How to hide screws on top of control panel

[Negativecreep0]

Hey guys I see some control panels without the screws showing on top for the joysticks? How did those guys do this? countersink the holes? then cover over it with laminate or something? any suggestions would help. Also how would i go about fixing a glass piece to the front of my cabinet to cover the bezel and monitor? Is there some glue that dries clear that wouldnt make a wet look when it is applied to glass? thanks guys

[SirPeale]

T-Nuts and screws from underneath is one way.

[pmc]

I countersunk the screws and intend to cover the panel with artwork and then a piece of lexan. You'll never see the screw heads because they'll be under the artwork.

[Jakobud]

Yeah just countersink baby.  Then put some artwork on there or something.

First of all don't use actual glass (unless we are talking about the top of a cocktail table).  If you are just talking about a Control Panel, use Lexan.  And secure it using some carriage bolts.  Take a look at my cabinet on my website and you will see the black carriage bolts that are holding my lexan (and artwork) up flush against the control panel top. Works perfect.

[dhansen]

After building and rebuilding my control panels, I think the t-nut and bolts from underneath works best.  That way when you upgrade/change out your joysticks it's easier to get them off.  When I try to take the nut off the bolt with the counter sink method, the bolt spins and then I have to remove ALL the buttons, spinner, etc. just to get the sticks off.  

Another alternative to bolting the lexan down is to cut your t-molding so it covers the CP and the lexan.  That way you have no exposed bolts, and the lexan is held down with the push buttons.

Hope this helps! See pic...

Doug

[CitznFish]

any images of the t-nut method?

[patrickl]

Check out the "Mini-Multi-Williams hybrid" cab that is in the project announcements  (for the T-nuts approach that is)

[paigeoliver]

As for adding glass or plexi over the monitor (you can use either, I have many games, and they seem to be split between plexi and glass). The easiest way to install it is to go to the hardware store or home depot and look for a plank of wood that has a groove in it. You use that (cut down as needed) to hold your glass in place (the glass goes in the groove).

To find that wood with the groove, look in the wood paneling, and flooring areas, and where the other "special" wood is. The piece I recently bought set me back a whopping 80 cents and was long enough for two cabs.

[hulkster]

since we are talking about screws on the cp....i have a question.  i have my joysticks held down by machine screws which are countersunk, with regular nuts (heh) holding it on the underside.  however, whenever i play games like street figther or something that requires lots of movement with the joystick, the nuts underneath the cp keep like unscrewing and i have to go under and screw them back in.  is this just because they arent screwed in good enough, or am i using the wrong nut.

[Santoro]

You need lock washers unfer those nuts. {heh.}

[bobjohnson77]

Hulkster try some locktite(Sp?) it seems to work well.

[NoOne=NBA=]

Here's a couple pics of how I did my bezel cover.
It's a piece of 1/8" Acrylic.
(I would recommend Acrylic over Lexan because it is clearer and more scratch resistant, although it will shatter if you try to use too large a saw tooth on it.
Use a very fine jigsaw blade, and you should be OK.)

http://home.comcast.net/~juniordog2/photos/FRONT3-26-03.jpg

This one shows the acrylic with the factory protective cover over it while I was still mocking up the bezel area.
I just cut it exactly to size and held it in place with 4 cabinet magnets.
That lets me just pull it straight off the front of the cabinet, in the event that I need to get behind it for something.

Once I had it held in place, I just put a bunch of black vinyl directly over the factory coating until I decided exactly how big the bezel graphics needed to be.

http://home.comcast.net/~juniordog2/photos/FRONT3-27-03.jpg

Once I knew how big to make the bezel graphics, I removed the factory coating, which took the mockup vinyl with it, leaving no residue.
I then mounted the bezel graphics, and got this.

http://home.comcast.net/~juniordog2/photos/front5-12-03.jpg

[greven grevs]

hulkster ,
I had the same problem with a couple of our buttons coming loose after long gaming sessions. That was until my wife suggested that we put a bit of hot glue on the screw threads. I thought she was crazy til she grabbed an old button , glued the plastic nut to the threads and let it sit. I thought she had just ruined a perfectly good button , but after about 15 minutes she came back and peeled the glue gob right off of the threads and nut with no residue. Been using it ever since and never have had a problem of getting the glue off or of it damaging anything.

[Tiger-Heli]

any images of the t-nut method?

OSCAR has a great example in Reply #22 of this thread:
http://www.arcadecontrols.org/yabbse/index.php?board=10;action=display;threadid=10496;start=msg88345#msg88345

[_Iz-]

After building and rebuilding my control panels, I think the t-nut and bolts from underneath works best.  That way when you upgrade/change out your joysticks it's easier to get them off.  When I try to take the nut off the bolt with the counter sink method, the bolt spins and then I have to remove ALL the buttons, spinner, etc. just to get the sticks off.  

You can also use a hacksaw to cut a small slot in the end of the bolt (same end the nut goes on) before assembly. That way, you can hold the bolt with a slotted screwdriver while you loosen the nut with a wrench (all from the exposed end of the bolt).

[SirPoonga]

Heh, make a metal control panel.  Weld the bolt underneith, like a dynamo cabinet

[hulkster]

thanks for the tips guys.