Cocktail Bezel and Bezels in general

[Tilzs]

Ok here is the problem. I'm useing a regular 19" computer monitor in my cocktail that i'm building. I removed the houseing because it wouldn't fit with the coindoor and the other stuff with the houseing on.  From what I have read just ordering a generic bezel isn't going to fit on a computer monitor. Maybe it would I don't know but i'm betting it wouldn't and I'm just going to assume it won't.

I've read about a couple of people makeing some sort of bezel out of foam. I'm thinking that If I made a bezel I'd like it to turn out to be smooth and good looking. I've thought maybe cardboard might work out well. Question has anyone made bezels out of cardboard and did it turn out well or was it a bad idea.

The other idea I had was just to skip the bezel all together and cutting the hole in the cocktail top to the size of the monitor although that is always a bit tricky to get it to the exact size.

So whats the word on custom bezels, or should I just skip it all together?

[southpaw13]

If you removed the housing and you are not using a flat screen, the happ bezel will work.  You can cut it for a perfect fit, but I didn't.  It was pretty close the way it came...

-GPP

[MinerAl]

The stock bezel in my 25 year old Atari Football is made of thick card stock.  I have seen 3 or 4 Atari Football machines in person and many on ebay, and most if not all of the bezels have some warps and waves that don't perfectly hug the contours of the old B&W monitors.  Take into account though that it is 25 year old card stock we're talking about, so the environment has had a long time to mess with it.

If you were to use corrugated card board, I'd worry about seeing the cross-section of the cardboard itself.  If I were going to make one from scratch I'd go to a college bookstore or art supply place and get a big sheet of 3/16" - 1/4" foam core board.  The stuff is very stiff, cuts beautifully with any sharp knife, and has a nice smooth cross-section.  It's usually white though, so you'd have to paint it.  

Good luck.  If it looks good when you're done, come back and show it off.

[Smittydc]

I've recently been using "Sintra" board in several projects.  It's basically plastic plywood with a couple interesting features.

You can screw into it, cut it, etc, with normal cutting tools.  You can also boil it, bend it into the shape you want, and then cool it in place -- it's what the uber-geeks use to make their StarWars Stormtrooper uniforms.

You can find it in plastic supply stores -- comes in 4'x8' sheets and a couple colors.

If you don't want to get that fancy, I've made some fine looking bezels from lexan -- attach the whole piece, mask it with tape, and paint it black.

[Tilzs]

That Sintra stuff looks really cool. I think i might try and work my way up though useing some sort  of cheap posterboard or foamcore board. At least then if I do get something I like but not really sturdy, i'll at least have a template. Who knows, just the foamboard might work out really well as is.