What I did in this case was to cut out another 1/2" plywood piece that matched my control panel top using the same template detailed in the last section (see Control Panel: Design). I then began altering it to mount within the control panel opening of the cabinet perpendicular to the cabinet face and below the slightly tilted new control panel top. This required it to be roughly the same shape as the top but more angular and smaller so that it did not jut out below the top.

2x2 strips were screwed to the outer edges of the bottom panel to provide a surface onto which the face pieces of the assembly would later be screwed.

Here is the bottom panel of the new control panel assembly mounted to the cabinet.
(click to enlarge)

I fastened a piece of modified 2x4 to the bottom of this newly cut piece such that it sat flush against the back of the face of the cabinet where the original three bolts held on the previous control panel. I drilled through those existing holes in the cabinet and further through the piece of 2x4 so that the holes lined up and I could put in new, longer bolts. This held the control panel bottom section in place very nicely.

Here is a shot looking under the new control panel at the leftmost of the three pre-existing bolt holes.
(click to enlarge)

To further stabilize the new control panel assembly I fastened one piece of 2x2 to each side of the back of the bottom panel and drilled a bolt hole through it parallel to the panel. This bolt extended through the 2x2 and into a tee nut mounted within the inside wall of the cabinet. This helps take some of the weight of the overall control panel assembly off the three-bolt mounting arrangement on the underside of the panel and adds a greater sense of strength to the whole unit.

This is a closer shot of the leftmost of the two stabilizing bolts I installed within the cabinet.
(click to enlarge)

Once the mounting was completed we turned out attention to the face pieces of the bottom panel. These pieces were cut to fit each flat section of the bottom panel perimeter and therefore had to be mitered to meet up with one another cleanly. This is always a slightly irritating process involving lots of table saw antics and little bit of experimentation. The pieces are woodglued and screwed to the 2x2 pieces seen in the first shot above. The top edge of the front two pieces was beveled to match the slope of the top panel and the side pieces are obviously cut at an angle to match the slope as well.

Here is the plywood control panel assembly all pieced together prior to being surfaced.
(click to enlarge)

With the cabinet finally having it's full new prosthetic control panel, attention turned to the process of deciding on a button layout.