Contac paper durablilty...?

[AndyP]

A lot of people seem to use contact paper covered in acrylic/plexi for their control panels, but do you really need the plexi covering?  If I get some good vinyl paper would it stand up on it's own?

[SNAAAKE]

nope..sorry but just contact paper suck.Lexan is not hard to drill if thats the problem.

[AndyP]

Drilling isn't a problem, I've got a press.  What bothers me is 2 things:

1.  I'm doing my panel without any exposed bolt heads.  I'll either drill a hole in the underside with a forstner bit and set the bolt into the bottom of the panel with some thickened epoxy; or recess the bolt heads on the surface and fill the hole with wood filler.  So what holds the plexi in place?  I could glue it I guess, but then if I ever want a differant underlay I'm FUBARed.

2.  Swappable joysticks:  Sticks mounted on peices of scrap panel so I can switch out the 8 way for a 4 way, or a rotary, or whatever.  Plexi is just one more thing I have to worry about fitting properly so it doesn't look crappy.

I wonder if a few dabs of epoxy would hold the glass down?

[BobA]

If your lexan is fairly stiff you can hold it down with just the button mounting flanges.  In the arcades they put screws (ugly) on the corners but you can do without it if you dont have a long expanse of lexan without support.  Lexan is about 10 times stronger then plexi.  If your control panel is protected at the sides by the sides of your cabinet I dont think it would be a problem.

BobA