[Finished] HAL 9000/SAL 9000 Weecade-based bartops

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Yes, another weecade, so I`ll keep it `short`. In total, I have made three bartops. The latest two I will describe here.
They are themed as the HAL 9000 and SAL 9000 computers. The HAL 9000 is a friend’s birthday gift, so I will not post pictures. However, the only big difference between the two bartops is the finish color (red / blue). I build two in parallel to save time. Parts ordered June 1st, first cut June 8th, project finished July 15th. All tools were available to me, except for a soldering station.
 
Materials and suppliers (I am based in Switzerland).
 
ArcadeShop.de
(mirror washer* / Power inlet female / vintage power switch*)
Arcade world UK
(Joystick illuminated + 5pin adapter / speakers / speaker grills / ½” chrome T-molding / 6.3mm wire bundle daisy chain / 1m Long wires 6.3mm for dome button / Minipac with harness / 6 illuminated buttons with chrome edge red/blue 12V, player 1 / 12V amplifier )
Physical Computing AT Austria
(Adafruit 100mm dome button red/blue / Raspberry PI 2 Model B / Adafruit 60mm* button red/blue)
Ebay
(19” 4:3 DELL DVI Monitor 2009 / Adapter HDMI to DVI-D / 32Gb Class 10 SDcard Intenso / HDMI cable 1.4 gold connectors / 3D carbon-look car foil with air channels: brushed aluminium titan 300x1520mm, Carbon matt red/blue 1000x1520mm, Carbon matt black 1000x1520mm / PSU 12V 5A power supply / Female power cables / PSU 5V 2A power supply)
Local DIY store OBI
(MDF 12mm / Matt black spray can / Aluminium silver spray can / MDF paint / Moulding 22x22mm / Power extension block / screws, paint rollers, etc).
Perspex shop DE Germany
(Bezel 72% transmission Grey, perspex for control panel, perspex* for behind dome button)
 
Costs (some converted to euro)
ArcadeWorld UK   €314,49
Ebay DE         €165,00
Arcadeshop DE   €27,50*
Local DIY Store €146.95
PhysicalCom.at  €81,50*
Ebay DE (PSUs)  €27,21
Bezels                  €81,00*
*) some ordered parts were not used in the end, amount is a little lower than reported.
 
 
Totals
HAL 9000:               €400.68 (used existing RPi 1 model B+)
SAL 9000:               €442.97 (bought new RPi 2 Model B)
 
Running Pi-MAME 2.0, but looking to change to RetroPi.
Disclaimer: I have zero wood-working skills, and to the trained eye it probably shows. At the moment, this is as far my “skills” and available time could take me J.
 
Lessons learned:
The speaker grills are huge and can interfere with the 19” monitor/bezel, which barely fits (17” is usual size). It can happen that the bezel is not flush with the side panels. However, I do like to play games with the biggest monitor I could fit.
I am not good in using spray paint (see bezel), probably should spray even thinner layers and spend money on better tape. On the HAL 9000 I used matt black, which is more forgiven than aluminium silver spray paint (hiding mistakes).
12mm MDF is very thin, and short thin screws are hard to find / drilling holes is difficult. Short thick screws will split the wood used as moulding.
The invisible joystick mount is not invisible, mounting holes are a little protruding on the SAL 9000 (but not on the HAL 9000).
MDF terribly dusty when routing the t-molding slot, etc.
Use a thick(er) monitor mount back panel. Old monitors are heavier than I expected.
Car foil is great stuff and forgiving. Although it might make the bartop a bit boring looking. Using car foil is a great time saver also. However, priming MDF is still necessary (2 layers).
I decided to make the complete backpanel removable to gain access. It saved me time and headache (could not afford to make a mistake at that stage).
“Marquee” not flush with side panels, could have routed a radius along the long edges to make it nicer. And/or use thinner MDF for the marquee.
 
Finally I would like to thank you all for this great forum / community!!!    
 
More pictures following soon...

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