Trackball Question....almost there on finishing the cab!

[micahman33]

Hi All

Had a few questions on mounting my trackball...I have a Happ 3" USB/PS2 Trackball...the whole cabinet including control panel box/top is made of 1/2" MDF with thicker wood being used on the bottom and inside to "frame" things a bit, but still keep the weight down (I plan on doing a full writeup with pictures in the Project Announcements forum as soon as I am done). Anyway, I am now finished painting am to the point of mounting the trackball. I do not have a trackball mount, and wasnt sure if I actually needed one. My concern is that if I route the mdf, it seems like things might be pretty thin around the point where the trackball is mounted. I will be using 1/8" plexi on top of the control panel, so that will add some stability, but anyone have any advice on mounting this unit? I was looking at a mounting kit on ebay that seems like it may be what I would need...but at the same time Im trying to understand what that will actually gain me...it seems like as long as you can do the routing on the bottom, the mounting plate will just reduce the appearance of bolts. Please advise.

Mounting plate I was looking at:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-3-TRACKBALL-MOUNTING-PLATE-FOR-GOLDEN-TEE-PGA-/160761359853?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item256e1faded#ht_1209wt_1396

[GregD]

The mounting plate allows you to mount the trackball on top of the panel so that the trackball height will be maximized.  Unless you have one of those Ultimarc trackballs that are designed to be mounted in wood, the trackball lip is only going to be about 3/8" +/-.  If you mount on top with a plate, the lip will come through the 1/8" plexi and look really professional.

[micahman33]

Awesome. Thanks for the input. Ill be ordering a mounting plate then...I would rather do it correctly then half-way put something together.