cab building: hidden screws?

[papaschtroumpf]

When you build your cab, do you screw everything from the inside with screws short enough that they won't come through or do you coutersink and screw from the outside, leeaving the screw head visible?

[hyiu]

if you're going to put laminate op top... then all you have to do is make sure the surface is flat....

but for my cab.... I don't want ANY screw heads to show... (I'm doing wood grain cab...)

so... I make sure all the screws are from the inside and doesn't come out....

I think its nicer this way....

I mean... when you go out and check out the real cabs.. they don't have screw holes on the sides... right ??...

as for control panel.... I'll use artwork and lexan to cover most mounting holes.... but still on the edge.. I'll have like 2 screws making sure the lexan is holding on tight with the wood on the edge....

hope it helps....  

[SpamMe]

My cab is painted MDF, so I didn't have woodgrain to worry about. Most of my screws are from the outside in and countersunk. I didn't want the heads to show, either, so all the screw holes that showed got bondo
pics on my site: http://www.ebold.com/~spamme/log.html

--edit, linked to the proper post

[RandyT]

Another thing you can do is countersink the screw heads and use wood filler.  A little sanding and you're good to go, just don't plan on taking it back apart .


Part of me is thinking that some original cabs are done this way, because looking at my Defender cab, I can't find a screw inside or outside.  Every cross member is pocketed and glued into the side panels, and there isn't one piece of wood thicker than 3/4" in the whole thing.

FWIW,
RandyT

[hyiu]

actually..... a lot of cabs don't use screws....

they just use those tiny nails... shot in by nail guns....

[RandyT]

actually..... a lot of cabs don't use screws....

they just use those tiny nails... shot in by nail guns....

You are right, but they still have to fill the voids afterwards.

RandyT

[papaschtroumpf]

My cab is painted MDF, so I didn't have woodgrain to worry about. Most of my screws are from the outside in and countersunk. I didn't want the heads to show, either, so all the screw holes that showed got bondo
pics on my site: www.ebold.com/~spamme/log.html

(sorry out of topic) where'd get the Crayola Trackball? I tried to find one but couldn't (at least not in the US). How do you like it

[Wade]

All the real cabinets I have use staples and glue on the inside.  Smaller pieces are stapled on the inside so that the rear panels can be attached and corners are stronger.  Then it's not uncommon to have a few carriage bolt heads showing on the outside (like Donkey Kong) for very critical structural members like the monitor frame.

I think the way to go is to screw from the inside.  I wasn't thinking and I started my cabinet with a few screws on the outside, and I also countersunk and filled over some large structural carriage bolts.  I shouldn't have done either (I would have left the carriage heads exposed if I did it all over again).  Not to mention all the extra work of filling.  Why not just avoid it entirely?

Anything filled has a chance of being exposed (or at least slightly visible to the eye) later.  Wood, MDF, and filler expand and contract differently depending on temperature and stressing of the cabinet.

Wade

[SpamMe]

(sorry out of topic) where'd get the Crayola Trackball? I tried to find one but couldn't (at least not in the US). How do you like it

Ebay

There's one at $15 now (+$10 shipping)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2758304844&category=11193

Also, look for the Genius Kidsball, which as far as I can tell, is exactly the same other than some cosmetic differences (logo and color). There's a guy on there selling them for about $20 US all the time, but shipping to the US was high. I've seen them go for upwards of $40 before shipping, though, then another will finish with 0 bids at like $10. Weird stuff.

Anyway, I _kinda_ like it. The shape's nice. The size is nice. I'm happy enough with the amount of spin. I've noticed a lot of backspin in centipede when you really want to move quickly, but I'm hoping that can be tweaked away (any tips, anybody?)

If I had the money, I'd go for an actual arcade trackball with an opti-pac, but that just isn't possible right now.

[SirPoonga]

I screwed form the inside, there are a couple of external screws that could not be avoided, countersink them and put in wood paste.

[Ren Hoek]

I assume one can only screw from the inside with a timber frame present?  If there is no frame, how do you screw/nail/staple from the inside?

[vitaflo]

When you build your cab, do you screw everything from the inside with screws short enough that they won't come through or do you coutersink and screw from the outside, leeaving the screw head visible?

I screwed everything from the inside.  There are no screws or screw holes visible on my cab at all, anywhere.

[grafixmonkey]

If you have a Lowe's, look really close through the drawers in the hardware isle.  (might be laid out similarly in Menards and Home Depot too, I don't know...)  I found some really nifty furniture hardware for bolting things together without leaving anything on the surface at all, and some things that leave only small circles of smooth metal showing.  Even some stuff designed to increase the strength of a screw or bolt connection in soft wood.  It depends on the kind of joint you're making, but I found some really useful stuff in there - if I could describe it in specifics I would, but you can't really pick parts without knowing exactly what the joint is you're building.  

Anyway, had I seen some of that stuff earlier, I could have bolted down my joysticks and spinner without showing any hardware at all over the plexi, eliminated all the screw heads that are showing, etc.

[grafixmonkey]

oh yeah and look at metal angle brackets, they help a lot with putting screws on the inside too.  Or you can get pieces of aluminum shaped into corners.  You can drill and hacksaw-cut through those really easily, and they make a very nice, light frame on the inside corners that you can screw to the boards from the inside.

[Wade]

See pics here:
http://www.newwave.net/~flanham/wlanham/arcade/temp

One pic is the inside of my control panel before it was finished.  You can see how to join two edges together with 1x2 or 1x1 strips, screwing and gluing from the inside.

There's also a pic of the base of my Virtua Racing twin.  You can see they did the same thing.  Typically they used several staples on the inside, glue, and a screw or two for good measure.

The only place where strength is a big concern is around the monitor.  One of the pics shows my Mame's monitor in a rectangle 2x4 frame, which is then attached to the game with 4 large carriage bolts with the heads on the outside (covered and filled, but it IMO it is okay to have a few exposed carriage bolts).

I also used some 90 degree metal brackets on the inside to hold a few panels on so they could be easily removed later - the top, the speaker panel, and the front coin door panel.  I knew it would be handle if changing speakers, marquee light, or even just to lighten the cabinet if I needed to move it.  The rear panels

There's just no reason to go through the trouble of screwing from the outside and filling.  If you've already done it, fine, but I just can't think of any advantages to doing it this way.

Although I Lucid's design is a good one and has helped hundreds of people build a cabinet from scratch, IMHO building a frame like that is just serious overkill, extra money/work/time that serves no purpose other than making the cabinet even heavier.  I built a very, very stripped down version of a "frame" for the base of my cab, and even it is overkill.  You can see more pictures at http://www.newwave.net/~flanham/wlanham/arcade , pictures are at the very bottom.

Wade

[CitznFish]

Landshark used 1x1's and screwed everything together from the inside. I am hollowing his model. I'll post the URL tonight when i get home (I don't have it at work)

[grafixmonkey]

Do you have to drill pilot holes in 1x1 boards before you use wood screws on them?  I'm always afraid they will split.

[CitznFish]

here is that URL

http://www.verticaladdiction.net/cabinet1/

[Wade]

Yes, you definitely need to predrill the 1x1's.  Even then, there's a chance they'll split when you tighten the screws down.