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Author Topic: How can I build a frame for my monitor?  (Read 3783 times)

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PoobleBooble77

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How can I build a frame for my monitor?
« on: December 20, 2021, 10:08:55 pm »
I've been looking into building my first custom arcade cabinet.
I think I had everything planned out well enough, but I'm trying to figure out the best way to design a method of mounting a CRT.
My plans involved using a consumer 20" CRT, vertical somewhere between a 45 - 30 degree angle. I was going to buy an arcade monitor bracket, but the standard sizes are 19".
Should I just bolt it onto some 2x4s? Am I overthinking this?

The last thing I want is my CRT falling out of the frame.

Unfortunately I lost the plans to my cabinet due to some malfunction in my computer after a recent power outage.
So I considered now is the best time to ask about this, in case anyone has any tips I can implement into my plans as I redesign things. Instead of me blindly stumbling into this and ruining something or just not getting the project done.

Thanks in advance

Zebidee

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Re: How can I build a frame for my monitor?
« Reply #1 on: December 21, 2021, 02:49:05 am »
I just cut/pasted this from another thread and summarised. It is more appropriate for your plans of mounting a small/medium sized CRT, so I cut/pasted rather than just linking.

To mount the CRT all you need are four pieces of decent offcuts from a strong wood like 3/4" plywood (MDF may not be strong enough). The four wood offcuts only need to be maybe up to 3-4 inches wide and a bit longer than the sides of your monitor.

The first two wood pieces are just for blocking. They just need one straight edge and are screwed flat into the side of the monitor bay at the angle you want the screen to be.

The other two wood pieces will bracket the CRT, and the weight will rest on top of the blocking pieces. To let the brackets snuggle up to the CRT corner pegs, cut part of the wood straight at roughly 45 degrees (like shown below). This will give you some wiggle-room, as the angle will always come to the corner pegs optimally. You can then just slide the two pieces to the tube so that they always fit perfectly.

If you cut the 45 degree angle part long enough, say up to two inches or so, it is easy to swap out the tube for another of similar size. You just slide the wood brackets up and down to find the right spots for the CRT pegs and drill a new hole



The CRT in pics above is resting very happily there, even though it is not bolted down!

Use T-nuts like these to secure the tube:




You can use this same mounting method with commercial metal arcade monitor frames because they will have mounting flanges on the outer edge.

If you need to attach the degaussing coil around the outside of the tube, I suggest cable ties. You can screw the TV chassis to an offcut piece of wood, and then either screw that to the inside wall of the cab, or make a wooden shelf below the CRT neck.

We should sticky this as it comes up every few days.
Check out my completed projects!


lomoverde

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Re: How can I build a frame for my monitor?
« Reply #2 on: December 21, 2021, 09:19:52 am »
I followed Zebidee¨s methods for my recent build.Admittedly a much smaller tube but the same result:






Zebidee

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Re: How can I build a frame for my monitor?
« Reply #3 on: December 21, 2021, 05:09:32 pm »
Nice looking Tully there lomoverde  :cheers:
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rogerxyz

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Re: How can I build a frame for my monitor?
« Reply #4 on: January 31, 2022, 12:21:37 am »
Jumping into this thread because yet again, Zebidee you solved my problems! I finally found a cabinet locally on Friday, picked it up Saturday, and today I took out the LCD monitor mounted in there, chopped some room to make the vertically oriented dig dug cabinet suitable for horizontal, and followed your instructions here to great results. I'm well on my way to my lifelong dream of having an arcade at home now :)



Current build: originally a Dig-Dug cabinet, previously turned into an iCade w/ LCD, now a PC-powered MAME cabinet with consumer CRT TV, GreenAntz transcoder, and crt_emudriver.

Zebidee

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Re: How can I build a frame for my monitor?
« Reply #5 on: January 31, 2022, 11:01:07 am »
That monitor is the perfect size for that cab, and it is very satisfying to see a CRT replacing a LCD monitor.
Check out my completed projects!


javeryh

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Re: How can I build a frame for my monitor?
« Reply #6 on: January 31, 2022, 12:11:41 pm »
I just cut/pasted this from another thread and summarised. It is more appropriate for your plans of mounting a small/medium sized CRT, so I cut/pasted rather than just linking.

To mount the CRT all you need are four pieces of decent offcuts from a strong wood like 3/4" plywood (MDF may not be strong enough). The four wood offcuts only need to be maybe up to 3-4 inches wide and a bit longer than the sides of your monitor.

The first two wood pieces are just for blocking. They just need one straight edge and are screwed flat into the side of the monitor bay at the angle you want the screen to be.

The other two wood pieces will bracket the CRT, and the weight will rest on top of the blocking pieces. To let the brackets snuggle up to the CRT corner pegs, cut part of the wood straight at roughly 45 degrees (like shown below). This will give you some wiggle-room, as the angle will always come to the corner pegs optimally. You can then just slide the two pieces to the tube so that they always fit perfectly.

If you cut the 45 degree angle part long enough, say up to two inches or so, it is easy to swap out the tube for another of similar size. You just slide the wood brackets up and down to find the right spots for the CRT pegs and drill a new hole



The CRT in pics above is resting very happily there, even though it is not bolted down!

Use T-nuts like these to secure the tube:




You can use this same mounting method with commercial metal arcade monitor frames because they will have mounting flanges on the outer edge.

If you need to attach the degaussing coil around the outside of the tube, I suggest cable ties. You can screw the TV chassis to an offcut piece of wood, and then either screw that to the inside wall of the cab, or make a wooden shelf below the CRT neck.

We should sticky this as it comes up every few days.

This is 100% the way to do it.  Don't be an idiot like me and try to cut a hole dead center of an MDF panel.  Ugh.  Never again.

bobbyb13

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Re: How can I build a frame for my monitor?
« Reply #7 on: January 31, 2022, 12:48:53 pm »
Nicely done.

Looks far better with a CRT I'm sure!
Relax, all right? My old man is a television repairman, he's got this ultimate set of tools! I can fix it.