Red/White and Metal/Wood CNC SNESp's

[Life of Brian]

That back plate REALLY looks like a robot face now that it's made of metal...

[dragonhead]

can has video tiems soon?

[Life of Brian]

The following is a very effective way of recreating the dpad, as suggested to me by dragonhead during the building of the prototype CNC SNESp.

The bits of perfboard in the middle helps the dpad rock around and keeps you from pressing all directions at the same time by squishing the dpad too hard:


Itty bitty pieces of perfboard superglued to the underside of the dpad to help even everything out:


I experimented with making my controller mounts from acrylic since I was getting everything laser cut anyway. Works pretty well - just wish I had lined up my screw holes a bit better with the perf board, but that's something that will be easy enough to fix next time:


Using size 6-32 screws, 3/8" long with corresponding nuts:




This next part is important for alignment - lightly superglue the tops of each of the tact switches and lightly place the dpad on top as well aligned as you can make it:


You then apply superglue to the acrylic standoff, line up your dpad in its hole, and press down firmly. The buttons follow much the same process, except I didn't glue them to their tact switches. It worked out better for them to just line up the standoff as well as I could.


Once the glue's dried, admire your handiwork (this is a very important step):


I'm now working on mounting the speakers, headphone jack, power jack, screen, etc.

[Mario]

That is very attractive indeed. That case must have cost a fortune, though, with their cutting rates! How much was it?

[Life of Brian]

Well, I hinted at the metal/wood SNES before so I might as well show what progress I have with that:





Laser cutter kinda charred the MDF sidewalls, but that was expected:




















It's almost identical with the exception that the aluminum plates are mechanically attached with screws rather than being glued to the sidewalls. The thing is as solid as a rock, yet lightweight. The magic of aluminum!

I think I'm going to do that wonderfully tacky/retro thing that Ben does and apply some wood veneer to the sides.

[dragonhead]

nice but ew...you need some better screws... stainless button-head allen screws


also, try a nice cherry veneer on the sides. sand it smooth, apply veneer (google it) and then give it a bunch of coats of automotive clearcoat (spraycan). it will be glossy and durable and classy as hell

[jdmlight]

From one of my other hobbies (speaker building), I've heard that this site has great veneer:
http://www.veneersupplies.com/
They certainly have some pretty looking stuff.

[dragonhead]

mmm tasty http://www.veneersupplies.com/products/ ... -x-45.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[gamax92]

wow... that thing is beautiful.
Not the metal thing though. EW!

i love your work. Its awesome.

[hackmodford]

Wait! a laser engraver can cut mdf? how thick is the mdf? if I can do this too this would solve all my previous woes!

Sent from my HERO200 using Tapatalk

[Life of Brian]

It's quarter inch thick MDF. It comes out great, but kinda smelling like a campfire.

Thank you for the tips on the veneer, guys! I'll look into those links.

[gamax92]

campfires sure smell good. if you have maple wood.
LOL

[hackmodford]

Do you think a laser could cut the half inch stuff?

Sent from my HERO200 using Tapatalk

[gamax92]

Yes. might take some time though.

EDIT: And start a lazer fire.

[Life of Brian]

Do you think a laser could cut the half inch stuff?

No, I don't think you'd want it much thicker than 1/4" for laser cutting. Anything thicker would best be done with a CNC router. Too much laser time + wood = fire

Lots of great info on that veneersupplies.com site and its corresponding joewoodworker.com site. I'm learning a lot!