Landchark

subtitled: Let the music play

sub-subtitled: home bar jukebox and media computer - part 3

After getting the HTPC mounted in it’s built-in sliding shelf (shoved into a hole in the wall) and getting the computer running the jukebox software and running the touchscreen, the last thing that needs to be done is to build and mount the touchscreen into some sort of enclosure on the wall.

I wanted to have something that would take up the corner above the HTPC, a wasted corner space, and something that could be lit/backlit and display some sort of signage with the ‘k2 lounge‘ name in it somehow.

The general idea we (my dad & I) came up with was to hang a plexiglass “door” in the corner, with the touchscreen mounted in the middle of the door.

now, on to the construction:

first, my dad made a frame for the touchscreen. It was basically a standard picture frame, but the inside of the frame has to have some fancy edges in order to accommodate the wires that make the touchscreen work. these are different for every touchscreen, so you can see the photos for an idea of how we did this.

Next step was to cut the hole in the plexiglass where the touchscreen will be mounted. I used a sheet of 24″x48″ plexiglass that is .220″ thick.

After cutting out the window, I used an orbital sander (80 grit) on both sides of the plexi to give it the frosted effect.

The outer frame is the easiest. Just cut a hole out of a sheet of leftover ply (from the middle of a poker table i built before) to make a one piece outer frame.

Next, we put it all together just to make sure it all fit.

Success! Time to move it to the basement and re-assemble.
The outer frame was hung with a few 3″ hinges.

I pre-assembled (not pictured) the touchscreen, screen bezel frame and plexiglass to make it easier to mount to the hung door as a one step process. Then took this and screwed it to the back of the door.

This hinged door gives me easy access to the back of the door and the monitor. The outlet that the monitor is plugged into is split, with the left 2 outlets constant hot and the right 2 outlets are switched. I’m using the right outlets for the HTPC power outlet, and the right 2 for the monitor and backlight power outlet. This gives me the ability to easily turn on and off the monitor and backlight via external switch.

The monitor VGA and USB cables go into the wall and down to the HTPC below.

Well, that’s about it. Next i turned it on and there it is.

I still have to get some type of decor to put on the plexi that says ‘k2 lounge’ and some type of backlighting for the jukebox, but as a temp fix, i mounted a blue fluorescent light behind the plexiglasss.

The ‘door’ itself is quite solid, with very little wiggle when you tap the touchscreen, but at some point I want to attach some sort of latch to hold the door solid to the wall.

Tags: , basement bar, htpc, jukebox //