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Author Topic: Pine coffee table with removable control panel  (Read 3530 times)

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corpuscle

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Pine coffee table with removable control panel
« on: June 04, 2014, 07:17:33 am »
I’ve really enjoyed reading all the other project pages people have posted & wanted to add this pine coffee table/removable control panel unit I’ve just finished.

Requirements:
1. Child-safe coffee table for living room (%98 of the time will be used as table)
2. Underside must be empty space to allow sitting with legs underneath, Japanese style
3. Controls not visible when not in use

(not sure how the photo linking procedure works...)


I really liked the idea of a coffee table arcade unit which can spend most of its time pretending to be furniture in the living room. The 2 sites below have some fabulous work which inspired me to build ‘something’ myself.
http://ian-projects.blogspot.com.au/
http://www.surface-tension.net/
All the mechanisms for hiding the control panel, that I could think of, or had the skill to implement, either had exposed hardware or took up too much room underneath the frame. So I went with a removable panel which is kept in a wardrobe when not in use. I’m interested in making some other versions of the panel in the future, but the current layout covers most of my favourites.
I used 3DS to create a basic model (it’s 8 pieces of timber, the definition of basic probably). Also an internal view of one of the 4 top joints, trying to see how large the dowels could practically be made inside the 9cm cube of each corner.

The first of many trips to the hardware store. I used these 90x90mm solid pine posts as the frame for the table. The store cut it to 8 lengths which formed the frame. They used some kind of ridiculous saw which ascends brutally to section the wood.


I already had the corded drill and tenon saw, but needed to buy a few clamps and other woody tools.
I wanted the screen to fill the internal top of the frame so chose a 32” TV & built the frame around its dimensions. I went for a TV over a monitor because it has built in speakers & remote control for power and volume.

The primary joints are glued in 25mm diameter merbau open/through-dowels. Merbau is an oily, dark hardwood which would be good to contrast against the pine. Boring the holes through 9+3cm using an auger bit really tested the fortitude of my $49 corded drill. There are some more reasonably sized oak dowels to secure down through the top into the legs, which aren’t shown here.
I fastened everything with PVA glue before the dowels went in and was surprised how strongly the glue held with a cross grain joint. I guess the surface area is pretty large.



Next was the table top. I ordered a rectangle of 12mm toughened glass, which has a real monolithic heft, & placed it on top then glued 12x20mm oak beading to keep it in place. The glass weighs approx 15kg, same as the base. Once the TV is in place, it’s difficult to remove the glass, so there’s a hole drilled through one of the wooden crosspieces, though which a long dowel can poke upwards to lift one side of the pane.
I toyed with the idea of a tint on the glass, but as the screen going underneath is basically a black rectangle anyways, didn’t bother. I might try some film on it down the track if I get bored.
The glass didn’t sit quite right, so I hacked at the wood mercilessly with a chisel until it seated correctly. When sanding, I didn’t brush off the sawdust completely between fittings & some stray grit scratched the glass in one corner.
My work area is an apartment balcony so I had to work around the rain and avoid annoying the neighbours.


Next was fitting the screen into the base. By this time we were using the coffee table during the day & I’ve stuck foam on the corners and edges to make them more child-friendly.
Some scrap wood holds up the screen. I originally had the screen horizontal but the viewing angle, even with an IPS panel has some limitations so altered that to produce some decline toward the viewer.
There’s aluminium flyscreen pinned to the frame underneath the screen, to prevent small fingers from interfering with anything breakable or electrical. It also allows heat to dissipate, but that’s not really a factor as the panasonic screen and PC attached to the back of it are both pretty cool customers.



The PC is a dual core celeron Intel NUC micro form factor unit. It’s low noise & power and attaches to the back of most monitors/TVs using a VESA mount included. Though I used Velcro.
I saved some $$ by installing the OS from an old Win7 disc which wasn’t being used. Transferring Win7 to a USB the installing on the NUC was a bit of a hassle and required reading the freaking instructions on the Intel site regarding particular BIOS settings required.





« Last Edit: June 04, 2014, 07:36:30 am by corpuscle »

corpuscle

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Re: Pine coffee table with removable control panel
« Reply #1 on: June 04, 2014, 07:41:32 am »
I chiselled out a hole for the USB socket which a cable from the control panel will plug in to. It’s fixed with epoxy.

Also put in a power button, but I’ve ended up using an old Logitech harmony remote to power up the screen and pc (the NUC responds to Windows Media Centre IR commands). So the button doesn’t do anything, except for sometimes when I like to press it repeatedly and imagine it’s punishing my enemies.

The powerboard plug is rebated into the underside of the frame. It’s ugly as a robber’s dog, and I cover it with a busted travel adapter when not in use to protect the prongs. I’ve seen more capable people use a socket/plug thing (pictured inset) but I wasn’t game to wire anything mains related.



Next was the removable control panel. I was set on the idea of solid timber, in keeping with the rest of the project. The plan to use a matching pine board changed after seeing an expensive plank of cedar in the wood section. When I picked it up it thrummed with some kind of internal energy and I had to have it.

Cedar is soft, way too soft for a durable CP, but it’s not going to see heavy use so I gave it a crack. I wanted no visible fixings, so after chiselling out some rebates in a fit of rage, used epoxy to fix the joysticks in place. This means no easy repair/upgrade! The box is glued together and is surprisingly rigid and light.

Covering the underside is Masonite, which I’d like to replace with a thin natural wood panel but probably won’t.

The garish blue unit was a test panel while I was deciding on how to proceed. The board for the back of the main panel is reusing a failed attempt where I chiselled out the wrong side for the joysticks on another section of cedar. In another fit of rage.

The wooden knobs in the photo above help my offspring to grab/stand up, but are mainly used for attaching the control panel described below.

The 6 button layout is slightly modified from one of the Slagcoin templates. I also added 4 small square buttons for pause/save/load-state & whatever else. The controls came from arcadecontrols.co.uk. Seimitsu LS-40 sticks with most of the buttons being leaf switch, which are quieter and easier to wire up than microswitches, I reckon. I like to have some space below the buttons for my palm to rest on. I hate having to float part of my hands uncomfortably when playing.

The encoder is an IPAC2. I used an IPAC4 for something years ago and it is easy to hook up & worked flawlessly so I didn’t even consider alternatives. The vise-grip wire stripper saved a lot of time



The wood is pretty thin now above the joystick plates, it cuts some height from the joystick shaft but it’s tolerable.

All the wood in the project is finished with shellac mixed from flakes. Shellac isn’t hard wearing, but it’s non-toxic and easy to patch up & I love it.

The control panel attaches to the coffee table, where 2 large holes at the back of the panel, at a certain angle of attack, slide/jam onto 2 cupboard knobs on one side of the coffee table (pictured earlier). When it’s on it’s rigidly fixed. How this worked I’m not sure. It’s a little suspicious.



Here’s the Logitech k400 wireless keyboard/trackpad used to control the pc and the old harmony 515 remote to power on the components. Though after setting up the OS I’ve been using this tiny wireless keyboard/trackpad for when I need access to regular keys. Attached with Velcro.



Above is a shot when testing the screen with Smaug. The other 2 pictures show the table being used & how it looks without the child-safety foam on the edges.


emphatic

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Re: Pine coffee table with removable control panel
« Reply #2 on: June 04, 2014, 07:55:01 am »
Nice work. :cheers:

thomas_surles

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Re: Pine coffee table with removable control panel
« Reply #3 on: June 04, 2014, 03:13:28 pm »
So simple yet so awesome.  Nice job.

drventure

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Re: Pine coffee table with removable control panel
« Reply #4 on: June 04, 2014, 04:39:58 pm »
Very nicely done!   :applaud:

I'm using that exact keyboard and remote even.

You didn't show any pics but is the underside exposed or covered by a plate/sheet of some sort? Just wondering.

Do you get much glare off the screen given that it's flat like that?

corpuscle

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Re: Pine coffee table with removable control panel
« Reply #5 on: June 04, 2014, 06:34:59 pm »
thanks!

here's the underside, the aluminum flyscreen is the only base/cover. I would have liked if it didn't extend below the 9cm frame, but the LCD + PC width was greater than that.



there can be glare during the day but in the evenings it's usually fine.

Slippyblade

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Re: Pine coffee table with removable control panel
« Reply #6 on: June 04, 2014, 06:53:55 pm »
This looks amazing, very nice.  But I do have one small question.  What kind of joint are the corners?  How do the 3 4x4's come together?

JDFan

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Re: Pine coffee table with removable control panel
« Reply #7 on: June 04, 2014, 07:08:57 pm »
This looks amazing, very nice.  But I do have one small question.  What kind of joint are the corners?  How do the 3 4x4's come together?

There's a pic in the first post that shows some details and a descriptive text :
Quote
The primary joints are glued in 25mm diameter merbau open/through-dowels. Merbau is an oily, dark hardwood which would be good to contrast against the pine. Boring the holes through 9+3cm using an auger bit really tested the fortitude of my $49 corded drill. There are some more reasonably sized oak dowels to secure down through the top into the legs, which aren’t shown here.
I fastened everything with PVA glue before the dowels went in and was surprised how strongly the glue held with a cross grain joint. I guess the surface area is pretty large.

« Last Edit: June 04, 2014, 07:11:57 pm by JDFan »

Slippyblade

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Re: Pine coffee table with removable control panel
« Reply #8 on: June 04, 2014, 07:16:39 pm »
Oh, so those dowels ARE the joints.  I was thinking you had done some sort of pegged mortis and tenon joint.  Got it.

brucelee00

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Re: Pine coffee table with removable control panel
« Reply #9 on: June 04, 2014, 09:14:19 pm »
Very cool and nice work that thing looks sturdy :)

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Re: Pine coffee table with removable control panel
« Reply #10 on: June 05, 2014, 01:27:40 am »
Great work men :notworthy: