An easy, discrete, flexible way to secure a bartop to a stand?

[SteffenBrauner]

I have a bartop arcade, and I've bought at stand a for it, which is on its way.

But how do you discretely secure a bartop to a stand, if you want to keep it secure enough for kids and (maybe drunk) friends - in a way that still makes it easy to take the bartop on and off (since I will take it with me from time to time).

I haven't been able to find info on this, but it must be something that a lot of people have found solutions for.

Can you share them?

Pictures would be great! Thanks!

[caver01]

@steffenbrauner Actually, pictures of your stand might help people make suggestions.

[caver01]

@caver01 Without seeing it, you could try using roadcase butterfly clasps. You would mount a receiving bracket on opposite sites of the bartop. These are small, and would not detract much from the case. Then, the butterfly locking mechanism with the arm would be installed on the stand, assuming the stand can accommodate that. Check out the link in my signature for the post to my roadcase cocktail cabinet and you can see what I mean. These are for locking lids onto roadcases.

[SteffenBrauner]

@caver01
You are right. My bartop arcade looks like this:
https://1drv.ms/u/s!ArHJ_44zE0UUgvcllGtuHQ1NGHl4Gw
And this:
https://1drv.ms/u/s!ArHJ_44zE0UUgvcmczthHFtUgIOeKA

The problem may be that the bottom is slighty raised so only the sides will touch the stand.

I don't have the stand yet, but it is this one:
https://1drv.ms/u/s!ArHJ_44zE0UUgvck51v90zxdMOFnSw

Another problem might be that they won't be 100 % alligned. The stand is about 1,5 cm wider that the bartop.

Hmm.. theese to things might make it very tricky, I guess.

[SteffenBrauner]

@caver01 said in An easy, discrete, flexible way to secure a bartop to a stand?:

Without seeing it, you could try using roadcase butterfly clasps.

That isn't a bad idea. I could paint them black. They are of course rather visible. Maybe too much? Not sure.

[Lurker]

I would second @caver01's butterfly clasps suggestion.

From the image it doesn't look like there is enough of a lip under the arcade to reverse the clasp on the inside.

1 Thought;
You could either add a piece of wood or shave down the side of the stand use the sides of the arcade rest over it making the base sit flush and then drill some small holes in the bottom of the side of the arcade for pins.

That finish looks so nice though I am hesitant to suggest this one.

2nd Thought;
Depending on how fast you wanted the arcade to detach you could just have a simple bolt down from the center bottom of the arcade and into the center top of the stand with a wing nut for easy unscrewing. You would need to stow the bolt and have access to the inside of the arcade to remove the bolt and replace it.

3rd Thought;
This requires a bit more custom stuff, but you..
Get a bolt or rod and drill a hole at 90 deg to the bolt through the tip end for a cross pin.
Drill a hole in the stand (brace with a metal washer.
Drill a hole in the bottom of the arcade and notch out section for the cross pin.
Feed a spring coil on the bolt, feed the bolt up through the hole in the stand and slide the cross pin in.
Then when the arcade is on push the bolt an cross pin through the arcade hole and rotate to lock down.

That option requires you to build/fabricate parts and so may not be worth doing.

All my other thoughts and configurations just end up being variations on the above so I think for ease of use and the ease of acquiring, the butterfly clasps are the best choice.

If you really want to hide them you can mount them on the inside of the stand and then cut a narrow slit in the top of the stand and use/get/build an extension rod to reach up through the stand and grab the bracket on the arcade.

[caver01]

@SteffenBrauner That is a nice looking bartop.

How about this: It looks like maybe the edges of the bartop hang lower than the control panel. Is that true? Is there perhaps a recess from the bottom of the bartop? Here is my thinking. What if you added a square of material atop the stand such that it is smaller than the existing outside edges, but that it protrudes up into the bottom of the bartop such that when you position the bartop alignment just right, the bartop slips down over the added material. This is like the pin idea above, only the stand itself is a big square pin, and the entire bottom of the bartop, or it's inner perimeter forms the 'hole'. Basically, the stand is a pedestal that fits up inside the bottom of the bartop.

If the bottom of the bartop can accommodate this idea (or can be modified to receive a 'plug' of wood, you might not even need to latch it. In some respects, it would be more stable than just sitting on a bar! Then, when you wanna take it withy you, you literally just pick it up and go--the stand stays behind.

[SteffenBrauner]

Nice suggestions from both of you. Thanks!

@caver01 There IS a recess/gap of about 2 cm, so you idea about a square piece of wood that fits the inside of the edges is quite brilliant. And would be very, very easy for me to do. It would be steady from sliding to the sides at least, and I can probably attach something on the back and/or front, so that is also keeps it from sliding back and forth.

The best part of that idea is almost that the recess/gap was probably going to look a bit strange on the stand (because the bartop bottom can't be flat on the stand), but this solution can actually hide that gap when it's on the stand, making it look more like a full size cap!