Cabinet almost finished - MAJOR PROBLEM #2 - (cpanel w/t-nuts) - I'm at wits en

[sofakng]

*sigh*

Yet another major problem for my first arcade cabinet.  I've probably spent very close to $1500 and I'm thinking the whole thing is coming out terrible.  The last major problem I had was with my three (yes, three) bezels...

My current problem is with my control panel.  I used a drill press to drill out all my buttons (according to my template and artwork) and today I started routing out the area for my joysticks and trackball.  I'm going to be using plexiglass so everything on top of the control panel must be flush.

So, first problem is I think I routed out way too much from the bottom of the control panel.  To make matters worse, I'm counter-sinking (with a 3/4" spade bit) my t-nut from the top so I can only guess how much actual wood is between the top and the bottom of the control panel where the joystick will sit.  To make matters even worse yet the t-nuts do not seem to dig into the wood.  I tried using a hammer to drive them into the wood but when I placed my artwork (which is sticky) it lifts the t-nuts right out of their holes!

To make matters even WORSE I can't seem to get my t-nuts to sit flush with the rest of my control panel.  When I placed my artwork down on top of the t-nuts some of them stick out, some of them are too far deep, etc....  I just can't win.

Check out this url here, it has many pictures of my problem:
http://s88181327.onlinehome.us/arcade/cp/

Right now I'm concerned about two things:

1) Making sure my control panel doesn't break when I actually go to use my joystick.
2) Making the t-nuts sit flush with the rest of the control panel so that my artwork sits flat on top of them.

Right now the artwork looks pretty bad when I place it on top of the t-nuts.  I was thinking about installing my joystick (into the t-nuts) and then using wood putty on top of them, then sanding, to make it look better.  I'm not sure if this is a good idea though.

If anybody has any suggestions please, please tell me.  I'll do anything at this point.  All I want is for this to come out decent after I spent all this money and time...  

[Witchboard]

Okay, I'm looking at your... t-nuts... that just sounds wrong, but anyway.  Why are they not sinking into the holes?  It almost looks like you didn't drill the hole big enough for the t-nut shaft to sit in.  I can't tell, maybe I'm blind.  It also looks like you need to give them a little more room, like the countersink you made isn't big enough.  You could use a washer and bolt to pull your t-nuts down and make them flush.

[bdsjake]

don't give up!  first time you are learning *everything* yourself.  You didnt' really expect to be perfect at it all?  No one can meet that standard.  

Anyway, I agree with witchboard's suggestion, use a slightly larger counter sinkbit, and slightly large bit for the actual bolt hole.

Since you've already routed out, there's only one thing to do, install a joystick and test it out!  the wood will probably be stronger than you think.

luck.

[JustMichael]

I am wondering why t-nuts?  You could put carriage bolts through the plexiglass and control panel to hold the joysticks in place.  This will increase the strength of the material holding them.

If you don't want any bolts showing I would recommend using a forstner bit that is just slightly larger than your t-nuts.  Using these on a drill press you can easily control the depth by how far you turn the wheel to lower the bit.  Practice on scrap until you get the depth just theway you want it.  You may want the t-nuts slightly lower than the top of your control panel. This way you can fill the hole up to the control panel level or fill with "plugs" you made from scrap with a plug cutting bit and make sure to sand it smooth . Make sure to screw in the bolt before filling the hole with an putty type stuff so you don't get the bolt hole filled up.

As for as routing out for joysticks, I would actually recommend the tried and true hammer and a sharp chisel.

[FractalWalk]

. . . tried using a hammer to drive them into the wood but when I placed my artwork (which is sticky) it lifts the t-nuts right out of their holes! . . . When I placed my artwork down on top of the t-nuts some of them stick out, some of them are too far deep, etc....  I just can't win.

Ok deep breaths. I think you've answered your own questions:

Step #1) attach your joysticks. This will secure the T-nuts and maybe even brng some of them flush with the CP.  They will never sit by themselves without being pulled down from underneath.

Step #2) For those that still stick out too high, just route out some more of the CP.

Step #3) Cover the installed T-nuts with a filler like wood putty and when it dries, sand it down smooth.

Step #4) Apply artwork.

If you are worried about the width of the wood after all that routing, I would delay step #4 and just play with the CP a while. If it holds up under your testing, you're proabbly good to go.  FWIW, the CP would have to be be pretty thin to pull out a joy during gameplay.

[FractalWalk]

I just saw the pictures of the routed out area underneath your CP and I think you have plenty of thickness left.  

[patrickl]

I have to agree with Witchboard. You don't seem to have drilled a hole (big enough) for the t-nut shafts and the hole for the top seems a bit narrow too.

When they finally fit follow FractalWalks guide for filling the holes up. Allthough I think t-nuts WILL sit on their own once you've hammered them in.

Using carriage bolts might work too, but I don't think you can switch now. They might screw up the way the artwork looks.

Personally I would have used a jig for routing out those joysticks. But then I'm known to have accidents when I route out large areas freehand  

[sofakng]

Thanks for all the replies!  I don't expect this to be perfect, I just had my hopes set too high I guess...

Here's some more pictures I took this morning:
http://s88181327.onlinehome.us/arcade/cp2/

If you take a look, you will see that if I flip the t-nut upside down and put it into the hole that it does fit fine so I don't know if I need a bigger hole or not.  I was going to just use my forstner bit (1 1/8") to make sure it fit but that would make the t-nut hole waaaay too big.  Right now we're using 3/4" spade bit and I think 5/16" t-nuts. (size #10)

[patrickl]

OK, so the top of the t-nut fits, but what about the shaft?

If you take that scrap wood and drill the hole that you made for the shaft without countersinking for the top you can see if the shaft fits (if not, the whole thing will stay on the top).

[Sylentwulf]

If you screw a bolt into those T-nuts, it's GOING to pull them down to where they should be. If you install the joysticks, putting the artwork on may be a pain in the ass. Just put the bolts through some washers or a scrap piece of wood, all the way to the end of the T-nut so it tightens them down, and then wood putty the top and sand to make it smooth.

Above all else, please try and edit out a little bit of the drama. I know it's a huge project, but everything isn't a major end all world crashing problem.

[sofakng]

Above all else, please try and edit out a little bit of the drama. I know it's a huge project, but everything isn't a major end all world crashing problem.

I'm sorry for over-reacting, but this is my first big project.  Didn't you ever work on something and have really high hopes for it but then get a little disappointed when things didn't turn out the way you thought they would?  I'm sorry for over-dramatizing the situation.

Anyways, why not attach the joysticks before putting on the artwork?  

What I thought I'd do is attach the base/bottom of the joystick (using screws, washers, and the t-nuts), fill the t-nut holes with wood putty, and then attach the artwork.

Although, before I attach the joysticks I plan to route out the holes for my plexiglass.

[FractalWalk]

What I thought I'd do is attach the base/bottom of the joystick (using screws, washers, and the t-nuts), fill the t-nut holes with wood putty, and then attach the artwork.

Although, before I attach the joysticks I plan to route out the holes for my plexiglass.

Good plan.

I think Sylentwulf was referring to the entire joystisk. If you install the handles then applying the artwork is near impossible. But just installing the base will get done what you need.  

Make sure all your final holes are drilled and perfect in both plexi and wood before applying the artwork.  Once you cover those T-nuts with art, you basically can't amke anymore changes.

[WTFPWND]

I went to Home Depot in search of  T-nuts when I built my control panel, but couldn't find any.  But what I did find were these barrel shaped nuts with barbs on the outside.

They were really easy to install.  Just drill an x diameter hole 3/8" deep.  Just put a piece of tape on your drill bit to control the depth.

Once you have the hole drilled, just hammer these puppies into the holes and mount your hardware from underneath with 1/4-20 screws.

Worked perfectly, and have had no problems.

[jcoleman]

5/16" is the size of the hole to drill for the screws/bolts that go into the t-nuts.  Once you've drilled the counter-sink for the t-nuts, drill through the center with the a 5/16" bit.  You should be in good shape at that point.

Coleman

[sofakng]

Can I just drill the hole for the shaft a little larger that way it will definitely fit OK?

[ThePaul]

sofakng what kind of joysticks are you using?

[FractalWalk]

Can I just drill the hole for the shaft a little larger that way it will definitely fit OK?

Yes. The T-nut relies on the top lip and the spikes fastening to wood. The shaft of the nut does not have to be snug against the hole.

However, they are made standard sizes (i.e. to match drill bit sizes) so you shouldn't need to do this.

[JAMMA Guy]

Just out of curious ... what happens to this CP???

[sofakng]

ThePaul:  I have both Super's and P360's.  I'm going to use the P360's but with the springs from the Super's.  I really don't know which I like better, but most people suggest the P360's for fighters (which I plan to start getting into).

Jamma Guy:  That's a 100% temp/test control panel.  The ONLY reason I built that was to test out the supers vs the p360s and to be able to play MAME a little bit while I work on the rest of the cabinet.  There is no artwork for anything for that control panel.  Please disregard it