Author Topic: Simple Bar top (Read 5133 times)

TeamTEOR · « **on:** November 06, 2009, 07:09:09 pm »

I am making a simple bar top cab for use with my touch screen LCD and a small keyboard. The end use will be for a Jukebox in my living room.

I spent the afternoon from about noon to 4:15pm working on it. I used 5/8" particle board and it was put together to with wood glue and a pneumatic nail gun shooting 1.5 inch brad nails. It was given a primary sand job with a orbital sander, and then I shot it with white sealer followed by gray primer. I need to pick up some filler to clean up all of the placed where the brads were shot into, to fill in some missing wood in the back, and also to fill in all of the little holes every where along the sides. I will then sand it again and then prime it again this time in white. The final color will be in white gloss enamel.

The monitor is a NEC 15 inch touch screen. The computer will be a 1.8ghz-2.0ghz board with 1-2 gig of memory depending one what I end up using from my spare computers here at home. Jukebox software will be Freebox 5.0.22+. I have a lighted keyboard to help keep things simple for other people who do not like to use touchscreen keyboards on smaller monitors. After the holidays I will change monitors and install a joystick to give my son his own arcade machine and rebuild my Jukebox into something cooler.

Anyway, enough chatting, here are the pics. Feel free to let me know what you think.
Tom

Turnarcades · « **Reply #1 on:** November 06, 2009, 08:14:26 pm »

Particle board may not be the best material for a cabinet as it is very 'bitty' and can flake or chip easily, is difficult to shape or mould, and the edges will be rough as hell, even with buckets of primer and paint. Nails aren't particularly a good idea either as they can work loose, unlike screws which grip and pull tight with their threads. I also notice you've attached the monitor bezel section without first cutting the hole - this is also bad practice as it means awkward handling with more chance of splitting and stresses to those nails when you try to cut a hole for the monitor.

The final point is that if it's going to have a touch-screen, why have a keyboard? Many jukebox apps support full touch-screen control and if set up properly with a touch-screen front-end like SimpleTouch FE, you will never need a keyboard for normal use.

Before you continue you may want to consider these points.

IG-88 · « **Reply #2 on:** November 06, 2009, 08:15:06 pm »

Very nice!

How do you like using that brad nailer? I've been thinking of getting one myself. Did the nails and glue make it fairly solid? I know particle board can be a be-atch to work with sometimes!

TeamTEOR · « **Reply #3 on:** November 07, 2009, 12:43:28 am »

Hey Craig, First thank you for your info and constructive critisim, it is eactly what I was hoping for, and not ending up on the flame list (lol). My MAME machine is a fixed up Punisher arcade cab, so I never put one of these together from scratch.

I did consider that the particle board may not last as a long term item (it is what I had on hand in the garage, so there was no need to spend any cash for any of the work you saw in those pics). However this is something that was to be placed into a nook and not be moved, so I figured it would be ok to get me started. I do prefer plywood finished shelving wood, and screws on stuff that is going to take a beating. I used a good quality wood glue along with the nails and I was going to cover up the holes with a good filler. Also, I saw some thin strips used as a mock molding and it is applied with a sticky back or a heat activated glue which I was going to use as a back up plan. As for shaping, my orbital sander made very quick work of the corners and smoothed out any high spots. Yes, I agree also on the monitor bezel issue, it dawned on me after I had it installed that I should have worked on it prior. My plan was to use a dremel with a router drill bit to cut out the center square. As for the keyboard, my wife hates touch screens, it is there to make her happy. Nice on the SimpleTouch FE, all these years and I never looked into that program, I'll have to keep that in mind! What is your personal preferred wood stock?

IG-88, I love working with that brad nail gun. I got it on the cheap at Big Lots (under $30) last year. I have used it A LOT!! From anything such as a repair to my living room sofa, to even making doll house furniture for my nieces. It uses 18 gauge nails up to about 2 inches. My compressor is a small and portable little 3 gallon item good to give me about 110psi and it runs the nail gun without issue. I would heed Craig's warning though when it comes to using that on items under heavy abuse, screws are the way to go! However I did end up with a very strong little bar top cab. The mix of the TiteBondII glue and the nails worked well. I would never try that with a normal arcade cab that has to support the weight of an actual arcade or CRT type monitor.

Maybe if I had a little micro atom dual processor board and I might have chosen a slightly different style, maybe something smaller to hang on the wall. Honestly, I just have not found anything that makes me say WOW as for design yet, I am just happy that I got to use my tools today! lol

TeamTEOR · « **Reply #4 on:** November 07, 2009, 07:50:16 pm »

Since I really thought about it (a couple of hours), and Craig really made a point (The wife is going to need to learn to use a touch screen to keep it simple and looking good). So I decided to just install set it up for the MAME Pac-Man setup for my son and build something different for the living room. In doing some more work today and I am pretty happy with the results. I started off by measuring the square hole on the front for the 17 inch LCD monitor. Then I used a drill bit to drill out a starting hole, and cut the rest out using a variable speed jigsaw and a fine tooth saw blade.

At this point is where I finally spent some cash on the project... I stopped into ACE Hardware and bought a container of wood filler, a package of stick on felt furniture feet, some 220 grit sand paper for my orbital sander, and a can of yellow enamel gloss paint (my son saw a mini Pacman/Galaga machine and wanted his cab to look like it. When I got home I plugged up all of the gaps, and the pot marks on the edges. Also on the front where the bezel met the control board I inserted a wood dowel to occupy the open space and then filled the rest in as well with the filler. Tomorrow I will sand it down, do any refilling, and if possible apply one more light shot of primer. Monday I can spray it with the yellow. All in all I've spent all of $15, and I am pretty happy with it at this point, and my son thinks it is perfect (got to love that feeling).

Shortbus · « **Reply #5 on:** November 08, 2009, 08:37:19 am »

By the look of the background in those photos, you could probably buy one (but what fun would that be?)....Nice landscaping....anyway...I agree about particle board, it's good for one thing, nothing....I've used it for things and regretted it, but who knows.....Looking good so far, like the design.....take care.

TeamTEOR · « **Reply #6 on:** November 08, 2009, 07:24:55 pm »

I got pretty lucky on the design it is just modified from some pics I found on the net. I ended up taking the side view pics of a bar top and making it into a black and white vector art, then resizing the picture to 21" x 23.25". A quick trip to Kinkos and I had it printed on a single sheet at 1:1, came home and mounted the cut out onto poster board so I could make a strong template. When I began my tracing I had decided to make the width of the center pieces all 20 inches since it looked about right with the 17 inch monitor, and it would leave me some space to work with.

I did some more sanding and putty work today. It might be Tuesday instead of Monday that the yellow paint goes on as it needed another 2 applications of putty and sanding today. So the last patches are drying now, the area where the control panel drops straight down in the front is almost smooth, you can not tell that they are two pieces. My only problem area is where the bezel meets the control panel. It is going to take a lot of hand work to get that looking nice or I am going to need one of those little mini sanders made for corners.

TeamTEOR · « **Reply #7 on:** November 09, 2009, 06:54:56 pm »

Did some more sanding today, and was able to spray on another layer of primer as well. The primer is really helping me find the spots that need to be filled or sanded at this point. I have a fan blowing on it to help dry the paint a little fast to I can fill the final spots. Meantime, I am placing an order tonight for the parts needed. It was about 88F outside, so the weather has been perfect to work on it. My son is going nuts, he wants me to spray it yellow already. Had I used MDF or a more finished type of wood, I bet this would have been done a pinch faster.

Tonight I'll do final fills, and tomorrow I'll wet sand it if I am ready. At this point I need to see if I can find my old Visio templates for the controls.

TeamTEOR · « **Reply #8 on:** November 14, 2009, 12:58:15 am »

Life got in the way, lots of stuff going on this week such as a party on Sunday, and I am the only one making sure it all happens. I cut some pine wood today to use as the side supports for the LCD monitor. They are glued into place with Titebond II and I have a spare piece of wood helping to keep it in place. There should be about 1/8-14" of room between the monitor and the supports. I'll shim it to make it look right if I have to, but my goal is to be able to use foam weather stripping to seal it and make it look nice.

No that is not water damage in the top left, I had over done it with the glue, and had to wipe some up, and it was still a little wet. I hope that way I mounted it with the clips does no damage to the front, otherwise it is back to filling and sanding again.

Turnarcades · « **Reply #9 on:** November 14, 2009, 01:50:59 pm »

Been away for a few days myself. Not looking too bad at this point, though it's a hell of a lot of extra prep work you've had to do just to achieve a paintable finish - MDF is dirt cheap, super-strong and more versatile as it can be shaped, moulded and routed more easily - that would have been my material of choice. What you've had to do is essentially coat the entire cabinet in filler to create a paintable surface, which wouldn't have been needed with MDF.

It's starting to look good though and the monitor mounting and bezel look sound. What I would advise just to be sure about avoiding minor flexing is to add 1/2" strips along the interior corners for strength as you have used nails and glue. Will you be T-moulding the edges or painting them?

TeamTEOR · « **Reply #10 on:** November 14, 2009, 02:20:06 pm »

I was going to leave the edges as they were for now so that I would not take away from the structural integrity of the wood. I've only used my router twice before, and that was my cab to slot the repaired edges to accept the T-molding and also on my CP since the wood used was 3/4" I had to recess the areas for the buttons and joystick. I am still learning. It is more of a fear thing that I might take too much and mess it up.

Thanks for the tips about the corners. I was wondering if I should do that since it was planned for a LCD. If this was a CRT Bar Top I would have been all over that from step one.

I think part of my mistake (outside of not using MDF, lol) was using the spray on primer that I had here at home. If I was able to locate that half gallon can of roll on primer (that was supposed to be in my paint closet) it probably would have been done already and in 1 coating (with touch ups later). The good thing is that this is still a lot of fun for me and my son sees how hard I am working on the project for him. Just look at the smile on his face!!

Here he is trying to decide if he wants 6 buttons or 7 buttons on the CP for game play.
Personally I do not know of many games in need of the 7th button that he would like.

emphatic · « **Reply #11 on:** November 14, 2009, 07:05:34 pm »

Actually, the 7 button layout isn't for a specific game, but will let you play both 6 button and 4 button games with an acceptable button layout.

Malenko · « **Reply #12 on:** November 14, 2009, 07:31:58 pm »

Quote from: emphatic on November 14, 2009, 07:05:34 pm

Actually, the 7 button layout isn't for a specific game, but will let you play both 6 button and 4 button games with an acceptable button layout.

think of it as Street Fighter AND NeoGeo together as one. I prefer the 7 button but it all depends on what he'll play. 6 buttons is just fine but Samurai Showdown feels weird on 6 buttons IMO. Also, he looks super psyched

Im slavin away on my GF bartop juke as we speak

TeamTEOR · « **Reply #13 on:** November 15, 2009, 02:19:25 am »

Ok, great I'll keep it to the 7 button setup then. That is how I have my CP setup on my big machine anyway.

Time to start searching for sales on buttons! I am going to need them.

Turnarcades · « **Reply #14 on:** November 15, 2009, 11:23:11 am »

Shame you're not in the UK and after a 2-player panel. Right now this guy is doing a great deal on joystick/button combos and although they are slightly lower-grade switches, I know the sticks are good and 30 quid is fantastic value:

Check it out

TeamTEOR · « **Reply #15 on:** November 17, 2009, 01:47:24 am »

That is a really nice combo. The 2/4/8 way joysticks look really nice. Do you know if they are change able by pushing down and twisting the joystick handle? I have it in my eBay watch list depending on what I find.

On another note, I took the advice on the corner parts and put it into effect. Here are the pics from tonight.

Turnarcades · « **Reply #16 on:** November 17, 2009, 08:09:37 am »

Good stuff, you will be surprised just how much strength they add. Those sticks are only switchable from under the panel - to my knowledge only Ultimarc's Mag-Stik+ allows above-panel switching, by pulling up and twisting.

drventure · « **Reply #17 on:** November 17, 2009, 09:56:06 am »

For using stuff mostly lying around, it's turning out quite nice!

I love projects like that.

You might want to check out OND's build thread about the spray "bondo" he's used. That stuff appears to work fantastic on rough stuff. Way thicker than primer so you should get a much smoother finish. You can usually get it at car parts stores for <10$ a can.

Of course, now that it's primed, I'm not sure how well it would stick. But just a thought

TeamTEOR · « **Reply #18 on:** November 17, 2009, 03:00:23 pm »

Never heard of spray on Bondo, but it would be worth a look. I love the way Bondo sands smooth and wold be great for future stuff. On my last cab I had to still use Bondo in a couple of areas that were already primed and it worked fine. Got a link to that thread?

I found the can of roll on primer and gave it a coating, and it took care of the issues. So after my dentist appt I'll pick up wet sanding sand paper give it till tomorrow to cure well since it was 40F last night in the garage, and has only picked up to 71F today. I also primed the inside of the cab for the most part.

TeamTEOR · « **Reply #19 on:** November 18, 2009, 07:53:56 pm »

Cold weather really makes cure time SLOW!! I'll try to wet sand again tomorrow.

TeamTEOR · « **Reply #20 on:** November 20, 2009, 02:19:02 am »

Man.... I am done with wet sanding the primer, it is onto the yellow. I have decided to leave a few little artifact on things so he can always remember it was hand made by dad. Here is a quick recounting of the past few days.

I sanded more of the rough stuff off with 220 grit, and bumped up to 600 grit. Found my gallon can of tinted dark gray primer and put a new layer on everything since I was not happy with the spray on stuff. After 2 days of curing I hit it again with the 600 grit doing it wet this time, following up with 1500 grit wet. It is pretty darn smooth for the most part now, but there are still some ridges here and there.

In the morning I'll wet sand again since I sprayed my first coating of yellow tonight, and I hope to get out more of the imperfections and a few drip marks (that is what happens when you spray in the dark!).

Once this is done I will see about getting some graphics printed up for it. Also I have a buddy who works at a plastic shop, he said that I can get the plastic from him for the CP and Bezel, I just need to give him the info for sizes.

Here are some pics of how it is looking this evening. Keep in mind this is only one can of yellow paint so far.

Here is the paint we are using.

TeamTEOR · « **Reply #21 on:** November 25, 2009, 05:48:15 am »

I had to switch paints, I used 3 cans of one type (Krylon Indoor/Outdoor Gloss Sun Yellow), and I was still seeing the darn primer through the yellow. I ended up using RustOleum 7747830 - Sunburst Yellow and just that one can took care of the coverage that I needed leaving minimal need to spray a little more. Had I used that RustOleum paint in the first place I would have only needed 2 cans at most, I just wish it had a nicer spray nozzle like the Krylon can. Tomorrow I wet sand to get the last bit of the rough areas out and use a clear gloss paint to create that nice smooth surface.

Here is how it looks tonight, finally no more gray can be seen on the outside.

Turnarcades · « **Reply #22 on:** November 25, 2009, 06:29:12 pm »

Looking good at this point, shame it took so much prep work and the purchase of more paint than you anticipated.

TeamTEOR · « **Reply #23 on:** November 25, 2009, 07:49:18 pm »

I am going to wait a day or two now that I wet sanded again and gave it another good coat of paint today. It is looking nicer now, I just hope it dries with a good gloss to it. I'd rather not have to spray a clear coat if it does not need it.

Other than that I have to go through the art work and see what we are going to do.

My son was looking at my slot machines, and asked if his machine could have a light on top of it as well. This is going to be one odd bar top, but he is customizing it to his liking. I am going to see if I can find something nice for it so it does not look so odd... eBay here we come.

Queeg · « **Reply #24 on:** November 25, 2009, 10:59:35 pm »

Quote from: TeamTEOR on November 25, 2009, 07:49:18 pm

I am going to wait a day or two now that I wet sanded again and gave it another good coat of paint today. It is looking nicer now, I just hope it dries with a good gloss to it. I'd rather not have to spray a clear coat if it does not need it.

Other than that I have to go through the art work and see what we are going to do.

My son was looking at my slot machines, and asked if his machine could have a light on top of it as well. This is going to be one odd bar top, but he is customizing it to his liking. I am going to see if I can find something nice for it so it does not look so odd... eBay here we come.

I don't know what kind of light your son wants on top, but a simple tube of leds would look awesome me thinks. I have some for my cab, 4 for 20$, and they power off of 12v so you can run them right off of the pc. They have settings for color cycling, pulse to music etc.

It's just a suggestion but they are very low profile and would fit perfectly between the two side panels on top.
http://www.ledunderbody.com/Interior-Add-On-Kit-for-Single-Color-Underbody-Kit.aspx

TeamTEOR · « **Reply #25 on:** November 26, 2009, 12:47:25 am »

Nice, I'll save that link for another project. Thanks.

He is actually talking about those tower style lights found on Slot Machines, but I don't think I will go there.
http://www.happcontrols.com/accessories/towerlights.htm

I might try to do something more home brew to make a simple type of marquee using lexan. I can make a box and spray all the sides black except for the front facing window and put on it a nice vector art Pac Man marquee. A few LEDs from the inside will light it for years to come. I have a way to diffuse the lights so that it looks like a florescent light.

It is times like this I wish that I had access to a metal shop so I could use a metal bending brake.

Queeg · « **Reply #26 on:** November 26, 2009, 01:52:40 am »

Ah, that makes sense now that I see the pictures. I had no idea what type of lights were on top of a slot machine off the top of my head haha.

TeamTEOR · « **Reply #27 on:** December 04, 2009, 12:35:39 am »

Life has been crazy here the past two weeks. Such as life! LOL

After that last spraying of yellow I let it cure a couple of days. Then I wet sanded it again with 1500, washed and wiped it with microfiber cloth. At this point took a can of Krylon Clear Gloss and gave it about 4 nice even coats a few mins apart. Once this cured after two days the finish was pretty good, only slight rough from over-spray in a couple of areas. I very lightly wet sanded again, but ended up with swirl marks, so heard that a cream style scratch remover applied with a damp sponge is good for this, so I went to the hardware store and found one that was water soluble (just in case). It seemed to have worked well, and all of the swirl marks are now gone and it feels smooth enough for me to call it good! I am done with painting.

At this point it is time to put a layer of wax on it to bring out the gloss shine, however I am afraid if I do this that the side are stickers are not going to want to stay on. Does anyone have any insight on this?


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