I've got a ton of control panels and for the longest time I've wanted to hang them on the wall. I designed a few 3d printed mounts tried some from others but ultimately decided that it'd be a ton of work to properly space and align every panel. Then using drywall hooks.
I looked at a number of other options but eventually had the idea for a wooden rack. This would easily keep all the panels in alignment. One rack could handled a bunch of boards at once and I could mount the rack directly into the wall studs nice and secure.
I also wanted to be able to easily swap out the panels to use them.
It's a really simple design. Each panel takes up about 6in in height which is enough for the panel and a little extra to get your hand in there to remove or install it.
I bought some 4in by 3/4in poplar at my local hardware store. I cut two lengths to 74in and then 8 shorter lengths to 23 and 7/8th. The size of those shorter lengths is critical because you need just right that the sides of the rack line up with bolt holes in the panel. This size was really based around how much space I had on my wall but was enough for 12 panels.
The rack is a simple box with two extra horizontal supports for rigidity. Each horizontal support has a matching vertical support and these are used to mount the rack to the wall.
I used picture hangers to attach the panels to the rack. I found that the "10lbs" hangers are perfect and the 30lbs or larger hangers are too big.
Overall I'm super happy with the results. Some panels that are heavier on the back hang at an angle instead of flat. I think an improved design would maybe be to taper the face of the rack by 5 deg (so it's deeper at the bottom and more shallow at the top) or so to counteract this. Alternatively I might add some magnets into the sides to hold down the bottom of the panels and keep them all perfectly upright.
Total Material cost here was about $115 and 90% of that was the wood, it took me about 3 hours to put together and get it installed. Tools used were a skill saw for cutting the wood, a drill for pilot holes and the screws and a hammer to put in the hooks. Most hardware stores will cut wood for too so you could probably save yourself a little time having them do that for you. I didn't have exact measurements until I had material in hand.
I do plan on painting it, but I'm having people over tomorrow and didn't really have time to do that and let the paint dry.
Anyway I'm really happy with that result. Figured I'd post this if anyone else has a similar need.
The sad part is that this is less than half of my panel collection. Other Panels NOT on the rack:
2x more VOOT Panel
Another Pachinko Panel (one is for sale BTW)
A repo New Net City Panel
4x Outtrigger Panels
2x Aleck 64 Panels
2x Repo Monkeyball Panels
A Repo Forgotten Worlds Panel
A P1 Virtua Bowling Panel
A Paca Paca Passion Panel
A SFIV P1 Panel
A Sega Virtua Tennis 1P Panel
A Taito 2P Spinner Panel
Probably some other's I'm not remembering
I looked at a number of other options but eventually had the idea for a wooden rack. This would easily keep all the panels in alignment. One rack could handled a bunch of boards at once and I could mount the rack directly into the wall studs nice and secure.
I also wanted to be able to easily swap out the panels to use them.
It's a really simple design. Each panel takes up about 6in in height which is enough for the panel and a little extra to get your hand in there to remove or install it.
I bought some 4in by 3/4in poplar at my local hardware store. I cut two lengths to 74in and then 8 shorter lengths to 23 and 7/8th. The size of those shorter lengths is critical because you need just right that the sides of the rack line up with bolt holes in the panel. This size was really based around how much space I had on my wall but was enough for 12 panels.
The rack is a simple box with two extra horizontal supports for rigidity. Each horizontal support has a matching vertical support and these are used to mount the rack to the wall.
I used picture hangers to attach the panels to the rack. I found that the "10lbs" hangers are perfect and the 30lbs or larger hangers are too big.
Overall I'm super happy with the results. Some panels that are heavier on the back hang at an angle instead of flat. I think an improved design would maybe be to taper the face of the rack by 5 deg (so it's deeper at the bottom and more shallow at the top) or so to counteract this. Alternatively I might add some magnets into the sides to hold down the bottom of the panels and keep them all perfectly upright.
Total Material cost here was about $115 and 90% of that was the wood, it took me about 3 hours to put together and get it installed. Tools used were a skill saw for cutting the wood, a drill for pilot holes and the screws and a hammer to put in the hooks. Most hardware stores will cut wood for too so you could probably save yourself a little time having them do that for you. I didn't have exact measurements until I had material in hand.
I do plan on painting it, but I'm having people over tomorrow and didn't really have time to do that and let the paint dry.
Anyway I'm really happy with that result. Figured I'd post this if anyone else has a similar need.
The sad part is that this is less than half of my panel collection. Other Panels NOT on the rack:
2x more VOOT Panel
Another Pachinko Panel (one is for sale BTW)
A repo New Net City Panel
4x Outtrigger Panels
2x Aleck 64 Panels
2x Repo Monkeyball Panels
A Repo Forgotten Worlds Panel
A P1 Virtua Bowling Panel
A Paca Paca Passion Panel
A SFIV P1 Panel
A Sega Virtua Tennis 1P Panel
A Taito 2P Spinner Panel
Probably some other's I'm not remembering
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