Woodworking 101 : How to build a Mame Cab - an in-depth look.

[The Lumberjackass]

Hi all,

Im dave and these are my videos which i made recently.
i began this project 2 months ago, and i now have a fully built cab which works perfectly.

im still in the stages of setting up the software and designing the side art , but the cab is 100% working.
if you need some advice or help with regards to woodworking, my video's are for you ! enjoy :

Note : For quality playback , open the video's in a new page and click on HQ or anything above 480p.


( Update as and from Jan 30th 2011 - These vids are currently getting the re-editing treatment and will be up and running asap )







Thanks for watching. it was a blast making these videos

* ( finished re-editing , enjoy )

[jimmy2x2x]

Some excellent precision woodworking there, well done!

Love the music selection too

[The Lumberjackass]

Some excellent precision woodworking there, well done!

Love the music selection too

cheers jimmy

i put alot of effort into those vids in the hope that people can learn , or even give it a shot themselves , and
also, not be bored rigid because lets face it , alot of woodworking vids on youtube would put you to sleep .
so music choice , direction and editing was extremely important to me for these vids

[Ond]

I just wanted to comment on your video tutorials, excellent!  You've really gone to some effort in the editing and presentation, the enthusiam too, I enjoyed watching.

 

Ond

[The Lumberjackass]

I just wanted to comment on your video tutorials, excellent!  You've really gone to some effort in the editing and presentation, the enthusiam too, I enjoyed watching.

 

Ond

thanks for that ond
yes,, i tried as best as i could to pack as much information into these vids as possible.
although i did put alot of effort into the editing , im pretty much still learning how to use my video editing software to the full.
but thanks for the kind words ond , means alot 

[dawolv]

Absolutely amazing Dave! 

Great Editing, Great Music, Great Info - very motivating!
You really put these together quite well. It was kind of hard hearing you from time to time.


Cant wait for part 5 


Hey look over there --> 

*Steals his Festool*

[The Lumberjackass]

Absolutely amazing Dave! 

Great Editing, Great Music, Great Info - very motivating!
You really put these together quite well. It was kind of hard hearing you from time to time.


Cant wait for part 5 


Hey look over there --> 

*Steals his Festool*

hehe, cheers wolverine


its always nice to have someone appreciate your work , so thanks for the kind words. means alot.
part 5 will be here asap , im actually ordering the side art tomorrow ( from a local sign firm ) , and as soon as i
get it, i will be filming , editing and uploading. i guesstimate a time frame of 2 weeks , tops.

however, i do have another project that came to me as an emergency today. i need to make a surround for a grave.
its for a family friend who's dad passed away , so the cab has to take a back seat untill then. but hopefully i'll knock it
together in 3 days and get working on the cab then

[RIGDON]

i watched your videos and must say you are very good at building cabinets. i am just starting out. the problem i am going to have is getting all the right parts together to build it. look forward to future videos from you.

[The Lumberjackass]

i watched your videos and must say you are very good at building cabinets. i am just starting out. the problem i am going to have is getting all the right parts together to build it. look forward to future videos from you.

hehe, cheers for that 

part 5 is on the way soon . and i actually fitted the side art today on the cab ( frustrating as hell i tell thee  ) but im happy with the overall look   
only the control panel needs modifications before it gets vinyled but its nothing major. so expect a vid by the weekend.

and thanks for watching and for the kind words, appreciate it alot

[BobA]

That is great news.   Looking forward to your 5th episode.   

[The Lumberjackass]

update :

fitted vinyl to control panel today. then attached it to the cab.
now the joysticks and buttons dont work
checked wiring 5 times to be sure. i most definately have a faulty u-hid board . ive ordered another board off
ultimarc website , but ive no idea how long its going to take for it to reach me . it says 3 days on the site but i doubt it.

anyways, just a heads up .

[Epyx]

ive ordered another board off
ultimarc website , but ive no idea how long its going to take for it to reach me . it says 3 days on the site but i doubt it.

Don't doubt it...Andy ships faster than anyone in the arcade industry and that is a fact. Even though he is in the UK I have had stuff that I ordered early in the morning arrive the next day to Canada...no im not kidding

3 days is actually a comfortable Ultimarc average.  Also, have you tried contacting Andy directly about the board? It may not be faulty...

[The Lumberjackass]

ive ordered another board off
ultimarc website , but ive no idea how long its going to take for it to reach me . it says 3 days on the site but i doubt it.

Don't doubt it...Andy ships faster than anyone in the arcade industry and that is a fact. Even though he is in the UK I have had stuff that I ordered early in the morning arrive the next day to Canada...no im not kidding

3 days is actually a comfortable Ultimarc average.  Also, have you tried contacting Andy directly about the board? It may not be faulty...

thanks for the info , its great to hear such positive feedback for a webstore 

but as for the board is deffo faulty  . i even tried it on my pc upstairs ( which i use to test mame , maximus arcade , etc etc ) and it just doesnt work.

i originally got it from gremlin solutions in the uk , but to be on the safe side , i ordered and paid for a new board from
ultimarc as i really needed a replacement asap and i couldnt take the chance of waiting for ages in doing an rma with gremlin.
( it was late in the night when i panicked and i decided to be on the safe side and order a spare , just in case , lol  )

but i was pleasantly surprised when i found an email this morning in my inbox from gremlin solutions telling me to send back the board for a replacement and they
would ship a new one straight away . so im really happy about that. even though i'll have 2 mini-pacs , at least i'll have a spare should i get another unexpected fault
or even , more likely , if i build another cab later down the line 

[ragnar]

Awesome videos.  It gives me the confidence that I can do this!

[The Lumberjackass]

Updated !

Part 5 now added to the above post. check it out, im sure you will like it

thanks for watching.

[jimmy2x2x]

yay!

[jimmy2x2x]

Another fine video!

Thanks for all the effort, you made the vinyl application looks pretty easy - did you only use your fingers for the entire installation?

Also now its complete, how are you feeling about it, anything you would have done differently?

[The Lumberjackass]

cheers jimmy 

yes, that vinyl application was a nightmare to be honest.
but it would have been easy if i had someone to hold the bulk of the vinyl while i applied it to the end of the cab.
and yes, it was all applied by my bare hands !
i can tell you i had sore fingers after that , and a very sore back  being hunched over for the guts of 30 mins each side of the cab
was just a horrible feeling, but i had to fight through it.

things i would change :
make a bigger control panel ( depth only , not width ) deeper by 2 inches minimum.
set the screen deeper into the cabinet so it wouldnt hurt my eyes so much ( set about 4 inches more into the cab ).
i should have bought blue l.e.d push buttons ( but i can always change this ).
had i known in time i would have made my own vector art , but i didnt understand the process.

and if i had the chance , i would have used gorilla glass on the screen panel but its not available over here and i couldnt find
anyone on the net to make me a panel to the size i wanted . so i had to get toughened glass instead.

other than that , the cab turned out great and im more than happy with it. it is comfortable to sit at and play , and i dont have
any ergonomic problems to complain of. but then again, i built it to suit my height and eye level , be it standing up or sitting down.
but anyone who plays it says its perfect to use and that my " eye watering " problem with the screen is only a problem specific to me it seems.

 

( please excuse the state of the games room, im still working on it )

[Falaris]

This need a sticky somewhere!  The videos were great! Entertaining and informative. 

-Fal

[jimmy2x2x]

Well, I think you might have done it Dave - That may very well be the finest scratch build in Ireland!

Congratulations! 

Thanks for the reply about doing things differently, very honest of you, you could address most of those issues (if they remain issues after a month or two) by tweaking the control panel, deeper top, new buttons - would also increase the space between you and the screeen etc.. But I bet you will be become accustomed to it very quickly, and wouldn't want to change it after a couple of months.

I don't know if you have the time at the moment, but if you do and wouldn't mind doing it, I would love to see a materials costs breakdown.  Its such a detailed build and its very close to home for a lot of UK builders, it would give us a good idea of a realistic scratch build and also the materials you used will be more readily available than a lot of the US builds we see.

Great work Dave!

[The Lumberjackass]

haha, thanks fal , thanks jimmy

ya, everything i mentioned is 100% changable , but could be tricky and time consuming.
ive spent too much time and money on it to go changing things already so i'll leave it for awhile.
but , i will be changing the buttons sooner rather than later.

as for a detailed cost breakdown , thats easy.

Cost breakdown , Materials only , not including arcade hardware or electronics :

8 x 4 sheet of normal 18mm MDF = ( 18 euro total )
8 x 4 sheet of melamine faced 18mm MDF x2 = 30 euro each ( 60 euro total )
1-1/2" square planed timber , 4 pack from b+q = ( 12 euro total )
2" x 4" x 2 planed timber , standard length from b+q = 6 euro each ( 12 total )
4" x 14" glass for marquee x2 = 6 euro each ( 12 euro total )
26" x 15" glass screen panel toughened = 35 euro . i broke 2 un-toughened panels @ 30 euro each  = ( 95 euro total )
250ft of T-moulding @ 0.28 cent per ft = 70 dollars , including postage, duty and exchange rates = ( 70 euro total )
x5 cans of matt black auto motive paint = 5 euro each ( 25 euro total )
x3 cans of u-pol hi#5 filler primer = 12 euro each ( 36 euro total )
Marquee , control panel and side art vinyl = ( 180 euro total )
Suki international 120 degree hinge x2 = 4.50 euro each ( 9 euro total )
x4 cabinet locks = 7 euro each ( 28 euro total )
250 pack box of deck screws from b+q = ( 10 euro total )

Grand prize total = 567 inc vat for the cab alone ( euro )
but, you need to consider the fact that i broke 2 glass panels ( extra 60 euro ) , which was needless and
the t-moudling was sold at 250' lengths only . they wouldnt sell the length i needed.
also, the vinyl cost alot and was included in the pricing list as it was needed.

hope that covers everything , hehe 

[The Lumberjackass]

Murphy's law :
anything that can go wrong , will go wrong .

i went to switch on the cab today and it wouldnt boot.
it seems like my psu is toast , and possibly my mobo . i have a dell xps 600 in there and apparently a blinking
amber light on the read-out equals a dead power supply , and or mobo .

so,
because im not one for lying down and taking it like a ho , i intend on ripping the psu open and checking it for any damage ( blown caps etc ).
it looks like the mobo may be okay though , and the caps seem to be in good shape and nothing looks out of order.

its 7pm here and im just too tired and annoyed to go and investigate it straight away. i will tear it open tomorrow.
all i know, is that if the psu cant be salvaged, im replacing everything dell branded within the cab ( mobo and psu ) and buying standard parts.
im just sick of dell and their  proprietary parts to be honest.
looks like its gonna be a costly fix either way

[jimmy2x2x]

Really sorry to hear that ;(

Hopefully its a quick, inexpensive fix!

[The Lumberjackass]

im gonna go price a new psu and atx mobo , but it should be far cheaper than just buying a new dell psu.

i think it makes sense to just get rid of the dell stuff altogether. as i wont have the trouble of trying to
replace specific fans and parts that'll only fit the xps. even tho the mobo may be okay, its not worth holding onto.

its a shame, but im better off that this has happened now rather than later.
i'll update my progress at some stage next week or so, depending on how my budget is.

[jimmy2x2x]

I don't think I've seen a pic of the innards, is the pc decased?

[The Lumberjackass]

i'll put up a pic tomorrow sometime.
i wouldnt mind, i had it nicely tucked away in there and did alot of cable management on it.
F-sake , grrrrrr . oh well.

the only part i think is deceased is the power supply. but, according to online research , it seems that
dell tend to replace the psu and mobo together when the amber light blinks. they do this to save the hassle
of constant problem solving. it really could be 1 item thats faulty , or both .

but i'll try and check it out. if i cant find the cause its going to get thrashed.
i can pick up a great mobo and psu for 150 pounds on scan.co.uk but im flat broke at the mo
so it'll have to wait.

[The Lumberjackass]

i took some pics of the inside of the cab :

as i say, its a dell xps 600 and only got about 2 years use in total.



close up :




i still havent gotten around to taking it out yet.
because, i actually got a pc back yesterday that i built 2 years ago. my ex left it back to me.
i have no idea if she found out the xps fried itself , but i appreciate the fact she left it back. its a core 2 quad q6600 cpu
running on a fatal1ty mobo .
im still thinking of buying the new mobo and psu tho as this pc is too good to use as a cab pc.
all i need to do now is pay a visit to my local council and reclaim a suitable pc case ( they recycle them and wont mind if i take any out of the bin ).
i will them strip it down so i can use it as a frame for the mobo and gpu

[shrunkenmaster]

Just caught your videos - great presentation and top woodworking skills too. I'm sure there's many who will benefit from these, well done 

[The Lumberjackass]

Just caught your videos - great presentation and top woodworking skills too. I'm sure there's many who will benefit from these, well done 

hehe, thanks
if i can help anyone at all with these vids , even if its just one person , then im happy.
im not a professional and ive only been messing around with woodwork for little over a year and a bit , so i thought if i could make
some video's which would show the basics, then somebody else might get the courage to go and pick up a circular saw and build their own 

[The Lumberjackass]

okay, update :

i have ordered a new coolermaster 600w psu and a gigabyte mATX board as a direct replacement for the dell junk.

today i cracked open the psu and inspected it throughly :

to my surprise the psu is fine. no obvious signs of damage or anything out of the ordinary.

later i hot wired the psu into jumpstart mode. ( bridging pin P1 to any ground source ).
flicking the switch on the main power strip brought the fans into life , and then voilla , the psu kicked into life.

it was kind of difficult to take pics of all the voltage readings so i only took what i could and posted them here.
needless to say, what i have posted are the 3 main ingredients of any power supply - 12v , 3.3v and 5v + and or -.


 

the psu is fine. dell are telling porkies once again. its not a psu problem , its a motherboard problem and its telling the psu not to start up.
i have a feeling that this is dell's way to make money off people who dont have warranty and dont know any better. but having said that , owning a dell smartens you up alot technically
because of all the problems they have. so if anyone has the blinking amber light on a dell xps 600 , your best bet is to salvage what you can ( cpu , hdd , etc ) and re-build a new
pc. the cost of replacing the dell mobo is in fact more expensive than buying a new case, mobo and psu outright.

i havent looked at the mobo up close yet , but i dont think i'll bother.

[The Lumberjackass]

well , the mame cab is back working again after a bad spell of luck  

now, i dont mind hardware going faulty , as its usually an easy fix , but because the dell was a completely different animal to stock pc parts,
i had to re-arrange the whole internal layout of the cab. which put me back numerous hours / days and added alot of hassle to a newly built cab
which shouldnt have broken down.  F you dell .

regardless, the bad bits have been stripped out and new goodies put back in  

parts list :
the case was free , as i re-claimed it from the city council recycling plant : FREE  
600w coolermaster psu , modular : 56 pounds sterling   ( great price )
Gigabyte G41M-ES2H, Intel G41, 775 socket : 43 pounds sterling (   amazing price for what you get )
180mm Silverstone FN181-BL Blue LED fans : 9 pounds sterling each x2   ( i like these , i should have bought 4 of them )
Akasa AK-966 Blue Aurora CPU Cooler socket 775 : 13 pounds sterling   ( cant tell if its any good , found out the 930d chip im using has no temp sensors )

below you can see the new shell , psu , mobo and cpu cooler.


internals re-arranged , subwoofer now on left side and all electrics on right side.


vertical view of finished internal re-layout


180mm silverstone fan with leds , they are nice fans , quiet and move alot of air.


final cab layout and internal re-shuffle finished.



i can finally play some blooming games now. after all the hassle and cost of re-doing the hardware and more woodwork, it kinda spoilt the project and left a bad
taste in my mouth , but .... i can honestly say its the best thing ive ever, ever made and im happy i did it . all the pain , cut fingers and cost was worth it

project 2010 .... finished .
thanks to all who viewed my vids and commented on this thread. your feedback was amazing and spurred me on to finish the project asap . thanks guys  

[jimmy2x2x]

Glad to see it done and back up and running, good for you!

At least you now have all standard parts with good access should you need to upgrade in the future, you know for street fighter 14

Now go wear your controls out!

[The Lumberjackass]

lmao jimmy , streetfighter 14 , lol
but , you do have a point , upgradability is a major factor and now i can upgrade everything if i wish to do so
i may go as far as using the cab to play proper pc games . so i could throw an old 7800gtx in there for proper frame rates , hehe

[jimmy2x2x]

Slightly off topic here, but i will ask anyway!

I took your advice and ordered some bits from axminster tools, spent over £50 and got free next day delivery - superb!

I bought:

the drill guide you recommended - Very good for the cash, slight amount of play in it, but very slight

a set of forstner bits, again very happy with the performance esp for the price

and the slot cutter, arbour, and bearing - I needed a slightly different one for a 1/4" arbour

What I wanted to ask is about is the slot cutter.

How do you tighten the retaining nut on the arbour, I didnt want to clamp the shaft in case I damaged it, I was thinking about fixing it into my router and tightening from there, but mine has a spindle lock that you need to hold down - It would probably be ok, i just dont want to over tighten or worse still under tighten it.

[The Lumberjackass]

right,
i had the same concerns myself when i first got all my slot cutter bits and pieces.
what i did, was place the arbour into the router and tighten the bolt once it was in there.

but... i'd advise against it.
if your router is a " push down " method of holding the spindle in place , its very easy to damage those set-ups.
if possible , and its what i do anymore with any arbours that need tightening , i place them in a vice grips and then use
a spanner or adjustable spanner to tighten the bottom bolt. it works well and it takes the load off the spindle lock

[jimmy2x2x]

Will do!

Are we talking bust-a-blood-vessel tight, or just a tear in one eye tight?

lol

It amazes me how these things dont come with any instruction!

[The Lumberjackass]

i wouldnt go overboard with the torque applied , so tighten it to hand-tight first , and then try and tighten it further in the region of about 10 to 15 degrees . that should be more than enough for safe operation

[The Lumberjackass]

Just to update people on the situation :

I am currently re-editing these video's and i have part 1 completed.

The re-edited version is now in place, and the old edit has been removed from my youtube page.
I will be working away through these vids and i can see the time and effort being vast.
While it may take me awhile to get these vids edited, i shall leave the older edits up just so people can see them and refer to them for help if needs be.

Just as a f.y.i ,the videos are re-edited in a 60 fps ntsc widescreen mode, so any jerky playback is due to youtube having a very low quality player.

as i say, im putting my heart and soul into these vids. any flaws you see on-screen, or even a drop in quality is due to the host.

One of my 2011 resolutions was to try and do things right.
I am currently trying to claw back my health ( ive lost 15lbs since jan 1st ) and im trying to get my act together.
Also, seeing as i love video making, i decided to re-edit all my vids, as they needed a proper cleaning and polishing.

Regardless, if you have seen the vid's before, i hope you like the new look and theme i have added.

thanks a bunch

[The Lumberjackass]

part 2 completed and uploaded

[ubermick]

Well in Davey feen. Great tutorials, and explained a lot.

[dextercf]

Thanks for the tutorial!
This comes real handy when I'm about to start making my cabinet (and a router for the first time).

[darkmdbeener]

if i can not find melamine MDF and only have plain wood colored MDF how should i go along painting it and then adding vinyl. (vinyl is kinda expensive so im not sure if i am still going the vinyl way but i want to make sure that i can have the vinyl as an option if i have to paint it or when i paint it rather)

[The Lumberjackass]

Thanks for the comments guys appreciate it !

As for not being able to find melamine mdf, you can still attach the vinyl to the normal mdf too.

However, i dont reccomend it, and if you are adamant in using it, you need to be extremely careful and be familiar working with vinyl.
Make a mistake with vinyl on plain mdf and you can ruin a project almost straight away. this is due to the adhesive on the vinyl
as if you pull it off to re-position, its possible you'll take mdf fibers off the board and this will stick to the vinyl, causing bumps and ridges.

If i was you, and i couldnt get a hold of melamine stuff, i would order it from the web or from another wood dealer in the next county / state etc. even if it costs
an extra 20 to 30 dollars / euro's / pounds, i would still try and source the melamine first. check your golden pages or use google.
and the reason is simple, its better to work with.

If you go the plain mdf route, you'll have to paint it.
but laying vinyl over paint can lead to problems too if you need to re-position the vinyl at any stage.
you see the vinyl i used was top notch stuff and had great adhesive. so if you pull it off to re-position, its possible you'll pull the paint with it.

i'd say get a sample of different vinyls from a local guy and test it on plain mdf, and then painted mdf.
you'll know for sure this way if plain mdf is suitable to use after you test it.

[The Lumberjackass]

Part 3 now up and running

[The Lumberjackass]

quick notification to let you know part 4 is now up

[Lilwolf]

Great videos until 1/2 way through the 5th...  Are you going to reshoot the video with you playing games in the normal aspect ratio?  Ew fat Chung Lee!

Love the video.  Makes me wish I had more patients..

[The Lumberjackass]

part 5 is the last remaining old vid.
but im currently 75% through the re-edit. i'd expect it to be posted before the end of the month.
and the re-shoot wont have any real-time gameplay footage with me working the cab. ive learned from the re-edits to keep
out of my vids as much as possible and let the video progress naturally.

[The Lumberjackass]

Just an update, part 5 is now finished and up and running, i shall leave this thread alone now lol, but enjoy anyways 

[edin_dave]

Hi Dave

I'm new to the forum but actually found your vids on YouTube. Nice cab design, great video tutorials, and a great job overall!

I'm still designing my cab, but will be taking some of you hints on board

cheers

Dave

Hi all,

Im dave and these are my videos which i made recently.
i began this project 2 months ago, and i now have a fully built cab which works perfectly.

im still in the stages of setting up the software and designing the side art , but the cab is 100% working.
if you need some advice or help with regards to woodworking, my video's are for you ! enjoy :

Note : For quality playback , open the video's in a new page and click on HQ or anything above 480p.


( Update as and from Jan 30th 2011 - These vids are currently getting the re-editing treatment and will be up and running asap )







Thanks for watching. it was a blast making these videos

* ( finished re-editing , enjoy )

[Hyunchris]

will these videos ever be back up? or does anyone have any other suggestions for tutorial videos?

thanks