Buttons on curved plastic

[Foxsec]

Hi guys.

Quick question which I can't rap my brain around... I have a megatouch maxx crown edition which i'm going to be turning into my own cabinet. The only problem with this is the plastic at the front is curved.

Any suggestions for installing buttons and joysticks on such plastics?  My stepdad had an idea to add a layer of black rubber on top of the plastic which would even it out making it straight and then drill holes in the curved allowing the buttons to pass through

The image is not my cab but it's very similar (see the plastic where the controls would typically go)

Many thanks.

[pbj]

I don't think the buttons would be a problem, just drill a hole through and attach them.  Joystick you're probably going to need something between the plastic panel and the joystick housing.

[paigeoliver]

I have seen buttons drilled into those before and they were fine.

[RandyT]

With a large radius like that, I doubt that you'd even see a gap at the edges.  But if you do, and it bothers you, there are a couple of approaches.  One is a thin rubber washer which exactly fits the profile of the button (probably have to make them yourself), and the other is to use a forstner or spade bit,  slightly larger than the outside dimension of the bezel, to create a very shallow pocket. The latter is a bit risky without the proper tools.

Personally, I'd just live with the tiny gap at the edge, if it's even noticeable.

[mahuti]

The latter is a bit risky without the proper tools.

If you do that, cut the larger shallow hole first. Then go in and cut the regular hole. Otherwise it's damn near impossible to get them to line up without anything to center into. The forstner bit would cut a little dimple that you could use to center the bit for the smaller hole. I did something like this once... it helped that my drill had a drill-stop on it so I could be exact.