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Bella's Arcade [FINISHED]
javeryh:
OK, here it is looking all upright and arcade like. The last pic is of the kickplate (sort of - I'm no photographer!)
Check it out at www.bellasarcade.blogspot.com
sealslayer:
Very nice curves, how did you measure and cut those? I had real trouble just doing a small semicircle at each end of my CP let alone doing large curves like those.
javeryh:
--- Quote from: sealslayer on November 20, 2006, 04:01:38 pm ---Very nice curves, how did you measure and cut those? I had real trouble just doing a small semicircle at each end of my CP let alone doing large curves like those.
--- End quote ---
Thanks! I hope this makes sense... First, I used the plans on Jakobud's site to get the dimensions of the cabinet, including the radii of the curves. I measured everything by 0.8 to shrink it down and make it a "mini" cab. Once I had the "official" plans in front of me I laid out everything except for the curves with a ruler, t-square and pencil.
Next, since I knew where each curve started and stopped and I knew the radius of each curve, the trick was to find the center point of the circle. I actually used a pencil tied to a long piece of string to draw everything - from the pencil I measured the length of the radius along the string and then used my other hand to pinch off the string at that point. Then I placed my pencil-less hand (with the string still in hand) on the point where the curve was going to start and drew a large arc roughly where I thought the center point of the circle should be. I did the same thing from the other point where the curve was going to end. The center point of my circle is where the two arcs intersected. To finish drawing the curve I placed my pencil-less hand (with the string still in hand) at the intersection point and drew the curve, connecting each of the end points.
Everything was very rough looking and approximate. The pencil-on-a-string was by no means perfect (there were multiple lines from going over it a few times - kind of just roughed out) but it did the job. The clean up came in the next step.
To cut it out of the MDF I went VERY slowly with a jigsaw making sure to leave the line and then I just sanded it smooth using a wood block. It took a while but I think the results were worth it. I used a pattern cutting bit to make a matching side.
javeryh:
OK, I'm calling on help from the experts - this means you! I wanted to do a little more work on the arcade cabinet when I got home from work yesterday but I am still trying to work out how the control panel and monitor bezel are going to interact with each other as well as how the bottom of the control panel is going to transition to the bottom portion of the cabinet (the top of the coin door panel). I ended up staring at the cabinet for a solid 45 minutes without doing a single thing because I want to make sure I do this right.
This is a picture of the problem area.
Hopefully the pencil lines are viewable - they show where the control panel will go. Right now the control panel top/bezel is at a 90 degree angle to the control banel bottom. I should note that the small support piece in the middle of the cabinet (as shown in the picture) is not glued in place so it is moveable.
Here are the issues:
Issue #1. Should the control panel and bezel be made out of one sheet of MDF? I want them on the same plane because I think it will look slick except I run into problems when I start thinking about adding the smoked glass overlay (3/16" thick) and potentially a thin posterboard bezel to frame the monitor closely.
The monitor is going to be a 17" Dell LCD computer monitor. I plan to cut a hole in the MDF bezel panel the exact size of the outer circumference of the monitor case so I can have the LCD screen flush with the MDF bezel panel. The monitor will be supported from behind. I will probably need to add a thin piece of black posterboard on top to cover the edges of the monitor and make it look nice.
The control panel will be covered with Happs black vinyl so it will be able to withstand a little abuse from my daughter when she plays it.
Issue #2. How should the angled front of the control panel meet the middle support piece? The only reason this middle piece is there at all is to frame the hinged coin door panel on the top. I wanted a small lip on the top of the coin door panel so it didn't just butt up against the front of the control panel. This lip will also hide the fact that the coin door panel opens.
I think the second pic I attached is a nice solution but it also means I will have to get someone to manufacture the CP out of metal for me - I'm not sure how expensive that will be and I would really like to make the entire CP out of MDF but I do not know how - at the very least it would require cutting the pieces of MDF at some pretty odd angles to make everything flush.
Any thoughts no matter how crazy are more than welcome!!! THANK YOU!!
leapinlew:
Option 1: If your using a metal cp, just lay it over the bezel and wrap the happs vinyl over it. Thats how they are at the arcade.
It won't give you that single plane your looking for but it would be tons easier and more authentic.
Option 2: Don't create a metal CP and just use 1 big sheet of MDF to do both the CP and the Bezel. User your router and set the depth to 3/16" and drop in the smoked plexi in the hole you cut.
Thats all I could think of.
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