My Stuff - Display Case


	Display Case
	I remember seeing that I had a bunch of openings for LEDs on my LEDWiz one day. My cab already has enough photon bling so I sat back with a honey brown ale and thought about what I could do. Then it hit me, a display case showcasing my most favorite items from the past! Since I have a build of mame that saves high scores I didn't need the score board anymore so I decided to get to work. This is my second build because the first was too small and too crappy. First builds are rarely good enough because by the end you've learned about better ways to do things.

	Routing - First things first. I drew out the dimensions and got to cutting my 3/4 MDF. But why so thick? Well it was going to have to hold LED's in the shelves and I wanted the lights recessed into the wood. I got my router and started the slow process of inhaling MDF dust. Seriously, use protection, this stuff is very fine and very nasty. I left the corners for my chisel to make a perfect angle to accept the plexi-glass. To cut straight edges I used a guide bar that the router slid against. Doing a straight line with a router is impossible.

	Details - This took the most time by far! If you don't trust your skills, make 4 shelves instead of just 3 in case you mess up. You will get less mad. Getting the plexi to fit took plenty of shaving by the chisel but the fit is tight and looks great.

	Wiring - In this (second) version I added an LED to all of the shelves making it three per. This added a little more light without being blinding to the player standing next to it. The wiring flowed along the edges to the back right side where I drilled a hole for the wires to exit out of. I then took it all out and stared the paint job. Paint, sand repeat... I had two pieces of plexi glass, one for the back (so you don't see a wall) and one for the front. On the back piece I spray painted the back of it black and it looks amazing from the other side. A nice black reflective surface. Also, I gave my acrylic paint at least three days to dry. My last case had items stick to it slightly because it wasn't entirely dry.

	Gluing - I had used dado cuts for the joinery and used some carpenters wood glue. Left them clamped overnight and they are solid. When I glues the frame to the plexi, I used a polymer mix and laid it on very very slowly. When it hits plexi, there's no going back. Wait, what frame? Well, I wanted it to be somewhat secure so I ripped thin strips of wood from the case itself that would act as a frame that would hold the plexi. But what's going to hold the frame to the case? Whatever it was going to be, it had to be invisible. Then it hit me, magnets! I went and bought 2 packs of cylindrical earth magnets and holy are they strong. I drilled recesses into the edges of the case, (three on the sides, two for top and bottom)the same size of the magnets and glued one in each. The holes were the length of two magnets so when the frame is attached, there's no gaps.

	First Floor - Pacman shot glasses, Energy drinks, Pinball, mini Galaga, Lottery tickets and the original DK bubble gum cards Second Floor - The Nintendo shelf consists of my original Zelda and Final Fantasy NES games, Game Boy stuff and the 25th anniversary edition of Mario All Stars. Oh and a few Perler pixel art items, Link's bomb and the fighter. Third Floor - This is where I have the games that hold the most memories for me. The Master System games are Rambo, Choplifter and Alex Kidd in Miracle World. I also have a sealed copy of Blazing Lasers, nothing super rare but very special to me. This is a wonderful addition to any game room so get out there and make one yourself! You know you want to...