Operation first build under way

[2panther]

After reading and reading and reading about cabinets and drooling over others I finally am starting my own. I've had the MDF sitting in my garage for about a year now and I finally started letting the dust fly.

I'm not set on a theme yet but I wanted to start a thread to track my progress and have a space that I can ask questions when the come up that are specific to my build.

I'm following the Project Arcade book pretty closely since this is not only my first cabinet but also my first attempt at building pretty much anything.

I think I will eventually go with something Army themed that will include badges from my service in the Infantry and as a Paratrooper. More on that theme idea later.

I purchased a slot cutter and went to town last night, not good. I'm sure the mistake is a rookie mistake but here's what happened. I made one pass with the slot cutter on what I thought was the middle of the 3/4" edge, apparently it wasn't. Then I remembered reading something about flipping it over and doing it again on the opposite side, still not right so now I have two slots with MDF still in the slot. Even if I get that out now I'm pretty sure the slot will be way too wide to hold the t-molding securely without hot glue. I'm not even 100% how to get that excess material out at this point (woodworking new guy) and even if I did would the edge be too weak?

here's a shot of what I'm talking about...

[ragnar]

My recomendation is to turn those 2 slots into one.  Then finding something you can fill with like luan.  This might take some trial and error with different thicknesses of plywood or with wood strips that are made out of 1xN pine with a table saw.  Try to get something that goes in and out easily but not so that it is sloppy.  Glue it in with wood glue.  Let it set for 24 hours and then reroute.

When setting up the router depth, get down so your eye is parallel with hte slot cutter bit and see that it is in the center of the wood.  If you need to measure on hte MDF to be sure, do so and mark it.  Only make one pass with the router bit.

This should result in a good fix.  Do you have access to a table saw because that path is the better one.  What tools do you have?

[Roo]

You've got it right, you didn't have the bit set to the right depth to be centered.  You could adjust the bit to be a little deeper and clean out the "waste" between the two slots you've already cut, but you are right again - it will be too wide of a slot at that point to hold the t-molding.

My opinion, for what it's worth is to start over.  Use this wood for other parts of the cabinet and cut new sides.

When you go to set the depth of your slot cutter next time, make a test cut in some scrap first (always a good rule with any cut!).  The scrap needs to be the same thicknes of wood!  Make the first test cut, flip the wood over and make a second test cut next to the first.  You can then compare - you want them to be exactly the same.  Then you know your centered     

[Shortbus]

Welcome Dude! and "Airborne!", I'm a paratrooper as well, can't wait for your theme..."death from above" sounds like a good name to me. I was also infantry, gonna need some infantry blue in there somewhere....maybe some skulls, etc, unless you have the little ones,

I've read and read and read as well, need to do more, thats my problem, I'm blown away by most of these and get so excited, but haven't been able to get motivated to build another one...I built the project arcade a couple years ago, and was pretty much in the same boat, no experience building anything, the book is so thorough that even dumb grunts like us can do it. And with this forum, anything is possible. My biggest piece of advice that I didn't get and didn't take heed to is, don't rush, take your time and you will be much happier with the results.

I have a suggestion regarding the slot cutter, as I made a similar mistake, I couldn't get the exact size needed, they didn't have it anywhere local(and I was too impatient to order it online), so i bought the next closest, but way too big. What I did, is use gorilla glue to put it on, it expands filling the gaps, but one caution, it expands quit a bit, so protect your cabinet, with masking tape, etc, it comes off easy but leaves a stain. Because the t-molding needs to set, I put masking tape about ever 6 inches or so, holding the t-molding in place, while the glue dries;  and with a little care and patience, you can hid your mistake.....good luck...

and just line up the router to get the middle strip out of there, trust me the gorilla glue is stronger than the mdf.....

Can't wait to see your progress man, and glad to meet a fellow trooper on here! Awesome

 http://

[2panther]

Thanks for all the quick replies!

Knowing my woodworking skills (or lack thereof) I bought an extra sheet of 3/4" MDF when I started this project so I am able to just cut another side panel if needed.

Ragnar - thanks for the suggestion, I'm going to combine your suggestion with Shortbus' and route out the rest of the gaps to make one large one and then when the t-molding comes in I will give the gorilla glue trick a shot.

Roo - I definitely should have made a test cut but I was too excited about getting this step done so I could get it glued up to the base I just finished. Rookie mistake.

Shortbus - First, thanks for your service. Death From Above sounds like a cool name for this build! I was thinking a mostly black cab with infantry blue t-molding around it and maybe some cool vinyl side art. This is the wallpaper on my desktop right now which I really like (I have it in almost every normal desktop resolution this one is 640x480) Red for player one, blue for player two etc.

I'd love to get the crossed rifles in the theme somewhere, maybe on the control panel somewhere, maybe a vector of my ribbon rack, EIB, CIB, Wings, that sort of thing.

Maybe go a step higher up in the unit structure and go Division themed instead of Regimental, LOTS of ideas in my noggin.

[Shortbus]

Sounds cool, what your thinking of, I like it. and thanks for your service as well...

make sure to include many,many,many pictures.....

[jmike]

Not sure if it's too late but I suggest (if you didn't order the t-molding already) to order a wider size, hammer it into one of the slots and take a razor blade and cut off the excess.

Good luck.

[2panther]

well I think I pulled something trying to get the 4x8 sheet of MDF onto my sawhorses by myself last night (and failing) so in light of that I changed up where the slot cutting bit was and lined it up to cut out MDF that was left in between the two gaps I had already cut and now I have a single wide gap on that one side panel.

I correctly cut the slot on the 2nd side panel after adjusting the router and I got it glued up to the base last night. Going to be tricky getting the other side glued on though, not sure how to tackle that yet other than finding something that is the right height to sit the panel on while it dries.

Excuse the mess in the basement as it's in the middle of a renovation, one that I took a break from to start this project. If I had a penny for every time I've heard my wife say "can't we finish one project before starting another"   

[Shortbus]

Looking good man....too bad you pulled something, getting old sux....Maybe turn it laying on what would be the back to attach, that way there is not too much downward pull, just put something in the top part, the correct width to space it....

Yah, wives, it's funny, I've never had my nails 'did' or my hair 'done', but the min I need a couple bucks for something like this, the whining starts.....and the negotiation begins....

Insulation I see, where are you in the states? I am originally from NH, but took a job in Florida, it was nice at first, but the heat this summer made working on anything in the garage, nearly impossible, and no basements down here, miss mine I had up there. anyways....

Glad to see another update, hang in there, the real test is once you get it hooked up to test your control panel, and play a game, the progress usually comes to a screetching halt, atleast it did for me, and some others on here.

peace out!

[Rick]

If I had a penny for every time I've heard my wife say "can't we finish one project before starting another"   

You're lucky.  You should meet my Wife.

 

[2panther]

tiny update, side panel 2 was put on last night and as you can see I had to get creative with the materials used to get the side panel to the correct height and level. Two tupperware storage containers, one 10'bs olympic plate, one 5lbs olympic plate and a thing piece of wood and it was right on the money when I checked it with the 4' level 

shortbus - I'm in western NY, Rochester to be exact. I didn't know Florida didn't have basements, probably a stupid question but why not? The basement project is mainly to give my daughter a larger play area than the living room provides but I'm throwing in a few items to make it nice for the whole family. The main area will have a wall mounted LCD TV, surround speakers and the arcade cab. One room is for the laundry machines, furnace, water heater and some storage and the last room is for my home gym stuff which will probably be infiltrated by my wife's garbage...I mean stuff she needs to keep and not use.

I'll have the back of the cab hopefully on tonight and start the CP this weekend. Man I need to get a move on with the art for my theme, I have a feeling that is going to be the longest part of all of this!

[Shortbus]

tiny update, side panel 2 was put on last night and as you can see I had to get creative with the materials used to get the side panel to the correct height and level. Two tupperware storage containers, one 10'bs olympic plate, one 5lbs olympic plate and a thing piece of wood and it was right on the money when I checked it with the 4' level 

shortbus - I'm in western NY, Rochester to be exact. I didn't know Florida didn't have basements, probably a stupid question but why not? The basement project is mainly to give my daughter a larger play area than the living room provides but I'm throwing in a few items to make it nice for the whole family. The main area will have a wall mounted LCD TV, surround speakers and the arcade cab. One room is for the laundry machines, furnace, water heater and some storage and the last room is for my home gym stuff which will probably be infiltrated by my wife's garbage...I mean stuff she needs to keep and not use.

I'll have the back of the cab hopefully on tonight and start the CP this weekend. Man I need to get a move on with the art for my theme, I have a feeling that is going to be the longest part of all of this!

your making some nice progress there....family rooms rule....Reason for the basement thing is water level, I believe you hit water at around 8ft....the pools need pumps under them to keep them from "floating"....atleast in my part of the state....east coast/cocoa/melbourne area.....

liking the reg. updates, your getting there man...keep it up...

[2panther]

not much to update on as I've been helping my brother do some drywall in my free time. Doesn't he know I have a cabinet to be built!

I did get my wife to give me a hand getting the cabinet upright. I was surprised at how well it help considering I'm only using wood glue, well so far that's all I've used.

I'll be putting the lower back piece on tonight hopefully and I'm sure I'll feel better once I get that and the top piece on so that the side panels aren't free floating other and where they're connected to the base.

Here is a stupid question, what program does everyone use to crate their control panels? I tried in ms paint to mess around a bit but I can't get the buttons along the same horizontal line. I'm guessing photoshop is the weapon of choice here but I installed it a few months ago and my trial expired.

[Shortbus]

not much to update on as I've been helping my brother do some drywall in my free time. Doesn't he know I have a cabinet to be built!

I did get my wife to give me a hand getting the cabinet upright. I was surprised at how well it help considering I'm only using wood glue, well so far that's all I've used.

I'll be putting the lower back piece on tonight hopefully and I'm sure I'll feel better once I get that and the top piece on so that the side panels aren't free floating other and where they're connected to the base.

Here is a stupid question, what program does everyone use to crate their control panels? I tried in ms paint to mess around a bit but I can't get the buttons along the same horizontal line. I'm guessing photoshop is the weapon of choice here but I installed it a few months ago and my trial expired.

i used a different one that appears no longer online, but here is another:

http://www.creditbutton.net.tc/

if you google interactive control panel designer, you should be able to find one that suits you....

looking good!

[2panther]

another tiny update but an update means progress no matter how small!

I put the cabinet back (bottom) on tonight and made sure it was level and plumb with the side panels and base. I can really see my mistakes I made cutting the cabinet out last winter in my garage when it was 30 degrees out and I wasn't using a guide for my circular saw (I mean who can't cut a straight line right?!) Well obviously I can't, as I got a little jiggy with the saw a few times. Nothing too major but I've had to use a shim or two to make up tiny discrepancies I've had. I also didn't take into consideration the 24hr time to really let the glue dry  while clamped which means I couldn't get the top of the cabinet installed like I wanted to without disturbing the back bottom piece. I'm starting to notice the mass of this thing already too, thank goodness for casters!

shortbus - thanks for the link and I'll knock out 20 for you for not googling around myself. Hopefully I can start putting some ideas down this week!

[2panther]

I've got the top of the cabinet mounted up now and I was attempting to mount the speaker shelf and ran into a snag. I'm not sure how far the front edge of the speaker panel is supposed to be from the front of the cabinet. My guess was that it needed to be level with the cabinet top panel which sits 3/4" from the front edge but I see that it won't have a flat edge like the cabinet top does. I didn't see in the Project Arcade plans that this edge needed to be cut on a 45 degree angle either.

Could someone clarify this part for me? I'm not sure how important that part is or how the marquee will mount up. Rough measurement gives me about 5" of an opening for the marquee itself. I looked over this section a few times in the book and I didn't see any measurements for this step. I hope my pictures help illustrate what I mean here.

[Shortbus]

I'm sure someone on here might have a better way, for me, I bought the happs marquee pvc holder, and it's flexible, so it held itself in place. I also used metal corner braces on another cab, bought at home depot or lowes, I just filled ing the backside to make it flush, If  you have a table saw you could just rip a triangle and glue it up, to make it straight. It will be hidden, so as long as it's straight, to me it doesn't matter how you got there..

looking good man, keep it up.....

[ragnar]

Looking good.  One comment though.  You might want to redo the cleats for the top most piece of wood.  Tehy might cause a shadow to be cast onto the marquee when lit up.

[2panther]

Looking good.  One comment though.  You might want to redo the cleats for the top most piece of wood.  Tehy might cause a shadow to be cast onto the marquee when lit up.

I remember reading a thread about someones project (I forget who now) but they had that issue. I plan on using these http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=83&products_id=307

and am hoping I can position them far enough to the right and left where it won't cause a shadow. I can't really remove the wood supports as they're glued now so I'll be crossing my fingers.

[2panther]

this marquee is starting to give me a headache even though I don't have one printed or the plexi but I don't want to get too deep and realize I needed to make a modificatino before moving forward and securing the speaker panel.

please excuse my lame mspaint attempt at understanding the angle iron approach I've read people use.


red being the marquee plexi, black obviously being the angle iron pieces, is this the rough idea of how it stays in place? being pinched basically by the bottom angle iron piece to the speaker shelf?

[BobA]

It would be much neater to cut an angle on the edge of your speaker mount board so that it has a vertical surface that allows the marquee to sit flat against it.   This would mean bending the mounts that you call angle iron to match.  You cannot bend angle iron but thin aluminum brackets that hold ceiling tiles in place along the edge of the wall are available at home removation stores.   This is easily cut and bent.  These are called L brackets by some and angle molding by others. There is plastic corner molding available to protect walls but it will not bend into a different shape.

[SephYuyX]

I used Happ's PVC retainer as well (bought through http://www.arcadeemulator.net/)
While it's not necessary to have that flat angle, it makes for a much better fit, and will probably hold in there better.
It's basically just just an over extended U shape. You attach the flat part to the wood, and the curved part of it allows the plexi to slide down, and hold it against the panel through pressure.

I didnt send you a great pic since I wasnt exactlly sure what you meant in your PM, but now seeing what you mean, it's not really possible to take a picture of it when it's in place since it's meant to look flush after it's installed.

I found this while googling, maybe it will help:

[SephYuyX]

By the way, why youre at it, fix this:


Youre going to make the same mistake I did. When you go to put your light it, this will cause a big shadow. If you can if it's not to late, replace that furring with a L bracket. If you cant, take a chisel and make a point out of it, taking as much wood off as possible while still giving stability. Check out my thread towards the end if you dont know what im talking about.

[2panther]

SephYuyX - Thanks for the reply in my thread and the PM with pictures. I made mention of a project build earlier in my thread about a build that had that issue, guess it was you!

If I had been thinking a few steps ahead I would have realized that would happen, unfortunately my wood cribbing is glued to the cabinet side so if I can't position the Nova Linx (which I stole from your build) in such a way that when combined with mirrors, white paint, foil, fairy dust, sacrificing chickens or any other trick I've read about, I'll take the chisel to it.

[2panther]

progress has been sloooooooooow but here is how it stands now.

Still need to figure out the monitor stand or how to mount a monitor inside. I have a 27" Sony Trinitron I was going to use but I think it actually might be too large to comfortably play on for very long since I'll be standing so close. Thoughts?

I still need to make some small changes to the CP because when I cut it out I wasn't very exact and it needs to be trimmed down to the exact size. I need to order a coin door and then work on the CP layout and theme for the cabinet.

The bottom front and CP are dry fitted in the pics.

[jipp]

cant offer any help on monitor size, but wanted to compliment you on your build.  the cab looks great.

chris.

[mgb]

I use a 27" mult-sync monitor and it's not bad for being close to it. I'm not sure how a TV is though because I believe theres a bit more of blur to it.
Alot of people use 27" tvs for their project though.
Maybe you can find a nice 25" TV. I've seen alot of those flatscreen Crt type TVs in that size.

[2panther]

*casts resurrection*

Wow, it's been a long time since I posted in this thread. Good news is I'm still alive and the cabinet is still a project I will complete. Bad news is I haven't got much to update. My wife knocked my control panel off the cabinet while shop-vaccing and it broke so I'm rebuilding the control panel. The basement where this cabinet will sit is moving along as well, slowly. Anyway I've changed my mind on the theme as the basement is a family room and the wife didn't care for  the Death From Above theme. .

After seeing a couple of NHL team themed cabinets I'm sold on going (stealing?) with that idea. I'm a huge Sabres fan and found that Home Depot sells GLidden who had a brochure that has the official colors you can buy. Perfect.

Here is a quick MS Paint image of what I was thinking. I'm open to any ideas and input as I go down this road. My control panel top will be cut out by the weekend and I'll be ready to start cutting holes for buttons and joysticks. Very exciting.

I didn't see gold colored (non metallic) t-molding when googling so I was thinking white might look ok?

Thoughts?

[2panther]

no comments?

I did a little more searching but haven't been able to find the same color gold the Sabres have on their jerseys. I even thought about trying to dye the t-molding but didn't think that would work out too well.

[Martijn]

Golden t-molding
http://www.t-molding.com/store/product.php?productid=23&cat=&page=1

order a free sample from them here
http://www.t-molding.com/store/product.php?productid=28&cat=5&page=1

[2panther]

Golden t-molding
http://www.t-molding.com/store/product.php?productid=23&cat=&page=1

order a free sample from them here
http://www.t-molding.com/store/product.php?productid=28&cat=5&page=1

That t-molding is metallic gold, what I was hoping to use would be what the Sabres call gold on their jerseys and logo

[2panther]

small build update, HUGE artwork update.

I enlisted the help of a photoshopper for hire on this board and after going back and forth via email and seeing a few concepts I decided he style just wasn't for me. I searched the forums and found gbeef and sent a quick PM to see if he'd be interested in taking on my CP and marquee design. He did and I couldn't be happier. Although it's a deviation from my original theme idea as some sort of Death From Above idea, it's the right choice and way more family room and kid friendly than dead bodies and a grim reaper with a parachute on lol

Anyone looking for someone to do some design work, I can't recommend gbeef enough, he's had great communication and really has the creative eye I was hoping for with this build.

I still need to figure out the button layout but after talking with gbeef I can do that before the artwork gets laid down and then slice through the artwork to allow my buttons to go into the holes I drilled. I'm going to go with the 7 button layout for each player so I can play neo geo style games properly and also have the 3 over 3 for most fighting games. I'm also going with the japanese style layout that has a curve to it, like this.



I'm going to go with seimitsu buttons and I think a sanwa joystick. I've read the sanwa buttons are very sensitive for quick button presses for fighting games. While I enjoy fighters I don't need that high level of buttons and I think they should be a nice choice between the happs and sanwas.

I also need to decide on the admin buttons, coin up for each player and start for each player. I will probably also throw an exit button on the CP as well.

All comments are welcome!

[gbeef]

Here's the image so people dont have to load the attachment. ENJOY!:)

[AlienInferno]

That artwork looks great gbeef!  Should look great on his cab.

2panther,
Have you figured out what you're going to do with the marquee retainer?  Are you/Did you go with the HAPP retainer?  I'm wondering because when I made my marquee I left a 3/4" border on top and bottom and my original idea I had didn't work.  Do you think it will cover that top and bottom border?  I can easily just redo my marquee if needed but would like to try and save the one I have printed allready.

[emphatic]

Nice artwork, not a big fan of that top row of black buttons though, or are they hockey pucks? 

[tsaylor]

Great art -- I love the broken glass effect!

[2panther]

Bringing my own build thread back to life after quite a few months of inactivity in hope to make the final push to finish this thing up.

I taped down the black and white copy of the control panel artwork and got some transparencies made of my joystick and button layouts. I'm having a tough time trying to make sure each side has an equal amount of control panel and I'm also having cold feet about the button layout. I know I want 7 buttons so I can rock SF II with 6 and use the 7th button for when I play Samurai Showdown and other neo geo titles. Does this layout work as a compromise for getting the ability to use both button configs?

Any assistance on getting the spacing for each players joystick and buttons right would be greatly appreciated.

[2panther]

I'm guessing since nobody has replied that it's more of a preference thing? I was hoping to avoid having player one or two be pushed too far off to one side where once the buttons were installed it looked lopsided.

Is there a best practice of sorts for this? I'm hoping to drill holes tonight!

[TheShaner]

I had a reply queued up yesterday but deleted it figuring someone else would be able to answer better.  If you have photoshop, download the control panel layout I have there.  It has perfectly spaced buttons on it.  You could overlay it and use it for a guide.  I started off with Kneivel's template and built off of it.  I have my control panel built now, and can confirm that it is perfectly spaced.

If you dont have photoshop, let me know and I will do an export for you...

Follow the link in my sig for the thread and the attachments are at the end of the first post.

[2panther]

I changed the button layout up and made my marks where to drill, once I was committed I was nervous something would be off and I'd be starting over with a new piece of MDF. I still need to decide what to do for admin buttons so any input would be great. Coin up for both players and player 1 and player two start buttons? What else?

I'm happy with it, sorry for the poor quality picture.

Apparently when I bought the buttons I had the idea of using LED buttons for the coin up and player start with overlays on those buttons from GGG. Thoughts?