OK, get ready for a long entry.  I had originally planned for this to be a 4 or 5 part series but it's been kicked into high gear to get it complete by the time the RFGen crew descends upon me for the RetroWorld Expo.   A lot of details to go over, a lot of assembly, a lot of art.  Time to settle down for the never ending control panel assembly.



When last we left off, I had chosen parts, settled on a button layout, and started designing my template, which would produce the final Control Panel.  There have been a couple minor changes since that article and the template is nearly complete.  This is where we last left off:


This template was generously sent to me by jp335i on Klov.  I used it as a baseline to create my control panel.  I started by cutting 2 pieces of 3/4" material to the exact size of the control panel.  One piece cabinet grade Maple plywood which will become the final control panel, and another, cheaper piece of 1/2" regular plywood which I will use to create the template.  Why create a template?  You really don't have to, I just wanted to since it's relatively easy and if I wanted to duplicate the control panel for any reason, I don't have to disassemble my populated CP to do it.  I clamped the baseline template to my blank template and traced the lines for the trackball recess, player 1 and 2 start buttons, and the joystick hole locations.  Once I re-measured and made sure I was happy with my markings, I got ready to drill.

You CAN use a hole saw for this, but they aren't really designed to make clean holes, they are designed to make a hole and who cares if the edges look sloppy.  That is not what I want, I want clean so I purchased a 1 1/8" Forstner Bit for about $10.  By the way, 1 1/8" is the standard button and joystick hole size for all of the parts I bought.  Forstner bits don't just use jagged teeth to cut into the material, they have scrapers that cleanly bore out all of the material.  You have to be careful and go a little slower than you are used to, but you will get VERY clean cuts.


There is a lot of material to bore out, so be prepared to clean the CP shavings frequently.  If you have access to a drill press, use it so that your cuts will be perfectly vertical.  If you don't have access to a drill press, don't sweat it.  Use a drill that has some sort of leveling mechanism and stay as true as possible.  I know I sound like a broken record, but seriously, GO SLOWLY.  I also recommend clamping a piece of scrapwood underneath your CP or template.  More on that later...

So here we are, all of my holes are  cut and you can see the modifications I made since the baseline template.


This is what happens to the underside if you don't have a piece of scrap under your wood when you cut a hole:


And this is what happens to the underside when you DO use the bottom scrap:


I have added buttons next to player 1 and player 2 for player 1 and 2 coins/credits, since this machine will have MAME on it.  I will also be wiring the coin refund switches to add credits in MAME when pressed.  I also added a 7th button for both players "Neo Geo" style.  The top center button is for a spinner, which will be added at a later date.  The large irregular shape in the center is the cutout for the trackball.  The trackball will come out of the top of the control panel via a 3 1/2" circular hole.  The reason I need the cutout in the shape of the trackball housing is because I want to countersink it so that the trackball sticks up farther from the top of the control panel.

I don't own a router, so I borrowed one from a friend.  I will be using 2 bits, the flush cut or flush trim bit and a straight bit.  The flush cut bit has a bearing on it that is exactly as long as the cutting edge.  This way, we can move the router along a template of jig, and replicate the cut exactly.  The straight bit is what I will be using for the areas that I plan to counter sink.  I have 3 areas to counter sink with the router:

1-The underside of the CP for the trackball housing;
2-The underside of the CP for the Joystick housing; and
3-The top of the CP for the joystick dust ring.

(I'm also counter sinking the T-Nuts, but that won't require a router, just a spade bit)

Let's start with the trackball housing.

I thought at this point that the template was complete, but I got to thinking that I might like to have my joysticks raised up just a little bit, so I decided to recess the underside of the panel where the joysticks would mount.  To help me achieve a good result, I bought a Joystick mounting template for $3 from Twisted Quarter (which has not shown up yet, and will be in the next article).  You could probably make one of these pretty easily, but come on, $3.  When it arrives, I will line up the joystick hole with the hole on the template and trace the template shape.  Then, I will cut out the template shape with a jigsaw.  This way, my template can be used to route out the underside of the CP for the joystick mount and I can just put the mounting guide in the hole to mark the exact spot for the joystick hole.

OK, I think the template is done.  I thought about adding a couple of buttons next to the spinner, but since the spinner is a later addition, I can do it all at once later.  Now it's time to cut the shapes from my template into what will become the final CP.  I was able to find a buddy with a drill press, so I brought my hole saw and forstner bit and cut all of my button, joystick, spinner, and trackball holes.  Here is the complete and final board:


That's it for now.  In the final entry, I will route the underside of the CP for the joysticks and the trackball, cut the lexan button holes, apply the artwork, populate the panel, and install it in the machine.  Stay tuned....

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