The plan is to have 2 wood frames, inner and outer. Both have a sloped front but the outer frame will be tilted with respect to the inner frame so that it's top surface, where the "playing surface" will be, will also be sloped. I had envisioned being able to swing up the outer frame for easy access to the electronics within, but that isn't working out, so I'll just make the playing surface easy to remove.
I agonized over what angles would make the outer front slope be parallel to the inner one, then realized that with both at 45 degrees the difference is so slight as to be unnoticeable. Attached a pic of the inner frame with blank panels in place so the thing holds its shape. At this stage the sides are longer than they need to be because I don't KNOW yet how long they'll need to be. I've learned to never completely trust my measurements. Hopefully, all necessary fudging will be on the insides and not on display.
ALL wood is recycled. The sides are slats from a futon frame. (I have a bunch of these, but I've used up all the least warped ones!) The sides for the outer frame are pieces from a dresser drawer -- solid wood (!), so I won't have to finish the edges with iron-on wood tape, as I've had to do in the past with plywood. The white piece in front is part of a picture frame. The rest is various sticks and trim from hither and thither. All will be painted black with the grain showing. Control panel will be black text on medium gray.
This is taking so long because I'm not very good at this sort of thing. Borrowing a power miter has made the work a lot easier than using my crummy old jig saw.
