Control Panel Installed on Cabinet (w/ pics)

[AlanS17]

Well as yall have probably noticed from reading the posts lately, I've been working to upgrade my cabinet from the original size. Step one is increasing the CP size. It had to be rounded to match the rest of the cabinet, and I must say... I think it turned out pretty well. I'm no master wood-worker, but I impressed myself this time. (I also managed to impress the hill-billy countrified "tool man taylor" members of my fraternity who think I'm just good with computers.)

I'll try to post a few pictures here, but here's the main one. Since it's rounded at the front it had to be hinged at the back to open it. It's a modification on the Doug Hansen "bumpout" design. He's the one that game me the idea. (Well more importantly, he gave me the confidence boost to see that it can be done.) However, mine is much larger so maybe I should call it the "super bumpout" or something... Anyways... Here's the first pic.

P.S. Doug's bumpout can be seen at:
http://www.doughansen.net/arcade/bumpout.jpg

P.P.S. If you wanna se my cabinet BEFORE the control panel upgrade check this:
http://www.arcadecontrols.org/yabbse/index.php?board=10;action=display;threadid=7906

[AlanS17]

What a difference a few inches makes. I needed a probably 6 extra inches to fit everything I needed, but for the sake of extra space I added a foot. Now the control panel is 3' wide and 15" deep (as opposed to the original 6").

I thought it would look cool to let the walls cut through the the control panel. It gives it a more cohesive feel (or something like that). I could have cut a full shelf for it, but I likeed this idea more. You can still see what the old cabinet used to look like. But I don't think it looks like a hack job on an old cabinet. I think cuting a shelf would have looked like a hack job on an old cabinet. (Plus this took a bit more skill and I wanted to know if i could do it.)

[AlanS17]

Looking inside you can see how I have bolts poking through. This is because some day this machine will leave the frat house it lives in and move on to a better home (my apartment). I'm not gonna be the person that builds a cabinet in his parents basement only to find out it won't fit out. (So sorry to hear about that...) What you can't see is the reinforcement with angle iron all along the bottom. You can still see some on the sides there in the picture, though.

You can also see the piano hinge I used. Most control panels open up from the front, but I couldn't do that since mine has a curve around the front. So instead, I made mine to open from the back like a car hood.

I can't just clamp it closed. Instead I'll be screwing it down across the front. I'll have to remove a couple screws to open it up, but it's not a big deal. I was going to need screwsd around the edges to hold down the lexan, anyways. Now the screws will just be a bit longer.

Edit: Ok I just noticed maybe you CAN'T see the piano hinge I used in this picture, but you can see it in the previous picture (if you ignore the glare).

[AlanS17]

Must be about that time for upgrading again. I can tell cuz the sawdust is clogging my throat. Hope to have this thing polished off before fall classes start. Wish me luck!

[RedSquirrel]

Looks cool, but arnt you gonna have probs putting the joysticks/buttons in?  

[AlanS17]

Even though it has a curve in it, it's still 36" by 15" or somewhere around there. There will be plenty of room. I posted a diagram at one point. It's runing around this website somewhere but I'm too lazy to look for it. Trust me me when I say there's room, though.

It'll fit a trackball, a spinner, a 4-way, a top-fire, and 2 SF layouts. Just watch.  

[RedSquirrel]

excellent   good luck with it.

Ive just made a cp, i want to add extra things in the future (especially a track ball, but im not sure if there is enough room.

[AlanS17]

Started making some cuts even though I don't have the parts yet. I just wanted to get a better feel for how it is going to look. I probably could have done a cleaner job, But I didn't feel the need seeing how it's going to be covered up, anyways.

As you can see, I've got a trackball going in the middle with the SF layouts on either side of it. I may bring the trackball down an inch closer to the edge to give more swinging room and have more room for buttons up the middle. It's not too late. I'll just have to move some support braces on the inside of the CP that would be getting in the way of the TB, but i wouldn't be compromising structural integrity.

Up at the middle across the middle I'll have my administrative buttons.  I'm going to have 2 more joysticks up there too. i'll have a 4-way on the left and a top-fire on the right, just inside the red divides. I measured. There's enough room. Oh, and TB buttons will go just above the trackball. With all this stuff going up at the top it might start to get a bit busy even though it does fit so I'll probably bring the TB down.

By the way, all the measurements and cuts you see there were all winged. I used a drafting scale to mark off length intervals, but it's like .8 of an inch thick. Not exactly precise measuring. Then I just traced my joys upside down and used a TB plate to get the right size in the middle. I'll cal it "freestyle construction".  

Despite concerns ya'll might have, there is no trouble with a wrist rest. I tried it out and it's fine. I know what some of ya'll are thinking.  

Ok I think I said enough for just one picture. I'll let the picture do some talking now...

[AlanS17]

Just to let ya'll know, this isn't a dead project. Still working on it, but it's hard when your'e broke. Did some more cutting this weekend, though. Won't bore ya'll with pictures. I'll wait til it's (almost) finished for that.

[hyiu]

pictures are never bored !!!  

nice job there.... nice curves on your cab....  

[AlanS17]

Ok here's a picture of the finished control panel. still need painting, but everything is in place.

I've got a couple close-ups but they didn't come out well because of glare.

[DaveMMR]

Man that's sweeter than the Jolly Rancher that currently resides in my mouth.

I like the curve design.  Good luck with that!