In this section we will discuss:
--How to cut the plexi glass
--How to attach the plexi glass
--How to paint the design
Here's how you cut the plexi glass. Lay the Wooden CP top over the plexi glass on a flat surface. Purchase for yourself a Plexi Glass cutter. Swipe it a bunch of times, being very careful and going slow (because we don't want to have to buy multiple pieces of plexi glass like uncle Alex did). Here's the tool:
After the art is done, it's time to cut the holes in the plexiglass, I first secured the wood to the plexi by drilling a couple of carriage bolt sized holes through the wood/plexi, and popping a couple carriege bolts through them. Then I flipped the unit upside down (so the wood is up and the plexi is down) and carefully inserted the 1 1/8" hole saw into my already drilled-in-the-wood holes and drilled the plexi holes. One at a time. Very slowly.
When it finally came time to attach the plexi cover to the wood for GOOD, I used carriage bolts (in my aformentioned carriage bolt holes) and elmers glue. Elmers glue is the only glue I trust to secure my plexi from any "bowing" or whatever. You know, when the plastic lifts up from the wood a little because it's too compact . . . or whatever . . . uh. Super glue and rubber cement will eat through finishing paint and hot glue might work, but it didn't seem strong enough for the dogg.
Hardy har har, I'm getting ahead of myself. You need to put art on your plexi glass first (should you choose the plexi glass route. keep in mind, there are about a million ways to make a killer CP. This, I determined would be the cheapest and coolest [the cheapest would be contact paper. no wait, butcher paper] way for me). Here's a web page that you've probably already been to. It has other ways of doing control panels.
Okay, so the basic idea of my control panel art was to spray paint the back side of some plexi glass so that when it is flipped over it would be super shiny and cool looking. I enhanced this effect by masking off (using masking tape) a lightning bolt shape. If I had it to do over again, I would paint the lightning bolt first and the outside of the lightning bolt second. The sparkle paint and glitter I used in the bolt ate away at the preexisting green paint and caused me to have to do it over agian. Or, rather, my girlfriend, Kate, to do it over again. She was in charge of all the art on this, our Spaceship Earth.
But, as you can see, when the artwork is flipped over it looks shiney and totally awesome.
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Lightning bolts are cool and easy to do, but if you rip off my idea, then you may end up feeling guilty or unfulfilled in the end. After all, you're putting an enormous amount of work into all the other areas of your machine, why not extend the fervor of creativity into doing a full on original super-japanese #1 control panel?*
Previously I had mentioned how to cut a t-molding hole. Or alluded it, anyway. The t-molding groove in the CP (if doing the plexi glass thing) needs to be offset by, like, a 16th of an inch or so, so that when you put the 3/4" t-molding on your 5/8" wood with plexi on top, it will come out flush and smooth.
After all your art is done, and the holes are cut and the plexi has been attached to the wood and the holes are cut, put in your buttons (if you haven't already done so a million times).
I placed the hinges on the side of the CP closest to me. You can make your door hinge up in whatever way you want, I suppose. I like mine the way it is. To soften the blow of the panel cover opening and closing, I put a couple of little sticky felt things on the bottom of it.
I had decided early on that I would attach the control panel to the ZOOM machine using a special latch. Like the kind on a tackle box. That way I could easily swap it in and out. I applied those latches in several varying ways, and they never worked quite right. Even in their most locked position the control panel wasn't very secure. So I decided on a more 19th century solution. I screwed a couple pieces of wood to the cabinet, then a couple pieces of wood to the bottom of the control panel. Now the CP sets perefctly in a slot and doesn't budge, but can easily be taken out. Observe:
* keep in mind, this was writtin by a guy who has previously admitted to stealing many of his designs