 | This
is a piece of plywood that was just cut. It is a 10 7/8x10 7/8 piece
with a 3/4" width. When it was cut, it was slightly too large, so here
I
am with a hand planer shaving the sides a bit. This is also a good way
to
smooth out the sides if you cut it a little crooked. You may
want to cut your plywood a hair larger than where you marked your cut
line just in case so that if the cut is not perfect you can
perfect it with a hand planer. You will need to make 9 of these. I cut it a bit smaller than 11" sq so that when the sheet metal is wrapped, it will be closer to 11" sq. |
 | Here's
an up close of the Stanley hand planer. It's a very handy tool. I used
it to smooth the cut on the plexiglass as well. |
  | This
is how I measured where to put the screws in the solid(non-arrow)
panels. I Put a mark where the center of the hole is in a corner
bracket. This gives me how far from the corner I want to
offset the screw. I then measure a half inch out from the
closest edge of the plywood through that mark made via the corner
bracket. That
is where the screw should go. I don't place the screw directly on that
spot because it's nice to give the screws a little room and it looks
better if the head of your screw isn't right on the edge of your panel.
I then drill pilot holes (a hole smaller than the screw, but
large enough to guide it straight -- it also helps prevent cracking in
the plywood as the screw displaces wood) at those locations. If you look at an arcade pad, the screws aren't square, they're offset to the side. This is the look I am going for, but it isn't necessary. You can place the screws squarely in the corner if you desire. |
 | Cut a 1 ft sq
panel of sheet metal. place your plywood on top and line it
up evenly with about .5" extra on each side. For those who
want a really flat top to their pad, they can use a glue (contact
cement works well from what I hear) to glue the plywood in place. |
 | This
image is depicting how I made the solid(non-arrow) panels. Drill one hole into the sheetmetal at one corner. Bolt one screw there just far enough so that the screw doesn't come out the other side. This will hold it in place, then do the corner diagonally across from it. If you drilled all of the corners through the sheetmetal at once, the sheetmetal could slip in the process causing the holes to be misaligned. Doing one at a time prevents that problem. Once all of the screws are holding the sheetmetal in place, you will use a rubber mallet to fold the edges of the sheetmetal around the sides of the plywood. It's simple -- just tap the edges so that they bend along the plywood's corner. |