Build Your Own Arcade Controls Forum
Main => Main Forum => Topic started by: javeryh on January 23, 2008, 12:27:02 pm
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After a 2 month layoff I'm finally ready to build the CP on my new cabinet but I'm having trouble finding the materials I need. Can anyone point me in the right direction as to where I can find 5/8" MDF and 1/8" birch veneer? My cabinet is made out of 3/4" cabinet grade birch plywood which I will be staining and I want the CP top to match. The profile of the CP top is attached - I have a high lip trackball that needs mounted and I plan on covering the CP with 1/8" plexiglass. Any ideas?
Thanks! :cheers:
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I ***think*** that Menards has 5/8 MDF. If there's one close, I would call them and ask. I am pretty sure that they do as I looked around before and bought some from somewhere.
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After a 2 month layoff I'm finally ready to build the CP on my new cabinet but I'm having trouble finding the materials I need. Can anyone point me in the right direction as to where I can find 5/8" MDF and 1/8" birch veneer?
Check your local sources - a lot of them carry their sheet goods listed as stuff like 21/32 now... which, of course if you convert, is only 1/32 more than 5/8. My local Lowe's does that for some reason. I think it has to do with the fact that around here their stock comes from Canada.
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I know that you are looking for 5/8" MDF, and I realize that this isn't what you asked, but I believe that Depot stocks 5/8" particle board, FWIW.
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Innocent question alert... Why isn't the lip on your high lip trackball even with the finished plexi surface? Just my opinion, but I don't see the point to recessing it. It seems to be causing you more trouble than it's worth unless I am missing something. I am also wondering how you are going to get that bevel to be accurate and look good. That's a very tough cut to make...
Also, I question why so many people here bend over backwards to get 5/8" board for their cp. What I am doing for my cp (with a high lip tb no less) is using the same 3/4" I used for the rest of the cab. My t-mold slot is dead center in the board and with 1" tmold it will line up perfectly on the top once my 1/8" plexi is on there. The bottom will have a 1/8" overhang which can be easy trimmed once installed or simply left (I haven't decided yet).
It seems people around here are afraid of trimming tmold. In all actuality, if you talk to a professional cabinet maker, they will tell you that to 'properly' install tmolding you need to get it slightly over sized and trim both sides of it with a chisel once installed. It's so easy to do and makes the surface of the board line up PERFECTLY with the edge of the tmold. Very professional looking. Other than my cp, I used 13/16" tmold on 3/4" board which turned out perfectly once trimmed, even when my slot wasn't perfectly centered.
Just some ideas for you. Take them for what they are worth...
:cheers:
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Thanks for the suggestions!
A little background on what I'm trying to do.... the problem stems from the 1/8" wood veneer that has to go on top of the trackball and the plexi that goes on top of that (instead of just artwork of a negligible thickness) and the plexi which would then lay flush with the lip.
I don't think cutting that chamfer in the plexi will be too difficult with the router.
I also want to use 3/4" t-molding on the edges to match the rest of the cabinet. I realize that the thickness I have laid out is a little bigger (5/8" for the MDF, 1/8" for the veneer and 1/8" for the plexi) but I plan on chamfering the bottom edge of the CP by 1/8" so as to give the illusion that it is actually 3/4" thick overall (I suppose I could try chamfering the edge by 1/4" and use 3/4" MDF and avoid all this.... hmmm... I wonder if it will look right though). Alternatively, maybe there's a 1/16" veneer I could buy, I don't know...
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OK, I just got off the phone with the local lumberyard and they had no idea where to get either material in the thickness I'm looking for. It does exist, right? They said I'd have to order a palette if I placed a special order - a 2'x4' sheet was out of the question.
Anyone have any ideas? Can anyone help solve my "CP sandwich" problem? Thanks!!! :cheers: