Tuesday 10 July 2012

The Vec-Cab has been on a diet


The carpenter had taken the cabinet back with him in his van so he could work on it in his workshop. Today he came back to return it! The photo shows the cabinet after it has been on its diet and having just entered the house (I also put a Vectrex inside leaning temporarily on a peice of wood behind it and supported by the cabinet). The cabinet is now just 41 cm’s wide (instead of the original 56 cm). As you can see from the photo the control panel which originally had dual controls has had its right side cut off, thus leaving only one joystick.



The hole under the control panel is for the coin mechanism panel. This hole originally  had around 6.5 cm of wood surface on each side.  I did have a fear that cutting the sides of the wood so close to the hole would reduce the panel’s strength. However, it seems to be fairly sturdy.

The carpenter did complain about the cutting of the cabinet saying that the chip wood was very brittle and it was very difficult to make a clean cut. Close inspection does show a rather serrated edge of the cut wood and I do wonder what tooth size he was using on his jig saw blade. Fortunately, the cut wood with its serrated edges/sides is sandwiched between the two side panels so it is not a big problem. I could probably fill the uneven edges with black sealant afterwards. 

The carpenter also added a new wooden box to the base. This is done in MDF and does not look to be that strong as he has only used glue to join the panels. This is something I will replace with my own design. Likewise the wooden bezel has also been cut from MDF. Unfortunately, the edges do not seem that straight. Is this carpenter really a carpenter :O ? I will replace the bezel he has made too. 

On the whole though the cabinet  proportions with respect to the Vectrex screen don't look out of place.

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