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| Project: My first cabinet - Mid 90s and before! [Complete] |
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| minorhero:
--- Quote from: firedance on November 07, 2023, 02:07:28 am ---Great work so far, keep it up 8) --- End quote --- Thank you! Small update: I have really good weather today, so hopefully I can finish up the cabinet to a point where I can put on the primer. Not too many days left where I can expect above 55 degrees to get the job done outside and I REALLY don't want to make a painting booth inside my garage if I can help it. To that end I finished up the door (minus actually attaching the hinges and screwing in the coin door). Right now it's all just resting against the cabinet while I took the picture. I also added a brace for the hinges to attach to the control panel. I am very glad I checked the fit with the drilled control panel first because it became obvious this piece would need some attention to get everything to fit :P I also added the top access hatch and attached some random bits to the edges to hold it in place. It's hard to make out in the picture, but the angled part of the top removes. It's not held on by anything more then gravity and the bracing you see. The idea is that there will be 3 access panels to the cabinet. The first is the kickplate at the bottom which is actually a door that will give me access to the computer. The one of the top will give me access to the marque and the speakers. The third and final access location is the bezel/acrylic in front of the monitor. I plan to put handles on the sides and place it in such a way that it will be completely removal. Figuring out the bracing for that, the monitor, and cutting the bezel itself is the last thing to do before priming/painting. |
| minorhero:
The build continues! Today was about test fitting the control panel, and figuring out the monitor bracing. I'm glad I tested the control panel with the hinges partly installed, because the resulting 'feel' of the control panel being held up by hinges in the back was absolutely terrible. I will need to come up with a different solution for it, likely screwed down in place. I can still access the underside by sitting in the open space behind the kickplate. I may or may not need to recut the whole control panel to accommodate though. Meanwhile I came up with a solution for holding the monitor. It's pretty simple, but it should work once the bezel is installed to keep it from falling forward. I needed to figure out this placement in advance of cutting the bezel since the exact location is kind of important :P BUT, with this part done, I can now finally get to painting for the cabinet itself. |
| Lexiq:
Very nice (and quick) work! It's great to see your progress :). --- Quote from: minorhero on November 10, 2023, 06:52:59 pm ---I'm glad I tested the control panel with the hinges partly installed, because the resulting 'feel' of the control panel being held up by hinges in the back was absolutely terrible. --- End quote --- I think hinges can work if they're combined with some other mechanism for holding the panel in place, but I had similar concerns. I ended up going with a 'lift off' approach where the control box fits snugly over the base and is held in place by gravity and friction. There's zero play, it's relatively easy to remove if necessary and control feel is solid. Our cabinet designs are different though, so this may not be practical, but a variation of it could work. |
| Zebidee:
Good, neat work. I like the style of cab, nice curves. Hinged control panels can be held in place by lock-down clamps. There are various designs, but they all involve hooking onto the CP from underneath. Once locked down, the clamp is held in place by spring tension, which can only be released by flipping up a lever from below. I used them in my Aussie lowboy with hinged metal CP. The clamps themselves are rated to 150kg each, which means you could pick up the entire cab by the control panel and the clamps would still hold fast. When clamped down, the CP feels completely rock-solid. A keyed door at front provides the only access to the clamps, meaning the cab is secure from meddling hands. I've seen these clamps used in a bunch of commercial cabs, with both metal and wooden control panels. Clamps are definitely more convenient than any kind of screw/bolt down method. The main concern I have for your setup is that you would want a keyed door at the front - accessing the clamps by reaching from the back is possible, but not inconvenient. You don't seem to have a front door, and a coin door is probably not going to give you enough freedom to get your hands into the clamps. FWIW, here is how I did it: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,166352.0.html |
| minorhero:
--- Quote from: Lexiq on November 12, 2023, 01:41:58 am ---Very nice (and quick) work! It's great to see your progress :). I think hinges can work if they're combined with some other mechanism for holding the panel in place, but I had similar concerns. I ended up going with a 'lift off' approach where the control box fits snugly over the base and is held in place by gravity and friction. There's zero play, it's relatively easy to remove if necessary and control feel is solid. Our cabinet designs are different though, so this may not be practical, but a variation of it could work. --- End quote --- The easiest solution I came up with was just fixing it in place, but I could see how some other options could work. One issue I have is that my control panel is made out of plywood and is only 25 inches x 10 inches so it's pretty lightweight. I would need something it fit into to hold it in place but it would be doable. --- Quote from: Zebidee on November 12, 2023, 08:37:25 am ---Good, neat work. I like the style of cab, nice curves. Hinged control panels can be held in place by lock-down clamps. There are various designs, but they all involve hooking onto the CP from underneath. Once locked down, the clamp is held in place by spring tension, which can only be released by flipping up a lever from below. I used them in my Aussie lowboy with hinged metal CP. The clamps themselves are rated to 150kg each, which means you could pick up the entire cab by the control panel and the clamps would still hold fast. When clamped down, the CP feels completely rock-solid. A keyed door at front provides the only access to the clamps, meaning the cab is secure from meddling hands. I've seen these clamps used in a bunch of commercial cabs, with both metal and wooden control panels. Clamps are definitely more convenient than any kind of screw/bolt down method. The main concern I have for your setup is that you would want a keyed door at the front - accessing the clamps by reaching from the back is possible, but not inconvenient. You don't seem to have a front door, and a coin door is probably not going to give you enough freedom to get your hands into the clamps. FWIW, here is how I did it: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,166352.0.html --- End quote --- I love the idea of locking clamps/hold downs. I think that could definitely be the answer here! I searched on amazon and found these for 7 dollars: I will need to change the underside of the control panel a bit to attach them, but that's pretty easy. I am glad I didn't get to paint the cabinet over the weekend as it would make installation harder. There is actually no access to my cabinet from the rear. The entire kickplate is actually a door on my cabinet. I have some hinges for it but I might end up installing a frame for the door to rest in so the entire weight of the door is not put constantly on the hinges. |
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