Laugh at me

gmontag

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I know this probably belongs at arcade controls, so sorry in advance.

Today I went to add another 2 button holes to my already swiss cheesed Black Widow control panel. It's so I can play the Vector Labs BW/Gravitar kit. I bought one of those cool knockout kits off of eBay for making the holes. I grabbed the 1-1/8" tool which was clearly marked 1-1/8" on the box. I cut the hole, stuck the new button on, and PLUNK it went straight through the new hole and into the cabinet.

Looking at the knockout tool, it is engraved 1-3/8" and not 1-1/8" like it says on the box. So now I have to figure out how to make a hole smaller.

Measure twice, cut once folks.
 
haha_zpsw9kle4qn.jpg
 
That blows.

Presumably, you put that button precisely where you wanted it, so moving it to a new spot is out of the question....

Cuz, covering over a hole is not hard; making one smaller is much harder. In this case, you need a 1-3/8" O.D. washer with a 1-1/8" I.D. You can carefully tack-weld that in place and call it fixed, or put another backing piece behind it (with a 1-1/8" diameter hole) for additional strength.

A fiddly operation either way.
 
I have gotten ghetto before and used a nylon washer that was bigger than the hole. Used shears to cut the center out big enough and spray painted them black. They actually work well.
 

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Haha! (insert Simpson's video clip here)

I did the same thing only with 1 1/4"

Thankfully, with the overlay on and the button nuts, it still works fine.

And this was after I filled in all the other holes, then I drilled the wrong size!

Doh! (insert another Simpson's video clip here)



I know this probably belongs at arcade controls, so sorry in advance.

Today I went to add another 2 button holes to my already swiss cheesed Black Widow control panel. It's so I can play the Vector Labs BW/Gravitar kit. I bought one of those cool knockout kits off of eBay for making the holes. I grabbed the 1-1/8" tool which was clearly marked 1-1/8" on the box. I cut the hole, stuck the new button on, and PLUNK it went straight through the new hole and into the cabinet.

Looking at the knockout tool, it is engraved 1-3/8" and not 1-1/8" like it says on the box. So now I have to figure out how to make a hole smaller.

Measure twice, cut once folks.
 
Knockout kits? Linky please? I'm at a loss on how to drill large holes in metal...

Lookup Greenlee brand punches. You can buy them on Amazon, etc. They work well. You can even do trackball holes if you're willing to spend the $ for one that large.
 
So the best I can come up with no welding involved is this:

1. cut a 1-1/8" hole in a steel plate. I've used electrical box covers in the past.
2. epoxy this to the back of the panel with the small hole lined up with the big hole.
3. trim the nylon nut from a button to fit inside the larger hole and keep the button flush with the top layer of the panel. It will have to be the thickness of the control panel. That might not be workable.
3. screw the button through the modified nut, the backing plate, and the proper nut on the back.

And for those laughing WITH me, there is a 10 hour loop of that Nelson clip on Youtube.
 
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