I get so caught up in making it "perfect" that I get paralyzed from working on it.
I think we are twins.
Great job buddy, those lines are super clean, and the profile is very classy. Don’t give up on that 17” CRT, that would be icing on the cake. Keep it up.
Thanks man. I haven't given up on the CRT but I am getting discouraged. I just don't think I should have to pay $100 for one... I will keep looking!
I made a very small amount of progress today but any progress is good if you ask me. Next up is mounting the marquee monitor in the front of the cabinet. The first thing I did was run a Sharpie around the edge of the laminate to make sure it was black to match the front.
This was fairly easy even though I don't have the steadiest of hands any more. Getting old is fun!
The next thing I did was cut down a piece of 1/8" plexiglas to fit the area behind the laminate and in front of the monitor. I cut it slightly oversized and then sanded down the edge so that it would be a tight fit and stay in place with just friction. I glued a piece of 1/8" hardboard behind the laminate in the huge hole I cut out the exact size of the monitor in the 1/2" MDF panel. This was to provide rigidity for the laminate and also to line up nicely with the plexiglas since they are the same thickness.
This is what it looks like with the plexiglas in place (obviously I will remove the protective paper before final installation of the monitor.
And this is a shot from the front because why not. I love the laminate but the laminate loves fingerprints. I'll need to give this a good wipe down before final pics.
When I next get some free time I'm going to figure out the monitor mount. I'm either going to (1) use the Vesa mounting brackets and one piece of MDF stretching to each inside wall of the cabinet or (2) use custom brackets made out of MDF or wood to hold down each corner of the monitor. Not sure yet.
I ordered 2 Atari Volcano buttons yesterday and I'm still waiting on the wood vinyl to be shipped so I'm trying to think of stuff to do to keep things moving while I wait. Control panel design is not final yet so maybe I can focus on that too...