Reworking My Large System

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Bob...Option 1 plan is to cut the case down (then modify) so it becomes a "flat" top. Most likely cut between the Velcro strip and top of handle insert, or maybe just below the front horizontal support piece. It depends where the cut line is in relationship to the side handle fixture. Will need to measure for sure.
Option 2 plan would be to determine the cut line once the angle wedge-style shelf is to be located. I want enough space below the wedge-style shelf that will hold the CDMIX II and below it the ETA power supply and DRPA. The laptop piano-hinge shelf will be moved forward toward the front of the case and may cover a portion of the CDMIX II, but not too much.

I'm not at home so can't do measurements, plus I have not ordered metal wedge shelf .

The ETA will be used for equipment plugs and the power cord from it will plug into the Monster unit which then is plugged into the wall and acts as surge protector and clean power. Monster 2000 unit is on floor...I can't remember unit #.

All of this modification is still on the "drawing board", so don't expect any updates for some time in the future. I will then start a new thread once work is about to begin.
 
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So what's on the agenda for today you ask?... OK; nobody asked[emoji1]... Don't imagine anybody cares[emoji1]. That's OK... I'm sitting here in a Stockyard City restaurant having breakfast and contemplating my next moves. First... get a haircut. Yes, I know... getting a haircut has nothing to do with this project, but HEY![emoji1]... A fella's gotta look CUTE while working on his projects.[emoji4]

On the way home I'll stop at Home Depot and pick up the Contact Cement, paint, and a couple other items, then I'll try to glue the rubberized surface material on the keyboard shelf. I hope it works, because it looks really good. If it doesn't work, I'll experiment with the spray-on bed liner. Got no Plan C, so I hope one of these options works.[emoji4] Then I have ONE MORE piece to fabricate for the Antenna slide-out, and that will be ready to assemble. I loosely put it together yesterday to get measurements, and I think it's lookin' pretty good. We're down to the little details, and this thing will be done.[emoji4]
 
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So what's on the agenda for today you ask?... OK; nobody asked[emoji1]... Don't imagine anybody cares[emoji1]. That's OK... I'm sitting here in a Stockyard City restaurant having breakfast and contemplating my next moves. First... get a haircut. Yes, I know... getting a haircut has nothing to do with this project, but HEY![emoji1]... A fella's gotta look CUTE while working on his projects.[emoji4]

On the way home I'll stop at Home Depot and pick up the Contact Cement, paint, and a couple other items, then I'll try to glue the rubberized surface material on the keyboard shelf. I hope it works, because it looks really good. If it doesn't work, I'll experiment with the spray-on bed liner. Got no Plan C, so I hope one of these options works.[emoji4] Then I have ONE MORE piece to fabricate for the Antenna slide-out, and that will be ready to assemble. I loosely put it together yesterday to get measurements, and I think it's lookin' pretty good. We're down to the little details, and this thing will be done.[emoji4]
If you haven't bought the glue yet, get 3M Super 77 .. it's sort of a spray on contact glue .. works great on most things.
 
So what's on the agenda for today you ask?... OK; nobody asked[emoji1]... Don't imagine anybody cares[emoji1]. That's OK... I'm sitting here in a Stockyard City restaurant having breakfast and contemplating my next moves. First... get a haircut. Yes, I know... getting a haircut has nothing to do with this project, but HEY![emoji1]... A fella's gotta look CUTE while working on his projects.[emoji4]

On the way home I'll stop at Home Depot and pick up the Contact Cement, paint, and a couple other items, then I'll try to glue the rubberized surface material on the keyboard shelf. I hope it works, because it looks really good. If it doesn't work, I'll experiment with the spray-on bed liner. Got no Plan C, so I hope one of these options works.[emoji4] Then I have ONE MORE piece to fabricate for the Antenna slide-out, and that will be ready to assemble. I loosely put it together yesterday to get measurements, and I think it's lookin' pretty good. We're down to the little details, and this thing will be done.[emoji4]
So roughly at least 30 days out
 
So what's on the agenda for today you ask?... OK; nobody asked[emoji1]... Don't imagine anybody cares[emoji1]. That's OK... I'm sitting here in a Stockyard City restaurant having breakfast and contemplating my next moves. First... get a haircut. Yes, I know... getting a haircut has nothing to do with this project, but HEY![emoji1]... A fella's gotta look CUTE while working on his projects.[emoji4]

On the way home I'll stop at Home Depot and pick up the Contact Cement, paint, and a couple other items, then I'll try to glue the rubberized surface material on the keyboard shelf. I hope it works, because it looks really good. If it doesn't work, I'll experiment with the spray-on bed liner. Got no Plan C, so I hope one of these options works.[emoji4] Then I have ONE MORE piece to fabricate for the Antenna slide-out, and that will be ready to assemble. I loosely put it together yesterday to get measurements, and I think it's lookin' pretty good. We're down to the little details, and this thing will be done.[emoji4]
So roughly at least 30 days out

Not 30... Top rack could be done by tomorrow if I have the time to work on it. Bottom rack is close too, but I haven't even begun to assemble the facade. Got all the pieces cut, but that's the easiest part. Still getting ready for my Saturday gig too, so no time to waste, but the HAIRCUT looks good. They're gonna get a really cute DJ (me) on Saturday night.[emoji1]

...Oh, and I got the 3M Super 77 adhesive (thanks @steve149). I'll try that out in just a few minutes and let you know how it works.[emoji4]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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...I got the 3M Super 77 adhesive (thanks @steve149). I'll try that out in just a few minutes and let you know how it works.[emoji4]

Wellllllll.... that didn't go so well. Tried the 3M Super 77, and while it was marginally better than the Elmer's spray adhesive, it didn't hold the rubber material at the edges of flat surfaces, or on the 90 degree bends. So I tried the contact cement, and again, it was just a little better than the 3M product, but still didn't hold the rubber down good enough... That leaves the bed liner or the textured paint. I'll experiment with those tomorrow. I'm a little disappointed, because the black textured rubber (like you see on mouse pads) looked very cool, and it gave the keyboard shelf some grip. But it's not workin' so I'm movin' on.[emoji1] On a positive note; I continue to learn through this trial and error process, and eventually, I'll have pretty good lists of what does and doesn't work.[emoji4] There's no instructions that tell ya all of this stuff, so you just gotta keep looking for the right solutions.
 
Wow .. the Super 77 has always worked for me .. spray both sides, let them tack up .. and press and hold together. The coating on the keyboard shelf must be ceramic or something :)
 
Wow .. the Super 77 has always worked for me .. spray both sides, let them tack up .. and press and hold together. The coating on the keyboard shelf must be ceramic or something :)

The keyboard shelf was wood... painted black. The shelf wasn't the problem...it was the textured rubber material. Nothing really sticks to it. I did as you described... sprayed both sides waited 'til they were tacky, then pressed them together. Did the same with the contact cement. Same result. No stick![emoji1]

However, the texture of the rubber material remained embossed into the dried glue the on the shelf. I was hoping I could just spray truck bed liner over it, and make it look the same as the rubber. NOPE[emoji1]! That didn't work either. The bed liner does not stick to the glue. It actually softened the glue and turned the whole shelf into a black gooey, sticky mess.[emoji1] So I scraped it all off, and it came off pretty easily... bed liner, glue, and most of the original paint. Now I can spray the bed liner back on.

This shelf has been a PITA from the beginning. If the rubber had worked, it would have been fine. Now???... I dunno?[emoji848] The problem is, I didn't spend a lot of time making the surface look perfect, because I was planning to cover it with the rubber. If it's gonna be painted, even with bed liner, I need to spend even more time on it getting the surface sanded smooth. Not at all what I was planning to do today.[emoji37]
 
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You may need to start all over again from scratch...:sick:

Oh joy....6 more months of OCD updates...:cheers:

That might just be a possibility.[emoji1]... If this thing isn't up to my standard, I WOULD scrap it and start over. I'd hate to do it after all the work I've put into it.[emoji4]


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We have a winner![emoji1]... The spray on bed liner looks good. Maybe needs another coat, but the look is nice. Not as nice as the rubber, but nice[emoji4]. I think I'll cut a piece of the rubber to the size of the keyboard shelf, and maybe I can figure out a way to make it a removable mat (snaps or Velcro or something). I found some spray-on rubber coating I may spray over the bed liner. I did a little test sample, and I like the feel of it better than the raw bed liner. It still retains the look of the bed liner, just a little smother (to the touch) and a tad shinier. The bed liner feels gritty.

Got my LED light mount made, and that's about all for today. Gotta get ready for my gig, and Saturday is booked. Sunday... we host the family for Mother's Day, so this project is on hold until next week. I know you guys look forward to (enjoy, love, depend on, can't get enough of[emoji1]) these updates, but try to occupy yourselves somehow until my next update.[emoji1]
 
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Well....... I shoulda been outside painting this afternoon. It rained here from early in the morning to 3:30 in the afternoon, but when it stopped, the sun came out and NO WIND!... The no wind part hardly ever happens here, but the last week or so, we've had 30-40 MPH winds every day. The last time I was out (in the garage) sanding the keyboard shelf, I set the sandpaper down for a moment, and when I went to pick it back up it was gone. Looked around and saw it blowing across the yard. I was able to catch it before it got away.[emoji1] However, I didn't paint today... Didn't do anything really. I did look things over to assess where I am and what's left to do. I figured out I need some shorter screws and some white latches for the facade. I think I've changed my plan for the facade since buying the pieces and parts. I was going to make the frame black with white panels, but I've since decided to make the frame white. Unfortunately, the hardware I bought is black. Painting the hardware is an option, but powder coated hardware in white will look better longer. So... my rest ends tomorrow and it's back to the hardware store, then back to work.[emoji4]
 
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You're probably thinking I didn't do anything yesterday because I didn't post an update[emoji1]... You'd be wrong. I got all the pieces for the racks painted, and even did some preliminary fitting. That's when I discovered my Antenna Slider needs some adjusting. So today, I'll work on the Antenna Slider... AGAIN.[emoji1]

On the positive side, I believe my Keyboard Shelf issues are resolved. It looks good. There's still some visible areas where my screw heads show, but it just makes it look a little more industrial. I originally had all the screw heads covered (with filler), and attempted to simulate the texture of the molded plastic, but it didn't look good (too rough), so I sanded those areas back down, but now the screw heads show through just a bit. The bed liner I sprayed on provides some texture, though, so I think I'm gonna quit messing with it.

Just returned home from the hardware store (again), and got my #4, 3/8" screws. Who knew it would be SO difficult to buy 3/8 inch long screws???[emoji1] Half inch is just a little too long for my needs (tip pokes through). Had to buy Pan Head screws, though I would have preferred Flat Head, but ya take what ya can get, and those were the ONLY 3/8" screws they had at Home Depot. I think I got all the other stuff on my list too. Sometimes it's hard to find what you're looking for if you don't know the right NAME for it. I wish I knew the names of all the little pieces, parts, and gizmos, but I don't. It takes a long time to shop when you don't know what to call the items you're looking for. The Home Depot guys just look at you with a blank stare, as you try to describe it, then when they suddenly understand what you're describing, they say; "OH... That's a XXX", and take you right to it. Takes about 10 times as long to find stuff than it does if you know what it's called.[emoji1]

So... time to get back to work... now... GO BACK TO WORK![emoji1]
 
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The keyboard shelf is done and mounted for the last time:)...

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I like the feel of the PlastiCoat (rubberized) coating over the (spray on) Bed Liner. It looks good. Just did a little touch up on the front, but I think this thing is finally done. This was probably the most difficult modification, and took WAY too long... and definitely NOT worth it, but once I committed to it I had to see it through. Nice part is, it folds up neatly and the cover still fits, so I accomplished my objective. The front looks OK, but the gap under the Keyboard Shelf is a little larger than I'd like, but it had to be that way because the shape of the case is not square... the SKB logo bows out, so the gap had to be large enough to accommodate that bow. I'm still thinking about having a removable rubber mat to put over the shelf when it's extended... something to cover the hinges (which I had originally planned to cover with a sheet of rubber material).

I think I'm getting close on the Antenna Slider as well. I painted the parts this morning, and they're drying. I'll soon be able to put it all together to see if it fits. I'm keeping my fingers crossed 'cause I really have no idea. Until today, I was not sure of the dimensions (depth). I think there's gonna be JUST enough room behind the Computer Shelf for the slider to close.
 
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Ummm....I'll believe that when it really happens. I forsee a few more attempts...:)

LOL... Nope... It's installed (the Keyboard Shelf). If I ever remove it, it will be to replace it with something else. It would have been MUCH easier to turn the cutout into a removable panel. I like the IDEA of having a folding keyboard shelf, but I'm not sure how well it's gonna work until I have all the components installed.

Next up is the LED light. Unlike @Ausumm, I'm mounting my light (same light) INSIDE the rack, so I'll have a built-in light if I need to look at the wiring inside the rack. Already built the mount, and it fits up under the top rear edge of the rack, just below the monitor mount. It's kinda tight working in there... wish there was a big door in the bottom I could open to see in from the bottom, but there's not, and I'm not gonna add one.[emoji1]

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