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1st project - rotating monitor - no name
Sosetsuken:
Hey Haterot, nice work mate,
how about Rotate-a-cade / Rotatarcade / Rotate-a-rcade? :P
Haterot:
Captain we have wood! (Green chick in Star Trek, smoking :dizzy: )
First things first. MDF is heavy. yes we have all read the wiki and forum posts which says i t weighs an ass-load.
THEY WERE RIGHT. This stuff is solid weighs a ton and requires the use of a good friend. Also be careful of the edges
they chip easily at the corners should you be taking a piece down from the warehouse shelf and accidentally drop them.
"Honest, Mr Lowes guy I have no clue how this thing got wrecked. Um can you get me another piece?" :dunno
I would gather that most firs-timers look at people's projects and the sides of their cabinet cut out and think, that looks easy
enough to do. WRONG. Now I speak from lack of experience. I'm not a carpenter (I'm a doctor damit), but I put the old adage
measure twice cut once to the test. I measured about 10 times as I was drawing out the lines for the shape. Worse thing is,
as a beginner, you are more worried about jacking up your measurements and cuts than having fun. oh well.
Two hours later we have side 1. Beginners tip. When working with huge sheets of MDf you should have at least 3 sawhorses.
Found this out the hard way when I was cutting the top 2 feet off the sheet and at the end, the unsupported piece was bending
down, then caused the circular saw to jerk back. scary stuff.
Now this was honestly the part I had been looking forward to. Got my 2nd piece of MDF on the 3!! saw horses and
then laid down and clamped side 1. Sketched out the rough shape and got to cutting with the circular and jig sw.
I got my new router and my new flush trim bit out measured the bearing on the bit correctly and went to town.
HOLY CRAP is this tool (and bit) the greatest thing ever??? mrroowwaaarrrrr and a few minutes later two identical
pieces.
Ugh, Mistake #2. When I was using the circular saw to cut out the rough trace for side 2 I made a boo boo.
When setting up my guide fence to run the circular saws base against I put the guide fence on the wrong side
when I was cutting out the top incline. I realized it but to late.
Kind of hard to tell in this pic, The good side is on the bottom and you can see where i cut to much off of the
top piece. So, my question is this. just change the angle of the good piece to match the bad piece or go get
some bondo and fill in the missing section? I have not done the flush trimming yet, my t-molding has not come in.
If I go the bondo method can I flush trim it and not have it break off? Any thoughts would be appreciated.
So all in all a good work day. Measuring and cutting the sides took a lot longer than what I thought, but I was being
anal meticulous as I didn't want to screw up (to many things). My plans are to get the other parts cut out then wait for
my t-molding to get in. I don't want to flush trim the sides without having practiced first. Screw the pooch there and oy! :hissy:
Haterot:
--- Quote from: Sosetsuken on May 23, 2009, 10:40:13 am ---Hey Haterot, nice work mate,
how about Rotate-a-cade / Rotatarcade / Rotate-a-rcade? :P
--- End quote ---
I could just stick with my theme name and disdain for all things and go with Haterot-acade and death emporium.
Nah to wordy, cost me a fortune on marquees.
As a kid I played in the Spaceport arcade in the mall (didn't we all) and since this is a nostalgia trip I am thinking of naming it after
that arcade. Not 100% definite on that as I have to come up with a theme/art to go with that name, but I still have some time.
Haterot:
Update to show how far I have gone and how far i still need to go.
Got the sides and ledger boards together
All parts primed and ready for paint. protip, MDF soaks up primer like mad, make sure you buy enough.
My $20 coin door. Thank you eBay.
I cut out a 2" frame form the back piece of the cabinet, this way it gives the cabinet some rigidity even with the back door open. Not sure if I am going to paint the piano hinge.
I am going with passive venting, so i routed out some vent holes on the top.
The Backdoor attached.
Got the T-molding on and the monitor brace mounted. You can see the actuator switches attached at the top there and the motor wheel at the bottom. the bracket on the right is a physical stop, mostly a precaution as the mrotate program (props to Da Oldman) works like a charm and spins the monitor just enough.
And finally slid the monitor and it's back plate with casters into the hole and attached it with washer and nut.
I am working on the bezel and still deciding on artwork. need to get some other wiring done and mount the MB and HD on the inside wall. More pics to come.
danny_galaga:
Good work. I loves me a rotatin' monitor. You certainly have gone more high tech than me! I wonder about the use of castors though. I feel it would work more smoothly if you used 'fixed' castors.
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