Last night I was able to cut the openings for the monitor and the speakers to final dimensions. I used a 3/4" pattern bit (for most of it) with the router and ran the ball bearing along a straightedge.This was quite tricky to accomplish. There wasn't much room to clamp down the straight edge so I had to get creative. Check out this clamping nightmare:
Also, there were a total of 6 passes to make and right in the middle of cut #4 my router bit basically exploded. I am lucky that I didn't get hurt and also that the router did not cut into the panel and ruin it which could have easily happened. The ball bearing casing just gave out - the bit is a few years old but it was still cutting well. Check it out:
I had to flip everything upsidedown and use a flush cutting but to finish it up (the ball bearing is underneath the bit).After I finished the edges, I cleaned up the corners using a Japanese hand saw and some sandpaper. Finally, I went over the interior edges of the entire panel with some sandpaper to make sure everything was exactly flat with no noticeable bumps in the corners or anything. This panel will be exactly what the black plexiglass looks like when it is cut so everything has to be as perfect as possible.
I'm making progress even though it is slow going. Tonight I'll be gluing the plexiglass to the front panel!
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