Author Topic: New Guys First Cab (Updated) (Read 7053 times)

BurningBeard · « **on:** April 06, 2010, 10:25:58 pm »

Well I am taking the plunge into my first cab. First off wanna thank all of you on the boards for your help, directly or by your older posts. You guys are awesome.

I am going for a 4 player cab. I went with 3/4" MDO board. It cost a little more but it has a nice MDF finish and the plywood in the middle gives it nice sturdyness.

Here are a few pics of the start.

First Cuts

Relief holes for corners

Where I stopped on Day 1 (It got kinda late)

I did all these first cuts with a circular saw, will switch to the jig saw for the more detailed stuff.

I also did a quick mock up of the CP.

I am gonna focus on the Cab part for now but wanted to get an idea of how the CP would look.

I hope to knock out a few more cuts in the next day or so. I will keep updated with pics as they come along

saleem · « **Reply #1 on:** April 07, 2010, 02:33:48 am »

looks to me you are going to end up with a big wide cp to me.

look forward to seeing pics of you getting her standing.

javeryh · « **Reply #2 on:** April 07, 2010, 09:08:18 am »

Welcome!

Is your CP mock-up to scale? If so it is going to be really big. Also, make sure you test it out first - I also wouldn't angle the controls and I might leave some room in the middle for a trackball or spinner or something (you can always add it later).

rablack97 · « **Reply #3 on:** April 07, 2010, 10:12:55 am »

Yes that is a whopper, check your spacing in regards to the sticks and the button of the player to ther right, they look mighty close. I see alot of intense players getting pissed because the player to the left keeps touching their stick hand with their button hand..

Are you cutting both pieces at the same time. Word of advice if this is your first build, cut one piece and get it how you want it and then flush cut with a router if you have one for the 2nd piece (You have at least one "oh sh*t" coming, trust me). Less strain on your tools, and if you screw up you wont be looking at 2 jacked up pieces of scrap wood. Get a prototype looking pretty then make a twin with the router.....

Beware, 3/4 all around, your looking at some weight. If you plan on moving it, better get you some people who go to that spot on your mock CP.

I used 3/4 for the sides and base, and 5/8 for the shelves back and top, mainly spots i knew t-molding wasn't gonna be. It helps......

Looking forward to your progress........

Havok · « **Reply #4 on:** April 07, 2010, 01:45:36 pm »

Your buttons are probably too far apart, I would group them closer. However, pretend to play a few games with it to make sure...

brock.sampson · « **Reply #5 on:** April 07, 2010, 04:16:27 pm »

I don't think player 3 and 4 need six buttons each. I think the most for a four player that I remember is 4. I would do a quick search on maws.

BurningBeard · « **Reply #6 on:** April 08, 2010, 12:23:19 am »

To answer a few questions first. The mock up is by no means to scale, just wanted to get an idea of what I was getting into, and to be honest I had just received all the parts in the mail when I did the mock up, and well ...... I wanted to play with my new toys

I kinda plan on following the idea of the quad cp that north coast customs makes, not follow to a T but the general idea. (I am always open for better ones though). After looking at it though I also thought the 6 buttons on P3 and P4 were a bit overkill, may just scrap the extras when I get to that point.

As far as the build materials I plan on just using the 3/4" MDO for the sides and probably for some of the supports, after that I plan on using 5/8" MDF for the cp and the outside panels of the cab. I did cut both pieces at the same time unfortunately. It was quite a pain to do. I didn't have the flush cut bit, or the router for that matter (friend is letting be borrow one when I get to that point). I did run into an "oh sh*t" moment when cutting the monitor part of the sides. It's a little rough on it but some elbow grease and sand paper should be able to even it out.

I did get the sides cut today. A few pics.

Will prob be a few days before I get to move on to more, I don't have the screws or wood glue to do the inside supports or the router to do the t-molding cut. Hope to get back to it on Monday (got stuck working this weekend).

Thanks for the ideas all

BurningBeard · « **Reply #7 on:** April 26, 2010, 10:02:18 pm »

Well I have been slacking but I finally got some more done. Got all the braces cut and installed (minus the TV ones). Got all the panels cut and the base put on. A few pictures of the progress.

Side with braces all clamped up

Sides all dried and ready

Base

Baby steps

BurningBeard · « **Reply #8 on:** May 04, 2010, 10:04:08 pm »

Well I'm making progress. Got the cab almost all put together and painted. Also got everything for the CP cut.

Cab

Cab with CP

Still need to get the speaker setup cut, a little more painting, still need to order my CP cover, but then I think I can get the wiring started.

severdhed · « **Reply #9 on:** May 05, 2010, 12:36:31 pm »

looking good...i'd say you are off to a great start

drunkenlizard · « **Reply #10 on:** May 05, 2010, 01:59:17 pm »

I guess the question is are we going to be seeing a Clutch themed cab?

RandomCitizenX · « **Reply #11 on:** May 05, 2010, 02:47:52 pm »

CLUTCH!

Great, now my brain won't let me stop thinking about a Clutch cab.... *stumbles off to redesign AGAIN*

piecesof8 · « **Reply #12 on:** May 05, 2010, 04:40:23 pm »

Quote from: drunkenlizard on May 05, 2010, 01:59:17 pm

I guess the question is are we going to be seeing a Clutch themed cab?

Oh yes, you must do this.

drunkenlizard · « **Reply #13 on:** May 05, 2010, 05:08:55 pm »

Well if BurningBeard doesn't I'll go with an Elephant Riders theme for mine

BurningBeard · « **Reply #14 on:** May 05, 2010, 05:54:38 pm »

Well I hate to kill everyones Clutch vibe but I'm actually going with a kinda personal theme. A friend and I programmed a computer game back in high school called Jabrony fighting, it wasn't anything good, just a stick figure fighting game with tons of blood and gore. So I was gonna go with that theme. When I say theme it's prob. gonna be in all black with blue T Molding for a while till I get something designed.....(got a friend who is good at photoshop and what not who is going to help)

It actually never dawned on me to go with a Clutch theme to you guys brought it up, O well I guess I can aim for that on the showcase cab I hope to build in the future.

piecesof8 · « **Reply #15 on:** May 05, 2010, 08:53:54 pm »

The Arabic logo, maybe work a MD flag in there... C'mon, you know you wanna.

I wasn't going to do any artwork for my cab... I'm doing a stained wood cocktail w/ all black controls - I guess you could call my theme "wife slash living-room friendly." Now I'm thinking maybe a custom C! themed glass underlay would be a nice touch. I think your thread may have just made my project more expensive.

BurningBeard · « **Reply #16 on:** May 19, 2010, 01:08:27 am »

Is it an arcade yet?

Coming down the home stretch here. Got the CP done and I'd say about 88% of the cab done. Some pic updates

CP Top

Somewhat put together

Almost done

I got everything wired up and it seems to run pretty well. I still need to go through and program in some of the buttons. I got it wired to the IPAC4 (big thanks to http://www.ultimarc.com/index.html) Running in Hyperspin. The buttons on the front are for admin and power (red one turns everything on). Having some issues getting the 2 blue ones to work.

Other than that it seems to be going well. I have the glass for the front to cover the TV, still need to get the marquee.(Haven't come up with any ideas for it yet).

On a side note I have an issue with a couple Mame games (TMNT2, Simpsons, Xmen) I have to press F2 and F3 at the same time then they work, only prob is that I have to do it everytime I boot up

, anyone have any ideas?

Thanks again to all who have helped either directly or indirectly. It's starting to come together.

piecesof8 · « **Reply #17 on:** May 19, 2010, 10:27:58 am »

Quote from: BurningBeard on May 19, 2010, 01:08:27 am

On a side note I have an issue with a couple Mame games (TMNT2, Simpsons, Xmen) I have to press F2 and F3 at the same time then they work, only prob is that I have to do it everytime I boot up , anyone have any ideas?

What version of mame are you running? I know there was a problem with these games in .136 that was fixed in .136u1:

http://www.mametesters.org/view.php?id=3630

BurningBeard · « **Reply #18 on:** May 19, 2010, 09:14:27 pm »

Well I am running .135, I did have .137 and .136 before and couldn't get them to work, and couldn't get the (u) updates to take.....I'm gonna have to keep working with it.

Had another problem pop up today with the IPAC, seems button 3 on player 2 decided to quit working, when I move the wire for that button to the #8 spot it seems to work fine.

................I guess the bugs are sure to happen, just got some more work ahead of me.

BurningBeard · « **Reply #19 on:** May 27, 2010, 02:31:26 am »

Couple of updated pics. Got the tv cover (bezel?) in. Still need a little touch up on the paint, but it really ties the whole thing together. Gives it more of the arcade feel.

Had my first "Test Run". Had some friends over and the drinks flowing

. Minus a few minor problems and a few games not working everything went off pretty well.

I still have some adjustments to make on the software side, but got all the "main" games working well. My current project on that is getting the highscore and saves working. Already read up on it, just a matter of getting it done. Also got some ideas for the marquee getting knocked around. I did some crappy paint marquees as a base line and letting a few of my friends who are good artist kinda run with them. Hope to see some rough drafts back this weekend but not in a huge rush, the software can keep me busy for a while.

drventure · « **Reply #20 on:** May 27, 2010, 07:54:14 am »

Congrats! Looks good. The bezel does tie things up and help finish it out nicely.

rablack97 · « **Reply #21 on:** May 27, 2010, 10:28:24 am »

nice job

BurningBeard · « **Reply #22 on:** April 05, 2012, 09:58:46 pm »

Finally an Update: Has it really been almost 2 years? WOW I really slacked off.

Well after getting most of the project done and working I learned that the dining room wasn't a good place for an arcade. Who knew

So I had to take most of it apart, along with my door frame to my basement to get it all moved. Well it is finally all done. I went ahead and changed computers while I had everything apart, got the volume control moved to the front for easy access, and got the marquee in. I scraped my original "theme" and just went generic.

Few pics: (some glare gotta work on the basement lighting)

And with everything turned on

Only thing I think I have left is I'm going to get some static cling stickers with the button layouts for each system and stick those on the bezel.

Big thanks to gameongrafix.com the marquee came out great.
Also a big thanks to everyone that helped either directly or indirectly.


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