Putting a bezel over a 20" TV, or making one

[Timstuff]

I want to put a 20" TV into my cab, but the closest size bezel that Happ sells is 19". If I trim the 19" bezel with an exacto-knife, will it fit a 20" screen? I'm planning on leaving the TV in it's original casing, and since it's also a "flat" CRT, I'm wondering if I should just make a bezel. If that's the route I should go, what kind of material should I use? I've seen the results from people who used foam core, and I wasn't very impressed. Is there something more rigid and plastic-like availible (or even just cheap plastic)?

[AwesomeAlbert]

i put a 25 inch tv in a cab, i put it as close as possible to the glass, i spray painted the glass through the back. It looks good. round the corners and it will look way better.

[severdhed]

i made a bezel out of posterboard, i was very unhappy with it.  then i spray painted it black, which made it darker(the black posterboard is really pretty gray), but it got wavy because it was too thin and was moist from the paint.  then i completely got rid of that, masked off the monitor area and spray painted the back side of my monitor plexiglass.  this made the monitor plexi and bezel the same piece.  i am very happy with the way this turned out.  i used flat black spray paint (the stuff you get for .98 cents at walmart).  from the front side, it looks very glossy and nice.  the only down side to this is if you ever replace your monitor, or want to rotate it or something, you will need a new piece of plexi.

i don't have any real good pics, but here is one that kinda shows how it looks.  there are a lot of smudges and fingerprints on it in that pic, but you get the idea.



the 4 round things are magnets that i used to hold it in place, but since i modified the supports a little, i dont need them anymore, it just sits in there nice and snug.

[Timstuff]

Cool, I never thought about that approach, but it looks like it turns out really nice. And on top of that, a $1 can of spray paint is not a very big investment to swallow by any means. Thanks guys!

[Timstuff]

BTW, how should I go about actually holding the plexi in place after it's cut and painted?

[unit416]

I did the spray paint approach. I took a piece of plexiglass and had it cut to the right dimensions. I covered the area where the screen would be viewed and sprayed away. It turned out great! When viewed from the opposite side it is a beautiful, glossy black. I secured it using velcro at the top along the piece of MDF that supports the marquee. 

[Timstuff]

I'm now starting to gravitate towards the arcade builder's secret weapon (velcro) to hold my monitor glass in place. Four pieces holding the glass against the TV casing seems like it ought to do the trick.

[Turnarcades]

Copied from another thread by me:

Depending on how your cabinet is assembled, the bezel can simply be bonded to the plexi at the top and bottom edges (non-visible), then the plexi bonded to the rear of the lower marquee section and a couple of wood blocks at the bottom;