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Build an OND designed cab 'Metropolis'
BadMouth:
--- Quote from: bkenobi on May 10, 2012, 11:30:17 am ---Having a router with a 45° bit would have been a lot easier than my method for cutting the retainer bar/lower bezel piece on my main cab. I used a circular saw set at an angle and used a guide board to keep the cut straight. It worked...after the 3rd or 4th attempt. In my case, I needed to cut an angle on both the top and bottom in opposite directions which made things a big challenge (primarily since I didn't know which order to make the cuts). A router would have made this far too easy!
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Wish I'd read that somewhere before cutting out panels this past weekend for my current project (which has a lot of angles). :lol
I never even thought of using the router. Ordering set of chamfer bits now.
Ond:
--- Quote from: BadMouth on May 10, 2012, 12:29:45 pm ---
--- Quote from: bkenobi on May 10, 2012, 11:30:17 am ---Having a router with a 45° bit would have been a lot easier than my method for cutting the retainer bar/lower bezel piece on my main cab. I used a circular saw set at an angle and used a guide board to keep the cut straight. It worked...after the 3rd or 4th attempt. In my case, I needed to cut an angle on both the top and bottom in opposite directions which made things a big challenge (primarily since I didn't know which order to make the cuts). A router would have made this far too easy!
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Wish I'd read that somewhere before cutting out panels this past weekend for my current project (which has a lot of angles). :lol
I never even thought of using the router. Ordering set of chamfer bits now.
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Glad this thread is of some use to you fellas :cheers:
Let's begin on the control panel construction for this cab. The panels are all cut as per the cutting plan dimensions using the methods I've already covered for straight cuts. The end panels are 3/4" thick whilst the rest are 1/2" thick MDF.
We're going to round off some of the corners and edges on these panels to give the CP it's distinctive look. This is a good spot to talk about cutting templates used with flush trim router bits.
When I want to cut shapes out of MDF, holes for buttons and controls etc. my favourite approach is to use thinner MDF (or other materials) and form a cutting template to do this. A router really comes into it's element when used in this way with a guide template. A thinner sheet of MDF is much easier to form and shape than a thick piece. You can refine it with sandpaper and then use it multiple times to produce exactly matching panels. In this case we want to just round off the corners on the CP End panels. Now this might seem like a lot of effort just to round off some corners. How much easier to just clamp them together and take say a belt sander to them? You could use that method and also get a pretty good result depending on how handy you are with a mechanical sander. BUT, :lol (there's always a but) in this case we want to wrap t-molding around these end pieces, if our rounding off effort isn't nice and square to the panel surface the t-molding is going to look less than awesome. Using a guide template we'll get rounded corners looking all the same and nice and clean.
Pencil trace around one of the CP End panels onto some scrap 1/4" thick MDF. Rough cut it out with a jigsaw, Then take your router and with a flush trim bit cut around the panel to produce a duplicate shape in the thinner material. Next take a compass (pair of compasses, not the magnetic kind ) and draw four arcs with a radius of 20/32" at each corner as I've shown below.
It's OK to use a sander or a Dremel or a sanding block, whatever you've got handy, to sand around these arcs until you have four matching rounded corners. We only need an edge for the bearing on the flush trim bit to trace around. Next clamp the template and a CP End panel together on your bench or a table and carefully route around the template adjusting the clamp and pieces as you go. Repeat with the other end panel. This can be a bit challenging as there isn't much surface area for the router base to sit on, if in doubt, practise a few times on some scrap pieces first. Also, note I've shown a diagram where the template sits on top of the piece being cut and using a top bearing flush trim bit. You could use a flush trim bit with a the bearing at the bottom and instead place the template underneath the piece being cut, this would provide more stability as the bearing runs along the template.
Finally we want to round off the edges of the CP Top panel and one edge only of the Bottom panel as shown below.
Next up we'll cut the holes and rebates for the buttons, trackball and joysticks into the CP top panel and then assemble the CP onto the cab.
eds1275:
Just mix in some of that good sienna red, and up here we'll put in some happy little clouds.
Arimack:
OND
-Getting ready to start my first project and your post is the perfect step by step "how to" guide to accompany all the more general guidance I have gotten elsewhere on the site. Do not know if I will build this specific design (looking for low cost CRT TV or used Arcade Monitor vice new LCD) but I will definitely adopt many of your ideas when planning my own project. Thank you from not only talking about the design but also the actual building techniques and tool use involved. Awesome.
Ond:
--- Quote from: eds1275 on May 12, 2012, 06:56:26 pm ---Just mix in some of that good sienna red, and up here we'll put in some happy little clouds.
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:dunno :laugh2: Can I have some too? :)
--- Quote from: Arimack on June 07, 2012, 08:06:46 am ---
OND
-Getting ready to start my first project and your post is the perfect step by step "how to" guide to accompany all the more general guidance I have gotten elsewhere on the site. Do not know if I will build this specific design (looking for low cost CRT TV or used Arcade Monitor vice new LCD) but I will definitely adopt many of your ideas when planning my own project. Thank you from not only talking about the design but also the actual building techniques and tool use involved. Awesome.
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This is really nice feedback - thanks for that. If this thread gives you some ideas or is useful in getting your own project off the ground then it's already been well worth the time I've put in so far. It's been a little while since I last updated this and I will be getting the next few build steps in as soon as I can. I don't think it would be that hard to adapt the design to a CRT monitor or TV, especially if they are de-cased. Don't let de-casing a CRT unit scare you. There is plenty of good info both on BYOAC and on the web in general on safely de-casing. Arcade monitors have purpose fitted chassis mount points, while there's often somewhere to bolt brackets onto most CRT TV/Monitor chassis.
Another tip, check reviews and tutorials from Epyx on setting up and configuring Arcade Monitors and adapter cards, his stuff is really well explained and thorough.
I see lots of downloads of the plans I posted. Any questions or suggestions? Fire away!
:cheers:
Ond