Scratch Build – In Progress Project Fight Box - July 12th, working with acrylic!

modding or nhl..

nhl.. would win with me to.... maybe.. depends on teams

 

Ill give you a bit of advice mate with this.

Take the plexi put it on top and do a rough cut.

Drill in the Holes on the MDF / Wood for the Buttons and joy stick with the plexi underneath clamped on.

Once this is done add the buttons and this will keep the plex in place. Turn it over then Route around the plexi while it is attached to the wood and this will give you a smooth finish on the plexi and match up perfectly your wood.

Undo the buttons and then remove the plexi then lightly sand it down.

Don't forget to keep the Protective layer on untill you finished.

As for the scratch using some Tooth paste will remove that mark but if its deep do it again.

 

Ahh... thanks for that tip mayhem... not sure how imma place the plexi, thought I would either fit it snug and flush, or above and with around half an inch around it before the edges... I still haven't done button placement or even thought of it, though I do have the measurements and I just really need to mark them, and find a circle bit to cut it with... The edges I thought turned out well with the air tool followed by hand sanding, lot faster than a file, though it does melt a bit if you stay on one area too long... It was a learning experience to say the least

 

Finally made some progress... According to coinslag, the buttons I planned on using are just under 30mm from side to side, so I went ahead, printed out a high resolution button layout, and re-cut my acrylic panel and did the botton holes. I used a step drill bit (the ones that start skinny and get larger) to get relatively close, 30mm seemed large so I went a bit smaller, then I just did the same thing on the back side to make the hole straight on the inside walls. I think it went rather well, though while sanding I did manage to mess up the acrylic a little... Is there any way to fill small holes with say automotive car wax? They really aren't deep, it was with 1000 grit wet while I was trying to round the lip a little so it wasn't so hard feeling.

Anywho, camera was dead at work, so charged it up and only have the after shots!









Along with this progress, I think I've decided to make my box out of fibreglass, at work some new sound guys have just moved in (http://www.uvisions.ca/about_uv.html) and we were watching them make a custom fibreglass piece for the monster energy drink company coach bus, and my brother said we could easily do it as we have the materials, and it's not too difficult if you do it right. Think I will hit up the home depot some time this week to get some wood, and this gives me some new ideas, who needs blocky corners when you can make them round! WOO!!!

 

Looks good. I'd worry a bit cutting holes without the parts in hand. Can't trust everything you read on the internet...

I don't see the holes you want to fill. Only thing I could think of like putty would be mixing the shavings of the acrylic that you cut out, and some acrylic cement, so that it's thicker.

But really, I see no problems. If it's just a scratch you want out (sounds like it since you said it happened with 1000grit) you can use novus 3 stage polish stuff. they have stage 1 that is rougher, then 2 (medium), then 1 which is polish. I've also heard of toothpaste (non gel kind) but haven't used it personally.

 

They are very hard to see in the pictures, but in real life they are pretty visible, though again it was 1000 grit sandpaper so hopefully its not too bad. I'll have to try out some polish or toothpaste Once I get paid I'm going to grab some wood to make my frame for the fibreglass... Soo excited!