Posted by Hubster on January 11, 2002 at 09:38:11:
In Reply to: Metal Control Panels... posted by Nate Thompson on January 10, 2002 at 21:13:01:
DO NOT try brazing. I tried filling the holes with washers that where just a little bit smaller than the holes and then braze around it. The control panel warped badly! I had to trash the whole control panel. The heat from the brazing was way too much for metal. Maybe arc wielding will yeild better results, don't know.
I cut a big rectangle out of the top of the control panel, (rotozip with a metal cutting wheel attachment) leaving about 2 inches all the way around edges. Then I bolted 3/4 inch wood to the top of the panel and put all of the controls into the wood. To finish it off I added a bootleg marquee over the wood.
(is that the right term for when an operator makes his own marquee of a game but with totally different art? no copyright, no arcade company name.) (p.s. I have a ton of these for sale, e-mail me if interested)
The marquees art is on the under side and it is made out of plex-glass, so I hit 2 bird with 1 marquee.
On my next control panel (swapable) I am not going to use wood on top. I am going to cut out as little metal as possible for the controls and then put the marquee on top. I think it will look much better.
(If you need pics e-mail me and I will send you some)
Hubster
: I was wondering... is there a way to fill holes in already drilled into a metal control panel? I like the size/shape of the CP that came with my cabinet, but its current button configuration doesn't lend itself to adding 3 additional buttons per player in any standard layout. I'm assuming to have a new one fabricated would cost a couple hundred bucks... anyone have any ideas on if it is possible to 1.) fill some of the existing holes, and 2.) redrill new ones in the correct configuration?
: Thanks for any ideas,