Laser cut or CNC metal control panel source needed

[badweasel]

I'm trying to find a reasonably priced source to have my control panels made.  I have the plans done in Illustrator and can supply eps or pdf files (probably other formats as well).  I need 3 panels.  Two for the ends of the cocktail table which are 15" finished, and one for the side panel which is 21" finished.  I went to a local machine shop and found that the 80's are still alive and well.  It was like stepping in a time machine.  Guys chain smoking at their desks in a closed office.  But I digress.  Anyway they quoted me over a grand and would deliver in 6 weeks. They were going to do it all by hand and said it was mostly labor costs.  So that's out.

I live in the east valley of Phoenix AZ.  I've reached out to a couple of cnc / laser places I've found online but havne't head back yet.

Anyone have a good source or do it themselves?  Even if I can just get the cut pieces and fold / roll them myself that would be a start. Although I've never done that kind of metal work and might botch it.

My next question is what kind of metal and how thick should I go to be mostly dent resistent for typical arcade play?

[JDFan]

Are those dimensions set in stone ??

Reason being you can get blank midway panels for $23 + $12 shipping that are 23 inches ( http://www.ebay.com/itm/MIDWAY-UR-CONTROL-PANEL-BLANK-MULTICADE-DRILL-YOUR-OWN-HOLES-/380599924854?hash=item589d85f876:g:xjAAAOSwGIRXZz4N )

And should be fairly easy to cut down the size with a metal jig saw/circular saw blade and then sand the edges !

They also have a set of 11" midway setup cocktail panels with cuts for joystick 2 buttons and 2 small buttons for start buttons for $40 +$15 shipping a pair ( http://www.ebay.com/itm/MULTICADE-11-COCKCTAIL-CONTROL-PANELS-FOR-MIDWAY-STYLE-CABINETS-/361332560446?hash=item542119523e:g:uhMAAMXQTgZRAwZ2 )

Note Both are listings for TwistedQuarter from Ebay - so might combine shipping if you contact them (or they might be able to make the ones you want if those will not work.)

[yotsuya]

I've rolled my own, but you need a good brake. I've made the Midway style ones myself. I've got access to a metal shop. And I'm in Tempe.

[badweasel]

Unfortunately the sizes are set in stone.  I already have the cocktail table built.  It came with wooden control panels.  But since I'm adding a trackball I'm going to swap that out for metal.  And at the same time I can then widen the end panels by 3", which is really necessary to fit all of my controls in.  My plan is to keep the wooden ends of the panels and screw in my new control panel plate.

I've rolled my own, but you need a good brake. I've made the Midway style ones myself. I've got access to a metal shop. And I'm in Tempe.

 

PM me and I'll send you my contact info.  I found a place that can water jet cut the parts for a reasonable price, although I haven't found out what the shipping cost is yet.  Then "all we'd have to do" is bend them into shape.  I put that in quotes becase I got no idea how hard this is.  I designed it to have the front edge roll have some radius to it.  If necessary to reduce cost I could change that to just be a normal bend.

I'm still looking for what thickness of steel I should use to withstand a normal amount of arcade abuse.

[yotsuya]

Unfortunately the sizes are set in stone.  I already have the cocktail table built.  It came with wooden control panels.  But since I'm adding a trackball I'm going to swap that out for metal.  And at the same time I can then widen the end panels by 3", which is really necessary to fit all of my controls in.  My plan is to keep the wooden ends of the panels and screw in my new control panel plate.

I've rolled my own, but you need a good brake. I've made the Midway style ones myself. I've got access to a metal shop. And I'm in Tempe.

 

PM me and I'll send you my contact info.  I found a place that can water jet cut the parts for a reasonable price, although I haven't found out what the shipping cost is yet.  Then "all we'd have to do" is bend them into shape.  I put that in quotes becase I got no idea how hard this is.  I designed it to have the front edge roll have some radius to it.  If necessary to reduce cost I could change that to just be a normal bend.

I'm still looking for what thickness of steel I should use to withstand a normal amount of arcade abuse.

The sheet we use is 16GA.

PM me a link to your .ai files and I'll see what I can do. They're plasma cut, not waterjet, so you need to grind off the slag from the edges, but I made Midway CPs for my cocktail with no issues.

[badweasel]

The sheet we use is 16GA.

PM me a link to your .ai files and I'll see what I can do. They're plasma cut, not waterjet, so you need to grind off the slag from the edges, but I made Midway CPs for my cocktail with no issues.

Thanks!  Will do.  I have one or two open questions before completely commiting to cutting.  But I'm very close.  Mostly just around mounting the joystick which I don't have in hand yet to double check measurements.

Just as a point of reference.  Big Blue Saw quoted me $135 for all 3 panels waterjet cut from the same file.  That material I picked was Cold Rolled Steel A366/1008, 0.0598 inches thick.  Close to the thickness of 16 GA.  Then they'd still need to be rolled.  But I'm totally open if you can do the whole thing.

[JDFan]

I'm still looking for what thickness of steel I should use to withstand a normal amount of arcade abuse.

- The thickness of those panels sold by Twisted Quarter is 16 gauge ()- so would think that should work !!

Could always use a wooden panel and route out an area to add the metal panel inside the wood for the trackball and controls and just add a metal plate over the top of the wood (that way you just have them water jet the controls cut outs in the metal sheet (no need to bend the metal ! ) and screw it in place on the top of the wooden cp !

[badweasel]

I found a decent price on getting the metal machine cut mail order.  But from my google research folding the side tabs and the top bends though seems to be above my skill level.  Attempting it without the right equipment will undoubetly end with a piece that is dented and beat up, wasting time and money.  Harbor Freight sells a break for like $60 but it's only rated at 18 ga, and it won't do the rounding on my front edge.  And so far efforts to find a machine shop haven't come to furition.

No offense intended to yotsuya who lives near by and graciously offered to help out.  I'm sure you've just been busy with RL this week.  I get it.  I'm not trying to be impaitent but I actually have a deadline on this project of a month from now.  So that sounds like a decent amount of time except that I know it can easily escape me.  There's a 10 day turn around plus shipping time on cutting the metal at big blue saw.  So right there we're at 2-3 weeks - and that's if I order it now.   And then time to work it (bend in to shape) and then install all the controls (some of which are backorderd).  So actually 4 weeks can get eaten up really quickly.

Some options I've been considering:

1. Find someone that will help me do the bends and rolls.  - This is in progress but I do want to show this person my layout plans before ordering the cut metal in case I need to tweak sizes here and there to allow of bend tolerances.  It has to fit a specific width after being folded.

2. Buy equipment and do the folds myself.  I'd probably have to give up on doing a rounded front edge and just do a regular fold there using the harbor freight break.  But that might require me to drop the thickness of my metal down to 18ga and I don't know if that will be strong enough for a kid yanking on the joystick.

3. Another option I considered is to use aluminum instead of sheet metal because it would be easier to bend and form by myself.  But then I'd have to add either wood or unfolded sheet metal below it for strength.  The sheet metal would provide the strength and structure without me having to fold it at all.  And the aluminum would be the outer surface that I could work with more easily.  Plus the whole thing will be covered with vinyl artwork anyway.  This is similar to #4

4. JDFan's suggestion of doing a mostly wooden panel with sheet metal just on the top surface of the panel.  This would require me to do some woodwork.  But since the whole thing will be covered with the vinyl the finished product would look the same.

[n3wt0n]

Sorry to hear you are having difficulties sourcing someone to do this work for you.  I have another suggestion for you. Do you happen to have a local makerspace that you could join? A decent makerspace would likely have the metal working tools you need to complete the job as well as a laser or cnc mill or something that could help you cut the pieces you need. Good luck.

[HaRuMaN]

If you are goint to using wood why use a metal top at all?

Here is a completely wooden CP I made for my reunion cabaret:

[JDFan]

Since you say you already have a wooden CP but just want to add the trackball you could get a trackball mounting plate :



$15 for a 3" trackball ( https://www.mikesarcade.com/cgi-bin/store.pl?sku=TBALLMOUNTKIT3IN )

[badweasel]

Because it's a cocktail table with joystick, trackball, spinner and buttons.  Space is so tight that I can't use that trackball mount.  My options 3 and 4 are basically just cnc cutting my own metal plate like that and using it with something else.

That wooden CP looks great btw.

I have a buddy who I'm meeting with on Sunday to discuss options and he might be able to do that metal bending for me.  And at that point I'll decide between that (a full metal panel) or doing only the top plate in metal and having it over a frame made out of another material.  Even still I might do a PETG frame under the metal to give it more strength.