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Family room friendly cab: The Armoircade
newmanfamilyvlogs:
I've been working on this project a while before discovering this forum, but the really interesting stuff has only happened recently.
From the very start of deciding I want an arcade cabinet I challenged myself with a rule: little to no out of pocket cost.
So my first cabinet was a generic design:
PS3 controllers, PC trackball, and monstrously heavy 3/4th inch MDF. Also very ugly. However everything was procured for no money out of pocket. Mostly parts exchanged for working on PCs.
So after discovering a local amusement company's cache of discarded cabs (all in some state of disrepair) I started pulling components to put together something with more respectable controls, and a more family room friendly design:
Thus was born the Armoircade:
The control panel sources buttons and joysticks from derelict WWF Wrestlefest and Marvel Vs Capcom panels (never found the rest of the cabs). A Happ 3" trackball from a Golden Tee cab, and an odd little three-in-one button from a slot-machine type game:
The base of the CP is a scrap bit of 1/8th aluminum. I haven't decided on how to finish the aluminum though. I'm thinking a solid color will probably blend into the overall look better than a more traditionally designed overlay.
The entire CP slides out like a drawer and locks into place with pins on either side. A small shelf behind the controls will have room for a keyboard and two cut out holsters for dual light guns. The holes in the front are for the speakers.
The monitor is a decased 21" Hitachi VGA CRT:
So far none of the wood working has begun, as I've been tweaking the design. Another goal with this layout was to fit the machine into the smallest possible footprint. Currently it's planned to be roughly 25"x26"x60".
I'll have actual pictures once some wood gets cut.
newmanfamilyvlogs:
First wood finally cut today!
One of the side businesses where I work is an 'architectural millworks' so we've got all kinds of fun equipment:
Since the control panel is the widest non-flexible component, the drawer is being built first and then the cabinet built around that:
The metal CP is going to fit into a dado groove on either side, and a notch in the front, then the back will have a small ledge (two light guns to holster) set on a piano hinge with another dado in the reverse direction to sandwich the CP. That way it can be freely removed for service, but can also be locked down.
I also took a few minutes to polish up all of the mounting hardware I pulled from the scrapped cabs I found. Makes a huge difference!
javeryh:
Nice - I'm looking forward to this. I don't think anyone has pulled this off in an elegant manner so I am anxious to see what you come up with.
newmanfamilyvlogs:
I've only seen two other cabinets in a similar design, both by the same guy:
http://gadgetdon.smugmug.com/Video-Games/Arcades/52382_Mudht#1814879_DKD2J
Neither of them struck me as being particularly attractive.
I've been planning and thinking about the implementation of this cabinet for almost a year now, and the guys doing the actual woodworking do excellent work, so I hope my plans and diagrams live up to what they can produce.
HaRuMaN:
--- Quote from: cotmm68030 on June 30, 2010, 03:24:51 pm ---I've only seen two other cabinets in a similar design, both by the same guy:
http://gadgetdon.smugmug.com/Video-Games/Arcades/52382_Mudht#1814879_DKD2J
Neither of them struck me as being particularly attractive.
--- End quote ---
Wow, that's some ugly stuff. :puke