Hm, I didn’t really keep updating my progress. Since the last update a lot of stuff has happened. The controls finally shipped as well as the keyboard emulator (I-PAC). The keyboard tray was added. I think of all the visible components it kind of looks the most hacky, but thankfully it will be almost completely obscured, so that isn’t really going to be a problem. Also, once painted black I have a feeling it will probably be much less obvious. Once the monitor arrived, I made a VESA mount out of some cheap pine and leftover blocking. It is definitely the most cheap looking part of the whole cabinet but it will be invisible except to the most prying eyes. Additionally, it seems that finding Metric M4 screws (VESA standard) is a big deal in the US. Plan in advance if you ever make your own VESA mount!

So, what else…

When we had friends staying over they helped me put the control panel together and get started with the wiring of the CP internals. That all went really well, aside from having a lot of trouble finding the right quick connects for the awkward size of the Cherry micro-switches. I’ll probably take some good pics of the inside of the CP when I am putting it all back together, at the moment it is more-or-less entirely disassembled in order to paint and finish the panels that make it up. Once all wired up I tried the control panel with Fet and then Ann later on. It felt incredibly responsive and authentic—I think it’s going to be very fun once all is in place.

A lot of things got in the way of progress for a little while, but Ann and I put some really good work in this weekend, filling all of the screw holes in and sanding the whole thing down so that it was lovely and smooth. On went the paint and suddenly the look of the whole cabinet is completely transformed! I’m happy with the result at the moment but there is still some more finishing work to do. Have the paint the CP and the keyboard tray, and possibly touch up the cab a bit too. After then, varnish!

The end is in sight! Hopefully by the end of the week it will actually be in some complete, workable form! Wish me luck.Sanding away...