| Main > Project Announcements |
| Project BlueShift |
| << < (9/18) > >> |
| Zebidee:
--- Quote from: Lexiq on October 15, 2023, 05:54:45 am ---A glass screen in front of the monitor and bezel gives a cabinet a really nice finish. Clear acrylic is an option too, but I decided glass would be more durable and not prone to flexing. I spent a bit of time reading about tint levels, but eventually decided on 5mm thick untinted tempered glass. I don't really need to hide anything behind a tint, and it means I can run the monitor at lower brightness. --- End quote --- Glass definitely looks better than acrylic. Tempered/tinted glass is not necessary for most cabs, costs more, and come with cons as well as pros. |
| yotsuya:
Nice job on this cabinet - clean lines, classic look - I’m a sucker for these kind of builds. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
| Lexiq:
Marquee Light box I didn't have marquee graphics at this point, but I wanted to make some progress in this area. Building a light box is not too difficult and I wanted to keep it simple. The main components are the marquee retainers, the transparent acrylic that will hold the marquee graphic, and the light source and mounting. In some cases, it may also be necessary to take measures to isolate the light source from the rest of the cabinet to prevent light bleed, but I wanted to see if I could get away without that, before doing the extra work involved. When I first tested the light box in a darkened room, I noticed that my speaker cones were not completely opaque, and glowed with the back lighting. I liked the effect - it was fairly subtle so I decided to leave it. Retainers You can buy plastic retainers for this purpose, but I didn't think they'd match the look that I wanted for my cabinet. Angle aluminium is more understated and also perfectly fits the slot in the speaker panel. Cutting the aluminium is fairly easy, but not as easy as wood. I used the jig saw with a metal cutting blade, but it might have been easier to do it by hand with a hack saw. I used a metal file to clean up the burring and to take off a little extra to get the fit just right. The two retainers will be positioned such that their front surfaces are inset the same 12mm from the edge of the cabinet, and form a ~6mm slot with the leading edges of the top and speaker panels. This is where the two 3mm thick acrylic panels will sit, with the much thinner marquee graphic in between. The bottom retainer is a pressure fit in the speaker panel slot, and also held in place by the cabinet sides. The top retainer is attached with 4 countersunk wood screws to the top of the top panel. I didn't really want to have visible screws on the outside of the cabinet, but the top is difficult to see, and the screws are the same colour as the retainer that will eventually be painted black. Acrylic Panels This size of these panels is determined by the internal width of the cabinet, and by the internal distance between the retainers. The top and bottom edges will be hidden by the retainers so it doesn't matter if the height isn't perfect, as long as it's not too high. Fortunately, the acrylic that I bought was already the correct width, so I only had to cut it in one direction. Cutting the acrylic was a lot easier than I thought it would be after my experience with the screen bezel. For this type of straight cut, the trick is to weaken the material along the axis you want to cut, similar to cutting glass. I did this by scoring along the line I wanted to cut with a box cutter. I made 3 or 4 passes, pressing firmly. Some sources suggest using the back of the blade, which may be better, but regular cutting worked well for me. The next step is to clamp the acrylic along a straight edge, with the cut line very close to the edge, but overhanging slightly. Now, you can just hit the acrylic and it will fracture cleanly along the cut line. I just used my hand, but a rubber mallet would probably be a safer option. The important thing is to hit it hard enough that the whole piece breaks off. I put a cushion on the floor to ensure a soft landing. Light Source I believe fluorescent tubes were generally used for this purpose, but more recently, some form of LED lighting has become standard. I originally purchased a flexible strip of LEDs that I was planning to wire up and mount, but then I found an LED light bar with mounting points and electrical connectors that exactly fit my requirements. A dimmer attachment was also available, allowing the brightness to be adjusted. It uses a 12V power source, so it can be connected to the PC's PSU. This also means that it will turn on and off at the same time as everything else. To mount the light bar, I used a piece of 18mm plywood cut to size and attached to the top panel with angle brackets. I positioned the mounting as far back as possible so the light is more diffuse. This is also aided by the frosted diffuser on the light bar, and by the marquee itself. Additionally, the ledger boards for the top and speaker panels are set back from the marquee to avoid casting ambient shadows. Another thing to note here is that with the light bar mounted and the marquee in place, it's more difficult to reach the bolts used to attach the top panel to the cabinet. Fortunately there's enough room to access the light box area from the rear of the cabinet and tighten the bolts by feel. |
| Zebidee:
Nice work Lexiq, I'm always impressed with your attention to details. Three ideas for you. 1) Instead of "hitting" the plexi, gently push down, keep doing it and moving along the entire piece. Then go back and do it again, but more firmly. Keep going until the whole piece starts to crack along the line you made. 2) Leave the protective paper on until after you have finished cracking your piece out. Makes it easier to draw and cut your lines, prevents surface scratching while you are working with it. 3) Paint the inside of the light box with some white paint. This will reflect the light fully and evenly, making your art look better and brighter. You'll probably want another piece of 90 degree angled metal to fit at the top, to lock down the marquee. I suggest that you secure it from top side with two M5 or M6 buttonhead screws (mostly hex heads, available in black and silvered finish) and matching T-nuts. You won't even notice the screw heads up there but, even when you do, they will still look good. |
| Lexiq:
--- Quote from: Zebidee on October 29, 2023, 02:48:46 am ---1) Instead of "hitting" the plexi, gently push down, keep doing it and moving along the entire piece. Then go back and do it again, but more firmly. Keep going until the whole piece starts to crack along the line you made. --- End quote --- This does sound like a better approach. --- Quote from: Zebidee on October 29, 2023, 02:48:46 am ---2) Leave the protective paper on until after you have finished cracking your piece out. Makes it easier to draw and cut your lines, prevents surface scratching while you are working with it. --- End quote --- Agreed - I always leave the protective layer on until everything's done. My acrylic had film rather than paper, so what you see in the photos still has the film on it. --- Quote from: Zebidee on October 29, 2023, 02:48:46 am ---3) Paint the inside of the light box with some white paint. This will reflect the light fully and evenly, making your art look better and brighter. --- End quote --- Yeah, I should probably do this, but it's okay for now. --- Quote from: Zebidee on October 29, 2023, 02:48:46 am ---You'll probably want another piece of 90 degree angled metal to fit at the top, to lock down the marquee. I suggest that you secure it from top side with two M5 or M6 buttonhead screws (mostly hex heads, available in black and silvered finish) and matching T-nuts. You won't even notice the screw heads up there but, even when you do, they will still look good. --- End quote --- Looking back at my photos, I can see it's missing from most of them, but I do have a piece at the top as well. The first photo shows it, but the lighting and angle makes it less clear. I opted for 4 countersunk wood screws to attach it, but T-nuts would have been a bit nicer. I'll update my post to include these details, thanks! |
| Navigation |
| Message Index |
| Next page |
| Previous page |