Prong (Wall mounted, slimline, vertical screen for square bezel, first build!)

Main > Project Announcements

<< < (4/12) > >>

morton:
I too like those style coin acceptors and the U Bolt trick is definitely a good one IMO. It's hard to get the Nintendo style coin Mechs local to me, and always appreciate when others also take initiative to try something crafty like this. Only difference is that you'll probably do it, while I just like to talk gah.

Agree about veneer over vinyl. As a woodworker, Ivan appreciate natural grain and how it looks. Classy and as you said, more durable.

zestyphresh:
So we hadn't quite finished the renovation and coronavirus has caused further delay. On the upside I have picked up a lot of the materials (yellow chrome formica and teak veneer). Unfortunately I can't get hold of any plywood at the moment so need to sort that out!. I have some hardboard so i'm going to make a template for the sides so I can finalise some of the dimensions. Picked up a nice freud slot cutter for the t-molding too.

The U-bolt & switch looks like it should work well. The switches are dual momentary, partly so they stay 'central' rather than up or down, partly as it's an additional input that might be a useful. Just need to decide on the U-bolt orientation, horizontal as shown above is the obvious choice, but vertically seems to work better with 'hooking' you're finger under and flipping up to simulate coin entry. I'm also going to add a headphone socket to this panel as it will be an unobtrusive place to put them.

To try and keep some more references to the older machines i'm going to make some volcano buttons for use as esc/pause, but can't do that until we're out of lockdown. I'll probably make these with a metal finish rather than black (and non-illuminated), but nothing finalised yet.

Just a couple of questions about one or two things i'm not sure on;

1) How do most people handle volume? On the PC side with a fixed amplifier, or with a volume control somewhere on the machine?
2) Gloss or matt black t-molding for the sides? I've got some small samples but it's difficult to tell what it might look like the entire length of the machine. My gut feel is shiny will look better but the laminate and veneer will both be reasonably subdued.
3) Flush or protruding speaker grills? I can do either really, just curious what people's personal tastes are on this.
4) Does anyone know anywhere in the UK that does one off aluminium (or stainless steel) laser cutting reasonably priced? Could even be US or Europe if they ship to here.

zestyphresh:
Finally took a saw to wood today. I delayed and kept going back to the design, partly to simplify and partly to try and get the construction right.

The two concerns I had were;

1) Ventilation - while it is one of the later plasma screen models, and as such lower power than older models, it still gets pretty hot. Coupled with the angle of the screen it will effectively funnel all of the heat (including from the PC) through a potentially tiny gap at the top. To try and help it is going to sit slightly proud of the wall (~5mm) and there won't be a full back, so that should help allow the heat to escape. I've left space for a 6mm window but will wait and see how the temperature is before fitting.

2) Construction & Servicing - I ideally wanted most of the machine to be serviceable without having to remove it from the wall, but this created a lot of construction problems, not least because the screen covers ~80% of the vertical space making it difficult to run any supports from front to back. In the end i've settled on creating a 'skeleton' frame using 17 cross members (some joined into t,l or u shapes) to create a rigid frame. The mix of orientations should create a strong enough frame that doesn't require the actual visible portions of the machine for strength (although these will be bolted on so will help). This means the 3 visible portions (marquee, control panel + front, and bottom) will be built before fitting and can be removed easily. Likewise the PC will sit on a tray half behind the TV and can be dropped out should it need to be. I suspect this frame will need some tweaking to maximise the strength!

3) I've adjusted the design slightly, making the bezel square and changing the bottom panel to a single piece. Primarily for simplicity but also as I had more space behind the TV than I anticipated and could push the PC up slightly. I've tried to keep the screen at a reasonable angle (10 degrees) but that has pushed the depth to around 50cm, which is a touch more than I really wanted. I'm going to see if I can trim any out but short of reducing the screen angle (really don't want to do that) or reducing ventilation (might be able to mitigate) i'll just have to stick with it and hope the t-molding does it's job every time my partner walks into it!!

I also built a small arcade machine with bits I (mostly) has knocking around to test a few things, including the toggle switches, which worked really well. So i'm happy with those. I also didn't realise that Launchbox had implemented a 'Pause' screen which pretty much negates the need for anything over a single admin button so i'm going to go with that.

Going to cut the exterior panels tomorrow, and get everything temporarily fitted to make sure it all fits and then try and get the sides done as well!

javeryh:
Looks good so far.

Does a pocket jig not actually pierce the end of the panel? I never knew that...

What does the launchbox pause screen do? I'm messing around with it for the first time but I'm not convinced that it will be able to do everything I don't want it to do if that makes any sense. I don't want any bells and whistles or access to admin functionality without a keyboard so my weiner kids won't screw up all the settings...

zestyphresh:
The pocket holes are fine in panels, although I do tend to reduce the depth by 1mm or so just to be sure. Plus keep the clutch on the driver low to avoid going through.

I haven't actually tested the pause screen, just read about it. It's not compatible with all emulators by the looks of it but does work with Mame. It gives you a few different options (again, haven't checked this in detail), but at least one of them is 'Exit' so can do away with the exit button.

Made a bit more progress today - cut out all the visible panels and one of the sides (will just pattern match the second with a router).

The marquee is quite bulky, certainly versus the original design, but the speakers aren't tiny and it still has to deal with the hidden part of the screen. Plus I made all the joins 90deg to help with the build. Some of the panels still need angled cuts but i'll do these after laminating and various cut outs required for controls etc. still need to be made. All in all though it's going ok, if the worst happens and the 'skeleton' frame isn't strong enough i'll just have to use some of the panels for strength and resign myself to taking it off the wall if there are any issues!

Navigation

 Message Index

Go to full version