Galaga Bartop 19" LCD Rotating Display *UPDATED 11/26/12*

[Ritalin]

Excellent point, leapinlew!

I'll round that out a bit. You're right, the t-molding having to have a near crease would be tough to apply.

[Ritalin]

After mocking up the bezel with cardboard, it is with great sadness (sarcasm) that I will be ditching the rotating display idea for this bartop. The 19" LCD made for a cab that was just too too wide to look good with the LARGE circular bezel needed. No worries, I can always make a stand up cab that rotates the display someday!

[weisshaupt]

After mocking up the bezel with cardboard, it is with great sadness (sarcasm) that I will be ditching the rotating display idea for this bartop. The 19" LCD made for a cab that was just too too wide to look good with the LARGE circular bezel needed. No worries, I can always make a stand up cab that rotates the display someday!

Sorry to hear that Ritalin... I thought doing the rotating monitor was a great idea, but I understand your frustration.. I had my share of cussing mine trying to get it right.  But I guess that is the price paid for pushing the envelope a bit.

 Just one question.. Why are you using a circular bezel?  When I made mine, I merely masked off the 3x4 and 4x3 aspects and painted the plexi. The monitor itself has 2 thin strips of plexi velcro'd to  it only where it needs to.. (top and bottom when in 4x3, sides when in 3x4)  The Strips are only about 2 inches high ..
You can see inside the cabinet for a second while its rotataing, but when at rest is looks great.

If you cut slots/or make doors for the monitor to move through you can pretty much make the cabinet any width/heigh you want.  In mine there are slots cut that allow the monitor to rotate behind the control panel and behind the marquee area... height was my problem 

Anyway, I respect your decision to abandon the idea, but if you reconsider, let me know. I can certainly help with getting automatic control of the servos to open and close the doors and such.. or in a manual model, you might be able to spring load them and let them open as the monitor pushes against them.. 

[Ritalin]

weisshaupt, thanks for your post. I really do appreciate your comments. For me, I wanted to go with a circular bezel because I simply wanted the user to be able to quickly rotate the display in one shot and have everything "ready to go" in a mode to play it. By making the circular bezel, it's the only way I could think of to have the proper coverage without removable bezels, etc. If you have a pic of your cab, I'd really like to see it with the slots on the sides, etc.

The actual theory of my design would work perfectly, it's just that my 19" LCD is so big for a bartop that the width of the thing makes it ascetically unpleasing as a cabinet to me. It's just far too wide for a galaga themed cabinet to me. So this design would still be perfect for a stand up cab. The irony is that since the LCD is 19" and large, playing horizontal games on it letterboxed with the LCD fixed in vertical position really isn't that small.  So the end result will be a much more narrow vertical cab that follows the look and feel of a galaga setup if I just stick it in vertically and be done with it. Sad but true.

To me, the design, mockup, tweaking and building of these things is almost more fun that when I assume the final product is ready. So I'll simply make the rotating display for my next cab.

Thanks again for your comments.

[leapinlew]

weisshaupt, thanks for your post. I really do appreciate your comments. For me, I wanted to go with a circular bezel because I simply wanted the user to be able to quickly rotate the display in one shot and have everything "ready to go" in a mode to play it. By making the circular bezel, it's the only way I could think of to have the proper coverage without removable bezels, etc. If you have a pic of your cab, I'd really like to see it with the slots on the sides, etc.

The actual theory of my design would work perfectly, it's just that my 19" LCD is so big for a bartop that the width of the thing makes it ascetically unpleasing as a cabinet to me. It's just far too wide for a galaga themed cabinet to me. So this design would still be perfect for a stand up cab. The irony is that since the LCD is 19" and large, playing horizontal games on it letterboxed with the LCD fixed in vertical position really isn't that small.  So the end result will be a much more narrow vertical cab that follows the look and feel of a galaga setup if I just stick it in vertically and be done with it. Sad but true.

To me, the design, mockup, tweaking and building of these things is almost more fun that when I assume the final product is ready. So I'll simply make the rotating display for my next cab.

Thanks again for your comments.

I agree Ritalin, in fact, I believe I suggested as much in my first post, but it's cool you took a look at it for yourself. I look forward to seeing your progress.

To me, a 19" is too big for a bartop period.

[Ritalin]

As Mark Twain (or someone) once wrote, "The reports of my rotating display's death have been greatly exaggerated"

I just can't give it up.
Like the ex-girlfriend that you know is bad for you but you can't help but calling after a drunken stupor, I just can't give up the idea of making this display rotate. I know it will be my downfall, but I have to go for it.

Thanks to weisshaupt's suggestion, I've revisited the idea of ditching the round bezel and working with either side cut slots or my original plan of a frame with side doors that open to allow the display to rotate. Either way, do or die, this thing will spin.

Wish me luck folks, I'm going to need it.

[Ritalin]

I have updated my design to look something like this:



This design allows for the cabinet to be much thinner and not totally out of proportion due to a circular bezel. Also, when artwork will be applied OVER the door seams and cut with an Xacto knife, I have a feeling the seams will be, well, almost seamless.

The doors will stay put with a simple magnetic latch, and the beauty is that the galaga cabinet design itself (with the curved sides) means that the side panels extend past the interior box frame. No handles will be needed since the panel itself can be grabbed to open.

It will also be nice since you really won't have to open the door all the way, just a bit during the rotation.
This to me would be the easiest for a noob like me to implement.

We'll see how it goes. *gulp*

[Ritalin]

Here's a mockup of what the cab will look like.

Tonight I finished cutting the side pieces, base, top and marquee shelf cut.
In this pic all pieces are just balancing on top of each other and nothing is actually attached.
I still need to make the back panel, use the router for t-moulding, sand everything to make it even and round out those sharp edges on the CP area.

The sides will have doors that open so they can't be attached directly to the base, etc.

Next step is the back. The back panel will be fixed without any door, etc. I will attach this to the base along with some "L" brackets for support, and then cut some 1x2s and 2x2s for the interior box frame for support since the sides will not be solid.

Please bear with me as I have no clue what I'm doing...but I'm having fun.

[leapinlew]

 

Love it.

[MadGamer]

I had thought about that but never started anything cant wait to see it. I also thought of having the LCD rise up out of the cab when powered on.

[Ritalin]

Well, I got some tools like my router, bits, etc. and was able to start chipping away at this project (no pun intended).

Since I've never picked up a router in my life and am a general woodworking noob, I have a genuine fear respect for the tool, so I'm taking things really slow. I was able to route the 1/16" slot for the T-molding and things went perfectly.

I cut the back panel, which will be fixed to the base permanently. I fixed it with about 10 long screws and two "L" brackets for extra support. Drilling pilot holes and counter sinking the flat head screws again went really smoothly as I took my time and practiced on some scrap.

Here's a pic of the base and back panel with the side panel just held up for positioning only. (It's not fixed to anything since it will be cut for a door.) When the base is mounted to the side doors, it will not be flush with the ground. I want about 3/4" off the floor for the base. That explains the gap at the top for now in this pic.

Screen in horizontal mode (there's about 3/4" of free space on each side in horizontal mode):




Screen in vertical mode:



The 19" LCD display I'm using is a Dell 1905FP and it comes with a FANTASTIC stand that is adjustable in all sorts of ways, Up/down, left/right, back/forward, and it locks in rotation from horizontal/vertical. I'd be crazy to ditch the stand so I plan on using it. One thing I have to ensure is that the thing is dead center when rotating. It sure looks that way thus far, but I'll have to do an exact test soon.

In any event, I needed to lock the screen to not rotate from side to side, so this low tech solution should work:



Here's a side pic using some scrap to test the best height/angle fro the display:


Okay, besides the doors needing to open when the LCD rotates, I also have to make the middle marquee light shelf accommodate the turn as well, otherwise the LCD will hit the top of it when it rotates. So I cut a wide slot to allow for the rotation:



Please excuse the poor cutting. It's never seen, but I'll probably clean it up in the finishing stage. I just need a 3/4"  finishing bit for the router. After doing this cut out, I'm also glad I went with 3/4" for the extra stability.

Here's a sample pic of the top of the LCD poking through the slot as the LCD turns:



I'll be sure to put the marquee light in FRONT of the monitor slot to reduce any light leakage through that slot and may use a wood partition as well for no light leakage.

That's it for now, next up will be the interior "shell" of 1"x2"s and 2"x2"s to hold up the shelves and allow the side panels to act as doors. Wish me luck.

P.S. QUICK MARQUEE QUESTION: Do people usually use t-molding on the top/bottom? (horizontal, right above/below the marquee art)? How are they mounted? Any link to a specific "how to" on mounting a marquee would be great, for some reason I can't find it. Thanks!

[nuka1195]

Nice job,

What I've been reading, some kind of angle is popular. I didn't want the screws showing, but could easily use angle if the below does not work well.

This is what I did, the marquee will be held in with t-molding.

I ran the slot on the tablesaw before assembly at the proper angle. the marquee sits in two slots routed in the sides, then in rabbets cut in the speaker panel and top.

Not much material is left, but should hold a marquee.

[leapinlew]

it looks like a 19" may be too big to view in vertical mode once the marquee + control panel are installed.

So your monitor will be no slope? I usually tilt mine back a bit.

[Ritalin]

Nice job,

What I've been reading, some kind of angle is popular. I didn't want the screws showing, but could easily use angle if the below does not work well.

This is what I did, the marquee will be held in with t-molding.

I ran the slot on the tablesaw before assembly at the proper angle. the marquee sits in two slots routed in the sides, then in rabbets cut in the speaker panel and top.

Not much material is left, but should hold a marquee.

I see, so the marquee sort of "falls back" against the material due to the angle?
That would make sense.
Is your t-moulding just the standard plastic or a harder material?


Thanks for the info and pics!

[Ritalin]

it looks like a 19" may be too big to view in vertical mode once the marquee + control panel are installed.

So your monitor will be no slope? I usually tilt mine back a bit.

Actually, I think it will be fine.
I have plenty of slope on the screen. Below is a pic of the standard slope due to the tilt of the display stand. However, I added a 3/4" riser in the front of the stand (not shown) to give it a more severe angle.

[nuka1195]

The t-molding is just standard t-molding, my saw blade is 3/32 not 1/8, which helps.

There was a picture of another bartop that used t-molding, sorry no link, but it looks like the marquee is set back. It looks really nice, it's orange (i think again) and ties it all in.

[Ritalin]

Here are some final mockups before I make a final decision on the monitor position and angle.
Does this look ok?

After adding the marquee shelf, I realized if I pushy the LCD too far back, or tilt it too far back, it will be hard to see. But if it's too close, the large 19" LCD is too big for a bartop. So I took out the riser completely and positioned the LCD about halfway toward the front. The tilt of the display is the max allowable for the existing stand and it's actually just right. The last pic (with the side panel removed) should give a good idea of the tilt/positioning.

Just wondering in this will look ok as the LCD position. Thoughts welcome, thanks.

[leapinlew]

sorry Ritalin... but, the monitor is just too big to rotate. You don't have to believe me. Build the CP and after the CP and marquee box are installed, you will know if you have the viewing angle or not.

good luck!

[weisshaupt]

sorry Ritalin... but, the monitor is just too big to rotate. You don't have to believe me. Build the CP and after the CP and marquee box are installed, you will know if you have the viewing angle or not.

good luck!

I think it will be very tight, - The CP will probably need more clearance than you are allowing, and the Marquee will have to be unnaturally narrow. Leapinlew might be right-- that monitor might just be too big for the size cabinet you are contemplating.  I think you could overcome these difficulties by adding another 3-4 inches to the height...
but as that mockup stands, it appears its going to be pretty tight in there.

[leapinlew]

Perhaps a 17" LCD would work, but at this point - I would build the CP and Marquee box and see what kind of space you have left. For my CP - I mounted 2 pieces of plywood at 90 degree's and then I took a roundover bit to it. 

[Ritalin]

Yeah, it might be too large to rotate, but please remember that these side panels are not attached. They will have doors in them where the monitor hits the sides during rotation. This will allow for the spin.

The keyboard itself is just there under the control panel for the demonstration.
If there's not enough room under the CP, then the keyboard can go in the back for troubleshooting only. Since the doors will open, I can always pull it out when needed so it doesn't have to be under the CP.

I'll see how things go!
if I build the entire thing and the LCD is just too big, I can always pickup a 17" replacement and use the existing cab, no worries.

[leapinlew]

Yeah, it might be too large to rotate, but please remember that these side panels are not attached. They will have doors in them where the monitor hits the sides during rotation. This will allow for the spin.

The keyboard itself is just there under the control panel for the demonstration.
If there's not enough room under the CP, then the keyboard can go in the back for troubleshooting only. Since the doors will open, I can always pull it out when needed so it doesn't have to be under the CP.

I'll see how things go!
if I build the entire thing and the LCD is just too big, I can always pickup a 17" replacement and use the existing cab, no worries.

What I'm saying is, once it's vertical, there isn't enough viewing angle to see the monitor once the CP and Marquee are installed. Finish building it and give it a whirl...

[Ritalin]

What I'm saying is, once it's vertical, there isn't enough viewing angle to see the monitor once the CP and Marquee are installed. Finish building it and give it a whirl...

I tested it out by holding up the top and marquee shelf with the LCD inside and I think it'll work. It's not the type of bartop that you sit "on top of" and look in really. it's more the type that you sit down in an office chair and play on an office desk at a comfortable arm's distance kind of thing.

I'm going to give it a try, but an ugly but possible option can be to simply do the opposite. Have the screen in the vertical mode to play horizontal games, and have it in horizontal mode to play vertical games. Easy one-button change in mala. Again, I don't think it'll come to that, but just in case, I like to have options.

[Ritalin]

Quick shot of the underside of the new marquee shelf piece I had to cut. I had to scrap the original piece since the repositioning of the LCD means the slot needs to be more toward the middle. It gave me a nice excuse to use the router and the 45° angled bit to gain a bit more space. (Be nice, I've never used a router in my life until a few days ago.)

[Ritalin]

Ok, so I had some time this weekend and got to work on my rotating LCD galaga bartop.

Here are some pics of the process:

Before taking the plunge of cutting the side pieces, I worked on extending the speaker knob.
The speakers will lay face down on the marquee shelf and I want a physical knob sticking out slightly from the underside. The reason for this is that I will use a "Y" audio connector for the audio out on the laptop to allow for a headphone jack. It'll be much easier to just have an actual knob to turn off the speakers when using the headphones.

I popped off the plastic knob and cut a dowel to fit to the desired length:


Then I used an "L" bracket and screwed tiny screws into the bottom of the speakers for mounting:


Then I just popped the speaker into place and cut a small hole for the knob to stick through.
Here's a shot from the underside (actual speaker holes not cut yet):


These are the main parts of the project BEFORE cutting the side doors for the rotating display.


Here are the sides AFTER cut them:


This is a simulation of what the doors will look like when they open for the rotation.


Here is a shot of the bartop with the LCD. Front angle with the LCD vertical.
Here's the simulated rotation and you can see it clears the sides and the marquee shelf slot also will work nicely:









Next up to work on are the hinges for the doors...gulp!

[Ritalin]

Ok, I'm starting to have some real fun with this project.

Today I was able to add the hinged doors and the result worked PERFECTLY.
Here are some pics:

Back view of the bartop with the doors opened all the way:



Close up of the concealed hinge I purchased at the hardware store.
(Door is open in this pic and the gap will be covered when the t-moulding is added to the door)



Close up of the concealed hinge when door is closed:
(It locks to a 90° angle so there's no "stopper" or anything even needed on the front.)



Side view of the bartop with one door open:



Interior view of both doors closed with hinges:

[Ritalin]

Here's what the revolution process looks like with the newly applied hinged doors:


Step 1 (horizontal)




Step 2
(Without doors, this is where the revolution would not work. The LCD would hit the sides walls and not be able to turn. Marquee shelf  [shown in earlier pics] also has an interior cut slot to allow the LCD to pass through)




Step 3
(Voila! With the doors open, the LCD doesn't hit the sides and the display can turn.)




Step 4
LCD fully rotated into the vertical position.




Another shot [front] of the bartop with the doors fully opened




Side view of the closed door with the hinge applied.
That famous Galaga curve is still intact! 

[Ritalin]

Again, I'm really starting to have some real fun with this project!

I've found that the marquee shelf is the key piece to this entire build. I cut the slot in it for the LCD to pass through when rotating, but another feature is that I angled the sides to that this shelf will NOT be attached at a 90° angle to the back. It will be positioned at an angle which will allow for greater viewing angle of the display and a large marquee. The top piece will also be mounted at an angle and not flat.

The marquee should be 18 1/4" (w) x  5 1/4" (h) which should be fine proportionally for this bartop, I think.

Next up is to mount the marquee shelf, small side pieces and top.

[Ritalin]

....wish me luck because if I haven't explained this before I have NO WOODWORKING SKILLS AT ALL and NO IDEA what I'm doing! lol

[Ritalin]

Things are coming along actually with this weekend project and I had some time today to make some progress.

Since this is a rotating display, the marquee shelf panel is by far the most complex piece of the entire build. It needs to be positioned on an angle, needs a slot for the LCD to rotate, needs a bevel around the slot, speakers, light, and routed out slots for the marquee itself and t-moulding. I also added a physical volume knob that pops out a bit through the panel itself.

I'll be adding black felt to the inside opening of the slot itself to minimize light leakage, etc.

After finishing this piece, I was really happy with the results, and ironically, it looks like a smiley face.



I just used "L" brackets from the hardware store to mount some cheap Gateway speakers to the shelf.
Also included is a 12" undercab light assembly:



Here's a close up of the speaker grille with the volume knob slightly poking out:



The reason I wanted a physical volume knob is because I will be adding a headphone jack to the side of the cabinet, and I wanted a simple way to turn off the speakers completely if need be.


With the new marquee shelf added, I slid the LCD into place, rotated it with the doors open and it works perfectly!

Here's a pic of the LCD in its stand with the doors fully opened:



The cool thing is that after adding the marquee shelf, it obviously added a ton of support to the structure, and I will not be needing any sort of interior "box" for support. 

Here's a side shot of one of the doors opened just to see the depth, etc.

[weisshaupt]

Nice Job!
Looks like its coming along nicely!

[Kangum]

does it still spin with the doors open. the top half that doesnt open looks like its to low and in the way.

[Ritalin]

Nice Job!
Looks like its coming along nicely!

Thanks, Weisshaupt! 

[Ritalin]

does it still spin with the doors open. the top half that doesnt open looks like its to low and in the way.

Yeah, that's the reason the doors need to open (to allow it to spin.)

The top is fine actually.
I have wiggle room by cheating and using the LCD's built in size/positioning settings to tweak the display if need be, but so far it doesn't need it. I'm totally happy with it thus far, I just need to create the control panel, etc.

[Ritalin]

I forgot to include pics of the LCD in the horizontal format.
Here are some added pics:
1. LCD rotated in the horizontal format for horizontal games
2 & 3. Overhead shot of the slot cutout for the LCD rotation (I'll be adding black felt over this hole with a slit cut in the felt.
4. A Straight on pic of the LCD in the vertical mode.

NOTE: I hope purists won't be mad, but even though I'm going with a galaga theme for this, I will be painting it in Galaxian colors. That means black interior with white side panels and alien green t-molding for the sides. (Sides will actually be 100% artwork with white background)
I just really like the Galaxian color scheme, but I'll be sticking with all Galaga artwork for marquee, side panels, CPO, etc. Again, sorry purists, but I figure I've already created a rotating display with open doors, so purity was gone long ago. 

[Ritalin]

Getting there....added the top today.
The marquee is cardboard right now

[lettuce]

Did you ever finish this project? What was the display like on the 19" monitor, as apparently 19" monitors are 5:4 aspect ration not the normal 4:3. Did you get boarders either side of the screen?

[Ritalin]

Ok, this might be the biggest thread bump ever from a dead project.
Well, it's not dead anymore. I'm back and ready to finish this sucker!

I'm working on the control panel this weekend. Wish me luck...I'm going to need it.

[Ritalin]

I'm planning on one of these two control panel layouts:

Layout 1:


Layout 2:


My favorite part is creating custom graphics.
Here is the custom side art I created for my cabinet in Adobe Illustrator:

[bluemini17]

Those graphics are amazing! I like the way you were able to make the side art follow the curve of the cabinet, particularly the lower left hand side. It looks very natural and perhaps something Midway would of implemented if they were to have developed this bar top   

David.