Best way to mount plexi over monitor?

[thecheat]

My cabinet is going to have a 19" LCD in it and I'm trying to decide what the best way to mount the plexi cover would be.

My intention is to make a frame with two horizontal braces for the top and bottom, spanning the full width of the cab. Vertical braces will frame the monitor. I am pretty lucky that my monitor is quite literally a rectangle with perfectly square sides. I have a bezel that I cut out of black foamcore and that will fit over the bezel of the LCD.

What I want to do is lay the plexi over the bezel but I'm not sure what the best/easiest way to secure it to the frame would be. I was thinking about 1/2" quarter-round dowels framing it in using finishing nails. I could remove them without too much damage if I needed to replace the LCD.

Has anyone done this? Is there a better idea that I might be overlooking? The only downside to this is that I'm not really thrilled about having the rounded corners. Using 1/4" or even 1/8" stock and a few dabs of glue instead of nails might minimize this. All the wood needs to do is not let the plexi fall out

Thanks in advance!

[javeryh]

Any reason why you aren't going with glass?  I think it looks a lot better and it won't scratch.

Anyway, I think it really depends on your cabinet.  I made a bezel out of matteboard for my LCD and had the glass rest on top of it.  Nothing is secured - the monitor sits in the MDF frame I made and the bezel and glass sit on top of that.  Gravity does the rest.









You can't see anything but the screen (only when it is on) otherwise it looks completely black in there.

[thecheat]

That is a great looking cab! Unfortunately, my display won't be at as low an angle although I suppose I could flush mount it to the sides, secure the top, and build up the control panel in such a way that removing the CP will give access to the glass.

The only reason I have plexi instead of glass is due to a mistake at my wife's job. They were replacing all of the glass in their picture frames w/ plexi and some genius measured the frame from the front instead of the back, when they put the plexi in, it just fell through the front of the frame. 

So I have plenty of plexi, as they say. It will be fine for now, I'll upgrade it later. I really like your smoked glass trick - you can't see anything when it's off. I may do that later when I replace the plexi, my LCD is quite bright so it shouldn't be an issue with blocking light.

[jeef]

haha, that's gold about the frame mishap!

I'm planning on using something similar to the marquee retainer for mine... or just a bit of angle?

[KissMyWookie]

I have a plan for my cabinet...

Use a router to cut two thin grooves into the side walls of the cabinet.
Have a piece of wood - also with a routed slot in it - at the bottom of display area. This could be visible, above the control panel or just below it.
With the very top part of the cabinet removed, slide the plexi into the slots from the top.
Once in place, screw your cabinet top on. (It would be best to also have a slot in the cabinet top, which lines up with the plexi - then it will be much more dust proof).

Steve

[jeef]

I think i have decided to do it this way:
i will route a slot in the top "speaker panel". The glass will slot into this.
At the bottom i will have a "admin panel", this will have a slot routed along the top and will be plugged into the bittom of the glass. I forget who i got that idea off, it was someone on here.

[KissMyWookie]

I think i have decided to do it this way:
i will route a slot in the top "speaker panel". The glass will slot into this.
At the bottom i will have a "admin panel", this will have a slot routed along the top and will be plugged into the bittom of the glass. I forget who i got that idea off, it was someone on here.

Are you planning to run a bead of clear silicone down the sides of the glass?  ...that will keep any dust off your screen surface.

[jeef]

Are you planning to run a bead of clear silicone down the sides of the glass?  ...that will keep any dust off your screen surface.

To be honest I hadn't thought about it. I would ideally like the glass to still be removable, as it will be the access to the monitor.