Completed Fixed angle 32" monitor stand (Pinball) & Front full width controller box

[sswilson]

Heh.... not sure how well this is going to turn out (I'm not a carpenter), or how much content I'll end up posting, but we'll see how it goes.....

While I'm not ready to commit to building a full cabinet for pinball, my current setup (prime cables gas spring monitor mount) + wall mount for secondary monitor is a bit fiddly, won't allow me to place the playscreen exactly where I want it, has to be mounted on an adjacent desk surface (if not it shakes all over the place during play), and honestly just has way more moving parts than it needs.

With that in mind I'm going to try to make a wooden fixed angle easel "mount" that will hold the monitor on my desktop (table).

I measured the angle I was using with the current adjustable stand and came up with 50 deg for optimum play surface on desk/table while still leaving enough room for my controller in front of the monitor.

Basically what I'm looking at is two right angle 50° triangles joined slightly wider than the monitor to hold it.

edit: I'm going to try to strikethrough any reference to 50 deg.... it should have been either 2X 45 deg, or 1X 50 + 1X40. Now that I've measured it after the fact, those angles naturally shimmed up pretty close to 45 deg for each on their own.

Summary Links:

Breakdown of parts list (Including a link to the shim files I used):

Completed - Fixed angle 32" monitor stand (Pinball) & Front full width controller box

These come in really hand for joinery. https://www.homedepot.ca/product/kreg-tool-company-k4-pocket-hole-jig-with-drill-driver-bits/1000709335 Shiny!!!! I've got their crown moulding jig. I doubt I'd have kept my sanity without it.... :)

hardwarecanucks.com

Final build pics

Completed - Fixed angle 32" monitor stand (Pinball) & Front full width controller box

These come in really hand for joinery. https://www.homedepot.ca/product/kreg-tool-company-k4-pocket-hole-jig-with-drill-driver-bits/1000709335 Shiny!!!! I've got their crown moulding jig. I doubt I'd have kept my sanity without it.... :)

hardwarecanucks.com

Summary:

Completed - Fixed angle 32" monitor stand (Pinball) & Front full width controller box

love that vesa adapter. Great ingenuity SSW!

hardwarecanucks.com

Completed Pic....



Front Controller addition:

Completed - Fixed angle 32" monitor stand (Pinball) & Front full width controller box

I like the keyboard tray idea as a controller bonus point I think for think for that. I had figured you were trying to mount something to it, but hadn't figured that you were turning it into a hideable controller. Those clear clips I used to mount nightlights in the girl's rooms. Bought lights...

hardwarecanucks.com

Heh... and near as I can tell, that's all for now.

 

[sswilson]

My Customized Parametric Angle Brackets 50degX60 by sswilson

Stock settings w/ 50deg and 60mm wide Customized version of https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1306130 Created with Customizer! https://www.thingiverse.com/apps/customizer/run?thing_id=1306130

www.thingiverse.com

90 Degree Angle Brackets by Thinkingmore

Customized version of http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1306130 Created with Customizer! http://www.thingiverse.com/apps/customizer/run?thing_id=1306130

www.thingiverse.com

That's the 3D printed portion......

 

[clshades]

Heh.... not sure how well this is going to turn out (I'm not a carpenter), or how much content I'll end up posting, but we'll see how it goes.....

While I'm not ready to commit to building a full cabinet for pinball, my current setup (prime cables gas spring monitor mount) + wall mount for secondary monitor is a bit fiddly, won't allow me to place the playscreen exactly where I want it, has to be mounted on an adjacent desk surface (if not it shakes all over the place during play), and honestly just has way more moving parts than it needs.

With that in mind I'm going to try to make a wooden fixed angle easel "mount" that will hold the monitor on my desktop (table).

I measured the angle I was using with the current adjustable stand and came up with 50 deg for optimum play surface on desk/table while still leaving enough room for my controller in front of the monitor.

Basically what I'm looking at is two right angle 50° triangles joined slightly wider than the monitor to hold it.

Following.
I'd like to know what the end costs are because I'd love to build one too. My son loves pinball, and this would be an option for me.

 

[sswilson]

Following.
I'd like to know what the end costs are because I'd love to build one too. My son loves pinball, and this would be an option for me.

Heh... now you're making me nervous... This is more than likely going to be a lot closer to a Red Green build than something you want to take tips from....

Biggest expense is going to be the monitor. A 27" 1080p IPS (for viewing angles) is sufficient, but damn there's a big difference when you bump up to a 32" QHD (1440) and I'm really happy I spent the extra $150 to upgrade. There's also no way around the fact that the monitor really works best as a dedicated pinball fixture. Switching over between landscape and portrait as well as adjusting so that it's just right is a pain in the arse.

Second issue is the controller.... The one I printed up is a decent size for getting a real pinball feel, but unfortunately there don't appear to be any decent sized commercially available arcade controllers out there with side flippers for pinball.

As far as the rest of it goes.... I'm printing off angle brackets, but they aren't absolutely necessary. I'm using them more as a guide, and will need to do some filing to get the angles on the wood even close let alone completely flush. The wood I'm using is leftover from a bunk bed set that we used as twin beds instead of stacking them, and the hardware is just general nuts, bolts, and washers.

 

[sswilson]

Cutting wood... the monitor is 27"(ish) tall so I went with 30" for the side support braces and just stuck with 30" for the right angle bottom/rear pieces that can be trimmed afterwards (I also don't mind a little extra sticking out the back for stability). Width wise the monitor was a little under 17" so I went with 23" for the front/rear which accounts for the width of the wood on either side.



First part of the 50 deg bracing (should be 45 deg for both or 50 deg + 40 deg) while I wait for the 90 deg brackets to print. They're not flush by any means, but they're secured with 2 screws on one side and 2 machine screws/bolts on the other as well as a large countersunk wood screw securing the two pieces of wood together.



Quick shot of the 90 deg brackets.



Quick shot of the 50 deg bracket, although this one cracked on me so I'm currently printing off a replacement and using 100% infill. (It cracked because I should have been using either 50 + 40 or two 45 deg angle brackets)

Started raining outside and it's close to supper time so I'm calling it quits for the moment.....

 

[danmitch1]

..

 

[sswilson]

Yeah, they're PLA. If I have to do them again I'll have to remember that higher nozzle temps tend to strengthen a print and bump up to 205 from my standard 200.

As far as the feedback goes... apparently the arcade pinball machines scheduled for release will have a haptic response element to them. That said... when I'm in the middle of a game I don't need any more external input to convince me that I'm not playing a real machine.... at least 2 or 3 times during each play session I catch myself "nudging" the controller as if it were a proper pinball cabinet....

 

[JD]

I think you might as well just commit to it and build a cabinet, my friend did it and it turned out decently. I wouldn't call him a woodworker either, but he's had enough practice now that he's pretty good at it.

 

[sswilson]

I've got the main side braces completed (in spite of the rain... ).



I'm not completely sure how big of a help the 50 deg brackets were. I probably would have been better off just going wood to wood, but at least this way gave me the added strength of 4 extra screws/bolts per joint.



I took a fit and printed off an extra set of the 90 deg brackets for added strength and bi-directional support. These aren't secured to the bottom yet in this image but that's been done using countersunk 3/4" #10 wood screws, and I even took the time to drill a pilot hole for them. (Did I mention that I'm not a carpenter??? ).



Here's where I started to get even more creative than normal.... it was damn mean impossible to get a straight angle on the screws to hold the 50 deg bracket so the bracket isn't exactly flush with the pre-cut angle on the wood and thus doesn't quite mate up..... I ended up adding some strategically placed gel tape which filled the gap(s) well enough to make it reasonably flush. EDIT: (The reason I had to shim it up was that I should have been using either 2X 45 deg, or 1X50 and 1X 40).







And lastly.... I wanted another mechanical (screw) connection between the two pieces of wood at the 50 deg joint so I used a spade bit to eyeball the angled "hole" for that.

I'm sure the carpenters out there cringe at the idea of eyeballing something like that... but it seems to have worked fine. (And again... I actually went so far as to drill a pilot hole for that screw... ).

Looks like it's supposed to clear up this afternoon so once I've got lunch down I'll start looking at joining this stuff together.

 

[sswilson]

Clamps? Clamps???? We don't need no stinking Clamps!!!!!



Frame is pretty much done. There are a couple of support pieces that'll fit under those cross"beams" but besides that, all that's left are the inside supports for the monitor.

edit: and now that I'm looking at it, I'm going to end up putting another crossbrace midway up the back. (I ran out of spare wood and had to run to the hardware store to buy a couple of pieces of 3X1" pine.).

And yeah... if I built a small base for it and closed up the sides with plywood, I'd have an upright arcade console.