Another weekend, and more cabinet work. Staining and varnishing I’m still putting off until I have all the woodworking done. In the week, I picked up some Lexan from Home Depot and today I finished the control panel. First, I routed the area for the trackball mounting plate, since I want to lay the Lexan on top, and I sunk some holes for the bolts that will hold the joysticks in place. Then I cut the Lexan and clamped it to the CP, ready to transfer the required holes. I’m impressed with Lexan – it’s very easy to work with. I used some sacrificial wood on the bottom for the button hole drills and trackball area routing. I feared the trackball hole would be the trickiest part, but in the end it was easy – I fitted the mounting plate, routed the rough hole, then used a sanding bit on my drill to work towards the plate. Anyway, here are some pictures:
Having finished the CP, I turned my attention to the keyboard tray, and routed my planned groove for the super-slim Apple keyboard to make it insanely low profile. Here it is: designed by Apple, and Elbeno, in California.
It’s looking great! Go all the way with the keyboard. Rout out the shape of the keyboard itself, and sink the whole thing into the wood!
I’ve wanted to do that with a desk ever since seeing a slim Apple keyboard rectangle years ago.