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Author Topic: javeryh's Small-ish Bartop ["Jack Attack!"]  (Read 122893 times)

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javeryh

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Re: javeryh's Small-ish Bartop ["Jack Attack!"]
« Reply #80 on: June 19, 2018, 09:01:31 pm »
Nice work. Following  along..

Not seen a shot with the screen in yet..you gonna have much of a bezel?

The monitor fits exactly in between the 2 side panels - in the case.  There will be about 3/4" on each side and maybe 1" or so on the top and bottom.... It fits.  Probably.  I think...

Side pinball buttons?

Nope.  No pinball on this cab.  The monitor will be horizontal and it will be painful enough to play vertical classics like Pac-Man and Donkey Kong on it...  In the spirit of keeping things simple I don't want the extra buttons.   :cheers:

javeryh

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Re: javeryh's Small-ish Bartop ["Jack Attack!"]
« Reply #81 on: June 20, 2018, 09:26:47 am »
Here's a shot of the monitor (running the RetroPie build in my Raspberry Pi NES case).  It fits pretty easily.  I need to figure out how to hold the 1/8" monitor glass in place as well as how to mount the monitor.  I'm going to lose the Vesa mount once I decase it.


Mike A

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Re: javeryh's Small-ish Bartop ["Jack Attack!"]
« Reply #82 on: June 20, 2018, 09:42:28 am »
Is there a reason for decasing it?

javeryh

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Re: javeryh's Small-ish Bartop ["Jack Attack!"]
« Reply #83 on: June 20, 2018, 10:08:16 am »
Is there a reason for decasing it?

Good question.  I think so.  The bezel around the monitor angles in as you can see in the pic and this will create about a 1/4" gap between the monitor glass/bezel and the actual screen.  I am going to order a piece of 1/8" smoked gray tempered glass and spray the back of it black leaving the rectangle for the screen to show through.  If I decase it, I can mount the screen directly to the back of the glass (using strong tape or something) and it will actually end up being slightly closer to the player making the screen seem ever slightly bigger.

Also, by opening up the case I can relocate the admin buttons for the screen to somewhere that can easily be reached should the need arise.

Mike A

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Re: javeryh's Small-ish Bartop ["Jack Attack!"]
« Reply #84 on: June 20, 2018, 10:14:58 am »
It seems like a bunch of work for no real gain. An eight of an inch is not going to make the screen look bigger.  It seems like a can of worms that doesn't need to be opened. That being said, I am sure it will look good either way. You know what you are doing.

javeryh

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Re: javeryh's Small-ish Bartop ["Jack Attack!"]
« Reply #85 on: June 20, 2018, 03:50:21 pm »
It seems like a bunch of work for no real gain. An eight of an inch is not going to make the screen look bigger.  It seems like a can of worms that doesn't need to be opened. That being said, I am sure it will look good either way. You know what you are doing.

I agree but I've already opened the monitor up as soon as it arrived at the house because that was the original plan.  There are only 4 screws holding the case together.  I got a little scared because it wasn't what I expected so I closed it up.  The screen is literally just the screen - about 1/4" thick, if that.  The other monitors I've messed around with (Dell 19" mostly) all have removable plastic bezels but still retain the Vesa mount and everything inside.

I think I can get the finished product to look a little nicer with it decased so that's the rationale.  I think I'm going to try.  Maybe.

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Re: javeryh's Small-ish Bartop ["Jack Attack!"]
« Reply #86 on: June 21, 2018, 11:19:28 pm »
Decasing a screen isn't really that big of a deal and in my opinion it allows for a better, more precise fit because of its square and flat dimensions. Whereas on a non decased screen some time the bezel has curves to it. It also cuts a lot more depth than you think out of it.

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Re: javeryh's Small-ish Bartop ["Jack Attack!"]
« Reply #87 on: June 21, 2018, 11:43:36 pm »
It seems like a bunch of work for no real gain. An eight of an inch is not going to make the screen look bigger.  It seems like a can of worms that doesn't need to be opened. That being said, I am sure it will look good either way. You know what you are doing.

I agree but I've already opened the monitor up as soon as it arrived at the house because that was the original plan.  There are only 4 screws holding the case together.  I got a little scared because it wasn't what I expected so I closed it up.  The screen is literally just the screen - about 1/4" thick, if that.  The other monitors I've messed around with (Dell 19" mostly) all have removable plastic bezels but still retain the Vesa mount and everything inside.

I think I can get the finished product to look a little nicer with it decased so that's the rationale.  I think I'm going to try.  Maybe.

Could also just remove the front of the case and leave the back of the case on so you could use the VESA mounts.

javeryh

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Re: javeryh's Small-ish Bartop ["Jack Attack!"]
« Reply #88 on: June 22, 2018, 05:52:19 pm »
Could also just remove the front of the case and leave the back of the case on so you could use the VESA mounts.

This won't work actually.  Once the case comes off the screen just floats.  At that point there would only be a ribbon cable holding the screen to the rest of the case (vesa mount plus ports).  I'll open it uip ans grab a pic or two this weekend - I'm hoping to make a lot of progress while the wife is out of town.

Decasing a screen isn't really that big of a deal and in my opinion it allows for a better, more precise fit because of its square and flat dimensions. Whereas on a non decased screen some time the bezel has curves to it. It also cuts a lot more depth than you think out of it.

Yup.  My issue now is trying to find a good way to support it along with the monitor glass.  I do not want to make a bezel out of MDF - I want the monitor to be flush to the glass.  I'm thinking I could use some heavy tape to secure the monitor in place and use some double sided tape to attach the HDMI and other ports to the back of the screen.  Not sure how it will work until I actually do it though.

How would you support the monitor glass?

javeryh

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Re: javeryh's Small-ish Bartop ["Jack Attack!"]
« Reply #89 on: June 23, 2018, 06:28:12 pm »
Alright... it's time to get serious about the art.  I've had a theme in mind for a while now but not sure how to carry it out.  My son's name is Jack so I thought it would be cool to incorporate his name in the art and make it seem like it could have been a game that was designed in the 80s.

Something like this for the marquee:



The lettering here is too flat if that makes any sense but this is the general look.  It will obviously need a background - I was thinking of a city skyline below (and behind) the lettering that looked like it was being invaded by UFOs or something.

For the CP, I want to keep it simple but match the marquee in terms of color and design. 



I don't want any art here - more like a design?  Nothing too busy but not too plain like Frogger or something.  Maybe some button rings but not sure I can measure that exactly so maybe some stripes will have to do.  Something similar to Centipede or Tron or Tempest (not the colors, obviously) - just a cool design.  I do not want to label any of the buttons - the 6 on the top are self explanatory and the 4 on the bottom can accept button inserts so I'll label those that way.  I do think it would be cool to add "Invading Earth Since 2007" along the bottom (in somewhat small font) because that is the year my son was born and it fits the theme.

Not sure about side art yet. In my head I picture a martian with green skin and antennae pointing a retro-futuristic ray gun with "Jack Attack" along the bottom edge and a UFO in the marquee area but I have no idea how to get the image in my brain onto the computer.  Maybe that's too busy.  I don't know.

I'm not sold on any of this if someone can come up with something better than "Jack Attack" for a fake game that incorporates the name. 

Either way, I'm obviously going to have to commission the art - is there somewhere reliable I can go to hire a comic book or graphic artist who will take some direction?

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Re: javeryh's Small-ish Bartop ["Jack Attack!"]
« Reply #90 on: June 23, 2018, 07:33:37 pm »
I think there are a couple of people in the Art section that can probably help you out in that respect :)  :cheers: By the way, very nice work so far. I am Impressed with the choice of unique theme over generic art. 

javeryh

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Re: javeryh's Small-ish Bartop ["Jack Attack!"]
« Reply #91 on: June 24, 2018, 12:57:28 pm »
I think there are a couple of people in the Art section that can probably help you out in that respect :)  :cheers: By the way, very nice work so far. I am Impressed with the choice of unique theme over generic art.

Thanks - I'm hoping this comes out 1/2 as nice as I picture it in my head.  Art is like 90% of a successful project... then playability... OK maybe not that bad but to me art makes or breaks a project.

______________

Alright... today I'm trying to make some real progress.  I am officially in over my head after decasing the monitor.  There is practically nothing inside but my guess is as long as I keep everything connected I shouldn't have any issues.  Here are some pics of the inside:



This is what it looked like after opening it up.  Due to the ribbon cables I couldn't even separate the pieces of plastic for the bezel - I had to remove the control panel and the circuit board from the back panel first.



I will need to use some double sided tape to hold the circuit board against the back of the monitor.









There are rubber pads and clips holding the monitor in place against the front bezel.  I wonder if I can reuse this somehow... my plan right now is to just tape the monitor to the back of the glass.  This will make things flush and assuming I can figure out how to keep the glass from moving I think it will work.



I'm also in the process of painting the cabinet.  I disassembled everything and one coat of primer has been sprayed on the interior faces of all of the panels (including the CP because I'm an idiot - I have to round over the front edge before doing anything with it).  I'll sand and do one more coat before flipping everything over to do the exterior faces.  I don't really care how things look on the inside so I started there.  I hate painting.


Mike A

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Re: javeryh's Small-ish Bartop ["Jack Attack!"]
« Reply #92 on: June 24, 2018, 01:30:08 pm »
Can of worms opened.

javeryh

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Re: javeryh's Small-ish Bartop ["Jack Attack!"]
« Reply #93 on: June 24, 2018, 02:47:05 pm »
Can of worms opened.

Haha yup.  One of my goals for this build was to actually learn something so I'm trying to get out of my comfort zone...

DaOld Man

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Re: javeryh's Small-ish Bartop ["Jack Attack!"]
« Reply #94 on: June 25, 2018, 06:55:14 am »
You could possibly run a couple of flat aluminum stock pieces across the top and bottom of that plate. sandwich the screen between the aluminum flats and the plexi, with double sided tape holding the screen to the flats until you got the plexi in. You could then attach the flats to the inside of the cabinet with aluminum angle pieces. (all this is available at Lowes).
Attach angles to the inside wood sides using threaded inserts.
Or instead of flat stock, you could run aluminum angle, then you could notch out for that ribbon cable.

« Last Edit: June 25, 2018, 06:57:52 am by DaOld Man »

javeryh

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Re: javeryh's Small-ish Bartop ["Jack Attack!"]
« Reply #95 on: June 25, 2018, 10:59:29 am »
You could possibly run a couple of flat aluminum stock pieces across the top and bottom of that plate. sandwich the screen between the aluminum flats and the plexi, with double sided tape holding the screen to the flats until you got the plexi in. You could then attach the flats to the inside of the cabinet with aluminum angle pieces. (all this is available at Lowes).
Attach angles to the inside wood sides using threaded inserts.
Or instead of flat stock, you could run aluminum angle, then you could notch out for that ribbon cable.

I think I can get something like this to work - I wonder if I can get a 1/8" "U" channel in aluminum...

_____________

The cabinet is painted!  I'm getting close now.  All the paint is complete except some touch up along some (semi) visible edges like the access door in the back.  I went with something a little different for this build.  In the past, I've really tried to get a mirror finish and it ends up being a ton of work for a small payoff.  The DK I did a while back was finished using a nap roller and regular paint and it came out very nice - the texture didn't bother me at all and honestly all I see now when I look at it is blue.  Compare that to the pink cabinet I built that I sanded to a mirror finish - all I see when I look at that one is pink.  So I don't think the finish matters as much as I think it does as long as it is done neatly. 

OK I'm rambling... what I'm trying to say is that for this cabinet I decided I wanted the paint job to be very textured.  Last summer I built 7 speakers and 2 subwoofers and finished them using a product called DURATEX.  It gets very hard as it cures - more like a plastic than a paint.  I'm sure you've all seen it before.  Anyway, I had some leftover and I don't plan on building any more speakers any time soon so I decided to use some of it on this cabinet.  The sides and the CP will still be very colorful but the top panel and the back was going to be painted black so I figured why not.

I started with 2 coats of Bissner 1-2-3 in gray.  I ended up needing 2 cans because I had to do both sides of every panel. 



This took a while due to dry times and the spray could have been better out of the can but it worked.  I knocked the first coat back with 220 and the second coat with 400 to make the surfaces fairly smooth before applying the DURATEX.

Here is what all of the panels looked like before I (re)assembled the cab:



I even painted the bottom for no reason!  I should note that the 2 marquee retainer brackets were just sprayed black with the rattle can.

Here is a close-up of the top panel - you can really see the texture here.  It looks (and feels) very cool in person.



I REALLY like the way it came out.  The pictures don't do it justice. Now I really need to get serious about the art!
« Last Edit: June 25, 2018, 01:25:50 pm by javeryh »

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Re: javeryh's Small-ish Bartop ["Jack Attack!"]
« Reply #96 on: June 25, 2018, 12:14:43 pm »


I think I can get something like this to work - I wonder if I can get a 1/8" "U" channel in aluminum...


Check Lowes or Home Depot. I bought some aluminum U channel at Lowes a year or so ago, but I think it was 1/2" wide. Which isnt as wide as youd think.

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Re: javeryh's Small-ish Bartop ["Jack Attack!"] [We have paint!]
« Reply #97 on: June 25, 2018, 12:18:51 pm »
Quote
OK I'm rambling... what I'm trying to say is that for this cabinet I decided I wanted the paint job to be very textured.  Last summer I built 7 speakers and 2 subwoofers and finished them using a product called DURATEX.  It gets very hard as it cures - more like a plastic than a paint.  I'm sure you've all seen it before.  Anyway, I had some leftover and I don't plan on building any more speakers any time soon so I decided to use some of it on this cabinet.  The sides and the CP will still be very colorful but the top panel and the back was going to be painted black so I figured why not.

Do you have any pics of the speaker boxes? I am building a Bass guitar amp speaker box for my son. I am not quite sure what I am going to do for the exterior finish yet.

javeryh

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Re: javeryh's Small-ish Bartop ["Jack Attack!"] [We have paint!]
« Reply #98 on: June 25, 2018, 12:56:35 pm »
Quote
OK I'm rambling... what I'm trying to say is that for this cabinet I decided I wanted the paint job to be very textured.  Last summer I built 7 speakers and 2 subwoofers and finished them using a product called DURATEX.  It gets very hard as it cures - more like a plastic than a paint.  I'm sure you've all seen it before.  Anyway, I had some leftover and I don't plan on building any more speakers any time soon so I decided to use some of it on this cabinet.  The sides and the CP will still be very colorful but the top panel and the back was going to be painted black so I figured why not.

Do you have any pics of the speaker boxes? I am building a Bass guitar amp speaker box for my son. I am not quite sure what I am going to do for the exterior finish yet.

HERE

Mike A

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Re: javeryh's Small-ish Bartop ["Jack Attack!"] [We have paint!]
« Reply #99 on: June 25, 2018, 01:13:29 pm »
Those look good. I will have to consider using that finish. Thanks.

javeryh

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Re: javeryh's Small-ish Bartop ["Jack Attack!"] [We have paint!]
« Reply #100 on: June 25, 2018, 01:19:41 pm »
Those look good. I will have to consider using that finish. Thanks.

yeah - I'm quite pleased with how they came out.  The paint is hard to mess up because it rolls on thick.  It's expensive though - if I remember correctly I think it was $70 for 1/2 gallon but it stretches - I did not need to order more and I had a lot leftover (to use for this project!).

HERE are the surrounds and HERE are the subwoofers for some additional pics...
« Last Edit: June 25, 2018, 01:24:33 pm by javeryh »

Mike A

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Re: javeryh's Small-ish Bartop ["Jack Attack!"] [We have paint!]
« Reply #101 on: June 25, 2018, 01:24:12 pm »
Cool. Thanks again. I am going to read through that thread when I get some time.

javeryh

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Re: javeryh's Small-ish Bartop ["Jack Attack!"]
« Reply #102 on: June 25, 2018, 05:04:11 pm »


I think I can get something like this to work - I wonder if I can get a 1/8" "U" channel in aluminum...


Check Lowes or Home Depot. I bought some aluminum U channel at Lowes a year or so ago, but I think it was 1/2" wide. Which isnt as wide as youd think.

I'll take a look next time I'm there!

javeryh

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Re: javeryh's Small-ish Bartop ["Jack Attack!"] [We have paint!]
« Reply #103 on: June 26, 2018, 10:24:59 am »
The paint is dry so I assembled the cabinet.  It looks good!  Everything went back together nicely and even though the screws were a pain I think it was worth it.  This time, I used wood glue in addition to the screws so no turning back now.  This thing is not coming apart. 

I'm quite pleased with the duratex paint.  I think it looks really cool and it was a good way to avoid paint streaks from a brush.

Here's where I'm at so far.









I should note that the inside edge of the side panels was painted with black Rustoleum paint.  I brushed this on with a disposable foam brush (2 coats).  I was worried that the Duratex here would make it difficult to remove the CP and cause some other assembly issues. Even so, inserting and removing the CP panel scratched the paint a little bit so I'll have to keep an eye on that and probably do some touch up once the cabinet is complete.  I don't envision needing to get under the CP that often...







I love the size and I'm glad I went with the smaller design.  This will actually be a something that can be played on a table and moved around easily. 

I keep saying I need to get serious about the art but I really do.  Next steps:

- paint exposed edges of MDF panels with Rustoleum black (access door and top and bottom real panel edges).
- measure and order monitor glass
- order power supply - I'm looking at THIS one.  Seems like it will do the job.

If I can get this stuff done by the end of the week I'll call it a win.   :cheers:

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Re: javeryh's Small-ish Bartop ["Jack Attack!"] [We have paint!]
« Reply #104 on: June 26, 2018, 11:28:56 am »
you need any help with the art?
If you're replying to a troll you are part of the problem.
I also need to follow this advice. Ignore or report, don't reply.

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Re: javeryh's Small-ish Bartop ["Jack Attack!"] [We have paint!]
« Reply #105 on: June 26, 2018, 12:54:35 pm »
you need any help with the art?

Maybe?  I was going to try and commission a comic book artist to draw the marquee, CP and side art for me.  I need to get exact measurements of everything first.  I want it to look hand-drawn and not something cheaply made on the computer.  For example, although I like the font in my original post, I do not like the matching font I've seen online at places like dafont, 1001 free fonts, etc. The lettering has to be hand drawn (as well as the rest of the art) so the same letters aren't identical if I'm making any sense.

I am kind of at a loss on the side art right now but still thinking about it.

The CP overlay just has to match - I want a cool looking design that fits the theme (no pictures/art other than small lettering at the base that says "Invading Earth Since 2007"). 

T-Molding, balltop and buttons are all going to be white.

- Seimitsu 30mm solid white buttons with solid white bezel (HERE) for action buttons
- Seimitsu 24mm clear white buttons with solid white bezel (HERE) for admin buttons which will be placed on front of CP).

I need to collect my thoughts and try to work up some crappy sketches to convey my idea better.

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Re: javeryh's Small-ish Bartop ["Jack Attack!"] [We have paint!]
« Reply #106 on: June 27, 2018, 09:48:14 am »
Last night I had about 2 hours so I managed to get the feet sorted out.  I bought some rubber feet from Home Depot for about $2 that I thought would be perfect. 



However, I left a 1/4" lip all the way around the side panels of the cabinet where the interior panels connect.  The bottom panel was actually elevated 1/4" when the cabinet was supported by the side panels.  These feet weren't quite tall enough so I made some spacers out of MDF.  I made them smaller than the rubber feet because I did not want them to be seen at all.  I'm not 100% sure this was the best solution but no one will ever see it so who cares... OK, I do but I can't think of a better solution.



In order to locate the feet, I used 2 pencils that my daughter left out as spacers from the edges.  They were literally just sitting in front of me so I went for it.  Normally, something like this would slow me down for hours while I researched where other people placed their cabinet feet and what they used, etc. but I'm trying to get past that mental hurdle.



Once I located all 4 feet, I used an awl to mark the center point for my drill and I drilled out the holes.



Then I attached the feet using the spacers I made.  I didn't even paint the spacers and it is bothering me just thinking about it but that seems like a waste of time.  Ideally, I'd have been able to use some 1/2" black PVC piping and make 4 spacers of it if such a thing even exists... hmm... looks like i'm headed to Home Depot at lunch today.  Again.  I can't let this go.



It looks good and the final result lifts the cabinet off the ground perfectly - There will be room for the t-molding along the bottom edge of the side panels and the cabinet will still be spaced off of the ground nicely.



Next up tonight is to get the access door installed along with the magnets for the control panel.  I tried yesterday but as I feared it was now too tight due to the paint.  Nothing a little sanding can't fix but it will probably take me an hour or so to get it just right.   :cheers:

EDIT: I swapped out the MDF spacers for spacers made out of PVC pipe and sprayed black.  Scroll down to see what I did to fix this abomination. 
« Last Edit: June 30, 2018, 02:17:51 pm by javeryh »

DaOld Man

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Re: javeryh's Small-ish Bartop ["Jack Attack!"] [We have paint!]
« Reply #107 on: June 27, 2018, 08:06:15 pm »
Looking great Jav!
I think with those rubber feet I would stack metal washers to the height you need. The metal washers would be small enough diameter to disappear under the feet, or they could be same diameter as the feet so they look like part of the feet. You could paint the edges of the washers black.
Ive never seen any black PVC, but you can probably paint the white stuff black. (Plastic suitable paint)
Im anxious to see how yo do this, Im sure it will be genius.

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Re: javeryh's Small-ish Bartop ["Jack Attack!"] [We have paint!]
« Reply #108 on: June 27, 2018, 08:42:47 pm »
Looking good!  You sure making this building thing look easy.

Drnick

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Re: javeryh's Small-ish Bartop ["Jack Attack!"] [We have paint!]
« Reply #109 on: June 28, 2018, 02:29:54 am »
I would go down the stacked washer route to increase the height :)

javeryh

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Re: javeryh's Small-ish Bartop ["Jack Attack!"] [We have paint!]
« Reply #110 on: June 28, 2018, 10:29:41 am »
I would go down the stacked washer route to increase the height :)

Looking great Jav!
I think with those rubber feet I would stack metal washers to the height you need. The metal washers would be small enough diameter to disappear under the feet, or they could be same diameter as the feet so they look like part of the feet. You could paint the edges of the washers black.
Ive never seen any black PVC, but you can probably paint the white stuff black. (Plastic suitable paint)
Im anxious to see how yo do this, Im sure it will be genius.

Thanks guys - I thought about washers but didn't want the added weight believe it or not.  I'm trying to keep it somewhat portable so every little bit counts!  I did manage to find some 1/2" PVC that seems like it will work but not in black.  That's what the rattle can is for!  Now, how am I going to cut four 1/4" slices.... stay tuned...

Looking good!  You sure making this building thing look easy.

Thanks!  What you don't see is all the stupid mistakes and cursing that goes on behind the scenes...  I wanted to build this thing quick - July 3 is my son's birthday so that's out the window but if I can finish by the time school starts again I'll consider it a win.  Besides, this is the year he's finally getting an iPhone.   :cry:

________________

I bit the bullet and ordered the glass for the monitor.  I hope I got the dimensions right.  I shorted all sides by 1/16" just to be safe. Man, this stuff costs a lot.  $50 ($22 in shipping - grrrr).  I bought a 1/8" piece of tempered glass with a light gray tint and slightly beveled on the sides so you won't see any edge chips.  I got it tempered so it won't shatter (hopefully).  The glass will be "locked" in place once the cab is compete so I'm not worried about it falling out but better to be safe than sorry.  I could have bought a piece of lexan or plexiglas but in my experience it just doesn't look as nice and can be easily scratched.  Oh well.  It's only money, right?

 :dunno
« Last Edit: June 28, 2018, 10:35:42 am by javeryh »

Drnick

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Re: javeryh's Small-ish Bartop ["Jack Attack!"] [We have paint!]
« Reply #111 on: June 28, 2018, 02:02:47 pm »
I bit the bullet and ordered the glass for the monitor.  I hope I got the dimensions right.  I shorted all sides by 1/16" just to be safe. Man, this stuff costs a lot.  $50 ($22 in shipping - grrrr).  I bought a 1/8" piece of tempered glass with a light gray tint and slightly beveled on the sides so you won't see any edge chips.  I got it tempered so it won't shatter (hopefully).  The glass will be "locked" in place once the cab is compete so I'm not worried about it falling out but better to be safe than sorry.  I could have bought a piece of lexan or plexiglas but in my experience it just doesn't look as nice and can be easily scratched.  Oh well.  It's only money, right?

 :dunno

Where's the bloody Thumbs Up emoticon  :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:  You have done the right thing with the rounded tempered glass.

javeryh

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Re: javeryh's Small-ish Bartop ["Jack Attack!"] [We have paint!]
« Reply #112 on: June 29, 2018, 10:55:24 am »
Where's the bloody Thumbs Up emoticon  :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:  You have done the right thing with the rounded tempered glass.

Ha - I hope so.  Seemed like the right thing to do.  Not sure about the tint on the glass but it should be OK.  In my experience clear glass doesn't look as nice as gray.

____________

Last night I *finally* got all of the dimensions for the panels that require art.  I measured in mm, which was odd but I thought it would be more accurate.  I think I got everything to within 1mm tolerance, which is hopefully OK.

My question - what program can I use to just lay everything out so it prints actual size?  I want to be able to deliver a "canvas" to whoever I hire to do the art so I want to layout the edges of the panel as well as the button locations and everything.  Here are the dimensions:



Thanks.

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Re: javeryh's Small-ish Bartop ["Jack Attack!"] [We have paint!]
« Reply #113 on: June 29, 2018, 04:02:01 pm »
Does the state know you have their copy?   ;D

Mike A

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Re: javeryh's Small-ish Bartop ["Jack Attack!"] [We have paint!]
« Reply #114 on: June 29, 2018, 04:44:54 pm »
The state knows everything.

javeryh

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Re: javeryh's Small-ish Bartop ["Jack Attack!"] [We have paint!]
« Reply #115 on: June 29, 2018, 06:15:29 pm »
Heh - all paper in my house says that or “Government Copy”.  One of the perks of being married to a CPA...

javeryh

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Re: javeryh's Small-ish Bartop ["Jack Attack!"] [We have paint!]
« Reply #116 on: June 30, 2018, 11:32:35 am »
I ordered THIS power supply from Amazon on Thursday and it arrived already so I wired it up this morning.  This has been done to death around here so I won't go into too much detail and will just post a bunch of pics.

It's pretty small and will easily fit inside of the cabinet:









I plugged it into the wall using a spare computer power cord, plugged my iPad charger into one of the sockets and then plugged my phone in.  My phone started charging instantly.  I flipped the red switch on the top of the socket and power was cut to my phone.  It appears to be working! 

Some things to point out:
  • The light on the switch is always on no matter if the switch is receiving power or not.  Is this normal?  Seems like it would have to be the case based on how it is wired but I was thinking the red light might turn off if the switch wasn't on.
  • The smaller white, black and green wires inside of the black cord is 18 gauge.  It seemed a little thin but I don't think this matters (or does it?)
  • Of course the socket does not have enough room to fit inside of the hole I cut for it on the back of the cabinet so when I go too install it permanently I'll have to take off all of the quick disconnects, thread the cord through and then attach everything again.  Not a huge deal but easily avoided.

I'm sort of in a holding pattern here until I sort out the artwork and the piece of glass arrives so I can finish construction of the cabinet itself.  In the meantime, I'm researching the raspberry pi and RetroPie and how to hook up a momentary button for on/off and how to get the ServoStick working properly.  This is all new to me and will be the hardest part of this build for sure.   :cheers:

JDFan

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Re: javeryh's Small-ish Bartop ["Jack Attack!"] [We have paint!]
« Reply #117 on: June 30, 2018, 12:07:09 pm »

The light on the switch is always on no matter if the switch is receiving power or not.  Is this normal?  Seems like it would have to be the case based on how it is wired but I was thinking the red light might turn off if the switch wasn't on.

Sounds like you might have the input power on the wrong side of the switch ( ie. swap the AC in and jumper wire on the switch connectors) The light is wired to one side of the switch so if the input is on that side the light always receives power instead of only receiving power when it is switched on.

Attempt to explain :

In the attached the light inside the switch is either wired between b1 an w1 or b2 and w2. Lets say it is between b1 and w1

If you put the AC in connected to b1 and w1 the light always gets power whether the switch is on or off -- If you place the AC input on b2 and w2 the light only gets power when the switch is on. SInce the switch passes the power from one side to the other.

« Last Edit: June 30, 2018, 12:17:37 pm by JDFan »

javeryh

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Re: javeryh's Small-ish Bartop ["Jack Attack!"] [We have paint!]
« Reply #118 on: June 30, 2018, 12:16:45 pm »

The light on the switch is always on no matter if the switch is receiving power or not.  Is this normal?  Seems like it would have to be the case based on how it is wired but I was thinking the red light might turn off if the switch wasn't on.

Sounds like you might have the input power on the wrong side of the switch ( ie. swap the AC in and jumper wire on the switch connectors) The light is wired to one side of the switch so if the input is on that side the light always receives power instead of only receiving power when it is switched on.

Thanks.  I followed this tutorial exactly and I made sure to have my switch facing the same way as the one in the video: 

I'm almost afraid to change it but if I understand correctly, you are saying to switch the two connections on the left with the two connections on the right of the switch.

EDIT: now looking HERE I'm thoroughly confused. It is wired completely differently.
« Last Edit: June 30, 2018, 12:20:14 pm by javeryh »

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Re: javeryh's Small-ish Bartop ["Jack Attack!"] [We have paint!]
« Reply #119 on: June 30, 2018, 12:20:53 pm »

The light on the switch is always on no matter if the switch is receiving power or not.  Is this normal?  Seems like it would have to be the case based on how it is wired but I was thinking the red light might turn off if the switch wasn't on.

Sounds like you might have the input power on the wrong side of the switch ( ie. swap the AC in and jumper wire on the switch connectors) The light is wired to one side of the switch so if the input is on that side the light always receives power instead of only receiving power when it is switched on.

Thanks.  I followed this tutorial exactly and I made sure to have my switch facing the same way as the one in the video: 

I'm almost afraid to change it but if I understand correctly, you are saying to switch the two connections on the left with the two connections on the right of the switch.

EDited above to add a pic and explanation. THe light is internally connected to 2 of the prongs - If AC is supplied to that same side the light will always be on - if it comes in from the other side the light will only get power when the switch makes the connection (when switched on)

EDIT : The switch is removeable from the outer casing so can easily be turned around when installing - which is probably why it does not match up with the tutorial you followed.
« Last Edit: June 30, 2018, 12:26:36 pm by JDFan »