mounting PC monitor / bezel

[papaschtroumpf]

Most cabinet biulding instructions I see gloss over how you mount the monitor and how to make the front bezel.
While I undestand this is very monitor dependent, are there tips and tricks worth knowing?
How do you make the transistion between the (PC) monitor bezel and the cabinet? Is it better to try and remove the monitor plastic shell or is it better to work with the monitor whole? My PC monitor is cream colored, do those paint (black) pretty easily or am I going to run into trouble?
Any help would be appreciated.

[hyiu]

there are a few ways to do this... from cheesy to picky...

chessy way.... buy those black wire tapes... and tape the edge of the monitor so that it "turns black".....

then use a cardboard and cut a hole of the size of the monitor...
that should give you a "all black" appearence...
if you use smoked plexi.... it should look "acceptable...

then of course... you can tape the monitor (glass part ) and spray paint the monitor to black.... (or paint....)

I also think I have heard someone used a black marker... (what are those pens called ??... forgot the name...) and simply "write the thing black....

or you can take off the frame..... and mount it... and order a bigg er bezel and trim down each edge to make it a perfect fit bezel....

these are just some suggestions I've seen around....
if you can think of any good idea.... plz let us know...

-----------

if it matters to you in any way.... the first cab I did....
I just taped the edge with black electrical tape....
and then the rest, I cutted a hole with a black cardboard...

if you concentrate... you can see... but we're too busy playing games... noone bothers....

my next one.... I might use a black marker and "write it black"....

hope it helps....  

[mclaught]

i am sure there are 50 different ways to do it, but here's what I did.

I had a bezel already in place, I knew I needed a shelf to hold my monitor. I measured the distance from the bottom of the glass on my monitor to the floor. Let's say it was 6 inches. I then measured 6 inches down from the bottom of my bezel cutout and drew a line. That's where the shelf needed to go. After mounting the shelf (simply used 1x1's at an angle, then mounted some plywood to that) I put the monitor in there. Once I had the monitor in place as good as I could get it, I put a 2x4 behind the monitor to keep it from sliding out the back.

If you are like me, you now have a wood bezel with a cutout larger than the computer screen. I bought a piece of black poster board and spray painted it (lightly or it will roll up) with high gloss black. Cut out an opening 1/4 smaller than your screen (that way you won't see the white edge of the monitor) and either tape or glue the posterboard to the existing bezel. If you need to, take a black sharpie and color the inside lip of the computer monitor to hide the white, if it is showing.

Like I said, I'm sure there's many ways to do this, but that was my way, it looks great (smoked plexi helps) and it was quick, easy and cheap. Good luck.

[hyiu]

yeah mclaught .... those pens are called "sharpie" !!...  

[tbombaci]

My stories:

Cabinet 1: Data East Jamma Cab (gutted)
Take off the back and face of the monitor. I sprayed the front plastic piece of the monitor with flat black paint & re-installed. Using plywood(for a flange) and 1x2's(for the base), I made brackets for either side of the monitor to bolt in where the large plastic back piece bolted on. (yes, bolted, not screwed!!) The brackets are screwed to the side of the cabinet and bolted back into the backside of the front face of the monitor. I then made a shelf to support the monitor and used a pair of cheesy shelf "L" brackets screwed to the support shelf so the monitor doesn't slide out. I then used generic bezel (came with cabinet) to cover the monitor and it is all behind smoked plexi. Looks great.

2nd cabinet:Mini Pac-Man (65% First attempt at game cabinet making [from scratch])
I used a slightly lighter monitor this time (15"). I took the front face and back plastic off of the monitor. (carefully...30K volts doesn't sound like a party I want to attend) to reveal the four mounting plates on each cornet of the CRT.  The tube and the guts are two different pieces connected by 10 or so cables. Not wanting to unplug and futz with plugging them back in, I carefully set the two pieces down on their sides. I have a 5/8 piece of MDF with a hole cut in the center to accept the monitor. On the back, I screwed and glued 4 corner brackets cut at 45 degrees (roughly 1.75x3)

With the brackets in place, I carefully set the monitor face down and traced the outline of the corner mounting plate (on the tube) onto the wood. I measured an acceptable depth for the monitor to stick above the surface of the MDF and routed out the traced outline said thickness. I then mounted the "tray" of electronics to the backside of the MDF to finalize my homebrew monitor cage. Works like a champ.

Cabinet three:
Still in the [what am I getting myself into] stage. It is a brand new Hanaho Arcade PC that I scored for FREE!! [whoo hoo] sans monitor and PC. It is designed for a viewsonic G810. Since all I have are NEC 1100's, time to make it fit!. I have taken apart the 1100 and plan to mount the same way as the mini pacman monitor. I will also add two metal straps to help distribute the weight. If anyone is interested, I can post images of each example.

-tom