The Arcade Build - Part II: Priming, Painting and Plexiglass... oh my!

Well, here's where we left off almost two weeks ago:

Since then, Indiana experienced the first weekend of Spring... with a 10" snowstorm!  That, in combination with a late season bout with the flu, means little has been accomplished.  But a few things were done and the cabinet is about ready to be primed and painted.

There were a few other tasks to complete first.  All the countersunk screws needed to be filled and sanded.  The initial coat looked pretty ugly at first.

But a lot of sanding and a few more coats and all the holes are filled, sanded and ready to go.

There were two additional steps before final prep could begin... both of which I had been dreading.  This is the creation, assembly and attachment of the bezels that would surround the monitor and the marquee display.  The monitor would be the easier of the two (and I had pretty much figured out), so I started there.

Here's a picture again of the display bezel in place, but not yet attached, when the monitor was temporarily mounted.  Recall that the plan is that the bezel (and Plexiglass) can be removed for cleaning.  And once removed, the top of the bezel could come off should the Plexiglass become damaged and need to be replaced.

So, the sides would be glued to the bottom and supported with brackets.  The top would be attached to the sides with brackets only and the entire bezel would be attached to the cabinet via brackets.

I didn't trust my skills enough to try to glue the bottom to the sides outside of the cabinet and still have a proper fit... and the ability that it could slide out from the front.  So, I opted to glue it together while in place.

I wanted to assure that no glue would ooze out and end up adhering the bezel to the support blocks or the cabinet sides, so I used a couple of small pieces of thin grocery bag as a protective liner.  The sides were then glued to the bottom and the top snugly put in place temporarily to hold it all together and allowed everything to set overnight.

After everything dried, I verified that the entire bezel would slide out from the cabinet.  So far, so good.  I just needed to add brackets for support on the lower corners, attached the top and mount the whole bezel in the cabinet.

As you can see above, removing four screws from the L-brackets attached to the support block, the entire bezel can be removed from the front side.  In the event the Plexiglass needs replaced, removing two screws from the flat brackets allows the top of the bezel to be removed.  and because the monitor is just slightly larger than the bezel opening and the mounting bar is between the support brackets, the bezel can be removed and reinstalled without removing the monitor (that's the plan, anyway).  One bezel down... one to go.

The marquee bezel would present a whole new set of challenges and was still something I hadn't completely figured out.

If you recall from the previous post, the bezel is made up of four 1/2" x 1" boards.  Each board has a double-wide groove cut in the 1" face for the two sheets of Plexi and the 1/2" face has a groove for t-molding.  This basically left no good way to nail or screw the bezel pieces to the monitor.  Any attempt to nail or screw would have to pass through one or more of the grooves or very likely result in splitting of the wood.  In addition, the top panel of the marquee will be hinged so it can be lifted upward to access the interior lighting and speakers if necessary.  Nothing could be attached to this panel.

I started out by simply gluing the two sides to the cabinet and letting them set overnight.  The top of the bezel needed to be removable anyway (to replace the graphics or Plexi if ever needed), so the idea was to cut the horizontal pieces for a snug fit and hope that the bottom piece could be glued to the sides and bottom of the marquee and that it would all fit and stay together!  I'd really have liked to added some sort of support brackets to the system, but again, there simply wasn't anyplace to safely put even a small screw or nail.

Once everything was in place and the glue had fully cured, it appears that this will work!  The top piece at this point is simply "wedged" between the sides, but eventually will be additionally supported by the Plexi and hopefully will remain in place, yet still be removable.

But before finalizing everything, I really wanted to assure the two pieces of Plexiglass would fit properly in the grooves.  So began my first adventure with cutting acrylic sheets.

The Plexiglass for the top bezel is pretty thin... 0.080".  I opened a brand new acrylic sheet scoring knife and when to work on the first piece.  I scored, and scored and scored... only to have the first attempt break cleanly... except for about 4" in the middle... that naturally broke on the wrong side of the cut where it couldn't be trimmed back!

A second attempt (with even more scoring) broke off at the corner... again on the wrong side.  I'm sure I wasn't snapping the Plexi sharply enough.. or should score from both sides or some other magic trick, but I was down to the point that one more screw up and it would be back to the hardware store for another sheet of acrylic.  I abandoned the scoring and moved to the jigsaw.  

I didn't have a blade specifically designed for plastic (I have since remedied this!), but selected a fine-toothed blade.  This successfully cut the Plexi without cracking it, but it melted it in spots more than it cut it.  It took a little time to clean this up (with an assist to the Dremel).  For the second sheet, I moved to a blade with a little bigger teeth, went slower and it turned out much better.

The Plexiglass successfully fit in the grooves, although it is a pretty snug fit, but the protective plastic was still on the Plexi in the above photo.  This could be removed, but the vinyl graphics would likely add back anything saved (and maybe then some).  Better test that as well!

The vinyl was as easy to cut as the vendor promised.  A box knife with a new blade and a straightedge, and one pass cut it fine.  Now to remove the protective sheets, put it all together and see if it fits...

Ta da!  It's a pretty tight fit to get the two sheets of Plexi and the vinyl into the grooves... and I have to be careful not to put too much downward pressure on the bottom piece, but it all holds together nicely and it should hopefully rarely need to be taken apart.  Except I have to take it apart for the painting!  Other than a final cleaning to assure all dust is removed, it is time to prime! 

Most sites I read regarding painting MDF says to use an oil-based primer to seal the wood, then any paint (water or oil-based) can be used as a topcoat.  However, I hate using oil-based finishes.  And I had already purchased a gallon of water-based primer and had it tinted grey.  The theory is that a water-based primer soaks into the wood and causes grains that cannot be sanded out.  This did cause me pause.  But I went back and spent quite a bit of time looking at my prototype box... also built with MDF, primed with a water-based primer and painted with water-based paint.  I sure couldn't see any grains and was pretty happy with the overall finish, so I'm opting to stick with my water-based primer and avoid the cleanup hassles of oil-based.  I sure hope I don't come to regret it!

Well, the primer is down.  I think it looks fine and I don't see any of the supposed "grain" or raised areas, so I'm glad I stuck with the water-based option.  Now, the white and black have to be applied.

The white goes inside the "light box" and on the bottom of the top panel to better reflect the light behind the marquee.  Everything else gets flat black.  I'm not painting the inside of the cabinet, but will need to overlap anyplace a board will be placed so the unpainted interior does not show through.

While the final coat dried, time to move on to more Plexiglass work.  The marquee Plexi is cut, but the control panel overlay and the display Plexi still needs to be cut.

As I mentioned, I picked up a Plexiglass saw blade for the jigsaw to try to avoid the mistakes made on the marquee.  But I also know that I struggle to maintain a perfect line with the jigsaw, which will be critical here.  I opted to take time to create a "jig" for the jigsaw.

I used two 1/2" spare board to create a narrow gap across my cut line.  This was mostly to support the Plexi and would also keep the jigsaw from scraping across the surface.  I then added 3/4" rails for each side of the jigsaw.  Ideally, if I carefully laid everything out, all I would need to do is slowly move the saw forward and the rails would keep everything in line.

This, along with the proper blade, worked out really well!  As long as I didn't move too fast and force the blade and paused every so often to let the blade cool, I ended up with a nice, smooth, straight cut with no splintering and no melting.  In fact, I'd use this same technique on all the remaining Plexiglass cuts and even cut a new marquee panel to replace the one that I had melted and then scuffed all up trying to remove the melted portions.

Now, it was the part I was really worried about... drilling the holes in the Plexi for the control panel.  The player buttons are pretty close together, with not much Plexi between them, so it would be tough not to develop a crack between any of them.  Then there was the dreaded 3 1/2" hole for the trackball that would have to be cut with a hole saw.  I'd save that for last!

I began by clamping the Plexi between the control panel and a scrap piece of MDF.  Then, using the same spade bit that created the holes in the panel, a very small starting mark was made in the exact center of each hole.  A very small titanium drill bit was used to create a pilot hole.

As per many recommendations I saw on the web, a step down drill bit was recommended for cutting holes in Plexiglass.  This particular bit was a max of 1 1/8", the same size as all the button holes, so I could drill all the way through.  The only exception were the holes for the two joysticks, which were only 1".  I'd have to stop the step down bit at the 1" mark for those.

Moving very slowly with a medium speed and letting the bit do the work, I drilled out each hole, using a board to support both sides of each hole during drilling.

Success... and no splitting or cracking between the closely placed player buttons!  But now there was no longer delaying that big center hole!  If I screwed this up, it was back to the beginning, starting with a fresh sheet of Plexiglass, cutting it, etc.

Again, the Plexi was clamped between the control panel and a scrap piece of wood.  The hole saw was placed exactly in the center of the existing control panel hole and the Plexi was just slightly scored to mark the center.  This was followed by a small pilot hole and then the step down bit to create a hole just large enough for the hole saw bit to fit.  I squirted a little WD-40 on the saw blade to help avoid overheating.  Then I slowly started drilling, stopping often to check the progress and to assure the teeth didn't get too hot and started melting the plastic.  Once I saw wood shavings from the scrap board underneath, I stopped and was able to pop the center Plexi out of the hole.

Whew!  Glad that step is behind me and I didn't have to start over.  Everything lines up nicely and it shouldn't take anymore work for this part.  I still had to cut the Plexi for the display overlay, but this was a simple two-cut process and I used the same "jig" process and got it right on the first try!

By now, my final black topcoat had fully dried.  I liked the look and was happy with it... except for one thing.  The flat black was extremely susceptible to scuffs.  Just dragging a knuckle across the surface left a smudge.  Sigh!  I liked the flat black look, but if every time the cabinet was touched it left a smudge mark, this wasn't going to cut it.  I really didn't want to apply a polyurethane topcoat, but didn't see that I had a choice.  Off to the hardware store, again!

I again selected a water-based polyurethane with a satin finish.  Now, every instruction and video says to brush or wipe on the polyurethane... do not roll it on.  Well, guess what.  I rolled it on!  I started with the top board of the marquee (where mistakes wouldn't be seen) and started with a brush.  I just didn't like the brush strokes that were invariably left behind... even after two coats.  So, I tried a 6" mini roller and was much happier with the results.  I tried a couple of other lower visibility areas with the roller and let them dry.  I liked the rolled look much better and ended up using it on the entire cabinet.  It took two coats, but I think I like the end result even better than the flat black (there is just a slight sheen) and it no longer scuffs with the slightest touch.

While I was waiting on the polyurethane to dry between coats, I opted to tackle a couple of other items.

I'd been dying to see the marquee assembled and back lit, so I went ahead and wired and mounted the lighting.  These are actually LEDs instead of true fluorescent lights, so hopefully they will last a long time and be bright enough.

Plenty bright!  And no, those aren't downlights shining on the control panel, but instead the holes for the speakers.  I figured if I went ahead and wired and mounted the speakers, I could close up the marquee area and wouldn't need to access it again unless I needed to replace the lights or the marquee/Plexi somewhere down the road.

 The edges were covered with electrical tape just to prevent any light seepage below and then speaker grills were added underneath. 

One final step before calling it a weekend... to cut the control panel overlay graphics.

This took a little time to figure out the best technique, but it was a lot less nerve-wrecking than cutting the Plexiglass!  After assuring everything once again, the edges were trimmed.  It was then time to clean up and get ready to return to work on Monday.

Here she is, all put together!  The t-molding still needs to be installed on the edges, around the control panel and marquee, but that can wait.  It's finally time to move the cabinet to its home in the basement.  The t-molding can be installed there where it is warmer and the plastic will be more flexible.  Then the real fun begins... wiring and programming!  Oh yeah... there's still the back door.  It's cut and painted, but I won't put in on until the very end when all internal work is complete.

Coming next:  Wiring and internal components.