Day 10: Crazy Bezel Panel - DONE!!

I finally finished the monitor bezel panel! It wasn't that difficult to make once I figured out how I was going to go about holding the monitor in place. The main things I wanted to accomplish were getting the monitor to rest exactly flush with the monitor bezel panel and placing the monitor in place so it could not move around yet still be easily removable for maintenance or whatever.

The pictures I took of this process are self-explanatory (and totally overkill!):

The reason I have two separate strips covering the back of the monitor is because of the button in the center on the back of the monitor which is used to release the stand that came with it. I could have used one panel and drilled out a hole or something but this was just as easy.

Here is a shot of the monitor bezel panel installed in the cabinet:

Here are some "money shots" of the panel with the monitor in place.

I think it came out pretty good - I'm really glad I went with the 19" monitor over the 17" one because it fills up the space nicely. Besides, when talking about TVs and monitors, bigger is always better!!

Tips:
1. Make sure the measurement for the height of the side strips is as accurate as possible. This will determine the depth at which the monitor will sit. All of the other cuts and measurements don't need to be exact because the player will never see the framing of the monitor once the cabinet is finished.
2. Before gluing anything in place permanently make sure to test your cuts for accuracy. Place the monitor face down inside the monitor bezel panel (which should already have the rectangular cutout in it) and build the monitor frame without gluing anything. Make sure there is absolutely no spacing between the back of the monitor and the strips of MDF that stretch across the back.
3. Use clamps to glue everything together - one piece at a time. This takes longer but will produce a more accurate result.

Thanks for looking!!