"Coin Art" (Updated 2021)

[Drnick]

LED Blinky should work with the LED Wiz and will probably assist you massively in setting everything up.  Ideally you want a front end that LED Blinky will easily work in conjunction with along with relevant emulators for various systems.  Basically from here on in it is down to software configuration and that is going to involve a lot of trial/error and Much Google-fu.

[jimfath]

So the guy building it wasn't able to get the lights working at all. He could not figure out LED Blinky and his brand of maximus. He then had some other projects come up so we both decided that it would be best if he just delivered the cabinet to me without it completely working. It's just sitting in my kitchen.


He's got it running maximus but the MAME emulator doesn't work, Daphne doesn't work well, and the cabinet still needs to be wired for lighting and the marquee.
I'm bummed but the machine closer than ever at the same time.

I'm sort of at a cross road. I'm considering blowing up the HDD and trying to run hyperspin or reinstall a better version of Maximus perhaps.  But I'm at a loss for time to dedicate to what it would probably take to do something like that. I've sent out feelers to people that sell HDD's on ebay preloaded with hyperspin to see if they are able to work on the pc. There are a lot in SO CAL so i'm going to try my luck there.

[pbj]

Have you considered a pi?

[JudgeRob]

Just watch a youtube video or two and install Hyperspin yourself.  Hell, if I can do it, anyone can!

[javeryh]

Just watch a youtube video or two and install Hyperspin yourself.  Hell, if I can do it, anyone can!

+1.  Honestly, YouTube can teach you anything if you are willing to put in the time.

[luizw81]

Just watch a youtube video or two and install Hyperspin yourself.  Hell, if I can do it, anyone can!

+1.  Honestly, YouTube can teach you anything if you are willing to put in the time.

True dat!  I did my complete Hyperspin build all from Simple Austin's videos and the Hyperspin forums.

Sent from my SM-J320R4 using Tapatalk

[jimfath]

UPDATE: 2019
I've finished putting the computer together. I polled some people on reddit r/cade/ and the prevailing thought was that I should start fixing the wiring first. So, naturally, I worked on the computer. 

I updated the computer from Maximus to hyperspin. Was a bit of a learning curve but I have it as playable as I can get it short of integrating LED wiz and mapping the controllers on every platform. I put the computer in and played around on the existing control deck. I figure the remaining changes to the computer will be the last part once all the other things are done on the cabinet.


This week I had some time to started attacking the tasks on upgrading the cabinet.

Goals:
Sand and laminate (glossy, matte, or satin finish?)
Install screw in nuts in the CP with a close hinge to allow it to open easier.
install hinge on the back. Possibly piano hinge. Or something easily accessible
possibly put handle on back, wheels on rear   
Possibly more design elements into side art area
install fans in the top and air vents in bottom (air filter?)
replace the gold T-molding with silver t-molding
replace the gun hoses and the dowel rod holsters
install an LCD marquee (glass cover?)
Install lighting elements in the side art and in the CP
Rewire CP, quiet the buttons and

Down the road: redo the CP completely.


The paint job has always bugged me. It's spotty in some places and very rough. I going to cover the outside with laminate black laminate. My old CRT cabinet had matte finished black laminate. Not sure if I should get glossy or matte. Maybe glossy would go nice with the chrome joys? Maybe satin?

I removed one piece from the top where the USB fans will be installed. I sanded the piece and can already tell the wood was scrap as it had previous cuts and holes that had been painted over. (nice)



Previously there were black rubber garden hoses used for conduit for the AIM track guns. The hoses were rigid and would sometimes push the guns out of the dowel rod they were perched on if they were turned the wrong way. 
I got official holsters from HAPP to properly hold the guns to replace the dowels and I'm going to use old pay phone handset tubing as the conduit.(I work in telecom and found some randomly) The USB cable fits with a little give allowing it to move nicely

[jimfath]

Starting to take more pieces off and sand them. Still looking where to buy glossy cabinet laminate. Home Depot says they have it but only online and it's not available till April. I'm still looking around



For this back piece any advise on making it a door? Piano hinge and a barrel lock?


The tokens started falling off. It's fine, I have to redo all this when I laminate it. I might put lights on these things. There was a lot more potential with this side art than was done.

[wp34]

Starting to take more pieces off and sand them. Still looking where to buy glossy cabinet laminate. Home Depot says they have it but only online and it's not available till April. I'm still looking around

I've had Home Depot specially order laminate before.  As I recall they didn't charge shipping but it was a few years ago.  If you have a ReStore near you might check it out.  I've picked up laminate cheap there but their inventory is very hit and miss.

For this back piece any advise on making it a door? Piano hinge and a barrel lock?

You could make it a removable door (no hinge) like most old games had. 

That looks fantastic!  I love how that turned out.

[Arroyo]

Starting to take more pieces off and sand them. Still looking where to buy glossy cabinet laminate.

I ordered from this place and it has a ton of options.  Ended up being cheaper than Home Depot, although I did order a fair amount.

https://www.cabinetparts.com/c/countertop-laminate-products

[jimfath]

Thanks for all the feed back, gents.
I have a sheet of glossy black laminate en-route. Should be here by Saturday. I hope to start joining laminate the smaller pieces.

Question about laminate and contact adhesive. Is there a brand people recommend and how well does it cover? I see it sold in pints and gallons. I don't want to buy too much but I also don't want to run out in-process. I'm laminating the entire cabinet. It's 29" wide and about 6' tall. After watching a couple of videos I think I want to double apply each side and maybe one coat for all the smaller pieces.

Also, has anyone ever used a dremmel to trim laminate? I don't have a router but do have a dremmel. I know it would take a lot longer and that's ok so long as it's clean. I did find a $20 flush bit that is 1/8 for dremmels. If it is horrible I don't mind going out and getting a used router somewhere. I just happened to have a dremmel is all.


I had time to cut the holes and for the exhaust fans. With the addition of a LCD marquee, I feel like it's going to get hot at the top. I'll add intake vents on the bottom with possibly a simple filter of some sort. Probably foam so I can wash and put it back.


Rented space at a local woodworking place here in LA called "Community Woodshop" where I plan on doing a lot of the cutting for these updates. Though I'll have to trim the arcade cab at home because I'm not dragging that out there just to trim it.
To get my "sea legs" with woodworking, I built a chair mat. I made many mistakes and it took a lot longer than it should have but it came out ok and i feel like I am getting into the right headspace to make better decisions with some of the cutting and planning.

[jimfath]

So I had some more time this week. One sheet of laminate came in and I started cutting it up into small pieces.



I plan on pulling pieces off the cabinet, sanding them down, putting them back in and securing them through the side instead of though the pieces themselves into the small 1x1's. I'll connect the sides with a small framing piece to keep the structure strong. This doesn't make sense as I'm typing it. I'll take pictures when i get there.




The guy made the back strange and, after sanding some of the pieces, I'm convinced he did so because he was reusing scrap pieces.
I found bondo and some screw holes on two of the boards.
The back has (3) pieces. There is a lower kick plate area, a larger middle area, and very thin top part where he also jig sawed a small hole and hot glued the TV controls onto. The controls have NEVER worked. I think some of the glue either got on to PCB and possibly ruined connections. I'm not sure. I've been limited to using a universal remote to turn it off and on.
I cut out a large piece to cover for the two and will laminate it. I'll try to rescue the old TV controls but I'm doubtful it will work.
Eventually this larger piece will also have a latch on it to serve as the point of entry. I'll use maybe a chrome barrel lock or handle latch.




New piece is underneath. It's sticking out but it's the same size.

I removed the mechs off the back of the coin door. Any recommendations on how to light it and secure the plastic. I have seen a few options.




I got both fans installed in the angled piece in the back. The contact adhesive is ordered and I'll hopefully get that by this week.

[jimfath]

So I've been plugging along. I have laminated about 30-40% of the total cabinet so far. Mostly just small pieces as I get used to how the laminating process works.  I ended up replacing several pieces with new boards as a few were shoddy scrap pieces I found cut outs and bondo in.

I'll have more pictures after this weekend, I hope. I am about raise the floor and put it on casters.

Had a ? about how people mount speakers. I tried to create a poll but I could not attach a picture so it's not really clear. Basically, where do peple like to put the speakers? More recessed or sticking out. I could not find any real discussion of this only people showing both ways.

So what do you think?

or

bear in mind that THIS way almost doubles the size of the grill profile.

I'm probably going to stick to having it sit behind the wood and put in a small grill that's flush. These are pretty huge speakers and I like the idea of having them recessed so they're not hanging down in your face as you look at the monitor. The bare wood will be covered with laminate strips once the speaker is installed behind.

Other progress that I have pics of

I removed metal stands


picked these 3" wheels. 2 swivel, 2 fixed. With the fix going to be in the Front


Had to replace the bottom piece with 3/4" plywood. It was 1/4" scrap plywood wood and I was worried about the pressure cracking the wood especially if it's going to be rolled from time to time and it was pretty beat up as is. Should I add another 1/2" board over laying directly over the bolts to make it stronger? Side to side? Is that overkill?


I hope to put this thing on this Sunday. It will be rather involved as it's integral to the build. The wife likes that she'll be able to clean behind it easier. (Her words not mine)


I started pulling all the old hardware from the CP. I'm on the fence about using this going forward. I might replace the CP but I'm shelving that for now.


Keeping with the Silver and Black I painted the return air vent and the blower fan vents chrome.

Least you think I'm a Raiders fan, I also made this Browns homage


I think it will be a beer opener for my dad. In looking at redoing some of the side art, I wanted to mess around with a scroll saw.

[jimfath]

Well getting the wheels on a was a comedy of errors

First attempt: The original board was too thin. Cracked putting the wheels on it.

2nd attempt: The new board I cut was too short and I had to start over

3rd attempt: was the right size and I had to find a creative way to raise the floor using scrap pieces of ply that I could rest it on while I screwed down all the pieces.







The wheels make the cabinet rock quite a bit so, toward the end of this revision, I'll make a small, low profile rail for each side to rest on. Wheels make this WAY easier to move so the effort was worth it.

Now to replace the front kick plate. It was cut improperly, it's not square and the coin door hole was also cut too large so it keeps falling out. I'll be putting a sub and kick port on the front as well as laminating it.
 

[gingecko]

Wow, coming along! I've never worked with laminate, and kind of dread getting to the painting stage. Guess I'll see when I get there.

I thought usually the fixed wheels go on the back of the cab? So you can rock it a bit at the front, and then pull out? Been a long time since I made my cab though. This time around I'm going the fixed wheels on back/leg levelers approach. Mainly for the same reason you mentioned, wobble. My first cab was pretty solid until I attached wheels, and then it had more wobble than I liked. It probably helps to get the wheels as close to the outer edges as possible, to minimize the tipping effect.

The sides are really cool, with the two characters in coins. I am curious what that would like lit up. The overall black/chrome/gold colors are pretty nice.

[jimfath]

Thanks. So far the laminate process has been headache free.

I just ordered two sheets of laminate for the sides. I hope to finish the remaining while that's shipping. This week I want to finish the rear door by installing a paddle latch and laminating it.
I believe I have enough remaining laminate material to make strips for some of the exposed edges. I worked out a way to cut the formica on a table saw without chipping by dropping down the saw blade and laying the formic underneath scrap plywood.


For laminating I used


And a small 3" roller


I used a small roller I got off ebay to push adhere the formica and force out any air.


I found a cheap paddle latch on ebay. I'll use that to open the back.. (I hope)

[gingecko]

Thanks for the laminate info! I had to look up paddle latches. I had seen them before in person, but didn't know that's what they are called. Great call for access doors.

[jimfath]

I've been working on this but didn't have time to upload a lot of pictures. More is coming. I'm making progress.

I installed a new back piece with the paddle latch. I screwed up and made too big a cut with the router but I was able to save it with a solid wood backing piece of scrap and shoring up the lip with glue and laminate.














I have started using the kreg jig to join the pieces.


I've also began redoing the CP. Increased size to allow a little more room


I've replaced the coin door and installed a sub on it.  It's already laminated though i forgot to take a picture.

[jimfath]

Holy crap did I hate figuring out how to make little laminate strips for the all the holes.



I popped the door and pulled the plastic off to see the finish vs the painted finish. I was a little nervous if wasn't that much of an improvement. The photo doesn't do it justice but the shine and gloss was exactly what I was looking for. The door and lines are uneven. i have some adjustments to make it more square.



I also recently started to revise the CP (I forgot to include this start up pic)

[jimfath]

I can finally leave the house again so i blew the dust of this old project and inched it along.

Even with the lock's engaged, the wheels were just too loose so I put in adjustable feet to lift the wheel off the ground. I drilled holes so I can bring up the feet when I want them to roll the cabinet. I might have to change out the hard plastic feet covers with rubber, or add rubber to them to add more grip. That will come later.



I put speaker grates in and installed the speakers with fasteners.

.



I've also started working on an all-in one traveling CP that I can take to friends houses. It will have (2) additional controllers for 4 player games and consoles if somebody wants to play them. Sort of beyond my skills but I have time and some spart wood and parts so I thought I'd go for it. 

[jimfath]

I finally had time to sand and laminate the sides. I also had to strategically plan when I did this because there's old lady in my condo complex that complains whenever I do any kind of wood work or auto motive work.


I also cut out the area below the old control panel and am going to turn it into a drawer with console controls in it.






I plan on using foam and Dremel out the control shapes so they sit in there like a bunch of John Wick weapons. 


While they are in there, they'll be connected via usb and I'm wondering if I should have them permanently connected to a usb hub that has switches so you can enable each controller on demand or should they all just be "on" all the time if connected in a standard hub. I've heard the more devices actively connected the messier the connection. my old cabinet had 4 N64, 2snes, and 2 nes set up like this and I never noticed any issues but maybe I'm pushing it here. I feel like I might be taking too big a swing with all these console add-on's but I really want to push Frankenpanel to the next level.


I also finished portable arcade panels. I made them for the groomsman in my wedding. One had drawers out the back to fit a Logitech usb controller. I changed gears and made the others have smaller drawers on the side for a wired 8Bitdo SF30.




Too keep this from getting too big and heavy, I put the all the gear inside in a tight formation with two fans to make sure the PI didn't over heat.

[jimfath]

I have finished the control panel but am currently struggling mightily with adding plexi to the top. I used store bought plexti and it was a nightmare. It threw so much debris and that debris ended up scratching the plexi in several places. Even with a vacuum pulling the routed bits of plexi debris, it still scratched it up to oblivion.

 I've ordered some polycarbonite laminate to see if that will make it easier. The biggest hurdle was cutting the trackball around the metal housing. I will try again with a fresh piece and I THINK I'll try to start with the track ball part first instead of last.

I've also finished the base of the portable panel. I will wrap the bottom with speaker fabric and hopefully get it finished soon.

[ChanceKJ]

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[Mike A]

You really should use plexi in that application. Plexi (acrylic) is more scratch resistant. Lexan (polycarbonate) is more impact resistant, but the plastic isn't your biggest problem if you are worried about impact resistance.

[ChanceKJ]

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[Mike A]

I wasn't aware the OP was putting his MAME machine on location.

I use acrylic all of the time. I have never had it shatter. Then again I just use my stuff at home.

[ChanceKJ]

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[opt2not]

You really should use plexi in that application. Plexi (acrylic) is more scratch resistant. Lexan (polycarbonate) is more impact resistant, but the plastic isn't your biggest problem if you are worried about impact resistance.

^this right here.

Over time with constant play, Lexan will get scratched up. That's a guarantee. It's not guaranteed that some drunk will come along and pound on your panel.

[ChanceKJ]

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[pbj]

And you’re reporting posts.... from the internet.... that hurt your feelings.

 

[ChanceKJ]

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[opt2not]

Regardless lol,  What I'm saying is, even though it was available and used in the arcade industry, Plexi was NOT used for this application. Like Ever.  I've pulled overlays made of lexan off control panels from the early 90's and they are still in decent/useable shape. lol.   Aside from the fact that jimfath already tried Plexi and it didn't work, who are we to argue with the dozens  of manufactures of hundreds of thousands of cabinets, made of hundreds of game titles, over decades?   

haha you're arguing over plastic.   ...on the internet.

Who's arguing? I'm backing up the points that were made by MikeA.

If anything you're the one arguing some industry "facts" you don't have any data to back-up. One or the other, Plexi and Lexan were both used for these applications. Don't get it twisted.

[jimfath]

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