Main > Project Announcements
A Mame machine in an antique buffet - USB probs solved (I think!)
Aceldamor:
This project is gearing up to be an award winner fo sho!
The admin buttons look amazing. One potential suggestion on the player buttons, I would "antique" them a little more, and potentially coat them with a semi gloss/flat clear coat so they aren't so shiny. Have you considered throwing some turquoise around the edges to give them the "aged copper" look?
Someone else suggested Tesla coils, and other stuff, what about a small Jacob's ladder?
I am really liking where this project is heading, keep up the great work.
drventure:
I'm right there with ya!
Actually, I experimented with giving the copper buttons a patina, but never could get the effect right. They ended up looking too "painted". So I rubbed them down with india ink as well, and let it go.
I'm kind of thinking the same thing about the gloss. They are a little on the shiny side. I think the photos actually make em look even MORE shiny than in real life, though. I'll probably wait any any further treatments till I get the rest of the panel finishwork done to see how it all comes together.
Believe it or not, I spent a LOT of time investigating a jacobs ladder, but what I found is that it requires an INSANE high voltage to get that effect (something along the lines of exposing a monitor flyback coil voltage), and that's getting just a tad over the line for me :)
However, I did find this
It's a plasma sphere for a car cig lighter, all of about 1.5 inches in dia. And no chance of electrocuting anybody playing my cab! Remove the black rubber shell and mount it in some brass gizmo (I'm imaging an old astrolabe or something similar).
Could work...
severdhed:
this project is simply amazing....
WHen you mentioned the trackball, i started thinking....upon looking around the net, i found this site...
http://www.spherestoyou.com/Sshoppe/marble.htm
or
something like this would make an awesome trackball. some of them are available in 3" diameter, so it should be a drop in replacement for a 3" trackball. i'm sure it would be a little heavier though, which may take away from the performance of the unit....
or perhaps something like this:
which can be found:
http://www.jewelbasket.com/gemstone-paper-weight.html
That one is listed as weighing 2lbs, which is pretty heavy...i dont know if these things would be durable enough for this type of use, but it might be worth looking into. they are a little expensive, but about the same price as a replacement ball from Happ.
just an idea.
drventure:
Oh.wow!
That globe ball would be utterly awesome!
Not sure of the weight, you're right about that, but, oh heck yeah...
I'll do some digging on that.
In looking for plasma balls, I'd come across these glass plasma "discs"
If you look close, it's a matrix grid internally, so I started wondering if it'd be possible to get that grid into a solid "ball" such that the somehow the outer edge of the ball could be "powered" with a lot voltage that would allow the whole ball to spark like the disk, but the ball could still free float in the trackball assembly, maybe using some kind of contact brushes. Yeah, that's pretty far fetched, but it'd be the most impress trackball ever!
Ginsu Victim:
--- Quote from: drventure on May 21, 2009, 01:55:06 pm ---That globe ball would be utterly awesome!
Not sure of the weight, you're right about that, but, oh heck yeah...
I'll do some digging on that.
--- End quote ---
If it's a paper weight, it should be flat on the bottom. That would make a terrible trackball.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version