screen plexi mounting ?

[Rawker]

I'm wondering how people mounted their plexi over the screen?

[cica]

I went to the hardware store and bought black automotive trim screws with integral decorative washers.  The black screws over the black background makes them invisible.

-Tom

[dmsuchy]

Im planning on mounting 4 1"X1"s just on the inside for the plexi to lay aganist and securing the plexi with some adhesive backed black velcro. My plexi is "bronzed" so you wont see the black velcro and if I need to remove it for access to the monitor, all I have to do is peel it right off, with no visible screws to worry about.

[Rawker]

velcro is a pretty sweet idea

[Santoro]

Im planning on mounting 4 1"X1"s just on the inside for the plexi to lay aganist and securing the plexi with some adhesive backed black velcro. My plexi is "bronzed" so you wont see the black velcro and if I need to remove it for access to the monitor, all I have to do is peel it right off, with no visible screws to worry about.

I have a similar arrangement but with angle iron and magnetic tape.  I actually like the sound of velcro better....

[Stingray]

My monitor lays back pretty far. The plexi just lays on two rails that run along the inside of cab. There's a notch that the plexi slides into in the back and the front is held down by the back edge of the control panel. No fasteners involved. If you need to remove it you just unclamp & unplug the control panel and then slide the plexi out.

-S

[Sylentwulf]

My monitor lays back pretty far. The plexi just lays on two rails that run along the inside of cab. There's a notch that the plexi slides into in the back and the front is held down by the back edge of the control panel. No fasteners involved. If you need to remove it you just unclamp & unplug the control panel and then slide the plexi out.

-S

Thius is what I'm planning, like an authentic arcade cabinet (Or at least that's how my soul edge cab has it)

[hulkster]

hmmm, im in a similar situation.  im making my showcase style cab so the lexan/plexi wont be like....reclining or anything, it will be straight up and down.  however, it will be curved a little because the box that the monitor will go in has a curved lip as well.  if i use velcro or whatever, youll be able to see it, unless there is some way that i have not thought of yet.  all i know to do as of right now is take my router and route out a slot on the top, bottom, and sides so the lexan will slide in.  is this a good way of doing it?

[MiKman]

I too am in the same boat.  My monitor is pretty vertical.  My plexi will sit flat against my bezel but how I get it all to sit tight I cannot figure out just yet.  My bezel is velcro'd to the tv already mabye just stick the plexi to the bezel and thats it I dunno.

[Sasquatch!]

The bottom edge of mine sits in a "mirror base".  I don't know the correct term for it, but if you have a mirror mounted on the wall in your bathroom, it's the strip along the bottom that the mirror sits in.  My plexi sits in that perfectly, and then is blocked from going back by a couple of angle braces, and the marquee bottom / speaker panel keeps it from coming forward.

[hulkster]

well i just want to make sure that its not visible that its being held up by anything.  like if i were to route out a slot for it to fit in, you wouldnt see anything holding it up, but i was just trying to find an easier way.

[dmsuchy]

hulk, is your plexi gonna be clear or tinted? And how much bend will there be?

[hulkster]

well i'll be getting lexan, and i dont think that comes tinted.  the bend is minimal at best.  um....if you took a piece of lexan and held it upright and then pulled down both ends 2 inches, thats about the bend of it so its not much.  

[dmsuchy]

Yeah, if your gettin clear plastic you will see the velcro on the inside. I'm using "bronzed plexi" and it hides the fact that there is velcro on the other side of it. The bronzed plexi has an awesome effect, and you don't need a bezel. Your routing idea seems like a good idea, It's just going to be hard to route that curved line in unless you make a template for you router to follow.

[hulkster]

well hopefully i can find the scrap piece of wood that i cut it from so maybe that will be easier.  

on this bronzed plexi....do you have a pic of that?  how does that work differently than lexan or clear plexi?

[steve_pss]

mine slides into a function button panel above my cp. it runs all the up and on the backside I have runners holding it tight.

dont mind the lack of finish on the panel and sides, not done yet.

[hulkster]

so did you route out the sides and bottom part to fit the plexi in?  i'm thinking in my unique situation that im just going to have to route out slots and make sure i measure right and all that.  

[steve_pss]

actually i just set the table saw blade to the right depth (height) and ran the piece fenced to the width i need for the the plexi and happs surround.

[hulkster]

i see.  but i will have to curve my cut, so ill have to use a router

[hulkster]

okay, i went to home depot to get some lexan, but there werent any pieces big enough for my cp.  i mean, it was just like 2 inches short.  anyway, i was looking around and saw "acrylic" and it was really nice material and looked strong, and what was better is that it was cut in a really big sheet.  is this stuff easy to cut?  does anyone else use this stuff???

[Santoro]

I always seem to crack it but if you search hard I think there was a thread where Oscar gave some really good hints for cutting it.  

[Edit:  Found it here: http://www.arcadecontrols.org/yabbse/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=17251;start=msg137161#msg137161 ]

[hulkster]

well thanks for that thread but it didnt say anything about acrylic.  my first experience with lexan was a good one, so i just need a big enough sheet for my cp and monitor front.  my question is, will home depot cut the lexan to a bigger sheet for me?  i mean, it looks like they just cut up a big sheet and put it in the shelves.  i just want a sheet thats a little longer and wider than what they have currently.  is that possible?  if not, ill have to go withe either acrylic (if i can find out how to cut it, and if its a good material for cp's) or plexi.

[steve_pss]

Acrylic is a form of Plexi. Lexan is it's own animal. MOst people use plexi for their CP as it resists scratching more than Lexan. The downside is acrylics are more brittle, making craking a real issue if you dont cut them right. I've cut plexi a couple different ways. Once with a table saw (slowly) which worked but left a ragged cut that needed sanding. The last one I did I sandwiched the plexi tightly leaving the waste exposed and used the top sandwich piece as a fence for my router. I routed with a sharp pattern cutting bit at high speed and it worked wonderfully.

[hulkster]

well i'll probably end up using lexan.  but will home depot cut me a bigger sheet?

[steve_pss]

I cut it twice, and it's still to short!

[Rawker]

try cutting it again

[Stingray]

If I'm not mistaken Plexiglass is a brand name for acrylic. Same stuff.

Don't buy plexi or lexan at Home Depot unless you're into spending too much money. Check your phone book, plastic, plexiglass, lexan etc. You're bound to find a place that specializes in the stuff. I found one two minutes from where I work. They cut it to size, and it's dirt cheap.

-S

[steve_pss]

and dont assume 24" plexi from home depot is 24". Like every other piece of garbage building material there mine was off. this time wide by almost an 1/8". You should have seen me set that cut up on my router. Im still shocked i got it square.

[hulkster]

If I'm not mistaken Plexiglass is a brand name for acrylic. Same stuff.

Don't buy plexi or lexan at Home Depot unless you're into spending too much money. Check your phone book, plastic, plexiglass, lexan etc. You're bound to find a place that specializes in the stuff. I found one two minutes from where I work. They cut it to size, and it's dirt cheap.

-S

never thought of that....thanks man!!!  i live in nashville so theres got to be somebody here that does that!

[hulkster]

one more thing....what exactly should i be asking/looking for when i look in, like bellsouth.com or the yellow pages?  plastics?  i typed in plastics and it brought a bunch of different stuff, but kinkos was in there, im guessing because of the laminating they do.  so what should i ask/search for?

[Stingray]

I couldn't remember what I looked up so I grabbed the phone book. Flipped to "plastics" and there were several pages of ads. Of those there were three that said that they specificly deal in lexan and plexglass. Easy peasy.

-S

[Shieldwolf]

just out of curiosity how thick is your plexi glass

[steve_pss]

Hulkster hasnt bought any yet I assume this is directed my way. 1/4".

[hulkster]

I couldn't remember what I looked up so I grabbed the phone book. Flipped to "plastics" and there were several pages of ads. Of those there were three that said that they specificly deal in lexan and plexglass. Easy peasy.

-S

cool, ill try my luck with that.