidden by the paint.
Termin8tor:
I would recommend plexi over glass for a bartop. I used plexi on mine mainly because it's lighter, easy to cut and less chance of breaking. if I was building a full size cab I would probably use tinted glass. The down side to using plexi is it attracts dust.
justinjstark:
--- Quote from: BobA on November 13, 2010, 08:09:09 am ---Regarding the quality of using paint on plexi see this thread paint on plexi It works just as well with glass. You can use painted hardboard but it will not look as smooth as the look you get from painted glass or plexi. As for the buttons a few spacers can place the glass or plexi an eigth of an inch away from the monitor. Just glue them to the monitor in an area hidden by the paint.
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Good call on the spacers; that should work. I was curious about painting the glass and i think that is the way I will go.
--- Quote from: Termin8tor on November 13, 2010, 12:09:42 pm ---I would recommend plexi over glass for a bartop. I used plexi on mine mainly because it's lighter, easy to cut and less chance of breaking. if I was building a full size cab I would probably use tinted glass. The down side to using plexi is it attracts dust.
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I'm leaning more toward glass than plexi. I'm not too worried about it breaking and the weight isn't an issue since it will be removable.
justinjstark:
Big news tonight. I got a lot accomplished today spending way too many hours when I should be doing math.
I got the admin buttons in from lizard lick. Because of space constraints, I had to find some short buttons for the front of the panel. They are Seimitsu 30mm GN's. Unfortunately, they do not quite fit in a 1 1/8" hole so I had to open the holes up a bit. Now they fit fine as you can see in the picture.
To get to the wires, I cut a big rectangular hole in the bottom below the control panel. I totally forgot to install the joystick mounts (which are still in the mail) before gluing things together. I'm hoping I have enough room through that bottom hole to drill. :-\ If not, I don't know what I am going to do. Maybe drill from the top and fill the holes in before painting!?
I cut my marquee retainer system. I will take some pictures soon and let you guys know what I'm up to.
I also cut the plexi for the control panel. It worked very nicely with the router and the flush trim bit. Man, my router is becoming the most useful tool in my garage.
Once all that was done, I assembled some of the boards. I attached the top to the top of the back and the vertical piece that meets the monitor. I attached the front admin panel to the control panel. Etc.
Then came time for biscuit slot cutting. This was my first time using a biscuit joiner and I think I am getting it figured out. Some of my boards are 1/2" and some are 3/4" so I had to keep changing the joiner settings. I did make a few goofs but they are hidden (luckily). I didn't take many pictures of this process as I was too excited to get the arcade assembled.
I put all the pieces together to make sure everything fit. Then I glued everything up, threw it all together, and clamped it down tight. I just went out to clean the excess glue off now that it has had time to film over.
Tomorrow I will get the clamps off and get a few more pictures taken. Later this week I will cut the marquee plexi, install the monitor mount, and install the joystick mounts. Then it is time to get the name and artwork finalized and start thinking about paint.