Monitor MOD

[Spacehonkey]

Yeah your probably right about using 6 joints. I would be able to create a smoother curve if I placed one every 3-4 inches.

I was going to put about 15-20 lbs of weight in the base to help with the weight of the LCD. Since I'm going to use bondo to make it look like the pelvic bone was dug out of the ground like a fossil I can cover the weight with bondo and create more of a flat stable bottom. Or if the joints work go enough then curve the spine forward to have the pelvic bone rest right below if not a little forward of the screen to help balance out the weight of the LCD.

[Spacehonkey]

yes the sketchup drawing is great, I havent had time to mess with it. My idea to hide your LEDs is to make a T handle with a nub of acrylic stock on the end so you can use acrylic cement and glue it to the frame in front of the LED. (does that make sense to anyone?)I'll also thread that nub so the T handle screws off in case you have to transport this monitor to a LAN party or sumthin.

I measured the acrylic panels thinkness, it's 3/16 inches thick. I thought you should know this to help you out when you put the threads on the T-handle. I like the whole idea of being able to unscrew the T-handle off if I ever need to move the monitor around. I'll wait to drill the holes until I get the handles so I don't make the mistake of drilling to big of a hole.

[Crimson Sky]

here is what I thought you meant--the black acrylic nub hides the end of the LED that is inserted into the clear edge-lighted frame. am I far off?

[Spacehonkey]

Well I never thought about using a black acrylic nub. I was just thinking about permitly attaching the two handles directly to the panel over the LED. I never thought about the problems that would cause whenever I tried to transport the monitor around. I see the benefits of using the black nub now and would like to use them. The nub would be attached to the monitor panel and the T-handle will screw into the nub so I could remove it if necessary. The only question I have is when you build the other four T-handles will they have a black nub on them as well? I would just like all six handles to be identical.

Change of topic - How did you get the red glow effect on the square panel in SketchUp?

[Crimson Sky]

Well I never thought about using a black acrylic nub. I was just thinking about permitly attaching the two handles directly to the panel over the LED. I never thought about the problems that would cause whenever I tried to transport the monitor around. I see the benefits of using the black nub now and would like to use them. The nub would be attached to the monitor panel and the T-handle will screw into the nub so I could remove it if necessary. The only question I have is when you build the other four T-handles will they have a black nub on them as well? I would just like all six handles to be identical.

Change of topic - How did you get the red glow effect on the square panel in SketchUp?

I guess I could make acrylic washers that match the LED nubs for the ends of tyhe T Handles. sure just give me MORE WORK

i did the glow in photoshop.

[Spacehonkey]

I guess I could make acrylic washers that match the LED nubs for the ends of tyhe T Handles. sure just give me MORE WORK

i did the glow in photoshop.

Well you know the old saying give them an inch and they'll ask for a yard :p I'll take whatever you can give me.

[Crimson Sky]

I need to find a good deal on HSS (high speed steel) milling cutters. I saw some on amazon, I'll have to get those soon.

[Spacehonkey]

That's cool. Well I can't really go any further with the backbone until I get the joints that Crimson Sky is lucky making for me. That don't mean the project is on hold though. I've been playing around with the skull grills for the rear speakers. Since I really like the chrome look I don't think I'm going to dull it up. Since I'm not going to dull the chrome up I'm not going to flip the right grill around so that one skull is facing left and the other is facing right like I originally wanted because the flipped one won't have the same rounded edges like the left one does and that just won't look right to me. So the grills will both be facing to the left (does that make sense for some reason my description seems to be confusing me). Also with the added thickness of the the grill and the mess the skull thumbscrews are not long enough to secure to the brackets I've made. So I'll either have to use boring old alan screws or I'm going to have to make new brackets slightly altered so the skull thumbscrews will work. The bad news is I'm not sure when I'll have another chance to get into the metal shop at work and make new ones. The four posts that are on the grill that you're suppose to use to secure it to a fan I want to bend back about 120 degrees to make them out of sight and also help secure the grill to the speaker. Since I've never played around with chrome parts before. I have a question.

If I try and bend them back will that crack or chip the chrome?

[b4i7]

I need to find a good deal on HSS (high speed steel) milling cutters. I saw some on amazon, I'll have to get those soon.

most of the tools my shop ordered...we ordered from a MCS catalog...i think is the name of the company

[Spacehonkey]

One of my buddies at work made a cool suggestion for my monitor. He suggested instead of using a acrylic panel over the LCD screen I should use a 2 way mirror. I did some research just now and found a good example of what it'll look like on this LINK. I haven't been able to get onto E-bay since I'm at work but I was told that there are some for sale for cheap. Since I've run into a brick wall with the whole skull hologram I think this would be a great substitute.