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Carriage Bolts On your CP: Tacky, or Tasteful?
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shardian:

--- Quote from: RandyT on January 28, 2008, 12:19:45 pm ---
That's just not true.  I have a ROMSTAR Twin Cobra conversion in front of me that has a clean OEM metal panel with welded studs and a bolt-head-free top.


--- End quote ---

I didn't say all of them are. There are definitely exceptions, such as yours.
CheffoJeffo:
Of the three classic cabs that I have with metal panels and joysticks, all have CP art, one has no exposed bolts (Tron), one has exposed bolts for the joystick (Galaga) and one has exposed bolts to attach the underlying wood panel to which the joystick is attached (PacMan). My MVS-2-25 has exposed bolts to secure the CP overlay, but metal studs to secure the joystick. None of them have dustwashers above the panel.

I also have an OEM CapCom cab with a metal panel and no bolts for joysticks (metal studs), that does have the dustwashers above the panel.

Examples and Counter-Examples for everything will abound.

At the end of the day, Fozzy's statement stands and, for a scratch-built cab, it comes down to preference. I don't particularly prefer non-exposed over exposed, although I do typically prefer smaller-head bolts, if they are to be exposed.

For those who do choose exposed bolts, pr0k's bolt head restoration tutorial may be useful.

http://www.rgvac.com/restoration.asp?projid=17

 :cheers:
RetroBorg:
I'm surprised how many Mame control panels have bolts showing, I think they look much better without the bolts, I don't even like the joystick dust washers showing but my real big hate is trackball mounting plates showing, yuk!  :P
MaximRecoil:

--- Quote from: CheffoJeffo on January 28, 2008, 01:42:06 pm ---
For those who do choose exposed bolts, pr0k's bolt head restoration tutorial may be useful.

http://www.rgvac.com/restoration.asp?projid=17

 :cheers:

--- End quote ---

Wow, "cold blue" for bolt heads; that's a great idea. I looked around for a long time to find some larger carriage bolts (3/8-16 x 1-1/4) with a factory black oxide finish for plugging security bar holes. I finally did find some made by Williams here (link) that worked perfectly, and had a nice, deep, satin black finish that you can only get from an oxide process (not from paint). A cold blue (which is really closer to black than blue) solution like is used for touching up gun finishes would be the same idea as that though.
Crowquill:
It depends on what you're going for when building your cab. If you're wanting to build a shiny, clean, perfectly finished cabinet with frankenpanel then use t-nuts under the artwork and have the whole thing look clean and uncluttered.

OTOH, my MAME upright is an old cab which hadn't been modified from it's original state. I wanted to recreate the cabinets that I played at our local laundromat in the late 80's. My ultimate goal was to make it look like a well-done conversion. I also wanted a metal control panel and the bolts that came with it to recreate the experience of those cabs. Feeling the cold metal through a textured overlay was part of the experience for me.

I actually had a really hard time finding carriage bolts locally that were smaller than 1/4". Finally found that Ace Hardware carries an odd size that's the next size down. The smaller heads are definitely better.

And just in case there was anyone who was starting to be convinced that ALL wooden panels didn't have exposed bolts:
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