Mounting a trackball

[Todd H]

Well, my router is on the way which means I can finally cut my t-molding slot. I was planning on just using the router for that purpose and then selling it. But thanks to you guys I'm thinking about holding on to it for a little while longer and using it to flush mount my trackball.

I have a mameroom pre-built control panel. It's designed to have the trackball plate mounted on top. The more I think about it the more I'd like to flush mount that sucker and add some artwork to my control panel.

Is there a tutorial anywhere on-line that shows how to do this? I'd hate to screw up my nice mameroom panel (which is why I'd practice on some scrap MDF). I'm assuming I'd just trace the outline of the mounting plate and route out that area to the same depth as the plate.

Thanks for any help.

[DaOld Man]

I would definitely hold onto the router. Trust me, it will be used again. It is a very versatile tool.

About the trackball:
I think Mountain had a writeup of how he used the trackball plate as a guide to cut out the hole.
You may want to search the forum for that.

[Todd H]

I'll search and see if I can find anything.

At first I figured I just wanted a functional cab and wasn't worried about things like control panel art or making it look super fancy. But after looking over all the nice examples on the Projects board, I'm starting to want to add more and more. Now I'm considering control panel overlays and sideart. I've got to stop hanging around this place or I'll never get it finished.

BTW, here's what the top of my panel looks like now...

[u_rebelscum]

So the CP is laminated, huh?  I'd put the mounting plate on top and trace/cut around the edge of the plate.  Cut a few times to get through the laminate.  This will do a few things: show exactly what should be removed, cut the laminate so it doesn't chip, and maybe do the "routing" for you.  If the laminate can be unglued (often can be done with a hot iron, but no guarantee it will work, or that the iron won't melt the laminate), peel off it off and see if the laminate is the right thickness.  (Put the plate back on and see if it's flush, but don't let it get glued on.)  Probably too thin, but worth a try. 

The glue isn't the best for the router bit either; it might burn off more than be cut, so you might want to scrap as much as you can off.  The glue won't kill the bit, but a gummed up bit doesn't cut as well as a clean, sharp bit.  :shrug

After that, set the bit to the exact thickness of the plate: put the plate upside down on a flat surface (that you don't mind if scratched a little), then put the router on top of the plate.  Position the router so the bit can go down to the flat surface, and lower the bit so it touches it.  Lock the router up/down in place. 

[Zeppo]

I've been wanting to go back and re-do my CP and flush mount my trackball also.
I thought I had some threads bookmarked, but can't seem to find them right now.

[Todd H]

So the CP is laminated, huh?  I'd put the mounting plate on top and trace/cut around the edge of the plate.  Cut a few times to get through the laminate.  This will do a few things: show exactly what should be removed, cut the laminate so it doesn't chip, and maybe do the "routing" for you.  If the laminate can be unglued (often can be done with a hot iron, but no guarantee it will work, or that the iron won't melt the laminate), peel off it off and see if the laminate is the right thickness.  (Put the plate back on and see if it's flush, but don't let it get glued on.)  Probably too thin, but worth a try. 

The glue isn't the best for the router bit either; it might burn off more than be cut, so you might want to scrap as much as you can off.  The glue won't kill the bit, but a gummed up bit doesn't cut as well as a clean, sharp bit.  :shrug

After that, set the bit to the exact thickness of the plate: put the plate upside down on a flat surface (that you don't mind if scratched a little), then put the router on top of the plate.  Position the router so the bit can go down to the flat surface, and lower the bit so it touches it.  Lock the router up/down in place. 

That's what I was looking for, and what I thought would be how to do it. I have a spare panel to practice on. It was damaged in shipping and Scott sent me another one. I'll try it on that panel first and see how it goes. Thanks for the help.

[GAtekwriter]

I just routed out my trackball (and joystick) mounting plate area on my CP last weekend... wasn't difficult at all.  Did a couple test depths on a scrap piece of wood - just clamped a 1/4" thick metal ruler down onto the scrap to run my router against and give me a 1" wide strip along the edge of the scrap - placed the trackball plate down... not flush?  Increase the router's depth 1/32" and try again.  Once I got the depth set properly, I used the a set of clamps and the ruler again to route out all four sides of the mounting plate area.  When done, I have maybe a 1/32" extra space between the routed area and the trackball plate... but since I'm covering with an overlay and then Lexan, this shouldn't be a problem.  If you look closely at the picture, you can see at the edges where the router ate away just a little more than perfect square corners.

[cmoses]

Hoping to buy a router with some X-MAS Home Depot gift cards I got today.  Question about routing out the tops for flush mounting.

So you use the router with the metal edge ruler as a guid for each side.  So then so you just free hand the middle part?  Does the base of the router extend enough to rest on the top of the control panel and not drop into the hole?

Thanks

[pickle me stupid]

http://www.willcoxonline.com/mame/controlpanel/controlpanel.htm

i wish i would have mounted mine this way