The NEW Build Your Own Arcade Controls
Main => Project Announcements => Topic started by: DrewKaree on October 08, 2005, 05:52:05 pm
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I dunno how long this is gonna take me to complete, but I've been done with this step for a while now. Starting with what I started with (the artwork), this'll lead up to a finished project, or at least a finished CP.
Started with trying to figure out what "type" of cab to build, and really dig the showcase cabs. One of the reasons I'm gonna go this route is because I can see just building a CP and stand and making this a somewhat portable "cabinet". I'm going to be housing the PC inside the CP, so all I'll need is an S-video cable to be able to use it at all the places I envision taking it to. I'm uncertain just yet whether I'm gonna build legs into the CP or build a base, although at this stage, I'm leaning towards building legs into the CP, ala a banquet table or something similar, as I've got a sacrificial table lying around (one of those plastic jobbies that the screws have long since been stripped out of due to someone treating the table so poorly) so that I get there, unfold the legs, plug in the cables, and BLAMMO! Gaming goodness!
I'm at the CP artwork stage, and yesterday cut a CP out, and realized it's gonna be futile to try that (you'll see why in a few posts) and get everything to match up even CLOSE that way, so in a little bit, I'm heading over to Kinko's to have them print up my CP. More to follow.
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I saw a picture a while back that I liked, but couldn't get it to scale up AND look good at the size I would need it. Closest I could get was twice as big as the original image. Beyond that, it looked like crap. The person who created it titled the image "Bubbling with pride". I may stick with that, although this is just SCREAMING to be named "Americade". Maybe I should post a new thread with a poll or requests for you guys to help me think of a name or something else I may never ever consider and may leave me thinking less of you in the long run ;)
Here's the image that was my original inspiration (view in another window or DL it for best resolution):
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I worked on enlarging this thing six ways to Sunday, but I could never get the size I needed unless I cut/pasted numerous copies of the image to a new image of the size I needed in Photoshop. I eventually gave up on enlarging the thing because I also found that the larger I made it, the "darker" it became, and I just wasn't happy with it.
I decided to look for an image of a flag and vectorize it so I could do what I wanted with it. I wasn't certain how the person created the bubbles in the original, but I figured "it was done once. It's GOT to be repeatable".
Talk about having a multitude of crap to pick from! Everyone and their mom seems to have a picture of a flag, but nothing jumped out at me as "the one". I tried creating one in Photoshop from scratch, but it always looked plastic and as fake as could be, not to mention that in order to create one the size I needed, I needed to buy a new computer to be able to handle the file size. And YES, I added more memory. I added the max my PC could use, and it still just thrashed and thrashed at the image, routinely taking 5-10 minutes any time I wanted to do ANYTHING to it other than add a detail.
I eventually found something I liked, something that I felt I could work with. All you graphics-minded folks out there, I applaud you. I'd bet knowing what I was doing could have saved me the (brace yourselves...the laughter might kill you) MONTH I spent working on this trying to tweak it to get it right. This'll prolly end up looking like an hour's worth of work for you ::)
This is what I used to start my image out with:
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I first vectorized the flag in Illustrator. Not the hardest image to vectorize, but at smaller resolutions, it really seemed limp and lackluster. After printing it out at size, I realized it would look WAAAAAAAY better and be perfect for my needs. Check out Frosty's tutorial for vectorizing somewhere around here (hint: advanced search "any date" for "vector" by "Frosty" or very similar words to "vector").
After getting everything vectorized, I had to figure out how to add the bubbles. I found MANY Photoshop filters that cost a princely sum that said they could do what I wanted, but I wasn't looking to spend money to possibly create artwork that I would end up hating, so I ended up wasting boatloads of time looking for something free. A buddy on another forum who works for some graphics place "borrowed" me several filters to try (and I can't thank him enough - I'd have wasted money on filters that would have made bubbles, but not the effect I was looking for) and I eventually found one. If you for some odd reason need a bubble filter, PM me and I'll tell you what I ended up using. You graphics pros already can prolly figure out what I used.
I ended up realizing I didn't like scads of bubbles and dug the "less is more" approach to adding 'em. Adding light, reflection, blah blah blah finally got me to the picture I ended up with below. The application of the bubble filter was a numerous-step process that took on average 10 or more minutes to appy each time. I hated this step with an all consuming rage. >:(
Here's what I ended up with....the image above, all vectorized and bubble-ized:
*edit*
looking at it right now, I realize this may not be the ultimate-final version I ended up using, but it's the only one I have left that's saved, and it's close enough to what I ended up with for you to see :D
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For the life of me, I can't remember how I "cut out" the final shape of the CP from that image. If any graphics pros can add or describe how to do this for everyone, PLEASE be so kind as to post how I ended up doing this! The final pic of the artwork you're going to see was done simply by using the line tool in Photoshop and cutting away all the rest of the crap, but I promise I used a custom shape to "stamp" out my CP from that image.
In any event, I've gotta skip ahead a step to show you the shape before I show you the finalized image. This isn't the final shape, but it's the only shape I took a picture of that I'm able to show you. I've been TERRIBLE at taking pics of my progress until now, because the finished steps are few and far between. I've earned my apathy degree from Stingray's School of Slack, and I've been putting it to good use ;D
I started with this image, but after cutting out the shape I'm about to show you, I realized it was way too deep and I just wasn't satisfied with it. I had the "OMG this thing is gonna be huge. I SIMPLY CAN'T MAKE IT THAT HUGE!" fear. After seeing Bones' CP-in-a-casketTM I stopped worrying. Long before he created his monstrosity, I had decided to go big, because I was already home. Don't ask just yet how big this is. The CP artwork has it labeled for you. You may gasp and point when you read it with your own eyes. ;D
What shape I started with:
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After I wasted that piece of MDF, something hit me like a ton of bricks. Pegboard.
Pegboard is SUPER cheap for a 4x8 sheet (about $5 here at the time), and it creates a grid of 1" squares! No more measuring 1" squares! Sure, cutting them will leave some open holes here and there, but for initial design, it's the perfect material for this task!
I fiddled around with 2 other prototype shapes, and ended up with one I really liked. It ended up being SUPER wide, but I didn't much care, as it's fairly shallow after it's been cut out, and gives everyone enough room that I don't much care if you tell me it's a beast :P It's gonna be used at parties and by my kids and their friends at our house, so the room this thing takes up won't be an issue. When it's being played, it'll deserve the room. When it's not being played (and this is why I'm leaning towards banquet table legs) I can stand it up in the corner behind my Time Pilot.
I don't have a pic of the complete pegboard I ended up with, just the half I ended up using. I used each side of the CP for a different shape, cut 'em out, and cut 'em in half to see how I liked it. The angle cut into this was done after cutting in half for some other reason. Pay no attention to the angle cut. Nothing to see here(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=13118.0;id=14035;image)
It's angled pretty much the way it'll be when done. And this probably better illustrates why a sawboard is almost a necessity for me.
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Now that you've seen the "what's this gonna be shaped like" pics, someone please fill in the giant blank that is missing as to how to "stamp out" that shape in photoshop from the image.
I added some text to it as well, but you'll see that in this pic. That's the beautiful thing about it.....if MrC ever comes over, I'm guaranteed to win any game we play, because this jingoistic contraption is sure to turn his stomach and cause him all kinds of calamity during game play ;D I thought the text was also kind of a guy reference to how we all envision ourselves while playing.
When I had the shape set up in Photoshop, I moved it every which way trying to decide what I liked best. I ended up pretty happy with the results. In setting this up for Kinko's, I've got the layered image I'm keeping at home, and I merged all the layers, leaving only the image to be printed. Mebbe they tinker with some of the levels and such, but I also tried to "idiot-proof" it by using the corner registration marks and making the instructions as to final dimensions a part of the final image they have to print. It also helps me when I walk in there with a tape measure and measure it out, in case the local counter guy tries to tell me "we don't have any instructions that say it's gotta be such and such big". Only the quality of the final print should be in doubt
The finalized shape, image, and prep for printing:
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I realize it may look even darker than the orignal image I wanted to use, but when enlarged, this is lots brighter than the orignal image, and I like the setup.
I decided to print out the image to see what it'd look like, and I was gonna be cutting out the CP yesterday (big mistake there, I'd later realize). I copied/pasted/printed/taped up a test print. It's in B&W because I was using a laser printer. I'll let Kinko's do the color version. You should be able to see what I was talking about when I said it looks way more realistic and not so CG-generated/plastick-y.
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That image was printed up prior to me adding the image size and registration marks to it. I learned yesterday why it sucked to cut my CP before I had the artwork done and in hand. This more than likely won't be the case for YOU unless you have the plethora of angles I've decided to work with ::)
After cutting my CP and laying the test print out on top of it, I realized that even though it's a test print, enough of the angles didn't match up that I am fearful of building my CP while waiting for the artwork to be printed. I'm going to be having the artwork printed first, and I'll be pinning it to the MDF when I get it back. After doing that, I'll remove, one by one, the pins and "connecting the dots" to lay out my CP shape, after which I'll cut it. Doing this will ensure that I've got the right shape and size for my CP, and the artwork will be easier to line up and trim.
I've got the CP I cut out, but it's a frivolous picture to post, since it sits exactly under the image posted above. It also ended up being off about half an inch on the two longest sides, and no amount of playing with it would get it closer, plus it didn't fall on the same point on the angles on the outer point of those long sides.
I know, I know, it's just a test print. It'll prolly end up fine, but I'm good with wasting a sheet of MDF to make sure I get it right. On the plus side, I'm using the excess material left over to build an 8' sawboard, so it's not all going to waste, plus I'll be using everything else to test out the miter angles I'm obviously going to have. I've not decided if I'm going to be glueing/biscuiting the angles (my first instinct) or going an alternate route yet, and testing it out will let me know how well biscuits are going to work, if at all.
*edit*
Alright, here. A marquee I whipped up long ago. I think I'm out of the "-cade" phase and am going with something else (mebbe even the "Bubbling With Pride" thing), and I didn't lay out the black outline on the letters or add any glow/shadow/highlights to it like the CP image, but here's a gratuitous pic for you guys. I know I like looking at a lot of the pretty pics here too ;)
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That's all for now. After Kinko's is done, I'll post a pic of the job they do and what they suggested. This is NOT going on vinyl, because I'll be throwing plexi over it. Oh yeah, this will have 4 joys and an as-yet-unspecified number of buttons per player. I'm considering adding a trackball, but thus far, it's just the joys and buttons. Other things that will be done for you to look forward to:
- Cupholders will be inset directly into the CP (fear not, there's a plan
- The sides will be mahogany. Can't describe the stain you'll have to wait for pics (imagine a Republican "scheming room". Dark wood and whatnot ;D
- Hinging the CP on the bottom (remember, folding table legs need a solid attachment point, so the CP and sides will hinge backwards from the bottom
- attaching the folding table legs, or another idea for a CP base
- I/O plate on the backside or drill openings instead?
SUGGESTIONS WANTED FOR THIS PART PLEASE! - POTENTIALLY a cold cathode or 3 coming into play...not quite sure yet
- super-top-secret-extra-special-might-never-have-been-done-before if-I-told-you-I'd-have-to-kill-you method for being able to SEE the light emitted by the cold cathodes.
- $175 wasted to get an 8 ball that looks like a moon rock to use as a trackball
Yeah, I bet I got you with that last item ;D I thought these were kinda cool though. They're called "Lunar Rocks" and were used in Pluto Nash. And I'm NOT buying 'em until I have a pool table. And maybe not even then.
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62 friggen inches!
That's not a CP that's a space station. You could hang ten on that in Hawaii. Where exactly does one go to buy an abandoned aircraft carrier runway anyway? You say you are gunna store it behind your Time Pilot, here's and idea, put your Time Pilot cab inside your CP. Hey NASA called, they have measured a gravitational disturbance over your house which affecting satellites in orbit.
Looking good mate, the shape is very original.
I got two CP printouts done, one of which was used as a sacrificial lamb and became a template during CP construction. Don't know what you are paying for your printing or if this idea is viable for you, but it really took a lot of the guess work out of my CP project.
Keep the updates coming although I do confess to a little CP size envy.
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62 friggen inches!
That's not a CP that's a space station. You could hang ten on that in Hawaii. Where exactly does one go to buy an abandoned aircraft carrier runway anyway? You say you are gunna store it behind your Time Pilot, here's and idea, put your Time Pilot cab inside your CP. Hey NASA called, they have measured a gravitational disturbance over your house which affecting satellites in orbit.
Of all the people here, I KNEW I could count on you for that ;D
I got two CP printouts done, one of which was used as a sacrificial lamb and became a template during CP construction. Don't know what you are paying for your printing or if this idea is viable for you, but it really took a lot of the guess work out of my CP project.
Keep the updates coming although I do confess to a little CP size envy.
I was gonna go tonight, but I found a baseball game on TV that simply sucked any initiative right out of my body to do anything but have a beer or 3 and forget the world exists for 9 innings.
Depends on the price, although I'm REALLY confident that one print will suffice once I've got the shape laid out. The black outline around it was supposed to be to give me some room for error, but now that'll serve as sacrificial scrap to stick the pins in to mark out the shape. I'm just gonna lay out the button/joy placement right on the CP, since the artwork will cover it. I'll drill it out and use an xacto to trim the artwork from the holes. If I need a second print, I'll be adding some stuff to it concerning player start buttons and whatnot.
Oh, and I've got red joys/buttons, blue joys/buttons, yellow joys/buttons, a black joy, and white buttons. Contemplating getting a stainless joy for player 1. I haven't found a white joy that either matches or I'm happy with, so feel free to give your opinion on using a stainless joy. In the meantime, I'll be using the black joy until I decide what to do about that. Thus far, plasti-dip has been the only solution I've come up with thus far, and it just feels "icky". I've already tested paint, and it's NOT an option, even using Plasti-Kote or Krylon Fusion. It can and will come off. Further suggestions for a white Happ Comp to match are welcome.
*edit*
After much looking around, I'm leaning towards getting the stainless joy, and also picking up matching red, blue, and black. Is SlikStik the ONLY one who carries all of 'em? All I was able to find on Randy's site were balltops (which aren't the most friendly items to figure out which ones you want to order ::) ) which I might not mind, actually, but for some godforsaken reason, anyone selling parts seems to have a webstore design from hell or it's almost invisible by being hidden so well (must be to keep stuff in stock ;D )
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Went to Kinko's today to drop off my disc for printing. Enjoyable dude to speak with. The slipcase I threw the CD in had a lineup for fantasy football I had to take down and enter for one of the teams in a league I run, and we had a nice little chat about fantasy football. I think it helped me get some good service, although the price I was quoted for my marquee bordered on obscene.
It's gonna be run through their inkjet plotter, which runs ~$10/sq. ft. I gave this a shot because the price would be astronomical for anyplace that would do one of those "OMG IT'S DA BOMB!" jobs on my CP image. Any doubts on this, figure out how much it cost you for your CP artwork. Now double it. That's about how much mine would cost. Probably more, because for you to be close to half my price, you'd have to have a 31" CP, which seems highly unlikely as a common dimension. It seems ~20-25" is more normal, which makes my CP 3x larger....so triple your price if you're around that.
While I was there, it was suggested that something similar to overhead projector slide material (mylar or who knows what it is, someone here will correct me on it) would probably be best for something that would have a light behind it. Remember the "obscene" amount I was quoted for my marquee? I scrapped together an image, guessed that 27 x 6 would be about a decent size for a showcase cab marquee.
FIFTY EMMER EFFIN' DOLLARS! :o
Uh....yeah.....um.....I'll be looking for something else to use for a marquee, 'mkay?
*edit*
Oh yeah, my CP image will come to ~$70. Stop freaking. Go back to the "it's x much bigger than your CP, so do the math" part. That's the price you pay. Go big or go home.....and I chose "big". Who knows, mebbe it'll fit the CP I cut out and I'll save all that money on a new sheet of MDF.
*shruglet*
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After getting my print back from Kinko's, I found out something pretty nice.
Call them to see what printer they use - Manufacturer, model #, anything you can. Use that printer's color pallette so you'll get a little better idea of how your print will look when you get it back.
The blue looked to be a little lighter than on my screen, but I actually liked it a bit better than what I was looking at. I brought it up to the guy when I picked it up, and he said "most folks are using the pallette that comes with blah blah blah". When I woke up and my eyes ceased their glazing over, I asked him if it were possible to find out or download the same pallette they use. He told me that sometimes it IS possible, although not always, and he wasn't certain if EVERY Kinko's used the same printer or not, but thought I'd pass that along to ya.
Also, in case you couldn't read it in the earlier picture, here's a pic from my actual image I had them print, and naturally, it came out to the exact dimensions I requested. The guy also had a comment about that as I unrolled the picture. He started telling me "if you bring the image in, we size it up right when we store it into the computer and.....". It was at that point that I stopped him and said "I know you may have never had a problem, but there's a forum I belong to where literally DOZENS of guys have had the exact problem we're talking about, and I once suggested that they put the dimensions on their picture. It'd be a GUARANTEE that I'd get ragged for it if I had you guys print it and didn't do this, and it came out wrong"
He laughed. Why wouldn't he? It wouldn't have been his hard work he was screwing up, now would it? ;) In the future, not only will I recount this to people speaking of printing at Kinko's, but I'll never have Kinko's print something WITHOUT doing this, as it worked first time out of the gate. The guy WAS smirking at me as I brought out my tape measure and double-checked it, but I'd have had smoke coming out of my ears and would definitely NOT have been smirking if he'd have effed it up!
Here's what I did, and in the larger pic, you'll be able to tell the blue "L" shaped I put in each corner for accuracy.....and DON'T forget to ALSO type in the words exactly as I have....change the dimensions, but DON'T change the wording. You may feel it demeans them, I feel it gives them knowledge :police:
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Figured I'd modify THIS post, since there's less blather in it than the rest, so even it out, right? The CP, while wide, and seeming to be deep, isn't as deep as the image dimensions, which should be fairly obvious by the shape. I just realized this while re-checking, and figured I'd give you dimensions of the widest point on the CP. If you look carefully on the pic below this post (the pic with the arrows is what I'm talking about), The "inner" section from the middle out towards the ends is the widest point, and it measures 12" wide. Smack dab in the middle of the ol' flyin' V it's 10".
I'm hoping it's wide enough to fit the mobo I've got. Like a dunce, I completely forgot to take that into account. What the heck, I can just cut the mobo in half and pick up a spool of wire and one of those Cold Ice solder pens, right? ::) If not, it's not a big deal. I've got 2 really good used parts stores around me, and if I have to buy a newfangled board, I'll simply throw in a big enough HD to make this a jukebox as well. Notice the addition of name ideas to the thread? I was fooling around with "Party Box" but wasn't really diggin' it after a while, but..... Oh, and if it's on banquet table legs, there's no marquee, so the hell with naming it. It'll just be named for you guys to distinguish my crap festival.
Remember that big black and white BLAH! image I whipped up as a test? Here she is all dolled up and purdy!
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Now that I've got the image back, after laying it out for picture-time, I took the CP I cut out over the weekend and put it on top to see if it was a better fit than the test image. Definitely seems like it, although there's still the same issues, demonstrated by the orange arrows. If you look closely, you can see that there's some issue with EVERY angle, but those are the worst offenders.
I'll simply lay the pic out and pushpin it onto a new sheet and take the pins out one by one and lay out my CP again. I'm contemplating having the bottom panel of the CP inside, rather than have the sides resting on the bottom, so I may end up using that piece as the bottom, but at the very least, that piece will go on top of the inside base of the CP with a 3/4" offset from the CP sides itself. It'll look like I made a rabbet all around the CP base for the top to flip down onto. I'll need the added thickness if I go for the banquet table legs, and if not, it'll help block light seepage if I give my super-top-secret-extra-special-might-never-have-been-done-before if-I-told-you-I'd-have-to-kill-you cold cathode idea a whirl.
Anyhoo, here's the pic of me pointing out my mistakes so as to steal all your hatin' comments towards my ghetto-fabulous rig (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=43251.0;id=18607;image) :
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And I'm NOT buying 'em until I have a pool table.
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THAT TABLE IS SAAAAAWEEEEEEET! :o
Who sells that table, or where'd you stumble across it?
I'm actually looking for something semi-opaque for the 8 ball. Y'know, it's black, but if you hold it up to a light, you can see clear through it? All the clear balls I've seen I can't get a good look at the 8 ball. I realize I'd be buying the whole rack for one ball....then I start to wise up ::) I'd bet money though, that the manufacturer would sell replacement balls for the set....or at the very least, they'd have a "scratch-n-dent" set I could buy for cheaper.
I like all three of those sets, but the 1st and 3rd I like better.
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Saw the table on ebaums world a couple years ago but no info after that. I just saved the pic for the future. As far as I know all poolball makers sell replacements. So you may get lucky. I do like the Idea of a Semi-opaque 8ball. That is truly a cool idea.
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Upon re-reading this, I figured I'd look at it myself.
The blue looked to be a little lighter than on my screen, but I actually liked it a bit better than what I was looking at. I brought it up to the guy when I picked it up, and he said "most folks are using the pallette that comes with blah blah blah". When I woke up and my eyes ceased their glazing over, I asked him if it were possible to find out or download the same pallette they use. He told me that sometimes it IS possible, although not always, and he wasn't certain if EVERY Kinko's used the same printer or not, but thought I'd pass that along to ya.
Here, so you can see the differences and how they can turn out and what the heck I'm talking about, see how it looks on your PC, and how it turned out. Obviously it had to go through a few other color-changing items like my camera, the camera software, and re-run through Photoshop, but it's a pretty accurate representation of the differences that happened. The focus on the camera isn't as nice as I'd like it to be, but after looking at the image again, it's definitely the focus that isn't as sharp as the printout actually is.
(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=44196.0;id=18487;image)
(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=44196.0;id=18604;image)
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I actually own the third set of balls, the personalized one's, and i don't think that is what you are looking for. They are tottally clear with what looks to be a foam or plastic insert inside of them.
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Nah weight won't make a difference, just as long as I can use it for a trackball.
Those glitter sets that are around seem like what I'm looking for, but I don't think I'm digging the glitter. I'm making a trip to one of the local pool/dart supply stores around here tomorrow to see if they've got those, or something else I might like.
Aramith and Elephant seem to only deal with distributors, though. Somehow I need to buy just an 8 ball instead of a whole set. Mebbe they offer some sort of mail-in form for replacement balls I can get a photocopy of or something. :-\
I dig the flag set you've got, but if they were ALL flag with just numbers, that'd be even better. Thanks for the idea!
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Just a little digging on ebay.
Here's a pic of a clear set blown up a bit so you can see the 8-ball and also some set that is called opal which seems to me a bit opaque.
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Couple more if this is for your patriotic cab here.
Not exactly for the 8-ball on these, but the cue ball. One is the Patriots cue ball. Silver would go with the stainless joys. The other is from the Rocco clear set with a Made in USA cue ball. BOth were found on ebay again and the Patriots was able to be bought separtaely.
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Just a little digging on ebay.
Here's a pic of a clear set blown up a bit so you can see the 8-ball and also some set that is called opal which seems to me a bit opaque.
That opal set looks like it might fit the bill....gonna do a little research on 'em.
Thanks for the footwork!
The reason I'm looking for a semi-opaque one is if I do decide to go with the cold cathode (or mebbe even if not, mebbe an LED cannon) I'd want it to come through the ball, and for strictly personal choice, I like the thought of an 8 ball vs a standard opaque trackball or other replacement. The first set is very similar to the one from Clonedsheep's link. The black "blob" will block the light, but I think you're spot on about the opal set.
And for me to put a Patriot's ball in there instead of a Packers ball, even though it wouldn't go with the overall theme.....in WI, that's just asking for comments I usually dole out to other poor saps ;D
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THAT TABLE IS SAAAAAWEEEEEEET!
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Mebbe that was silk-screened on a piece of felt or something like that. It certainly doesn't seem out of the realm of possibility.
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Mebbe that was silk-screened on a piece of felt or something like that.
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Mebbe that was silk-screened on a piece of felt or something like that. It certainly doesn't seem out of the realm of possibility.
Look's like it's printed and here's a place that does it:
http://www.champbilliards.com/product_type_printed_cloth.asp
Go to their link to panoramic images and search for "43223". That will be a swimming pool image that one could use to get that effect.
You're like a search GENIUS or something! How the heck did you EVER find that? I started a writeup for a CP, and this is turning into "How do I build this CP before I blow all my money on a sweet pool table?"
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Think I found the set. The Opal set appears to be a solid colored ball with an opal pattern applied to it. While checking the manufacturer's site, I found these, and I'm writing 'em to see if those are see-through.
More work to follow tomorrow
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You're like a search GENIUS or something!
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OK, the brakes on the truck need to be redone, so this is all I could pick up for now. I've also been invited to play golf, and I've gotta go for reasons other than just having fun. I picked up the wood for the sides, and after re-doing the CP top so my image fits better, I'll be cutting these up. I only need 3 of these, the 4th piece is for stain testing and test miters for fitting. I no longer have access to a planer, so hitting the lumberyard is out. These ended up being more expensive by about a dollar a board than from the lumberyard, and I'm good with that.
Also, here's my "helper" who just WOULDN'T leave me alone for some reason today. I think he's a fan of the mahogany, or else he's just hungry ::) And Seph, if you're checkin' this out.... my cat could whup yer dog's @$$ ;D ;)
Hopefully I'll be back later today with something less bland than this little update
*Edited to add some "Seph's dog punking"*
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Jingobox? Flag-Mo-Tron? Star-Spangled Mamer? Freedom-inator? G.A.P. Station (Grand Arcade Party)? Conserva-cab? Republicade? :laugh:
mrC
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Jingobox? Flag-Mo-Tron? Star-Spangled Mamer? Freedom-inator? G.A.P. Station (Grand Arcade Party)? Conserva-cab? Republicade? :laugh:
mrC
I've GOT IT! Conservacade! Conserva-cab just sounds like a PSA for saving old cabs, and there are a few Republicans who are simply RINO's and I detest them....a melding of the two and..... ;)
Shortly, I'll be pinning the artwork to the new sheet and re-drawing the shape to be cut out if it ever stops raining and dries up today. Natch, pics to follow ;)
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I've GOT IT! Conservacade! Conserva-cab just sounds like a PSA for saving old cabs, and there are a few Republicans who are simply RINO's and I detest them....a melding of the two and..... ;)
That's what I was thinking!
You need a picture of Bush on that CP...and an eagle....crying. :P
mrC
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I've GOT IT! Conservacade! Conserva-cab just sounds like a PSA for saving old cabs, and there are a few Republicans who are simply RINO's and I detest them....a melding of the two and..... ;)
That's what I was thinking!
You need a picture of Bush on that CP...and an eagle....crying. :P
mrC
The eagle would just be over the top :angel:
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Drew-
One thing that you may not have thought about with the "clear" balls is the "lens effect" they will have. I apologize if anyone has brought this up already, I didn't really have time to read the whole thread and type this post (lunch is almost over ;) ).
Anyway, the track balls that glow are hollow and so the light gets diffused around the sphere when back lit. These pool balls will be solid so the light will have a lens-like effect with the light going through the ball. The ball will very likely NOT glow uniformly. If that's what you're after in a clear ball, I doubt you'll get it.
That's what I wanted when I got a translucent blue Logitech USB track ball and hacked it. When I tested it, the blue ball looked good if your line of sight was directly in line with back lighting light source. Anywhere else, you get a weird lens flare kinda effect going on. Don't get me wrong, it looked kinda cool but it was not what I had in mind or expecting. I never actually back lit my track ball but I still have plans to do so at some point. Just a word of caution in case you're expecting a certain result.
Good luck and I love the patriotic design. Keep up the good work.
Bumble
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Bumblebounces, even the Happ translucent balls to this to some extent. When you look at them straight on, they're vibrant. When you look at them from an angle, they look bright at the top, darker closer to the panel.
It's not a bad thing, you just get the best effect when looking straight on at the ball.
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One thing that you may not have thought about with the "clear" balls is the "lens effect" they will have. I apologize if anyone has brought this up already, I didn't really have time to read the whole thread and type this post (lunch is almost over ;) ).
Anyway, the track balls that glow are hollow and so the light gets diffused around the sphere when back lit. These pool balls will be solid so the light will have a lens-like effect with the light going through the ball. The ball will very likely NOT glow uniformly. If that's what you're after in a clear ball, I doubt you'll get it.
I hadn't heard/thought of that. The ball I'm looking to find wouldn't be clear, but rather semi-opaque (I think I have that term right...dunno) so I'm not certain if it would have that same effect. Right now, I'm not certain if I'm gonna go with a trackball on there, but there's DEFINITELY gonna be room for it smack dab in the middle there (although mounting depth might be an issue....I'll worry about that later)
What I have pictured is a "smoky" colored ball, black, but not "black, black" if that makes sense. Kind of like a limo tinted window. You can still see through it, but only if the light is right, and light from inside is visible. I wish I could better describe what I'm looking for. Darn words!
Good luck and I love the patriotic design. Keep up the good work.
Go with jingoistic ;) It'll make MrC happy ;D
Thanks
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Ok, so when last we left our inept builder, there were alignment issues with the actual printed image and the CP that was cut. This is my re-doing the screw up, how, and what NOT to do ::)
I figured I'd use the CP image I had so I wouldn't have any problems with sizing and whatnot. I traipsed to the store and bought me some thumbtacks. These were more than enough for the task at hand, plus they were BIG so my big oxy hands theoretically wouldn't have so many problems with 'em.
I started pinning from one end, smoothing the CPO out as I worked my way around the border. After all corners of the border were pinned at their intersecting points, I threw a few extra on there to keep stuff from rolling up or tearing a pin out.
Here's the FASCINATING money shots from this endeavor ::) The yellow circles were added to make it easier for you to tell where I put the pins around the image.
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Naturally, things were designed to go smoothly, and up until I left Wal-Mart with a spring in my step and visions of perfection dancing through my head, they were.
I had almost all the pins out. Things were going less rough than normal. I tried to remove the last pin, which happened to be holding a corner just to keep the image flat on the MDF. The friggen plastic doohickey CAME OFF! Naturally, everything tried to roll back up, and I scraped the piss out of my hand trying to stop the envisioned rending and tearing of my pristine image. Everything rolled up nice and neat all the way up to the pin, with no problems whatsoever.
Panic has a way of making your imagination act as if it's on speed or something. I try to poke the parts that make my head hurt, but the pins aren't long enough.
On the plus side, the pins were long enough to make a nice little hole for me to use as intersecting points to re-draw the CP shape I needed. I tried to first take out only 2 and draw the line, then another one, draw the line to THAT pin point....that QUICKLY went in the crapper, and I removed them all to make it easier to move my straight edge around the MDF. This would come back to bite me in the ass. Confidence in your skills is a beautiful thing. It generally provides the most comical incidents in your life. For other people. ::)
Here's the killer pin from hell, and yet ANOTHER fascinating "in its natural environment" action photo of....what the pinholes looked like. Pen in the pinhole, straight edge up against it, and align it with the next pinhole. Bango. Nothing much wrong yet, right?
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Taking a piece of angle iron, I placed my pen in one of the thumbtack holes, slid the angle iron against it as needed, and moved the "free" end of the angle iron to the next thumbtack hole. This won't look like much of anything other than a copy of what you initially saw, but you can see the shape starting to flesh out here as I went from pinhole to pinhole.
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It was a beautiful sight to behold. Everything was working as planned, everything was turning out in spite of the little snags I'd run into. Then came the comical incident I told you about earlier. Comical for you, that is.
I had everything all marked up, and was almost ready to cut, and I decided to take one last look. Something didn't look right, and it took me a second or three to notice what it was. With all the angles and removing all the pins at once, including the few that were used to hold down the image only, (can you see what's coming?) I naturally used a few incorrect thumbtack holes ::) This is what it ended up looking like, and thankfully everything ended up getting cut correctly
It's looking like this weekend will be raining, and I'm not really wanting to work on the mahogany sides while it's so damp out, so I may be measuring the angles and figuring what needs to be cut how. Otherwise, I'll be looking to attach the artwork and pick up plexi to go over it.
I'm gonna be laying plexi over the top because it's an inkjet image, and anyone who's printed anything on their home printer and had it get wet can envision why I might want to throw plexi over this. I'm wondering how much this might have cost me going the route of using one of the CPO-printing members of the board here, and I think I'm gonna get a quote on the off-chance that this WILL get wet/damp/ruined somehow and I'll need a replacement. If it DOES get ruined, odds are good that it'll be either my kids or one of their friends, and they'll be working for me for free to pay off the new and improved version, so in keeping with the Evil Conservative in me, I'll create my own little sweatshop and force them to pay for the improvement!
Not sure yet on the joys, but I've got red, blue, and 2 blacks now, and I think I'm gonna be looking to get/make/have made 2 stainless or aluminum joys for players 1 & 2 (so it'll be red white white (well, metal, but you get the gist of it) and blue. As for button layout, I figure for all 4 players I'd use 3 rows of 4 buttons each.....PAIGE, STOP TYPING, IT WAS A JOKE! ;)
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After trying to figure out the angles I needed with the standard little squiggly markings that are like hieroglyphics to old guys like me, I went and bought one of the better inventions in the world. A Starrett angle finder. Seeing as how I've got all these angles to figure out, and how nice and friggen hard it'd be to set my miter saw with that little plastic doohickey we used in school, I was looking for something easier. This here be's the hot ticket. First, the old-skool way, second, the dog-diggety way.
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Some instructions on how it works. Should be pretty self explanatory...put the "legs" on each side of the angle, either inside or outside. Black arrow points to the angle needed if you're only making a butt joint (single cut). Red arrow points to the angleS needed if you're making a miter joint, and the angle each end should be cut at.
The second pic shows a 90o cut. Notice the "single cut" is 0, and the miter cut is 45. The butt joint would need just a straight chop down, and a miter cut would need to be set to 45's to create the angle.
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Here's an "action" shot of my CP. I've opened the gauge up and have it set to measure one of the angles. *EDIT* after looking at the pic a little closer, I realize I must have moved the gauge while taking this pic. I assure you the angle will be figured out and double checked before I make ANY cuts. This pic is strictly for demonstration purposes.
I'm gonna be doing miter cuts, so the second pic shows the angle I have to set my saw at to cut both ends that will comprise this angled section.
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In order to set my saw for the proper angle, I'll be using the same gauge to set the saw. I simply set the gauge so that the "single cut" arrow points to the miter cut angle determined in the previous step.
In the second pic, I've set it, and I'll be marking the angle on the CP for illustration purposes for you guys. To cut the mahogany sides, I'll be setting the angle, and then setting the gauge on my miter saw table. I'll then align the saw blade to the gauge and give 'er. Once everything goes well, it should line up and give me a nice crisp miter joint to throw a biscuit cutter and biscuit at to help line everything up and keep it together. That's the plan anyway. Once everything goes to hell in a handbasket, I'll be muttering and cursing under my breath and yelling at the wife, kids, dog, whatever comes near while I'm screwing things up ;)
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Here you can see the angle measured, how it'll look (hopefully) when each side piece is cut, and a reasonable approximation of how accurate it is. While not cheap, I'm SO glad I decided to pick this thing up, as I can definitely see this being used for many other things, such as outside corners for base or crown molding to figure out the angles. Before on such things, I'd get it close and then shave off a touch more here or there until it fit, sometimes ending up ruining pieces to the point where I'd have to chop 'em straight and start over. Also, putty to hide small mistakes like that are something that bug me ::)
They DO make cheaper versions of this, but they're "similar", not identical. You've still gotta do the figuring, and anything that can eliminate having to do calculations or having to use our heads is something that makes things easier to do. Remember kids, anyone who says something is fool proof simply hasn't met a determined fool ;D
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Bloody Americans and their high-tech toys.
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Bloody Americans and their high-tech toys.
You should see how our HVLP sprayers make painting a cab almost.....well, it's almost a treat, it's so easy! ;)
Oops....sorry....I remember now all the....well....at least you can say you had fu....er..um....I, uh....so how about that B5 stock car racing game you guys had the other day? :angel:
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Drew:
Have you seen the movie: TEAM AMERICA - WORLD POLICE? It's the one with the marionette's by the Southpark Creators.
If so, you know the main theme song: AMERICA - F'CK YEA!
That gave me an idea for your cab. On the front side of the CP box on the left leg of the V put AMERICADE and on the other side put F'CK YEA! Then you can get the song off the movie DVD and make your front end play that song over and over in attract mode.
Should definitely get some reactions. ;D
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Alright. Got off work early today, and figured I'd put some more time in. Rained Saturday when I was GONNA do the work ::)
I measured out each angle with the doohickey thingamabob shown above, and started setting the miter saw. I quickly realized someone in my house had been using my saw for something OTHER than what it was intended for. If I didn't drop the saw SUPER slow, I'd get TONS of splintering. Normally, there's at least SOME splintering, but it's usually just two or three stragglers. If I dropped the blade normally, it looked like some hillbilly's yard after a month or three of growth.
I'm a tad broke right now....not really, but the wife's burf-day is Wednesday, and I bought her gift BEFORE realizing I needed to have my blade sharpened or buy a new one....uh....no honey, really....I'm not saying I'd have bought a new blade INSTEAD of your present.....that would have been your present. Don't you remember all the times we talked about you having your very own sharp saw blade? ;D
Each side section of the CP requires a DIFFERENT miter cut for EACH end. There's 12 pieces needed, meaning there's gonna be 24 separate angles. The two sides should be a mirror image, but the angles are off, some by half a degree difference from the other side, some by a full degree. What that means is that I've got to set the cut angle, cut that side, and reset the cut angle for the tother side and then cut that....lather, rinse, repeat 11 more times.
Here's a pic of the first two pieces I cut from the scrap piece to test the fit and the angle measurements. It was these two pieces that tipped me off to the problems with my saw. Not only did the cuts not come out as nice as usual, I also found out that whoever used my saw BENT THE DAMN FENCE! I'll show how I figured it out shortly. Here's the final "calibrated" setup from the front:
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Here's a shot of that same setup from the backside. I purposefully left this pic larger. Open it up in another window or save it and view it in your image viewing app. You'll see all the pores in the mahogany. I'm thinking of slapping some pore-o-pac in there before staining. Anyone have an opinion as to what color to use? I'm contemplating a darker color, like a walnut. I could also make a slurry filler with any sawdust and use that, which would give everything the same-ish color, although it wouldn't look as "natural".
For anyone who doesn't know what pore-o-pac is, it's a pore filler for wood such as what you're looking at in this pic, or stuff like oak. It fills in the pores to give you an even surface with your poly/varnish/shellac. It's designed to either blend in or contrast. The blending in is generally used for things you want a uniform color on, the contrast is generally used to kind of speed up the "aging" process and make it look as if it's gone through years of use and oils, dust, dirt, accumulations are filling in the pores over time. It's NOT a contrast that's in-your-face, it's a very subtle contrast. I don't have pic to give you to show, but if anyone out there has done this before, and has an opinion on this, let me know what you've done or what you recommend. I've ONLY done contrast, but sometimes have used a darker-colored slurry to get the same effect for less money. I've never done an even-colored fill.
All these pores create voids which you feel in the finished product unless you use several layers of finish (usually 5+ depending on the product), and even still, it's almost impossible to remove the valleys and craters from the pores without serious work on your part.
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Here's two pics to show you the split of the angle. I believe these pics are of the same piece, but different ends, so you can see the different angles required on the ends of each piece. I don't have them handy at this very moment, so I could be wrong on guessing that this is one piece showing both ends separately. When I get the dimensions, I'll post the angles on a pic so you can figure out what's what. In these 2 pics, dunno if you can make out the numbers, but there's a 26o and a 12o miter here.
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Here you might be able to make out the markings on each side piece I've made to keep everything straight when it comes time for final assembly. This is the left end and I'm doing a test fit to see if the angles are too far off or not, and if I need to tweak anything. It may look a bit sloppy, but I set everything nice and tight, and in setting up for this shot, everything fell over since it's not glued together yet, so if it looks "gappy", nah, it ain't.
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Remember me telling you the fence on my miter saw got bent? It's always been 1 mark off since the day I bought it. It's one of the things I hated about the saw, but when I bought it, I had no idea it would become the issue it is. It's fastened to the bed with 2 screws, one on each side of the fence. There's a "horseshoe" that goes behind the blade and is supposed to keep the fence even and somewhat fastened together. It's crap, plain and simple. I've been thinking about building a miter saw station for a while now, and I'm not too terribly upset about the bent fence since it already was, but it sucks that it's off as much as it is.
Here, you can see the angle I need to cut. Nice and simple, right? 30 degrees, no problem. Well, I set it. Then, I moved the blade to align with the angle measurer so that it matches THAT, rather than accepting the built-in markings on the saw.
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Here's a pic of what the saw "measures" as 30 degrees. The pic is kinda bad, so I added the two lines. The green line is considered 30 degrees on the saw. The blade is set according to what was measured. The blue line shows where the blade is ACTUALLY at. It's kinda blurred, but the blade is off by 2 marking and a touch more from what it should be. One more reason to double check if your blade's square (thankfully THAT'S not an issue ::) ) and if the angles match up to the markings on the saw itself.
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I'll have more pics tomorrow. I'll set up everything all the way around the perimiter and mebbe get a closer pic of the markings I've made on each pic. I've still got to pull out the biscuit jointer and throw a biscuit in each miter, and then glue it all up and somehow clamp it all up.
Anyone have some good ideas for clamping this together? A strap clamp won't work due to all the angles, and I'm thinking I'm gonna have to glue it up one miter at a time and then glue all the different assemblies together one by one until everything's done. I've already resigned myself to picking up some regular wood glue. My trusty GorillaGlue will simply expand too much for it to be practical in this application
More pics to follow tomorrow. Sorry 56k members, I'm trying to make each pic smaller and more web friendly for you guys. I know what it's like to have to wait for the page to load....and wait.....and wait.....and wait :-\
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I was looking over some poker table plans (because I don't have enough things to do in my life ::) Alex, I'd like to buy 24 more hours for $400 please) and came across two ideas for legs. The legs MAY become unnecessary if I decide to throw this CP on a pedestal and make the showcase cab I want, but as I'm working on this, I simply can't see standard folding table legs working. They'll look as out-of-place as Stingray at work ;)
I had been contemplating some wooden setup, and someone has done something similar to what I'd been thinking with a poker table, and I found some WAY nicer legs if the wooden setup looks ass-like.
Let me know what you think:
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I also have seen several pedestal bases. Now, these are done so that there's a pedestal, and it's open on the top, and a simple box on the base of whatever that slides inside the pedestal opening, thereby "locking" it in place while keeping everything square at the same time.
Here's an example of such a setup:
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I like those pedestal bases. The only thing I would have problems w/ are extending your legs under the table.
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I like those pedestal bases.
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I like those pedestal bases. The only thing I would have problems w/ are extending your legs under the table.
I'd be setting up the pedestal so that it'd be like a normal showcase cab's CP, so no sitting down on this thing.
If I went the pedestal route, I'd make a "V" (two legs somewhat following the shape of the CP) with the base in a triangle-looking shape to connect them and give some stability. I could also incorporate some 2x4 "outriggers" to stabilize it as well, since it's not really gonna have much surface area front to back to steady the thing.
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Well, I've got the clamp idea settled. There's absolutely no sense in me
butchering explaining how I plan to do it, so when I get to that step, I'll simply show you pics and explain anything you might not be able to see.
Anyhoo, here's the sides all set up to see how she'll fit. I couldn't fit the whole thing in one pic, so here's the whole shebang split up into viewable pieces.
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And the measurements I have to mark on each piece to keep everything straight.
You probably can't read the numbers on there, but I've highlighted 'em just for illustration purposes. The piece number is in the middle, with the corresponding angle written on each side. Since each angle will be different, it was necessary to write the angles on the side they match up with in order to have everything come out right.
Still need to biscuit each of the pieces, but on the plus side, I realized today that I have to do separate assemblies of all the side pieces in order to biscuit the CP bottom to the sides. If you aren't smellin' what I'm cookin', you will when you see the pics that show what I'm saying.
If you look at the pics in the post right above this, I need the top side (the "V" part and the piece next to it glued up as one assembly, the other 2 short sides (the "bottom" sides) and first leg of the bottom side as a second assembly, and the bottom 2 pieces as a third assembly. I'll try to photoshop a pic to demonstrate what I'm talking about, but that'll have to be done tomorrow or Friday.
Got the SuperAuction on Saturday, and my brother in law SAYS he's going along with to pick up a Golden Tee. That all could change between now and when he changes his mind because he doesn't want to stay as long as I'll be sticking around. I've got a group wanting to go, and I know for certain I've got enough help to move/load whatever I might find, but I'm pessimistic about getting what I'm looking for at a DECENT price. Sorry to blather. Here's the final pics for today's installment:
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Them's some nice angles. Obviously you have been reading and learning from my thread. :P
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Them's some nice angles. Obviously you have been reading and learning from my thread. :P
I have. Why do you think I'm not painting it? ;)
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Here's the angles. I don't have a complete pic of the CP's final shape, so I blacked out the CP image. The angles, if you view the image full-size, aren't perfect, but if you see the shape, you should be able to figure it out.
These are the angles required for the miter joints. You'll have to do the math to figure the full angles and whatnot.
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Figured I'd put in some more time on the CP. Ran into numerous problems. Went to get my jigsaw and finish the 2 holes on the other 2 clamp blocks. Problem number 1. The jigsaw is nowhere to be found. I KNOW I own one. I'm assuming a child or the wife character used it and put it somewhere that makes absolutely no sense. I call my buddy up and borrow his. Problem number 2. There's an allen screw missing that's needed for blade alignment. EVERY cut makes a wierd path, but at the very least, I'm done with cutting the half-moons that were supposed to be nice rounded ovals ::)
I decide I'm going to sand some of the fuzz off the edges I cut. Problem number 3. The wife used FOUR EFFING SHEETS of sandpaper sanding a little-ass coffee table. Something that, AT BEST, should have required a SINGLE sheet. I no longer have any sandpaper >:( Now I've got to go buy sandpaper. Meh. I'll cut the biscuit slots in a few test cases. I open up my biscuit cutter case. NO EFFING BISCUITS IN THE CASE! >:( NOW....I'm REALLY pissed. I keep those in baggies in the case so they stay relatively dry (moisture or keeping them in an unsealed container causes biscuits to swell, making them a PITA to deal with). The girl character in the house WAS EFFING PLAYING WITH THEM!
I think I feel an aneurism coming on >:( The airing of grievances at the Festivus meal this year is gonna be a lot longer ;)
I've since gotten back from HD and buying sandpaper, biscuits, and brads for my nailer, since those have since been used up by someone Fat Tony will be visiting soon ;)
I'm set again, and all is well with the world. Here's a pic of the clamp blocks finished with a drill bit since I couldn't find my jigsaw and I was impatient and wanted to get a set done to test 'em out. Use of these will be explained with an "action" shot later:
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This was prior to opening up the cases to find out everything that was missing. Yeah, it's nothing special, but I find the feeling of laying these cases out in preparation for work is almost erotic ;)
These are the two important tools that will solve all those pesky angle connection/fit problems. And that yellow is dead sexy!
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So since I've found out that other than me, no one in my house possesses a respect for expensive tools that they haven't paid for, or at the very least, the ability to ask said owner of those expensive tools for permission to use them and alert said owner to the need to purchase replacement "miscellaneous" items needed for proper use of those expensive tools....I decided to put a rush on the fix I knew was needed.
I bought the wife her own toolbox and tool set to fill it long ago. When I found her using MY screwdrivers, I knew she had lost hers or left it laying around the house in some long-ago forgotten area and simply couldn't be bothered to take the time to find HER tools needed for her pressing task. I had warned her long ago to take care of her tools, since I was getting them because I DIDN'T want her treating my tools, which earn us MONEY, in such a cavalier fashion. Well, the problem is slowly being solved.
BAM! BOOYA! AHOY AHOY!
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You lock your own wife out of your tool boxes? Harsh... :police:
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You lock your own wife out of your tool boxes? Harsh... :police:
No. She knows where the keys are. It's primarily to keep my kids outta "experimenting" with stuff, or as stated, playing with the friggen biscuits for my biscuit jointer. However, she HAS been told that if I go to use one of my tools and the "miscellaneous" stuff needed to make it work (like the sandpaper mentioned above) is missing again, or, as is her habit, if my tools are left lying out with the cords all over instead of putting them back when done with them, she will find the need to start asking me for the key, because I'll start keeping the keys on me.
I have too much experience (at work, at jobsites, at home) with people breaking tools tools they haven't paid for or losing tools they aren't responsible for replacing if they're lost to waste a second feeling guilty because someone's delicate sensibilities might somehow be damaged ::)
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I wanted to throw a biscuit in each angle to help with alignment and also for added strength. If you recall from the above posts, I needed to glue the sides up in separate assemblies. Three sections from each side. I also needed to figure out some way to clamp the angles while the glue dried. The biscuit slot had to be cut first.
I marked both pieces of the miter joint by matching up the joint and hitting it with a sharpie to mark both sides of the miter at the same time. Here's a pic to describe what I'm saying:
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The biscuit joiner has a center mark that you simply align with the mark you've made. First, set the angle, then the depth you want, start the tool and plunge the blade in to make the cut. The settings might be different for each tool, so I'm only including a pic of the alignment mark and you may also be able to make out the fence's angle.
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You end up with something that looks like this:
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I took a brad nailer (no, not some chick who REALLY likes a guy named Brad ;) ) and nailed a clamp block to each side piece I was going to be fastening together. In this pic, I haven't nailed the clamp block to the side piece yet, but this is what it'll look like. The nailer was set to leave the nail heads above the side piece so they could be easily removed after the pieces were glued together and the nail holes will be filled in later and sanded smooth.
The second shot is how the side pieces will look after being glued and aligned but before clamping. If you can't picture how the clamps will be used yet, it's coming.
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Here it is in action. Sorry about the focus on the closeup pic :-\
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The clamps that fit into the holes would spread out the miter joint without equal clamping pressure holding everything in place, so another clamp has to be used to counteract the smaller clamp. In these pics, you can see the second clamp used on the backside of one of the side assemblies. The second pic shows how the larger assemblies are clamped together on the backside, and lastly, the third pic shows the whole setup from above.
That's all for now until all the assemblies are glued up. I've got all but one left to do, and when they're all done, I'll be working on making the base. The base will be going INSIDE the side pieces so as to ONLY have the mahogany sides showing, and no MDF or plywood other than the CP top. It'll be inset a touch, but that's for later. You're stuck with this as the final pic until further undocumented progress is made
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Well, I wanted to give back the jigsaw to my buddy, and still can't find mine, and Mark's saw seemed to have magical mystical powers. Natch, since I too seem to be a fan of Big Yellow, I did a little investigating, and ended up picking up one due to one super sweet feature none of the rest happen to have (Mark, I dunno if yours is this version, but it's been reported that if you can use the "special feature" in the next-step-down jigsaw as well).
If I'm doing a base cabinet and have to cut an access hole for something stupid like some ass hat building code writer specs that a gas pipe or waste line has to be X inches from the wall, I usually end up having to dork around with a jab saw or something equally as annoying, like chucking in a hole saw which then usually requires 2 people to drop the cabinet in place so you don't drop it on the pipe and bust out the bottom.
For all you tool freaks like me out there, here's a little tool-porn:
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There was more that went into choosing this saw than the super secret feature I'ma show you, but that was the thing that put it over the top. I call it a super-secret feature because in doing research, EVERY review pointed a feature out that seemed to be missing from ANY description on the box. It's a special blade that allows the saw to cut right at the very front of the shoe of the saw. Doesn't seem like much, but when you can run the saw right up to the side of a cabinet, instead of being forced to stop a few inches from that side, it's a HUGE time/mind saver.
The box only spoke of 2 additional blades, and HD had EVERY friggen box zip-tied together and I wasn't gonna push the "FTW is that guy DOING over there" factor, so since there's a DeWalt factory store nearby, I just went down there and since everything is reconditioned, meaning already been opened, I figured they could tell me.
When I got there, the saw was about $10 cheaper than HD, so I was thinking "Sweet move!" I was gonna say "BRILLIANT!" and clank Guinness', but I realized I was there without anyone else. I just shut up instead.
The saw was $10 cheaper because they didn't have ANY blades with it, including the 007 blade. Sunny beaches. They also weren't selling that blade, and I figured the blade, being as specific as it is, was worth $3-5 by itself, and throw in 2 more....meh. The guy at the DeWalt store told me that the saw indeed DOES come with that model, but for some reason, they don't advertise it on the box. Back to HD I went.
This pic should explain what I'm talking about. If you've got a jigsaw and aren't grasping what I'm talking about, look at your jigsaw and the position of the blade relative to the saw. More tool porn:
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Man, you've got angles there for a whole lifetime ;)
That is some precise work on that huge cp. If I understood correctly, youre going to mount a pc inside ?
If so, it's a great idea (I can already see my next project...)
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Man, you've got angles there for a whole lifetime ;)
That is some precise work on that huge cp. If I understood correctly, youre going to mount a pc inside ?
If so, it's a great idea (I can already see my next project...)
Yep, the PC is gonna go inside there. Thanks to Pixelhugger, I've gotta buy 2 S-video connector/protector thingys (you'll have to wade into his mega-thread to see what I'm talking about. Careful, it's been known to suck in lesser people clamoring for more pics ;D ) One for the back to hook in at parties, the other for the bottom of the CP, but that'll only be installed if I go the whole showcase pedestal route.
I have gotten unmotivated to work on it for the past week-ish, and it's languishing in its current state (unfinished ::) ) until I can get the giddyup and a free morning to get started.
This past week, the extent of the work done was to head to Menard's and pick up several of the Varathane trial packets of stain to test out. Mebbe I'll post pics of how that all turned out. I decided on a color and picked up a small can to test the accuracy of the sample packets.
Currently I've picked up the stain, spar varnish, and foam brushes. That's where I'm stuck at :-\ Stingray-itis has started to set in ;)
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"Just do it !" (nike)
Dont let anyone know, but I'm not going into that megathread cause it really scares the sh#% out of me, and indeed it seems like it sucks in people (most get deflated and cant be hear from again...)
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Off that rotund butt and back to work!
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Off that rotund butt and back to work!
/me gets up to go make some pizza and throw some soup ingredients in the slow cooker
I hate you slave-driving task-master types....making me all "useful" and stuff
*grumble mumble grumumble*
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I got some more clamping to do, but I've almost got the entire "frame" of the sides done. I had kept some of the larger scraps in order to test different stains, but all I could find when taking these pics was this single one. I shall blame the loss of the other 2 colors on my wife, but in truth, you're not missing anything. The two colors on the scrap I'm missing were Chestnut and Cabernet. Both LOOKED like they'd be in the running for the look I was going for, but ended up coming out way too red (the Chestnut) and too red with a hint of purple (the Cabernet). In short, THAT'S why you use scraps/offcuts from the materials you're building with, kids. :)
Here's a shot of a two-fer. The color on the left is called Light Cherry, and the one on the right is "Traditional Cherry" Oddly enough, going by the name, I'd have thought the two colors would have been reversed. There's NO WAY the Light Cherry is what someone would consider "light" in color. That's another reason I ended up buying a small can and testing it out to make sure.
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For whatever reason I am fond of the darker deeper wood stains. Left gets my vote for sure....
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Here's the other side of that scrap. I decided right after testing the other side to stop splitting 'em up and just go with a single color per side to get a better look and feel for the colors.
This one ended up being too brown for the look I was going with, although I do like the look and wish I had gone with it for a few other projects. This color is called Red Oak, and if you've ever seen red oak in the stores, this color is anything BUT red oak. Yet another reason to test on scrap instead of jumping in with both feet.
*edit*
realized, like a dumbass, I forgot to attach the pic ::) Here for your enjoyment, I present to you RED OAK!
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For whatever reason I am fond of the darker deeper wood stains. Left gets my vote for sure....
That's exactly the color I chose too. That picture doesn't really do it justice, but here's one that will.
I've almost never used JUST the stain straight out of the can - I've always been a "mixer" to try to get a color I have in my mind - but I've gotta say, this is one of the few times a color is just "right" straight out of the can. I'm gonna throw some spar varnish on to see what it'll look like with a little gloss, and I may have to tinker with it, but from the looks of it right now, I'm really not thinking so.
Here's a larger sample of the stuff straight from the can, and you can see the difference between the unfinished wood and the stained stuff. Mahogany tends to redden over time, as well as get darker, as all woods do, so it'll more than likely end up looking like an old wooden runabout boat. (anyone unfamiliar with boats like those should REALLY check them out - marvels, and beautiful to look at)
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And finally, another "FTW have you been doing, show us" pic ;)
I realized when resizing this pic that it looks like the miter joint is off, but this was just after being thrown in the clamps. I tinkered with it a bit after taking the pic. I've now got a grand total of 5 assemblies, and later tonight/tomorrow, I'll be putting the upper halves and lower halves together to make 2 giant assemblies.
Two things were determined today.
- I'm probably gonna have to buy a different mobo. The one I was planning on using "JUST" fits, and it'll be in the way of either a button or joy. After getting the sides assembled, I'm gonna see if I can possibly route out a spot in the CP bottom for the mobo. The bottom of this CP will be 1" thick, so I know it CAN be done, but I don't know if the placement can be worked around. Right now, it looks like there will be multitudes of things (video card, memory stick) that will be in the way. Who knows....I may get lucky :-\
- My joys will have no problems fitting. For some reason, it was looking to me like they'd be hitting the bottom of the CP, requiring me to either route a spot out for them on the CP bottom, or figure out some other less-invasive plan. This doesn't look to be a problem at all.
The cold-cathode light idea will be scrapped for now as well. It may ultimately be done, but I'm not holding out much hope for it on this project. All of my materials are 1/2", and I've gotta buy a 3/4' piece for my CP which will tap the funds I had planned for the light(s) for now. I WILL be doing everything as if I were going to be using it, but I won't be putting the light in until well after Christmas unless the tooth fairy puts some money under the tree. The wire routing WILL be sweet - I PROMISE! And natch, if you DON'T like the wire routing, you're free to pound sand ;D ;)
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In doing the larger assembly glue-ups, it's come to light that I've got an assembly that's "off". There's a slight bullnose on the table I'm assembling on, and it appears as if it's effed up one of the smaller assemblies, which in turn REALLY effs up one of the larger assemblies.
I'll have to finish gluing everything up today and see if I have to cut a new piece or if I can sand out the screwed up area. Whose bright idea was it to go and make this CP all angled and stuff? ::)
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90 degrees is your friend.
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90 degrees is your friend.
Yeah, but it's like the friend who never wants to do anything or always says "I dunno, whadda you wanna do?"
Angles are the "Fun Bobby" of the woodworking world. And dovetails. And sliding lock miter joints. etc etc.
Oh and :sniffle: shut up! ;) Yer just lusting after my 007 blade ;D
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Well, upon putting the larger assemblies together, it's become apparent that one single piece has been hosed. The miters on either end are just a tad off, so tomorrow (given some time and no snow/salt I have to take care of ::) ) I'll be cutting free that lone craplet. I'll also be cutting out the other piece mentioned above. I could make it work, but I'd have to remove a little over 1/8" to get the angle back in line with the rest of the sides, which'll end up looking like ass.
After freeing the two rogue pieces, I'll be gluing and nailing the two 1/2" pieces (the bad CP I originally cut before having the CP printed and the CP I WAS going to use before choosing to go with a 3/4" CP top) together to make a sturdier 1" CP base. I'll then trim the 1" piece to the inner dimensions. I'm doing this so I can biscuit the 1" piece to the sides and only have the sides show the mahogany.
This'll do 3 things. Hide the booty-looking MDF CP base, add further structural strength with the addition of the biscuits, and give me a "last" or a form to make the miters easier to test fit and fine tune the angle.
The one nice thing that will result from this is that the CP top will be easy as pie to make. Chuck my pattern bit in the router, and track around the CP. I'm still a bit muddled as to what to do about the motherboard, and I'm going to look at smaller form-factor mobo's tonight to see if it'll be worth saving the money by trying to fit my mobo in there, or worth more of my time to just buy a new mobo. Buying a new mobo means this will REALLY get put on hold to complete, as "spare" money has been allotted to certain other "trick it out" components I hadn't considered but stumbled across while looking around here. On the plus side, I've been working so much with the little bit of snow we've gotten so far, I may be getting some of that "spare" cash I've heard such good things about. ;D
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I finally got all the sides for the base completed. I've been dawdling on this because, after checking all the mobo's I own, I don't have one that'll fit inside this thing and will allow me some room. Meh. Such is life. Now I've got a reason to buy new parts. I'm also gonna need one of those small HTPC-sized power supplies, since a full-sized one is a tad large, height-wise.
Here she sits all set up. No more clamps, no more clamp blocks, and no more glueing. I've set all nail heads and started to putty all the holes left over, which is what you see on the CP looking like a bad case of chicken pox.
Sorry about the small pic, I was trying to make stuff smaller to be easier to view. :-\
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This is the stuff used. Stainable, easily sanded, and the "applicator" makes it as easy as spreading butter on yer toast ;) All nail holes and any miter joints I wanted to fine tune were filled and tomorrow I'll be sanding it all nice and smooth
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Here's one of the joints that was screwed up. It actually ended up fairly decent and the putty is just to make sure when I sand it that everything still has the nice miter angles I had pictured. In this pic, you can see how the miters will be taken care of. Putty to the point of the angle, and smooth it out. When sanded, all that'll be left is the stuff in the angle that helps keep the shape.
This is all for now, but I should be able to finish the CP top shortly. I laid out 2 joys and 4 buttons and moved them from position to position, and everything seems like it'll work and allow me to set cupholders into the CP, but I'm not certain if I'll do it now because of the large amount of artwork that it'll remove.
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You're some kind of Albert Edison or something, going and building this! At least you're staining it and not painting it yellow or orange or something garish like that ;)
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I got a stain you might be interested in Joss.....
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Well, after doing some snow patrol that ended up nicely for me (just an overnight watch that allowed me to sand my CP since nothing fell from the sky), it's time to hook up the CP top.
I nailed down a piece of 3/4" plywood and trimmed it a bit closer to the CP sides. Threw a flush-cutting bit in my router, and had at it. Here's the flush-cutting bit. For those of you who don't know what this does, that thingamabob on the bottom is a bearing. The bearing rides along the piece you want to match up to, and the cutting flutes on top (those blade-thingy-dealies above the bearing) trim everything all nice and flush. Meaning you get an identical copy or a matching piece.
For your viewing pleasure, the flush cutting bit - VIOLA!
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I forgot to take pics of how it looked after trimming off most of the excess material, so you'll have to deal with these pics of how it looked after I got done. A straight-on shot, and then a top-down shot so you can somewhat see how a flush-cutting bit works. Sorta :-\
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Now, I'm NOT planning on keeping this as my CP top, but until I can afford the stuff I need, I'll set up this piece as a template. I'm just gonna paint this one, so I want everything smooth. That brings up a problem. There's some nice long butt-ugly checks in my plywood top. Checks are nothing more than a split in wood, and here's a shot of one of the uglier examples on this. I'm just gonna use some drywall compound to fill everything in, so this will disappear shortly.
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I'll be throwing on a skim coat of drywall compound, sanding, and throwing on a second skim coat, since everything'll shrink at first, so that big crack you saw will be all filled in and then like Bones' putty adventure, shrinkage to be filled again. This isn't anything other than trying to fill it in so JUST the low spots are filled. This pic might not really show it, but you can still see the grain through this coat and once sanded, it should get back to the wood in the high spots, leaving the low spots filled and sanded. The bigger divots will require another coat, which will happen after sanding, hopefully tomorrow. I'm guessing I'll need about a total of 3 applications like this, perhaps 4. Once this is all sanded and finished, I'll use this CP top as a template for the final CP I'll be making.
Here's that divot above, filled and the excess skimmed off.
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Well, I thinned out the second coat so it'd be somewhere around the consistency of sour cream, and skimmed that REALLY thin. It was just thick enough to fill, but not too thin that it'd run. That filled in everything, and once that was sanded out, I'm done with it.
I was gonna do the sides of the CP top as well to fill in the end grain, but with a router, it's as smooth as I care to make it. If this had been done with any type of saw (jig, circ, sawzall) I'd have had to definitely fill in the sides, but I've decided since this isn't even gonna be the final version, screw it. There's a few pockets where there were voids in the ply's, but they won't make a bit of difference to me in the end.
After sanding, you can see in these pics just how uneven plywood can be, but it's really nothing you need to worry about if you're laminating over it. The amount of filling being done is negligible for your purposes, but for playing on what will essentially be bare wood, it's vitally important. Know what I mean? You'll be putting your hands on the laminate, I'll be putting mine on the wood. No danger to you, big danger to me, kitten-saving-technique for Bones ;)
I'm letting the dust settle before finishing everything. In case you don't know, even with the small amount left over after what you can see is a tremendously thin coat compared to what you'd put on the walls, sanding drywall compound is eleventy brazilian times more messy and dust-producing than dealing with MDF. While I'm not sure of the toxicity of the stuff, if you're doing ANY woodworking without a mask and eye protection, you're an ass hat idiot, and doing drywall is an even higher level of retarditty without those things.
Tomorrow, I'll be running to CompUSA thanks to McCoy, and hitting Home Depot's "oops" paint shelf for something to paint the CP top with. I pass 2 HD's on my way home from CompUSA, so if there's nothing but ass as far as the eye can see at the first HD, I'll just buy the least asstastic paint at the second one. It'll just have to cover the layout marks I'll make for my buttons and whatnot.
I'm not entirely sure what 4-player games (that I'll LIKE) require more than 3 buttons - any help there? I'll be going with 3 buttons for players 3 & 4, and 6 for players 1 & 2. This will absolutely never be used for console-anything, so if even 6 buttons are overkill, open your piehole and tell me I'm wasting money. I'm getting some of the black player start buttons from Peale (CLICK ME FOR LINK ACTION - CHECK 'EM OUT AND GET 'EM WHILE THEY'RE HOT GUYS!) (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=47213.msg467900#msg467900) to throw on there, and naturally, an "O" and a "K" button.......yeeaaaaahhhh ::)
Anyhoo, here's a pic of that big crack all filled in and pretty. Everything's now smooth as a baby's butt, and the second pic is just to show what all is filled in and to give an idea of how it might have felt if I HADN'T skimmed all the irregularities out of the plywood
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Stain thrown on last night. With my wacked out schedule, I ended up staining this thing at about 2 in the morning ::) There really doesn't seem to be a good way to capture the color of this friggen stain (Markrvp, a little help in this area?) but here's a few pics of it.
Obviously I stained the entire thing, and it's now sitting on a few biscuits to raise it up and allow the stain underneath to dry as well, and it's currently doing nothing but waiting for me to throw a few coats of Spar Varnish on. I just threw the stain on the inside to hide any possible areas that might be visible once this is all done, and did the bottom as well because that'll be visible for the most part. If I was throwing this on a pedestal right away, I wouldn't have bothered with doing the entire base, but whatever.
Depending on how it looks, I'll be throwing on several coats of spar varnish until I'm happy with it. I'll wipe a thin coat on probably later on tonight or tomorrow and then start laying it on after that's dry. I'm gonna be working through 4 different grits of sandpaper, and hopefully the last 2 will be enough. The first 2 will be just to help even stuff out, the last 2 grits will be wet-sanded. I'll be doing the sides and bottom, with just a cursory application to the interior. I'm thinking I'll have to route out a "well" for the mobo in here, but since it's tied up in Cali-friggen-fornia waiting to be shipped right now (NewEgg's UPS service sucks, wish they'd have NEVER added it - FedEx from now on since the test here blew chunks), I didn't care to wait for the stain, but I may hold off on the spar varnish on the inside until that's done just to seal it all up.
These pics look way too red to me, but the color is more accurate than how it looked when I used the flash. I'll throw up one with the flash so you can see what I'm talking about ::)
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Here's a closer shot of the color to show some of the grain, and then the other 2 shots are to demonstrate the difference with/without flash in the hopes someone might be able to help with that. Once I get the spar varnish on there, I know I'm gonna get all kinds of reflection and whatnot, so it'll look even funkier
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nice coffin man ;D
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Take about 20 pieces of white printer paper and set it 6 inches in front of the CP and photograph it again.
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nice coffin man ;D
That's Bones' CP you're thinking of. Mine is sleek and thin....just wider than an aircraft carrier ;D
Take about 20 pieces of white printer paper and set it 6 inches in front of the CP and photograph it again. A neutral reference in the photo may be enough to correct the color.
Do either of these look closer to the true color?
The 2nd version of yours looks closer. I'm gonna go give this a shot right now and see how it turns out. I DEFINITELY hate the flash on this camera. The settings for the flash DO give me different levels, but I can't figure out how to stop the friggen red eye thing with a brazilian flashes. I know there's gotta be a temp override for it, but I don't have my manual anywhere handy like I should ::) I think that's the biggest problem with the flash, so I end up turning it off altogether and just trying to light everything myself or accepting what I get.
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Before I go taking all those pics though, I'ma post the ones I took earlier. These are coming in kinda early in the progression here, but everything's moving along fairly easily, so I think I should be getting to this by the weekend if things go smoothly.
I flat hate seeing wires everywhere. Nothing against any of you who DO have wiring everywhere, nothing at all, but on stuff I build, it chaps ---my bottom--- to leave wires dangling all around. It looks messy and sloppy, and it's not something I want to leave and feel proud to put my name on and say "I did that", and invariably, I ALWAYS end up catching on a wire somehow and tearing something out. I built a component rack for a friend and I wanted to route a place to conceal the wiring for them, but they didn't want it. Wanted the legs to all be solid. Why on earth they cared if the BACKSIDE of a leg was used to conceal the wiring of everything is beyond me, but naturally, something bad happened. While setting it up for him, he plugged everything in, I helped him move it into place, started to walk away, caught on one of the wires, and ripped the wire out. Not bad enough. I ended up ripping out both entire plugs for his CD player because he had used Monster Cables and those things weren't gonna be letting go anytime soon. ::) I felt bad, but told him "THAT is why I wanted to route the damn wire concealment thing out you jag!"
This is what I'll be using to deal with the wiring:
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That there thingamabob is a slat wall bit. You've probably seen slat walls in some stores. It's basically a bit that'll cut a "T" into the piece of material. Similar to a t-molding bit, but about double, and there's flutes on the shank to cut an opening down into the slot. I've never used one of these bits (always bought a slat wall sheet if I needed it), but on the bottom, there's 2 cutting edges as well, so I can plunge this down into the material, leaving a hole for the wires to enter and exit the "T" channel, and all I have to do is make the channel to wherever I want it to exit the material.
I'll use some sort of material to keep the wiring in the concealed part of the groove, not certain about that yet, but that's the easy part. These 2 pics should illustrate a little better how deep they'll sit and show how the flutes on the shank will cut a groove to allow me to feed the wire into it. as I go along the channel. Kinda like a wire loom, but "built-in". Sorry for the terrible focus on these. I didn't have the patience to take any better ones, and these are the best 2 out of about 20 ::)
*edit*
forgot to tell you, that plywood is 3/4" material
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Well, no dice on the printer paper Mark. The paper ended up looking pink in the photos, and it looked about the same. I'm wondering something though. I took the pic you see below and it seems to be the closest in color to the actual piece. All the plywood around it is yellow, kinda similar to the idea behind the white paper (I think, anyway). Any suggestions for mebbe a filter? My wife's cousin works at a camera supply house (but deals strictly in video and replies to any questions about a camera with "I don't know if it works the same, I only deal with video" ::) ), and I may be able to pick up a filter cheap.
Well, I had tested the color on a piece of scrap earlier, and wanted to give you an idea of how this'll look after I throw some spar varnish on it. Here you go, you should be able to see the line where I stopped. The lower section is the part I did, and that's only one application, so it should only get deeper and warmer with more coats. The upper part shows how dull and flat the stain is by itself.
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Throw up the pick with the paper. I can adjust the image in PS until the paper is white and theoretically all the other colors will look right.
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That's some nice looking grain.
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Throw up the pick with the paper. I can adjust the image in PS until the paper is white and theoretically all the other colors will look right.
Crap on a stick. I gotta take it again now. I emptied my recycle bin to make it easier to pick out some crap I'm working on. I'll repost it shortly.
That's some nice looking grain.
Mahogany. I decided to not fill the pores since the spar varnish is a bit thicker and fills easier. One coat and everything's almost smooth. I'm testing the scrap piece first so I can see how I should screw this up do it right.
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Mark, this is what I took today. Seems a bit better during the day, not so much pink.
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I didn't take any pics of the bit used for the holes some odd reason. I've taken a pic of every OTHER dang thing in the world, why not that, hey? ::) Ah well.....I was a LOT pissed off before drilling the CP for various reasons, and to top it off, I couldn't find my nice Freud forstner bit I had used to lay out various examples to test button formations.
I wanted to drill the button holes NOW, not wait until the morning, so I jumped in the truck and headed off to Home Depot. They had every size all around the 11/8" bit I needed, but not that one. Back in the truck, and down the street to the high-falutin' woodworking store (Woodcraft) where I KNEW they'd have it. Natch, they were closed. I was tempted to go to the Rockler store, which WAS open and just another mile still down the road, but I remember how much the danged things cost there. More on that in a sec.
Thoroughly pissed off now, I headed to Menard's fully intending to buy a hole saw or spade bit and just be done with it, but they happened to have a complete set of sawtooth forstner bits for only $25! The SINGLE bit at Rockler's store was $19, and I ended up getting a 16 piece set from 1/4" to 21/8", so I started getting happy again ;D
Here's the end result of my night. I had JUST enough battery power in the ol' cordless to finish these holes. The player setups on both ends look like they're seriously off compared to the middle setups, but I promise you it's just the angle of the camera in the pic. They are all fairly close to identical setups with the exception of the additional button holes for players 1 & 2.
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The UPS man also brought me a nice present earlier in the day. The parts for this thing are now all here OTHER than my ipac. I've realized several things about this dang thing:
- If I want to have the PC go with this thing anywhere, I'm gonna have to build a box underneath to hold everything, kinda like an udder, and drill a hole in the CP base. No other way to do it. On the plus side, it'll make me want to build a pedestal for my CP and make it more permanent, at which point I can remove the "udder". On the minus side, it'll look like ass and not be the svelte machine I had intended it to be.
- If I go with the "udder", I've GOT to add legs for this thing. It simply cannot be left up to hoping and crossing my fingers that I'll have something to rest this on. I'm thinking I can get some gas piping (black iron pipe), a few 45o elbows, and some bolt-on flanges to form legs. It'll work, and they'll be easily removed
- Creating an "udder" will remove any need to pick up additional kewl gewgaws I was going to add, since they'll not be needed now. I was going to add an S-video pass-through plug like Pixel's firewire and USB pass-throughs, and this would make them completely unnecessary.
- I should have bit the bullet and got the mini-ITX board, even though it would have cost me at least $100 more for the mobo alone.
- Piss-poor planning caused this problem, but there's a solution for any problem you can make for yourself, it's just up to you to accept it and go with the flow, or ---smurf--- because you're afraid you might end up on some ass hat's website making fun of your design. ;)
- Even if I had planned for this, it would have required making this CP far thicker than I think would look nice, and I'm happy this problem was figured out AFTER I built my CP. I may have settled for a thicker CP to fit everything in there, and I'd have hated how much more cumbersome this CP would have become.
While unpacking all my new fiddly bits for the PC, I found things going easier. I didn't realize why until I saw that I had someone applying for the recruit position. He gave everything the thumbs up, so I feel good about everything ;D Recruit Hunter, show yourself:
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[li]If I want to have the PC go with this thing anywhere, I'm gonna have to build a box underneath to hold everything, kinda like an udder, and drill a hole in the CP base. No other way to do it.
You're saying you can't put a motherboard in that box ? even those tiny-factor ones ?
These boards are so small, they just ought to fit in.
Looking great BTW.
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[li]If I want to have the PC go with this thing anywhere, I'm gonna have to build a box underneath to hold everything, kinda like an udder, and drill a hole in the CP base. No other way to do it.
You're saying you can't put a motherboard in that box ? even those tiny-factor ones ?
These boards are so small, they just ought to fit in.
Looking great BTW.
Micro-ATX board will only fit sideways due to having to keep the keyboard/mouse connectors facing inwards which then creates problems with the video card, the proc/heatsink/fan, or memory slots blocking a button or joystick hole. That's what I meant when I said I shoulda bit the bullet and spent another $100 on an ITX board. :-\
That CP is, side-to-side, as wide as an aircraft carrier, but it's only about 9 inches from front to back at its widest point (7.5 interior). I'm leaning towards going with the "udder", because I originally wanted to build a showcase cab, but I realized I was getting away from that and would most likely not finish the pedestal unless somehow forced to do so.
Also, I like the setup as it is, but I may cut another CP top and throw a trackball on there. I really wanted a trackball, but it just doesn't look like I'll be able to fit it on there without cramming it in there uncomfortably.
Odd isn't it? A CP that's 5+ feet wide, yet too small to house a PC inside it! :P
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What is the height of the inside ?
Why do you need a vga card ? There's agp onboard, no ?
Did you actually try to place such a board inside ?
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What is the height of the inside ?
2.5 inches. I need an AGP card because I need S-video, one more reason I didn't pick up an ITX board. Onboard S-vid hasn't gotten real good reviews around here either, and the fact that I haven't seen an ITX board with onboard S-vid just sealed the whole deal with that.
I just got all the stuff in today and (didn't set it up, just testing clearances) plugged all cards and chips in, and laid the proc/hs/fan on top of the socket. Buttons hang too low to clear some stuff, and a few caps are in the way of a joy. I picked one of the smaller boards I could get, the problem is that the smaller dimension is the width (I need the length) and it's not small enough to plug cables in without SERIOUS kinks if they'll work at all.
It's no big deal to hang the box underneath because like I said, I wanted to do a showcase to begin with, and this will make me want to actually work on the pedestal. My plan with the showcase was to house the PC inside the pedestal and have the cables snake into the CP anyway, so this completes that step for me.
The black pipe will be easily removes, yet allow me to take it around until I complete another CP. It'll also allow me to see if I need to go 4-player for the next one as well. My kids, their friends, and my buddies will DEFINITELY utilize the 4-player panel, but if taking it to parties doesn't show a need for a 4-player panel, I'll simply build a smaller one.
This isn't my first setup, but everything else I built was a "cab" cab, so I never had to worry about these issues. This won't be my last project either, so swapping out parts as PC parts evolve isn't a big deal.
An "udder" is probably bringing up some horrible mental images for folks, but I'm not worried. It's not gonna be some gigantic monstrosity, just tall enough and wide enough to house my PC. Picture gutting your PC and laying all the parts out on the table, and then plugging everything back in so that it works. That's all this'll be.
It's not like I'm putting a flat front on a machine that begs for a curved front ;)
Oh, and the CP is getting scrapped to fit a trackball. Case closed on that one.
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2.5 inches.
Point taken.
Of course once there's a VGA card addon, it's out of the question
It's not like I'm putting a flat front on a machine that begs for a curved front
But it begs for 3 more inches, no ?
Seriously, what if you cut a square hole at the cp bottom (say, the size of an ITX board),
and attach an opentop box under it, so you can put that ITX board inside.
You then have a combined height for the motherboard (bottom box + cp inside), and maybe
the "underbox" would not protrude as much.
Just an idea...
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I was already gonna rout out a recess for the micro-ATX board before finding out it'll suck. I've got half an inch I can remove from the CP bottom, so there isn't much more I can take out. The entire thickness of the sides is only 3.5 inches. The only reason I'm not digging the larger opening in the CP bottom is that if I make the PC box/case/udder, it'll be just to house the PC parts, and will be removed when the pedestal is completed anyway, at which time all the cables will be fed through that same nice small hole to connect to the PC that'll be installed in the pedestal.
With 2.5", any controls can be mounted while maintaining a small footprint, height-wise. It STILL seems a tad tall to me, so to my eye, 5 inches would look like a small tug-boat ;D
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(another idea) :angel:
what if you put the whole pc in a second box, fitted exactly for it, and
just make a connection between the two (like a docking station)
It will still stay portable.
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So you're saying something like (and EXCELLENT idea ;) ) I could make rails underneath the CP and have the PC box slide into the rails, making the CP mobile AND stationary ("docked" to the pedestal when built)! Something like a sliding dovetail or a simple drawer slide contraption.
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Looks really great so far.
It seems like you are set with your solution, but just FYI, in case you wanted to keep it slick for any reason, do you think these would work:
http://www.markertek.com/SearchProduct.asp?off=0&sort=prod
I could even see two of those used with a riser card like this: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5831801418&category=1484
Just a thought :)
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So you're saying something like (and EXCELLENT idea ;) ) I could make rails underneath the CP and have the PC box slide into the rails, making the CP mobile AND stationary ("docked" to the pedestal when built)! Something like a sliding dovetail or a simple drawer slide contraption.
No rails. No pedestal (What is it for anyway ?). No dovetails.
Just a plain plug-in-that-socket thing.
I guess it's easier to say than to do...
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Looks really great so far.
It seems like you are set with your solution, but just FYI, in case you wanted to keep it slick for any reason, do you think these would work:
http://www.markertek.com/SearchProduct.asp?off=0&sort=prod
I could even see two of those used with a riser card like this: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5831801418&category=1484
Just a thought :)
Not sure what the markertek thing is. That link said I needed cookies, and I've been there before. I think that search was specific to your PC. Were you showing the pass-throughs they've got? If so, that was the plan so I'd just have to plug in. Lemme know what that link was though.
The riser card won't work. It jacks the video card up 1.5 inches, and then turns it sideways, putting it closer to the underside of the CP (and controllers :-\ ).
C64, you've GOT to look for Hulkster's showcase cab. That will demonstrate what a showcase cab is, and the pedestal will be blatantly obvious. I'm betting a showcase cab isn't common in your neck of the woods and that's why you don't know, but once you see that, all should be sorted out.
Well, I made CERTAIN I'd have to cut a new CP today so I wouldn't just live with this. I busted out my slat wall bit to show you guys what it does and how it'll look. I did this freehand, and the cut is a little wierd at first, and I can see I'm gonna need an edge guide
Here's a pic showing how the entrance hole looks, and the progression. The first pic is a smaller chunk, second one is the entire cut. I'm off to a party, and then I'll post the rest when I get back tonight/tomorrow
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Meh. I'll throw these pics up and modify this later to 'splain.
Okay. You saw the bit earlier in this whole thread (it was the one with the blue on it) and the pics above show the start. That circle looks to be about the width of a regular button hole, and once you plunge it down into the material, you move it to wherever you want. Underneath, there's a channel getting routed the same width as the original hole, and above, there's a nice little cutout to drop all the wiring in and allow you to easily pull the wiring out if need be, or hide it/keep it OUT of the friggen way! I LOVE this bit and this idea!
The first pic shows the octopus that is a power supply. I figured that'd be a good example, since there's a fistful of wiring coming off of all of 'em unless you've got a modular powe supply. This one just came out of the box, so the wires still have that freshly folded kink in it. This made it a tad difficult to deal with at first.
The second pic shows how the wires will enter the channel, and how they exit. This clearly isn't the straightest cut in the world, so you should get a pretty good idea of how well this will work for keeping your wiring clean. You don't even need to stuff 'em in there, but that's what I did. I suppose if you really wanted to, you could throw something in the channel after you've got everything all run to cover it all up, but all I'm gonna do is stuff a biscuit or something in there in a few spots to keep everything under there once it's all run.
The third pic shows somewhat just how deep the channels are. I've stuffed all that wire into that channel on the side, and it's no longer visible. While making the wiring completely invisible wasn't my goal, if need be, I was able to stuff 3 of the wire sets coming out of the power supply into one side of the channel. With some time and effort, I could have concealed all of them, since they were almost completely concealed just by running something down the channel to push the wiring in there. I'm REALLY digging this idea!
There IS a bit of a downside to this. You need to have a shop vac to clean out the sawdust in the holes. Also, if you're using MDF, this probably won't be a problem since there is no "grain" or any plies to deal with, but in plywood, I had to take an allen key and run it along the channels with the "L" of the allen key running into the channel to loosen up the crap that was trapped in there to be able to shop vac it out. For the amount of runs I have to do, I can deal with this little bit of inconvenience, and like I said, probably not an issue with MDF.
You DO NOT need a plunge router to use this bit. It certainly would help, but it isn't vital. I wasn't going to bother with taking the motor body out of the fixed base to throw in the plunge base, so I used the fixed base for this example. Also, in case you're following along and somehow missed it, these pics were taken on the CP you saw cut out above. I purposefully wrecked that CP to force myself to cut a new one and redo the arrangements of the buttons/joys and give myself room for the trackball. I'll see if I can find a link for the router bit used here and post it so if anyone wants to use this method they can.
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C64, you've GOT to look for Hulkster's showcase cab. That will demonstrate what a showcase cab is, and the pedestal will be blatantly obvious. I'm betting a showcase cab isn't common in your neck of the woods and that's why you don't know, but once you see that, all should be sorted out.
In my neck of the woods nothing is common, espacially the woods.
I checked out his project and he did a fine piece of work.
I'll have to finish my ongoing project before I dive into the next one, but
I think that a real portable solution needs to be like a "zoomed laptop".
What I mean is something like a standalone cp structure (pc inside) that has an LCD
display (say 19") attached in a laptop manner (somehow...)
I also saw this:
Hulkster's giving me direction for how he wants his pics set up, and after I get a few more measurements from him, I'll do a cut list, and you can use his pics w/measurements to piece out the cut list and kinda use the pics as your own "assembly guide".
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I also saw this:
Hulkster's giving me direction for how he wants his pics set up, and after I get a few more measurements from him, I'll do a cut list, and you can use his pics w/measurements to piece out the cut list and kinda use the pics as your own "assembly guide". I think it's gonna be nicer/easier than hulkster lets on
Do you have them ?
I've got his pics, and some measurements, but not all of 'em. Jakobud has a measured drawings set of a Dynamo on his site, which is what Hulkster said made him decide to go with that style of cab. Look on the main page in the "look here" sticky. I think Jako's somewhere in there.
I'm off to a party, and then I'll post the rest when I get back tonight/tomorrow
Do you party, Drew ?
Like a rockstar baby! An old phlegmatic arthritic rockstar with incontinence ;D
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Were you showing the pass-throughs they've got? If so, that was the plan so I'd just have to plug in. Lemme know what that link was though.
Ah sorry about the bum link, it was the right angle vga adapters (maybe this one will work)
http://www.markertek.com/SearchProduct.asp?item=MGC%2D15RAX1&off=5&sort=prod
Thought maybe they might help you avoid strange kinks in the cable.
No dice again. It's using your search parameters, which means your cookies are what that link is looking for. You gotta hit the exact page of the item. I'll look those up and post a pic if possible.
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Here's Rockler's bit
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=11061 (http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=11061)
Lee Valley's bit
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=51594&cat=1,46168,46176&ap=1 (http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=51594&cat=1,46168,46176&ap=1)
MLCS bit
http://www.mlcswoodworking.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/smarthtml/pages/bt_keyhl.html#T-slot%20cutter%20Anchor (http://www.mlcswoodworking.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/smarthtml/pages/bt_keyhl.html#T-slot%20cutter%20Anchor)
Each bit is show in the order of the links above.
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man, how come i never looed at this before? you kin do all them there woodworky things!
(",)
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Well, I've been doing some work in sporadic bursts as the weather gets nicer, so this little chunk of updates wasn't done in one day, even though there doesn't seem to be much done at all ::)
I wanted to recess the joys, although not as much as some have done, so I decided to throw together a little jig. In hindsight, I should have made a better jig so I could use it repeatedly, but I didn't have that kind of patience or time.
I used some decking fasteners and some scrap and threw this together. The decking fasteners go face down, so the router just runs along the 2x material.
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In order to throw that big hunk of
junk wood in the right place, what I did was throw some short bolts through the holes in the joys and mark out where it needed to lie. The first pic shows this - the bolts simply sit in place while I trace the outline.
The second pic shows the jig wrapped around the joy when it's in place. Essentially, you throw the jig down, run your router bit's bearing around the inside of the jig, and you've got a hole or recess that's the same size as the item you want to fit in there.
The third pic shows just HOW close it is to the size of the joystick base. This would prove to be my undoing, since I never took into account that curve, nor did I figure my corner chisel would have amazingly grown legs and walked off. I removed the corners of the first recess with a chisel, utility knife, and mallet. That would prove to work, but was far from quick. Later on, you'll see that I decided to simply reposition the jig and make "Mickey Mouse" ears at each corner. If I do another jig, I'd build it to add those in. Some folks may not like the look, but I appreciate the extra wiggle/fiddle room they give me, and if I wish to remove the joys, I have someplace I can pull from, instead of wedging something in there, or pushing from the top.
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I also got the wiring slot cut. This was demonstrated earlier, but the difference this time was to throw an edge guide on the router and mark out where I wanted the entrance/exit holes to be.
The first pic shows first two holes, although they're filled with sawdust. ;D If you look on the lower part, you can see the pencil marks where the holes are. This should give me two holes per side and a main exit hole in the center.
The second pic shows the final two holes, and the middle one is buried underneath a mound of sawdust. Cutting the corners with the edge guide on wasn't too difficult, but it wasn't easy enough to let me get a nice clean straight line. As you can see in that pic (and it's almost identical on the other side too) there's a wobble that just wasn't possible to get rid of the way I attacked the situation.
When I finally do the main never-to-be-redone-again panel, I'll simply move to the middle of the point with the edge guide, have a helper turn the router off, move the edge guide to the other side of the point, turn it back on, and move on down the next angled side.
The last pic shows how it ends, and how each hole is created. In case you don't know, that's a plunge router base, and it IS NOT necessary to have one in order to use this bit, it just makes it nicer and easier to deal with. All it really helps to accomplish in this application is make the holes cleaner looking, which has absolutely nothing to do with how they function. The router is in the non-plunged stage. Simply plunging it down and letting it un-plunge creates the hole, and moving it along creates the channel.
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This last set of pics shows how everything looks when it's done. I was using a variable-speed router, and in routing this time, I turned it up just a touch, and there seemed to be far less crap left in the channel. Still needed some cleaning up, but everything came out with the shop vac this time, instead of needing to work the channel with a paperclip and then vac it all over again.
The first pic shows my son doing the tough work for me ;) He's prolly getting tired of this not being done, but at least he's generally a willing helper if I ask him. He's actually more interested in the empty Pole Position I have in the basement that will be next (or second to next, or who the heck knows - not enough time in the day and too many ideas and projects to do or re-prioritize ;) ). I may actually set that one up to work with one of his consoles for him to take with him when he goes to college. He doesn't know that I'm planning on giving it to him yet, because he'd be bugging the snot out of me to get this one done ;D
The second pic shows everything all cleaned up and lookin' purdy. If you look at the joystick recesses, you'll see the difference. The squared-off one is the first option. I scrapped that QUITE quickly. Way too fiddly, way too annoying. The second one shows the "Mickey Mouse" ears, and I like that setup a lot better. If I create a proper jig, I'd still do it that way. Lots nicer to me for the reasons listed above.
You can see how the entire channel is done, and the entrance/exit holes along the line. The wires now simply need to slide in there, and will come out in the center of the whole CP. Haven't yet decided if I'll use something to fill in the gap after the wires are ran, or if I'll just leave that open. Ideas of what to use or how to fill will be appreciated to help with that decision.
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Dats Fdriggin huge (said with best Scotty impression).
Still reading up on this thing, but it is looking great.
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Dats Fdriggin huge (said with best Scotty impression).
Wait'll you take your eyes off of that and look at my CP! ;)
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It's kind of big. I suppose.....
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Dats Fdriggin huge (said with best Scotty impression).
Wait'll you take your eyes off of that and look at my CP! ;)
But captain it's sooooo fdrriggin heeyuge.
I just spent some time (probably too much) reading up on yer thread. That's a hell of a lotta work.
It is nice to be able to go outdoors and work. Sure snow is great and elves love the sh!t, but it sure slows the building process. Looking forward to seeing how you pull this off. It is a comedy of errors. Although anyone who has built a cab fells yer pain.
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All that matters is how I pull the success of the final product out of ---my bottom---, much to everyone's amazement ;D
My brother-in-law's philosophy fits here. The mark of a good carpenter that you can't tell where his mistakes are. I'm just telling you all my dirty laundry. I shoulda just sprung a final pic on you and said "BLAM! Here it is. Suck it, Trebek!"
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This is definitely going to be made into a pedestal for a showcase cab.
Now that I'm done with the machining for the top, I started laying out stuff today. I can get the mobo to fit in there without a button or joy hitting it, but adding the CPU fan and the video card takes the height above what I need it to remain under.
The pedestal for this will have to be detachable, so I can take it to one or two parties to see how well it goes over and what gets played at parties so I can determine if I want or need to build an identical one out of MDF to tote around, or if the group I hang out with is better suited for something else.
I'm gonna stack the deck beforehand though and set it up with any 4-player game, some stuff from a few of the party game threads here, and a few oldies-but-goodies like Space Invaders, Ms Pac, Galaga, Frogger, etc. If I don't need to re-build it, I'll damn sure know what I have to build for next time.
Spar varnish is going on next (why I waited this damn long is a mystery to me too, so shut up ;) ) and I've fastened the joys and buttons to the top. Mebbe a shot of that later tonight.
Side note on the buttons - my kids tested it out a while back and really started taking notice of what's used on the games they play. The middle buttons will be convex while the two outer buttons will be concave. I tried it as well and agree with their comments. Their middle fingers seem to get "stuck" with a concave button, but they don't like how it feels like their fingers are sliding off a convex button and sometimes screws up a move for them on an all-convex setup. I've got buttons for all-concave, but I'm gonna leave it like that and see how it works and how they like it since I went out and bought the danged convex buttons to test 'em out. If they decide against it, I'll have some white convex buttons to sell. If they realize they'd like an all-convex setup after all, I'll have some red and blue concave buttons to trade or sell. :P
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I'm definitely going to read through this as I apparently need to have Kinko's print up my marquee for the Pink Ms Pac... none of the usual vendors will go anywhere near it.
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I'm definitely going to read through this as I apparently need to have Kinko's print up my marquee for the Pink Ms Pac... none of the usual vendors will go anywhere near it.
Make sure to get the color profile for your printer so stuff looks right, and add your own registration marks to your print with whatever instructions you want directly on an open area of the print. That way, there can be no argument if they screw it up. It'll say right on the dang thing what it's supposed to be.
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Cool. I just need to find out what registration marks are.
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Sorry dude, but I named my project Party Box. I had no idea you were considering that name.
What is the status of your cab?
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Sorry dude, but I named my project Party Box. I had no idea you were considering that name.
What is the status of your cab?
I think you've mistaken me for someone who would either be upset that you named yours something I considered, or would care if you were upset that I might name mine the same thing ;D
I don't believe I'll care one way or the other. As for the status, I believe it'll get finished either within the next few weeks, or it'll be left idle until November when my job pretty much comes to a standstill. Either way, the name of my project is fairly inconsequential to me, and if it happens to be the second iteration by that name, so be it.. :cheers:
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BUMP!
(Psst, it's past november)
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BUMP!
(Psst, it's past november)
DOH! (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=51525.0;attach=64684;image)
Thanks for reminding me, dagnabbit ::) ;)
I have actually just recently come to a decision after having this thing starting me in the face every day and it's now come down to money, as in "I need some".
I'm ditching the old (still new though) system I was going to put in here and instead I'm going with a mini-ITX mobo and a 1U power supply. Here's links to the 3 mobos I'm deciding on and a pic of what one of these things look like
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813181021
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813181020
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813181019
(http://images10.newegg.com/NeweggImage/productimage/13-181-019-03.JPG)
In case you're unfamiliar with these things, they're a mobo with an embedded processor. They've got less processing power, but for this application, it's got more than enough power - although I'd like to find out if anyone knows just HOW much power it's got and what version of MAME I'd be best using with it. I know this will run v0.55 no problems, but I have no idea HOW much higher I can go with MAME.
The other thing these boards have going for them is power consumption and size. The power supply I've got picked out is a simple 300W one for a 1U rackmount, seen here: www.pcpower.com linky - click me! (http://www.pcpower.com/products/viewproduct.php?show=T301U)
The mobo solves two problems in one. The 1U power supply is only 2 inches tall, and a 300W psu is WAY more than I need to power the mobo. As for the size of the mobo, it's under 7" square, so I'll be able to place it just about anywhere I want.
Lastly, I need a stick of RAM for the thing, since I don't have one - but that's it. I've already got the hard drive for this thing just sitting there waiting. Problem is, I'm looking at $400 for this new PC setup. The wife has no problems with me spending that, but I know I don't have it right now. We're supposed to get snow this weekend, so I'll have some cash if I have to go plow.
Using that mobo, for initial setup, I'll simply attach an IDE cable to an optical drive and install everything, and if I ever need to add/modify anything, I can simply use a USB key, so I don't have to worry about that.
I've also had enough time to think about it making a solid wood top. I wish I had a decision on that ;D I'll be running pass-through's for the power cable and S-video as I originally envisioned, but I still haven't hammered anything out about what I want the legs to end up like. Pipe and fittings are quick and easy, which I hate knowing ;D
So....that's where I sit right now - $400+ short. I'll most likely finish the wiring sometime soon and post some pics of everything I can do except the PC installation and perhaps some shots of where I'm gonna try to put everything.
Thanks for the shove! ;D
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Good luck with that mobo - I love the idea. I've used several different machines for MAME and noticed that different video cards do different things (especially outputting to a television). Ultimately, I had to use a pci video card instead of the onboard intels.
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you may want to look into DTX which is a new standard being pushed by amd.
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you may want to look into DTX which is a new standard being pushed by amd.
I had taken a look at that while looking at the newer ITX boards, and while I'm a huge AMD fan, the size of the ITX mobo's are really the deciding factor on this, not to mention the probable cost difference of such a new item. I very well may switch this out later on though, once prices come down. I've got something in mind that I simply can't do with any mobo larger than the ITX board, so if I could scavenge it at a later time, that'd be good too.
Good luck with that mobo - I love the idea. I've used several different machines for MAME and noticed that different video cards do different things (especially outputting to a television). Ultimately, I had to use a pci video card instead of the onboard intels.
I'm not certain on the quality the board will put out via S-vid, but given the situation and reviews on at least one of the boards I've seen above, it's a pretty decent picture when used as a DVR, so I'm thinking I should be ok there.
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Someday soon (hopefully) I will be building my new CP and would like to use your joining method. Maybe. Color me stoopid, but I just can't figure out how the angles of the biscuit slots line up cause you didn't take pictures of that part... ???
(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=44196.0;attach=20287;image)
You must have to clamp the piece in a bench vise and hold the tool flush with the angle?
Nice work. Should hold good. ;)
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Someday soon (hopefully) I will be building my new CP and would like to use your joining method. Maybe. Color me stoopid, but I just can't figure out how the angles of the biscuit slots line up cause you didn't take pictures of that part... ???
You must have to clamp the piece in a bench vise and hold the tool flush with the angle?
Nice work. Should hold good. ;)
Nah, take a look at this pic:
(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=44196.0;attach=20285;image)
The fence moves. If your angles aren't identical though, you'll have some figuring to do in order to have the biscuit slots to line up.
Because the fence moves, which you should be able to see in the pic above, you can hold the end of the fence against the workpiece.
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When I first saw that pic I immediately had flashbacks of a shark attack! :scared
Man I am such an idiot. I hadn't realized that the biscuit jointer's fence has that adjust ability. Er I mean I never tried it cause I didn't know when I would ever need it to adjust in that fashion...till now. Sweet!! That is a cool feature.
Any progress on this project or did ya just give up? It's been like eleventy months!! ;D
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Same money issue. I was all set to make a purchase and my CDL done et up all my "spare" cash ::)
Now I've even gotta save to spend on my friggen road test, after which point I MIGHT kin' start making enough scratch to buy what I need. $180 for my test, and if I fail, I need another $180 :banghead:
The end result will eventually pan out, but it su-hucks right now.