I have not done a whole lot this weekend as I have been under the oppressive forces of a cold. OK, that was a little dramatic. It is time to make the monitor brace. This weekend I got a 96 inch long piece of 1 inch heavy aluminum corner bracing. Since my monitor is going to be a vertical set up, I can not just mount it on a shelf like many builders are doing. After a lot of thinking about it, and spending a lot of time wandering around Home Depot (Oh darn) This is the solution I came up with. I would make a brace similar to the TAITO cabs. They used wood bolted at the bottom and top of the monitor and bolt that to the sides of the cabinet using the bottom bolts as a fulcrum. I will do the same with aluminum as I like the strength and look of it. I cut it into 2 – 25 in and 2 – 20.5 in pieces. I drilled 1/4 in holes in the ends and put it together with 1/4 – 3/4 in long bolts. This was a great place for my son to help. He is always watching and asking if he can help. It would not be cool to just hand him the Sawzall and say here ya go kid, so, he got to put the frame together. I did the final tightening (just for safety sake). I measured the bolt holes on the monitor, put holes at 8 1/8in. in from the edges, and then bolted the monitor on. A little nervous, I grabbed the sides and lifted up the brace. It was totally solid. Now I have to put four carriage bolts through the sides of my cab. Two bolts will be for the bottom of the brace and two more for the top. The hard part right now is trying to figure out what angle I want the monitor at. I have to figure in bezel, and glass height into the angle. I am scared to death about drilling into the side of this thing and I only want to put 4 holes in the side of my cab 1 time. It seems like the more you do, and finally get right, that the fear of some great catastrophe seems to increase.

I love the smell of sawdust in the morning. It smells like…cabinet making.
I have form!!! I have glued the base and top sections into the sides. It looks like a real arcade cabinet cab is actually starting to take shape. I am more inspired than ever. I’m finding that there are no true measurements any more. It is now measurements like 5/16’s not 1/4 or 1/2. Once you have enough things that are just a smidge too long or short, it adds up over time. I glued on the rails for the kick plate this morning. I also glued a guide on the actual kick plate itself. Tomorrow morning I will glue the kick plate to the cab. My only issue is that the left side of the kick plate is a smidge above the Control panel shelf while the right side is just under. Looks like I will need to get crafty with the router.

I put in the top channel for the second side. I then routed a 1/2 in. curve (bevel radius) on the back and bottoms of both sides. On the first side, when I got to where the channel was, the router dipped into the channel creating a lovely crater. I just stood there and stared at it for a while. But, as I am learning, wood putty is your friend. I filled the gap with wood putty and set it aside to dry. I cut out the kick plate and beveled the bottom of the piece and made some side braces for later in the build. These were rounded it as well. I love the router.