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Author Topic: Xanitron - A Return  (Read 17619 times)

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Arroyo

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Re: Xanitron - A Return
« Reply #40 on: July 30, 2019, 03:23:22 pm »
Nice work, it's looking good.  Do you have a render/drawing of what it will look like when finished?

gingecko

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Re: Xanitron - A Return
« Reply #41 on: July 30, 2019, 04:37:50 pm »
Thanks Arroyo, I've been having fun following your project as well!

Other than a few sketches, I don't have a decent render. Mostly I saw the image of the Vigolix, took a 6' board, sawed it in half diagonally, and went from there.

In some it's cool to be winging it, because it will be a little bit different in design. On the other hand it's a headache, not having a plan.

I'd say the bottom half of the machine is all worked out right now, but I'm not completely sure how tall it's going to be. I'm waiting to get some other parts cut up and then will fit them together to see whether I want to trim some off the top or not.

I should have a decent pic of it standing by the next update or two.


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Re: Xanitron - A Return
« Reply #42 on: July 31, 2019, 10:39:11 am »
Looking great so far. Solid work. Can't wait to see the next pics!

gingecko

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Re: Xanitron - A Return
« Reply #43 on: July 31, 2019, 01:19:46 pm »
Thanks Vigo! Your Vigolix was a big inspiration in designing the cab, even though it won't turn out the same. I probably would have built another Lusid inspired cabinet if I hadn't stumbled across yours and Delusional's threads.

It's been fun veering off the path a bit. I aimed for something practical but also was easily recognizable as an arcade machine. I think I'll hit that mark.

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Re: Xanitron - A Return
« Reply #44 on: July 31, 2019, 01:33:41 pm »
Thanks, gingecko! That's what this place is about. Take something and evolve it to the next level. I can't wait to see how you evolve what I built! So far it looks very promising!  :cheers:

gingecko

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Re: Xanitron - A Return
« Reply #45 on: August 02, 2019, 11:51:22 am »
Going to share the last few pics before heading into the weekend (where I always hope I will get a ton of work done!).

Original plan was to add 2 intake fans on the bottom and 2 fans up top to vent out the hot air. My original cab was pretty warm, but it also had a larger/older computer and a giant monitor. Unfortunately, I found out there wasn't enough room to mount the two 120mm fans on the bottom rear panel. so I opted for just vents. Should probably be okay. I'll add a screen/filter behind them at some point.



I came up with a little jig for the router, to keep things neat. It was pretty fun, just remove a board from the bottom before each cut, to slide the router down. I then placed the whole thing on top of the rear panel as a guide. Probably better ways to do this, but it worked out all right and I might use it again for the top panel.



The next part I started hacking away at, was the rear/hatch door. It was too hot last night, and I was tired, so procrastination happened. I want a longer piece of framing to go down the side, but ran out of that wood, so instead of working I made a trip to the store. This weekend I hope to get the frame bits done (and magnets installed), door handle, and possibly a key lock. I'd love to get both top and bottom panels done, but will see.



Also on the agenda is finishing up the control panel box, speaker panel, and marquee dimensions.

@Vigo, thanks! I just hope it's "evolve" and not "devolve", haha!

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Re: Xanitron - A Return
« Reply #46 on: August 02, 2019, 01:49:04 pm »
Nice jig and execution with it.  Good work Gingecko.

gingecko

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Re: Xanitron - A Return
« Reply #47 on: August 12, 2019, 11:48:53 am »
Oh yea, I was supposed to update the weekend before last, right?! Well, things are slow, as usual. I'm making progress, but also getting antsy about getting the damned garage organized again after I get done with woodworking. At the same time, stressing out and trying to take my time to make sure I don't screw up.

The weekend before last, was another hot one. I had seen the Emerson Straight Edge clamp from Arroyo's thread and nearly bought one...but I really like how easy my sawboard is to use. Make your line, clamp the sawboard on top and run the saw over the sawboard. But maybe I could modify it with clamps underneath?!

Exhibit A:


Exhibit B:


The clamps have 'star knobs' that I can unscrew/adjust. In theory, it was a great idea (I had seen something similar somewhere online, I'm sure) but in practice...the clamps sometimes got in the way of lining up the board on the sawhorses and took just as much time to clamp down as the clutch clamps I normally use. I've finally figured out the sweet spot where I need to place the board/sawboard on the sawhorse to get it clamped nicely. A little late in the game, but oh well. Worth a try I guess.

My main struggle that weekend was the bottom rear door. I had spent a good deal of time routing out space for magnets in the framing pieces and the door. I spent most of that Saturday morning building a jig that I thought was going to make it all perfect. Then turned out, I didn't have enough depth. The sun was baking down, and I needed to eat...so I grumpily waited until the evening. Finally finished, but after checking it out, turns out the thin magnets were too weak.

So I ordered more magnets, more cutting, and eventually ended up with this:





Doors are definitely a weak point for me, but at least this one will be better than the one on my first cabinet. Which wasn't even flush:



I'll have another door up top, but I'm hoping all the sweat I put into the first one, will make the second much easier.

I've pretty much been building from the floor up. And then will decide the final height of the side pieces on the cab. So next steps were Control Panel and Speaker panel. I'm close to done on the CP.

I made an angled cut to align the sides of the CP using the jig saw. I was pretty amazed that I guessed the angle correctly and it ended up that snug.





I basically re-cut all the control panel boards and tested angles and whatnot on scraps as I went. The top board got a 3/8" roundover (thank YouTube for the correct sized bit to use!) that turned out super sweet. Unfortunately I must have been too excited, wet my pants, and forgot to take pics.

For the CP, I have one cut to make on the top board as it's too long right now. I erred on the side of over-cutting everything after a number of mistakes. The top is just about perfect, so I'm going to have to be extra careful when cutting out the trackball, button/joy holes.

Then I'll try to trim the top edge of the front CP face, so the top panel will sit snug across the sides and front. That seems to be a really tricky angle to get right, so I'll have to test on quite a few scraps first.


Mike A

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Re: Xanitron - A Return
« Reply #48 on: August 12, 2019, 11:57:56 am »
You should look at how the back side of many original arcade cabinets are built. They have a really simple and easy door solution. It is just one large slab held in place with a barrel lock.

gingecko

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Re: Xanitron - A Return
« Reply #49 on: August 12, 2019, 12:20:53 pm »
You should look at how the back side of many original arcade cabinets are built. They have a really simple and easy door solution. It is just one large slab held in place with a barrel lock.

Yea, on the first cab I had no clue. Searching for images of 'rear access Arcade' didn't yield very helpful results. ;)

Image searches are better now than back then, and I've got a vague idea how the Arcade doors look. But I guess the "problems" I was trying to solve were: "How to keep the door tight/secure but also make it easily removable without too much wear and tear?". Also, try to keep it looking more or less like an arcade machine. Obviously failing on that last part.

I had thought about using a barrel lock, and using pins/dowels to push fit the door into place. I figured that's more friction though and would eventually wear out either the pins or the holes. So, I over-complicated the damned thing. Best to listen to that little voice in your head when it starts saying "This doesn't look right...".

gingecko

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Re: Xanitron - A Return
« Reply #50 on: August 14, 2019, 05:22:04 pm »
Work feels like it's moving along a bit. I test cut the angle for the top of the control panel last night on a piece of scrap. Looks like I got it right, and hopefully will make the last of the cuts for the control panel tonight. (Don't screw it up!!)

The other day, I put together the hole saw to work on the speaker panel. Ends up looking like a Jack Kirby comic book gadget:



The speaker panel came together fairly well, with only a minor setback. I still need to figure out a smarter way to guide the router. I keep rigging stuff up, and then find it out doesn't work. Last night I basically just clamped a couple boards to make an L shape, where I could. Did each speaker corner, one at a time, then flipped them around to do the other sides. I should try and make some sort of adjustable U-shaped contraption for this stuff. I'm probably near the end of routing out patterns though.





The speakers will get strapped in there with some velcro straps and hardware. Still trying to decide on volume control and where to place it. I'm not sure it would look very good on the speaker panel, but I also don't want it to get confused with the spinner, if I put it on the control panel.

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Re: Xanitron - A Return
« Reply #51 on: August 14, 2019, 06:37:59 pm »
That drill is way to clean. You need to drop it a few times. Maybe drag it behind your car.

gingecko

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Re: Xanitron - A Return
« Reply #52 on: August 15, 2019, 10:59:04 am »
That drill is way to clean. You need to drop it a few times. Maybe drag it behind your car.

Haha, thanks Mike!

Picked that one up on sale. My old drill's battery isn't holding a charge much these days and a corded drill is really nice when drilling out a whole bunch of button holes.

I've started to dub this project the "Money Pit" though. Thinking it wouldn't cost much to build, when I already have some controls....was damned naive. On the plus side, I'll have a lot of tools and materials for other projects.

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Re: Xanitron - A Return
« Reply #53 on: August 19, 2019, 11:46:29 am »
Well, another weekend down. Feel like I got a fair amount accomplished and getting closer to getting out of the woodworking stage. Good news for me at least.

One man blocking/assembly, while my helper is away




Closer




Late Night, Saturday Night






Sunday morning, tear it back apart to trim the rounded top off.



Got that done, cut another small access door in the upper part. Added some vents, and glued a strip up top to close the height gap.

Thought I was all done with the router, but looks like the fans I wanted to install don't have enough clearance. So I'm probably going to route out a spot for them tonight.

I also need to figure out how to get the front of the control panel attached. I had stupidly drilled into the 'end grain' when attaching the sides to the bottom of the control panel, and of course some splitting started to happen. I could try drilling bigger pilot holes, but I just don't trust it not to split. Problem is, there isn't much room on the inside of the control panel for support pieces to attach to. Maybe I'll just try making some dowels and gluing it together.

After that, it's figuring out the final arrangement on the control panel top. Drilling all them holes, and then move on to Bondo and sanding.

[Edit] Feel like I'm learning/re-learning a ton lately. If I ever make another cab, so many things I would do differently the next time around. But I'm sure there are other new/old mistakes I would still make. Such is life.
« Last Edit: August 19, 2019, 11:53:35 am by gingecko »

Arroyo

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Re: Xanitron - A Return
« Reply #54 on: August 19, 2019, 12:12:27 pm »
Damn man, it's really coming together.  That's an interesting shape, and I see now the Vigolix inspiration.  I don't think I commented on it before but those are some are some sweet doors and vents.  Keep it up!

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Re: Xanitron - A Return
« Reply #55 on: August 21, 2019, 03:47:43 pm »
Thanks Arroyo, it turned out much different than what I thought it would. But I think it will work in the long run.

Well, sometimes things go great, like the other night. Sometimes they just go south...

I started off thinking I would saw a metal rod that I had planned to use to extend the volume knob. Throw it in a vice. Hacksaw. Nope. Dremel cutting tool. Nope. Jigsaw with metal blade?! Nope. Crap.

Ok, what else can I work on instead? Cut the holes for the fans on the back panel....line up the fans and filter, get out the hole saws. 5", too big. 4", too small. Grumble, grumble. Order a 4.5" one online...not happening tonight.

What else? Cut hole for Vandal Switch. Should be easy enough...except the nut is stuck. About 15 minutes later, finally get that unscrewed. Drill a hole into the MDF with a forstner bit. All smooth and good, a little too small. Sand out just enough room to get the switch in there. Hmmm, need to route out space for the nut. Dremel that out. Screw it in. Looking good. Now...just take it out so I can paint someday. NOT coming out. Damned threads must be stripped or something, because it does not want to unscrew all the way. Can get a turn left/right but then it gets stuck hard. WD-40, no go. Frustration sets in, and out comes the chisel. Maybe I can break the switch to get it out. Durh, MDF gives way before metal does.



Instead of making any progress, I just added more gluing, Bondo, and sanding time. Sucks, but sometimes that's how it goes. Luckily, not all the time.

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Re: Xanitron - A Return
« Reply #56 on: August 23, 2019, 12:22:39 pm »
Not much time lately, but I managed to fix up the mistake from last time.



I'm not in love with the stuff, but Bondo sure has saved my butt a number of times.

The aluminum rod I ordered came in the mail, so it was time to tackle the volume knob again.



I don't know if that will the he final knob. They are just push fit though, and I have a variety of them. So no need to fret, when I can change it on the fly.

To get there, took a bit of work. One of these volume boxes, an extender piece, a rod to extend through the panel and finally the knob.



The aluminum rod was super easy to cut with the hacksaw. But it wasn't quite "6mm". I tried filing it down with a Dremel burr bit. Worked okay, but took a chunk of time. Then it turned out I underestimated the length of the rod, and had to cut another longer piece. This time I filed the rod down by sticking it in my drill, and holding some sandpaper around it. That worked pretty nicely.

I've tested the Volbox with my speakers, and I think that's going to work out really well as a volume control. I'll mainly just want to set the volume a little higher than I want, as it basically reduces the volume level.

I still need to figure out exactly how I will mount the Volbox inside. I was thinking of opening it up and drilling a screw/bolt through the bottom. The volume control sticks out at a slight angle from the box, so I'll have to take that into account either way. But it's nice to be mostly done with that part and have a decent solution for it.

The next big question has been how to attach the front control panel board, when there isn't enough room for a supporting bracket. I didn't want to risk screwing into the butt end of the wood again, and have it split on me.



I had thought "dowels" might be the answer. But I knew I'd probably screw up the alignment of the dowels. So, I ended up getting a Kreg Pocket Screw jig.

I opted to test first, and seems pretty dummy proof.



Jig set for 3/4" and clamped on.



Nice.

Even with just 1 screw in there, the boards were pretty firmly attached. So that looks like my solution for getting the last board attached to this bad boy. Had I known how simple the whole pocket hole thing could be, I might have done the whole cab that way. It's not entirely too late, so I might end up using it or at least putting a few pocket screws in spots to strengthen things.
« Last Edit: August 23, 2019, 12:27:02 pm by gingecko »

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Re: Xanitron - A Return
« Reply #57 on: August 23, 2019, 01:52:21 pm »
Nice fix! Really digging how this is looking as it is coming together!  :cheers:

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Re: Xanitron - A Return
« Reply #58 on: August 23, 2019, 02:39:25 pm »
Thanks Vigo! The original idea was to include the 'side attachments' you used. Mainly for decoration, but I also figured that I could attach the bottom and top of the control panel to the side support. Allowing me to have a wider control panel overall.



However, once I got the control panel situated, I realized that the cab would fit perfectly through the doorway without removing the control panel. So the side supports will get left out, which makes it look less like a Vigolix to me. My design just changed over time, and that's ok.

I'm fairly happy with it so far. I still need to "fix" the design part where the t-molding ends at the control panel, since the side supports won't be there. I'm thinking a line of paint, more than likely.

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Re: Xanitron - A Return
« Reply #59 on: August 23, 2019, 02:47:04 pm »
Makes sense! Sometimes the practical side of things takes hold, but in this case, it made it cool looking in a different way.

I also have to say you have a good eye for getting the proportions right on this. Details like the speaker panels just feel very right! I think this cab is going to turn out to be one of my favorite wide screen cabinets.  :cheers:

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Re: Xanitron - A Return
« Reply #60 on: September 09, 2019, 02:14:25 pm »
Vigo - Thanks again for the super kind words! Maybe some of the art classes I took rubbed off on me and helped with proportions. I seem to just intuit most of that stuff.

Well, it's been a spell. The wife's idea of a vacation is not "spend a week building an arcade cabinet", so not too much progress. She does keep the kids out of my hair when I get some garage time in though, so she deserves a lot credit in making this thing (eventually) happen.

We were on a cruise for a week, and when I heard they had an arcade, had to check it out. It was empty of people, and filled with super loud shooting games. Not really my style. They did have this one generic box, and I gave it a try. The menu seemed pretty intuitive, so it had that going for it. Ever try playing Robotron with a joystick in your left paw and buttons on the right though?!



Before I left for vacation, I had snapped this pic. Maybe a "last goodbye?". Maybe I was just happy to have to gotten the fans cut out:



Woodworking wise, I pretty much reached the end. I think some final adjustments to the monitor brace to get it to where I want and secure it.

I had been stressing about marquee/bezel retainers, like trying to arrange a puzzle in my head. But I think I got it sorted out, special thanks to Delusional for his idea of using corner protectors from Home Depot! That plus some dowels seems to work pretty well.





I don't think either of those are the final piece, but it gives a good idea on how the acrylic sheet will sit on top of the speaker panel. The corner protectors are clear, so I had to spray them with Black spray paint. Go for the nail on ones, if you get them, as the adhesive inside will muck with your paint. Yes, I found out the hard way. I ended up spraying them probably 2-3 times per piece, just to get a nice solid coat.

I also went pocket hole crazy this last weekend. I've been looking at all the support blocks I have inside the cabinet and trying to replace as many of those with pocket holes instead. I'll still have some of those support boards, but I think in the end, the inside will be a bit cleaner and maybe fewer boards to assemble/paint in the long run.



And lastly, speaking of paint....woodworking has come far enough along that I think I've pretty much finalized things. So I took a look at the boards I have and figured out which ones I could start with. Mainly boards that will be on the back. Theoretically, my painting will get better as I go, so I'll start with the least visible boards first. Unfortunately, the weather is crap this week, so painting progress might not be the greatest.



Just seeing some basic paint on the boards has been exciting to me though, as the mistakes start to get covered up and it doesn't look like some crappy hobbled together thing.

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Re: Xanitron - A Return
« Reply #61 on: September 30, 2019, 12:33:42 pm »


Yep, progress has felt a bit like that lately. (that little guy managed to crawl through our back door and I stumbled upon him after a late night painting session)

Feels like an eternity sinceI had the cab standing up like this:



This what I've been slogging through for quite some time. A coat a night, 3 coats primer on each side.







I was sanding down the primer in-between and getting it silky smooth. Then applied the first couple coats of black. Too glossy and the finish wasn't anywhere what I thought it would be. Panic set in. I had read that Sherwin Williams makes good paint, so I took down some pieces to show them what I'm lamenting about and they set me up with their "Emerald" line.

The first couple coats ended up looking like this:



More panic.

I tried to hold in there, and just keep sanding, applying more coats. After 4 coats, I'm getting  finish that looks something like this:



That's something I can live with at least. If weather holds out and I have the time, I might try to get 1-2 more coats on there. Possibly try out wet sanding at 600 grit. We're getting super close to the "all rain/all the time" season though, so will see. It's a race against time at this point.

Control panel - I was really nervous about cutting the final control panel top after all the work I've done. I had managed to get an angled cut on the back side and bevelled the front lip just right. I knew those were not going to happen again. So, I slowly and carefully cut out the button, joy, and spinner holes. Luckily, no mess ups. I had planned on routing out a small bit off the top to get the mounting plate flush, but I knew that I would end up screwing that up....so I opted to buy Ultimarc's trackball instead.

I like the looks of it and the trim piece is a nice touch. Since I'm using 3/4" mdf, I needed to route out a small section underneath so it would sit high enough on top. I opted to use my own threaded insert nuts. I found some that fit the screws that came with the trackball. Marked the spots where the bolts would go in and carefully inserted the nuts.



Things went pretty well, except only three of the bolts lined up. I could try to take out the nut, bondo, and place it again, but I have a feeling it will be fine with just 3 bolts.



Looks pretty slick once installed.



So where am I at now? Still painting. I applied the last coat of primer, so now it's just getting all the coats of paint on. Unfortunately, the SW Tricorn Black requires a lot of coats before it covers everything. I think I was sanding back way too much hoping to get a super smooth finish, but that doesn't seem to be working. So now I'm scuffing in-between coats. Either way, it's taking a good 4+ coats of paint to cover. The blue I bought from them, went on just fine, turned out smooth, and covered in just 2 coats. I thought I would be done painting last week, but I have at least another week. Looking forward to getting past this stage and getting things assembled again.

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Re: Xanitron - A Return
« Reply #62 on: September 30, 2019, 03:09:34 pm »
Nice work gingecko, that last paint job looks really good.  Keep slogging through it, it'll be worth it when you get that thing all back together again.
« Last Edit: September 30, 2019, 05:24:45 pm by Arroyo »

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Re: Xanitron - A Return
« Reply #63 on: September 30, 2019, 04:43:23 pm »
Thanks Arroyo. It's mainly baby steps right now. Each part is one more chip off the iceberg though!

gingecko

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Re: Xanitron - A Return
« Reply #64 on: November 19, 2019, 06:47:32 pm »
Time for some updates. I've mainly been in the art stage, so I should start getting this thread caught up to date. I also started a blog in the meantime, as some of the people from my miniatures painting blog were interested in what I've been up to. Most of the content will be similar to what I post here, but I may go into other details over there. The blog has also been a great way to host images.

https://arcadedreams.home.blog

I got the outlet socket wired. Thanks to a visit from the brother-in-law. Super nice guy, who is always doing stuff for us when he visits. I know he has a degree in Engineering, so I sprung this on him, and he had us all wired up in no time. In exchange, he looks forward to playing some arcade games next time they come out, haha!





He even plugged it in and tested it out. Confident of his own work!

I finished up the speaker panel. Took a little fiddling to get things the way I wanted, but turned out decent enough. The plan was to have it removable so I could get access to internals from the front and also remove the acrylic as needed. Now I'd probably only do that as a last resort, because the paint will start to peel off.








There's a little spot where the paint got marred in the center, which is annoying to me. But I'm probably going to work up an instruction card to place on there anyways.

I also started adding some metal tape to help reflect light in prep for the marquee. That tape is kind of weird to work with. Sticks to itself very easily.





That is the upper back panel above. Something I would completely redesign if I did this again. Building the doors was a pain, and the upper door really only gives access to the lower portion of the monitor. Getting the back panel, marquee, and front glass together is a like a jigsaw. And yep, Mike had some sage advice about making the back panel like the original cabinets. I just wasn't sure what that meant or how. Now I knowwwwww.

And in other exciting news, painting was finished, t-molding applied, and I got the thing mostly reassembled in these pics.





Come along a way, but there is still more to go. Art and Wiring. With my cable management skills, I wouldn't count on that being "Wiring Art"!

Also, I have plans to tear it all apart when the weather gets nicer next year. There are a few spots where bare wood shows, and it has already got some scrapes from moving it out of the room. Which is bound to be worse, as we're planning on moving soon as well. So some touchup painting will be in order at some point.

Till next time!








« Last Edit: November 19, 2019, 11:15:02 pm by gingecko »

J_K_M_A_N

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Re: Xanitron - A Return
« Reply #65 on: November 19, 2019, 10:21:19 pm »
Nice paint job. It looks very nice. Cool setup too. I can't wait to see it "finished". (Are they ever really finished?)

J_K_M_A_N

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Re: Xanitron - A Return
« Reply #66 on: November 19, 2019, 11:24:16 pm »
Thanks J_K_M_A_N. Took a long time to get the paint there, and it's not even near close to some of the finishes I've seen around here. I think it will do though.

Yea, these can be big, seemingly never ending projects. I'm just glad I've made the progress I have. There were times while working on the project that I thought was just going to quit and leave the damned pieces in the garage. So I'm happy to see something like this, that has so far ended up way better than my first cabinet.

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Re: Xanitron - A Return
« Reply #67 on: November 20, 2019, 02:37:55 pm »
Nice job!  That paint job looks solid.  What a pain to take it all apart, paint and then put it all back together....not looking forward to that.  Looking forward to your progress.

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Re: Xanitron - A Return
« Reply #68 on: November 20, 2019, 05:50:48 pm »
Thanks Arroyo! Yea, it sounds pretty lame to have to take it apart to repaint....but it's not as bad as it sounds. (I say that now, we will see if I eat those words later)

One, it will just be touch up paint on a few panels, not the whole thing. Two, the way I designed the cab, it comes apart fairly easily. It has support blocks along the insides that just need to be unscrewed to remove panels. I don't want to do that too often, but for the occasional house move, it will come in handy. Had I thought more about it, I might have used insert nuts instead of screws. Guess I could still go that route.

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Re: Xanitron - A Return
« Reply #69 on: November 20, 2019, 05:52:40 pm »
It looks good. :applaud:

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Re: Xanitron - A Return
« Reply #70 on: November 20, 2019, 06:12:42 pm »
Agreed, nice looking cabinet.  :cheers:

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Re: Xanitron - A Return
« Reply #71 on: November 20, 2019, 06:19:59 pm »
Thanks Mike and Opt2not! I know it's not what a lot of people would probably build, but I think it will fit the needs of our fam.

One thing I forgot, when I was looking back through my pics...



I've used the spray paint trick that Delusional does. Masking off the acrylic and spraying one side. It's really a nice way to create a bezel. My first attempt turned out beautifully....except the acrylic had been resting on top of the dowel holders when I marked off the monitor! After I finished painting it and put it back in the cab, I discovered that the 'window' was way too low! So I had to do the whole thing over again.

On the second try, the paint immediately started crackling (pic above). It was like watching ice crystals form. Had no idea what was happening, but was pretty bummed. Turns out there are a few different reasons, old paint, outside temp, foreign materials on surface, etc. I ended up sanding off the paint, cleaning the surface again, and giving it another go. Much lighter passes, and waiting a couple minutes before hitting it with another pass. Even with 3 coats per spraying session, it still took me about a good 4 days to get things completely opaque. Quite the pain. This time around, the paint had gotten a bit under the tape too. I have a feeling we won't really notice it. If I don't like it though, I might end up buying some pieces of opaque black plastic from TAP and using it to make a bezel underneath. Better than re-spraying the acrylic over and over, and hoping I get it right. Or maybe I'll be a pro after so many mistakes?!

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Re: Xanitron - A Return
« Reply #72 on: November 20, 2019, 06:26:52 pm »
Quote
I know it's not what a lot of people would probably build, but I think it will fit the needs of our fam.

You are building what you want.

You take creative criticism.

You are building with care for what you are doing.

What more could anyone ask for?

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Re: Xanitron - A Return
« Reply #73 on: November 21, 2019, 05:31:08 am »
Looks really nice.

For your bezel. You could buy some black matte board with a solid core and cut out the shape of the monitor.  It is only 1/16” thick and once it is sitting behind plexiglas, it will basically disappear.  Might be easier than trying to repaint.


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Re: Xanitron - A Return
« Reply #74 on: November 21, 2019, 10:02:08 am »
Thanks Mike, means a lot! :)

Thanks Javeryh, that was one other route I had thought about. Wasn't quite sure where to get matte board for a decent price. Maybe a Michaels craft store? I kind of like the idea of some thin plastic, as it would be more durable in the long run. Though likely way harder to cut than matte board.

I've already tested out the plexiglass with spray painted back, and although I can see some spots where it looks like it should be obscuring the monitor a little bit...I haven't seen it when I fired up a game. Though I probably was so excited about seeing Rampage on that big screen, that I forgot about it. I'll scrutinize it more closely at some point, then decide if I need to redo things or not. Hopefully it will be just fine.

The other thing I need to double check is light bleed. Even though I see quite a few gaps, I surprisingly haven't noticed any major light bleed yet. The plan is to use weathering tape to fix up any spots. It worked pretty good on my first cab.


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Re: Xanitron - A Return
« Reply #75 on: December 02, 2019, 01:45:20 pm »
I might have mentioned it before, but a small wrench in the works as we move houses. It did give me a chance to snap a few pics as I got the beast ready for the move.







Out the door and down the stairs you go!





After getting it in the new place, I mounted the PC and subwoofer inside with some shelf brackets. This will help as I get situated in its new spot in the house. I also snapped a couple pics of the 'screen tape' I used to cover the vent holes. Kinda like how that worked out.







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Re: Xanitron - A Return
« Reply #76 on: December 02, 2019, 03:02:44 pm »
That looks VERY nice. I like the screen on the vent holes. Good thinking. And the magnets for holding the back door on. Great job all around.

J_K_M_A_N

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Re: Xanitron - A Return
« Reply #77 on: December 02, 2019, 03:24:08 pm »
Wow. That's tidy.

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Re: Xanitron - A Return
« Reply #78 on: December 03, 2019, 09:09:23 am »
How good did it feel to put that control panel on?  Looks great gingko, must feel really good to have put that together.  I see some images on the marquee, are you doing an art package?

Edit: Whoops, sorry gingecko

Arollpolly out! :laugh2:  Where do we come up with these ridiculous screen names eh?
« Last Edit: December 03, 2019, 11:32:00 am by Arroyo »

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Re: Xanitron - A Return
« Reply #79 on: December 03, 2019, 11:16:25 am »
Thanks all!

J-K_M_A_N, I found the screen tape (like almost everything) on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0738M9P7S/
Figured it might cut down on the dust a tad. Maybe keep the spiders out. The magnets turned out not to be necessary as the door is too tight a fit after painting.

Arollpolly - That's "Gin-Gecko"! C'mon, man! Haha! The Control Panel has been off and on for awhile now, and I can't recall the first time it got attached....but I do remember finally getting the angle cut and having it line up perfectly. Especially since I knew I could never get that right again! Sharp eye, yep, that was one of the test prints of my marquee art. I got the marquee and control panel art done, working on the sides now. The next post I make will probably center around  art.