Element 5 - A small bartop (FINISHED)

[dkssprs]

slim bartop with style.
Very clean work.
Many gratz. 

[justinjstark]

Here are the marquee and cp art with the red toned down.  What do you guys think?  I'm not so sure about brown + yellow.

[justinjstark]

I am liking brown + white much more.  Now I just have to order a few more white buttons.

[justinjstark]

I figured this thread needed an update.  I have been away for about a month now and as a result have not gotten a lot done with the arcade system.  I finally got most of the guts in place and have the system working.  In the picture, you can see it running the latest build of ubuntu off a flash drive.  The original speakers had too big of a subwoofer and I really wanted a 2.1 system so I found this small set of 2.1 speakers.  The subwoofer fits just barely next to the power supply.  Everything fits nicely; the only problem is cramming in all those cables.  I am going to wire things much differently the next time I make one this small.

I need more hot glue sticks so I can mount the speakers and the led strip.  Unfortunately I was snowed in today (and may be tomorrow) so it may not get done until next week.  :-(

There is a sign shop near my weekend abode that I am going to have print the artwork.  They do professional signs and do vinyl and transparent vinyl.  I can get 3 square feet printed for $25 so I can get a couple sets of artwork for that price.  I was hoping to have the artwork by now but this place is only open on weekdays which makes it difficult.

I'm not 100% sure what I will use for a power cord.  I have a 3 prong extension cord which I may use on this project.  The power strip I bought is not going to fit.  I have a few ideas where I can stick the power strip on the next build...if I cut the wood to allow for it.

I also still need to replace the yellow buttons with white ones.  I will do that when I install the artwork and plexi.  I need to cut and paint the plexi which goes over the monitor yet too.

School is just ramping back up and it is cooooold in that garage so it may be a while before I complete this.  I'm expecting my next build to go very quickly since I know exactly how everything should be.

[Yvan256]

I am liking brown + white much more.  Now I just have to order a few more white buttons.

You know what else "Element 5" makes me think of? The joystick + four buttons = 5 elements per player. The line going around each player controls also re-inforces the idea IMHO.

[justinjstark]

I finished mounting everything and getting the wires situated.  It is not great but I got everything to fit.  I used hot glue to mount the speakers and led strip.

My artwork is being printed.  I got it done at a local sign shop for <$30 for both the cp and marquee (the marquee on transparent vinyl).  It could be a week or two before I can pick up the artwork since I am out of town.  :-/

The yellow buttons must go.  I'm doing a white accent instead of yellow because I think it looks a lot better.  So I am going to get some white buttons shipped in and swap them out when I put the artwork on.

I installed xubuntu on the system and made a quick layout for wahcade to match my cab.  It needs some tweaking but I think it looks good.

This week I will probably cut and paint the plexi for the monitor bezel and get that put in.  Then I just have to get the artwork in and the cab will be done.

[justinjstark]

Finally some progress.  I got the white buttons I needed (to replace the ugly yellows) and also picked up my printed artwork.

I installed the marquee but am having an issue.  The marquee vinyl is way too thin and transparent so when the led strip is on, it is blinding.  I'm thinking of having the marquee art reprinted on standard vinyl as opposed to transparent.  It is thin enough that it will still let light through but won't be as obnoxious.

I pulled the buttons out, adhered the cp art, and finished the control panel.  It looks very nice.  I went with adhesive vinyl this time since on my previous cab I did not stick the vinyl and over time it wrinkled.  

I tried making the bezel for the monitor but failed.    I accidentally broke the plexi.  I bought some more so I will get that figured out one of these days when I have the time.

PS: I know the marquee is a little crooked in that first picture...I have fixed it since then.  :-)

[dandare]

Looking good my man.

White button much better than yellow. and i'm liking artwork, the white outline around the controls is nice.

Too bad about the plexi. what was the problem?

[justinjstark]

Too bad about the plexi. what was the problem?

I did a bad job painting it and then I broke a corner off.     Maybe tomorrow I will try it again.

I was having a problem with the marquee.  The light was way too bright and the marquee artwork too transparent.  I put 3 pieces of paper over the led light strip to help dim it and now it looks much better.  Still, the marquee is printed on transparent vinyl which just doesn't look as good as opaque vinyl.  So I am going to get it reprinted on the same opaque vinyl I used on the control panel; it is still thin enough that the light will show through but the colors are better.

I did some work on the software today.  I am running xubuntu with wahcade over top.  I currently only have zsnes going but I'm working on getting mame set up.  I have ultrastar deluxe for karaoke and am in the process of getting it so it will launch inside wahcade.

I'm writing a lot of scripts for launching the various applications I want to have (ex: ultrastar deluxe) which aren't directly supported by wahcade.  On top of that, each application has its own xmodmap file to reassign keys.  For instance, when ultrastar runs, first xmodmap sets the keys so that the start button and button A map to enter; then ultrastar runs; then the keys get set back to normal.  It is working out really well.

[justinjstark]

  I tried to recut the bezel but all I wound up doing was shattering another piece of plexiglass.   

I was trying to use a jigsaw with a high TPI metal-cutting blade to make a rough-cut and then make the finished cut with the router.  Unfortunately, while making the cut with the jigsaw, the blade caught and cracked the heck out of the plexi...

So...I think I am going to go back to using lexan.  It is a little more expensive but it is much easier to cut.

[Donkbaca]

Just use the router to cut the plexi.  It cuts like butter

[justinjstark]

Just use the router to cut the plexi.  It cuts like butter

I'm wondering how to cut an 18x24" sheet nearly in half with a router.  Man, a router table with a fence would make this so easy.     I guess I could set it atop two boards with the gap between the boards where the router bit will go.  The flush-trim bottom-bearing bit might work well here.  Hmmmm...I will have to give this a go.

[Donkbaca]

Easy.

Get your flush trim bit, mark the plexi with where you want to cut it with a marker.  clamp the plexi to a board with a straight edge and line up the marker line with the straight edge.

go to town with the router

the end

[justinjstark]

Easy.

Get your flush trim bit, mark the plexi with where you want to cut it with a marker.  clamp the plexi to a board with a straight edge and line up the marker line with the straight edge.

go to town with the router

the end

This works wonderfully.    I wasn't so sure about routing right down the middle of a piece of plexi with a straight cutting bit.  Turns out it works great.

I cut the plexi to size, taped off the viewable area, and painted the outside area with black spray paint.  I put it in and I can finally say:

THIS PROJECT IS FINISHED!!!

I'm sure I will still work on the front end and do lots of tweaking but I think I'm calling it the cab done.  Thank you all for your great ideas and help throughout this build.  

PS: Sorry about the bad camera-phone pictures.

[Termin8tor]

Congratulations, excellent build and very well documented.

[Cenobyte]

Nice tabletop! 

My build is going to start in a couple of weeks 

[justinjstark]

I want to build another one of these in the future so I'm going to make a list here of things to do differently.

* Fix the top-heavy proportions (the new design adds 1/2" depth at the back and 1/2" height at the base and knocks 1/2" height off the marqee -- see dimension changes in the attached image)
* Put the usb connection on the right side
* Move the volume controls to the speaker panel
* Print the marquee on opaque vinyl so it isn't so bright and doesn't look washed out
* Buy and use shorter cables
* Find some good quality 2.0 speakers so there is more room inside
* Mount an exhaust fan and grill
* Cut the hole in the bottom to better dimensions for easier access
* Use a micro-atx or mini-itx power supply
* Find a way to make the headphone jack work
* Route a slot for the left and right edges of the marquee so there are no gaps
* I've updated the artwork a bit.  The most notable change will be that the white bar across the front of the control panel is now black.  It will make the cp look less busy.
* Find a dimmer and more evenly spread out light source
* Put the power button on the outside (maybe on the back near the exhaust fan)