Slot cut and Chamfer for the Control Panel

I'm going to wrap a piece of green t-molding around the control panel and the Lexan protective cover. This will require me to shift the slot I cut into the side of the CP up 1/8" (to make up for the extra thickness of the 1/8" Lexan). Unfortunately, this will also leave a 1/8" wood gap below the t-molding. To hide this, I'll be using a Chamfer router bit to cut an angle into the wood (see image). Since the CP will be painted black, this should make the underside of the CP less visible.

The slot for the t-molding will also have to shift up 1/8" inch so it will now be cut 1/2" from the bottom of the wood using the 1/16" slot cutter bit.

Control Panel design

I'm finishing up the control panel which has been my biggest holdup on this project - it's got a lot of woodworking involved, including some special routing and drilling. Here's a draft image for the button layout and the joysticks.

Also, I'm posting two images for the control panel overlay - these aren't 100% and I'm not even sure one of them will be the final overlay graphic, but I think you'll get the idea. The green trackball will light up and will be inside the central saucer.

Back to work...

Today I purchased a sheet of 24" x 48" Lexan... this will sit over the control panel and (hopefully) protect the graphics underneath it. I'll have about 12" of width on the Lexan as waste, but I can use this to test my drilling skills through this material.

I was told that Lexan will get scratched over time - to prevent this, they add about a US$60 fee to make it "scratch resistant" - not buying it. It just makes it more difficult to scratch, but not scratch-proof. Considering this 24x48 piece cost me about $30 I can afford to buy 2 more pieces over the years if I have to and just redrill the holes.

I also bought a great little router bit that will help me cut out the recesses for the joysticks and trackball mount plate (so they mount flush with the wood). I'm hoping to get started on my control panel this weekend and get this project finished by end of summer. I got sidetracked by a little 1 year old boy who has been learning to crawl, then walk, and now talk - totally worth shelving this project for a few months or more. But ready to get back to it...