Bartop Arcades ~Lots of PICTURES~

[CoryBee]

Here is a build log of what started out as one Bartop Arcade.


First I start out with my template I created by perfecting how I liked my first model. Traced and labeled each piece so I know what is what when it comes down to assembly.



Cut them out into manageable pieces for precise cutting later.



Side panels need to be exact so I layered a blank piece on top of my traced template.





Completed side panels



Here is a makeshift guide I made from part of the 1x1, takes a little bit longer to setup then just cutting but boy does it make my cuts straighter.



And here it is completely cut out and trimmed.



To make sure that I have it perfect when I make another one of this model I then trace the pieces onto more mdf board.



Okay, I decided to trace it out a few more times....





While my garage was nice and saw-dusty I thought I might as well cut all of them out. (Each set is labeled A, B, C)







Since I have yet to PDF my plans and part list, here is the lengths to cut my 1x1s. (Touchscreen monitor hangs on my workbench for ease of use)



Marked and ready for cutting, I placed two pieces side by side since I am now more shells







Each one is labeled before being cut so I know where to place them. Started mounting them in their places. (The screws I have are a little too long so I made due by not drilling all the way thru)



Pre-drilled and placing the panels on







Pieces in place for one and finishing up another



Here is another shot, the shell on the far left is not mine but my brother's. He used my template as a base but changed it so that it is a little bit shorter and at an angle so there is no hang-over marquee. (Also a pile of pieces I will save to trace onto more MDF when I get it)

Also my cuts were a little bit off in some areas but were quickly fixed with a palm sander.





Another shot but with my last bartop next to the three.



I am still designing Mark 3 (a two player bartop with light gun), but here is part of that process. About the size of the control panel and a little bit wider than the Mark 2.



Thanks for looking, I will be adding the laptops in and taking a lot of pictures during that process.

[ark_ader]

OMG that looks so familiar.... 

I did the same design but to fit a TP 365X.

Nice work, hope you paint it black. 

[CoryBee]

Do you have pictures of your design that is similar?

And I have different color and pattern contact paper. If you look at http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=120010.0 you will see I have this one in all black.

[ChrisK]

This is an awesome step-by-step log!  Thanks, CoryDee!

[CoryBee]

Thanks! I am getting the parts in to put these things together. Ordered tons of buttons! I love it.

[Gray_Area]

Why three of them?

[CoryBee]

Because friends have asked me to build them one =). Plus had the extra wood. Can make probably 4 shells with $14.50 in Particle board.

[CoryBee]

I got my buttons and other items in to make a working laptop. Here is the work I completed last night.

Dell D410 Laptop that I purchased for 15 dollars that was missing a hard drive. Bought a 30gb IDE laptop drive for around 15 dollars. Same laptop model to the left, still waiting on back-light inverter board to finish.



Installing Windows XP Black Edition (Stripped down XP)



After successful windows install and copying over Mala, mame, and roms\emulator I started taking it apart.







All the way down to the motherboard.



Building a frame for the screen and motherboard to be mounted to. Just 4 pieces of the 1x1, pretty simple.







Mounting the Screen with some nice Hot Glue stick pieces I heat up with a pen torch and then place where I traced the outside.





After it was nice and mounted I was ready to solder on the +\- wires for the external power plug.

I use a technique I learned from an old friend of mine to create twisted wires. Helps to keep things organized. Basically consists of placing the two desired wires together in a power drill and holding one end while slowly pulling the trigger down.





Prepping the +\- leads from the motherboard with silver based solder from radio shack. Was easy to find what was what with a multimeter. Then soldering them on.





Shot of the DC jack after soldering wires on.



Mounted the motherboard on the other side of my custom screen mount.



Shot of power button before and after soldering. Uses a surface mount switch so had to use a really small wire for this. Ground connection was easy to do because, well because it is everywhere. The goop stuff you see is just FLUX to keep solder from spreading to the "ground".





Shot of motherboard with power switch strip glued in place.



Test fitting and drilling of screen mount after I found the ideal angle.







Prepping control panel. Marking button and joystick drilling locations.



After drilling with spade bit (1 1/8th bit) and testing the Plexi glass I cut.







Covering the Control panel in Contact paper. The design is black in the middle and white on the outsides. Trim the edges with a razor blade and scored the holes to prep for buttons.







Added the acrylic. And test fit the buttons. Shiny.







Looking nice





Added the momentary switches to the buttons and I like to face them all the same way for neatness.



----------Onto the wiring----------

I bought terminal strips to keep things clean. Had enough ports for all 8 buttons and the 4 directional switches for joystick but not for the two ground connections needed. I used a three terminal strip to compensate. Soldered the ends together.





Mounted the terminal strips and the $3.50 chinese USB Gamepad I chose to be the interface. I bought ten of them for later projects =).



Button contacts, plus prepping with solder.









Soldering wires on and adding to terminal strip.

----- Note: These USB Gamepads (pretty much all on the market) have a slight issue when it comes to the Ground connections. As most of us know when it comes to keyboards and gamepads button lead plus common ground connection equals a button press. Well these are tricky. All of the buttons except "UP" and "Right" work using this method. I have found that they use what I like to call a secret ground. So I scrape some off some board coating where their secret ground is. Orange Wire represents Secret Ground and Red Wire represents Common Ground. If you do not use this secret ground the "Up" & "Right" buttons come up as a "Down" & "Left" button press. Hope this helps -----

The gamepad uses 10 buttons and I only have use for 8. It was about this time that I decided I would use the extra two buttons as Pinball controls. Needed another 3x terminal strip.





Testing all the solder connections to make sure they are properly recognized. Successful the first time.



Soldering common and secret ground



Added the active button wires



Marked and drilled out the holes for my pinball buttons.



Cutting and placing both the black and white contact paper.







Here are some shots of it with the Punch out black Bartop I made previously.








That is all for the UPDATE as of now. I still must cut the acrylic for the screen bezel & marquee, buy buttons and dc jack for the power. Need to get bulbs for the marquee and more wire as I ran out and am using wire scavenged from an old arcade board.

Will update again when I get more parts in. Thanks for looking again!

[spkywlnt73]

Man, these bartops are so cool! As soon as I get some of my other projects out of the way, I'll be building one of these. Nice work, and I really love how much you went into details on this. I'll be looking this project up when I goto build mine! 

[CoryBee]

Thanks a lot. I love these things too. They are a rather simple design that can be easily replicated. I am taking a ton of pictures and hopping they are useful to someone.

[CoryBee]

Added Malafe and pinball games. More pictures soon of electronics install.

[molton]

As soon as I get a garage, I'm buying some tools and making me one of these, this is bad ass.  Thanks for the detailed how to.

How did you figure out that secret ground business?

[CoryBee]

I found that if i connect the common ground to the Right button pad it would register a Left button press. Same with Up, it would produce a Down button press. Bothered the ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- out of me. So I just scraped off some of the board off where the ground is that they share and soldered my own pad for the "secret ground". I haven't the slightest reason why, I have guesses but not sure at all. If someone knows please inform me of this.

[emb]

Great work so far. I love the pics. They really show some useful techniques.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[CoryBee]

Thanks again. Just got back from radio shack and got the rest of the parts to finish the electrical portion.

 Anyone have any ideas for a marquee holder that is slim for a bartop?

[CoryBee]

Okay, so I am putting the white arcade on hold for a quick second to produce a different bartop for a good friend of mine. He wanted 8 main buttons and 4 of which light up. I quite like the layout he chose too. Here are some images.

Don't mind the saw dust (need a shop-vac)

[PL1]

Anyone have any ideas for a marquee holder that is slim for a bartop?

Have you looked in this thread?

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=119998.0


Scott

[CoryBee]

Good call, I will try to find that at my local Home Depot in California

[CoryBee]

Preparing the edges of the control panel. He wants an all white arcade as well. Don't have any white so I used white primer.



Taking apart the controller that will be my control interface. The blue ones have Turbo & Slow, I might end up using this later on. Black (http://www.ebay.com/itm/260754213640?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649) (Blue - Turbo http://www.ebay.com/itm/370503470516?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649)









Mounting terminals and controller via hot glue.



More soldering again like before.



The dell laptop power cord needs to be switched so I can use it with the DC jack.





Fitting the buttons on the acrylic.





Solder the buttons.



Ground





I have the LEDs hooked through the USB Controller so I got a Step Up Module that takes the 5v to 12v perfectly.





Oh and by the way I recently purchased an automatic wire stripper and it was the best damned 3 bucks I ever spent. (eBay - http://www.ebay.com/itm/220886275387?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649)



Mess o' Wires for pretty lights











More updates and pictures coming.

[capsule]

Nice laptop hack!

I love hacking gamepads too but be careful with vibrations. I used to solder directly on the board like you did but ran into tracks lifting up and then breaking because the cable acts as a lever (these chinese boards are crap)... I now drill a tiny hole using a dremel and solder like on a regular circuit board with the cable coming from the bottom. Easier to solder and more robust.

I'm also suprised about your "hidden" ground issue. I'm using Trustmaster gamepad and they got only one ground.

Anyway, you bought 10 of them so you can still replace yours later and solder them "properly" :-)

[CoryBee]

Well thanks for the tip, i will try that hole drilling on the solder pad. Never thought of that, ingenious. I haven't had any issues thus far, everything is secured though. Yea I am not sure why there is this hidden ground issue either, the USB SNES gamepad I used had a common ground. Chinese mentality...space saver or something I dunno. The turbo\slow buttons use the common ground too.

[CoryBee]

Finished applying most of the Contact paper, painting the edges and fitting some of the back panel electronics.

Two things I thought were clever my friend wanted on his arcade was a fold out cup holder (for beer probably) and an external port to plug in a Male-Male usb. So that he can use the whole bartop as a game controller on a larger PC\screen.



----USB, Rocker Switch for main power, DC Jack, Power momentary switch----







Soldering the ground connections



Live mains and Switch







Cup Holder









Video of plugging in External USB. Powers lights as well because it gets voltage though the gamepads usb.

[iconrl]

How much wood did it take for the build?  Was it an entire 4 x 8 sheet or just partial?  I'd be interested in copying this design exactly.

[CoryBee]

I can make at least 4 of these bartops from one sheet of 4x8 =)  . Hope my many pictures is helping anyone.

[CoryBee]

finishing up assembling the speakers and audio taper (volume control), pictures soon

[CoryBee]

More pictures and a video

Shot of the marquee bottom speaker area.



Grabbing the "+" off of the USB port for powering the Amplifier.



I encountered an issue when using the bartop as a USB device. It only liked being connected to the closest computer. So I added two switches to the USB cord, the data lines and it fixed it nicely. So when I want to play with the bartop as just a controller I turn the data lines going to the Laptop off.





Added a tiny diode to restrict the flow of electricity as to not damage the laptop with another computer's 5v usb.



Assembled





And a video of the Bartop "USB Gamepad Mode" in action.

[CoryBee]

Just got the Bulbs in for the marquee light and am getting ready to cut the acrylic for the monitor bezel.

[CoryBee]

Just got finished cutting\painting the Acrylic Monitor Bezel and installed the Bayonet Bulbs. Here are some shots of it.






Cup Holder Extended







Just about done, only need to add marquee and art. All programing is done already as well.

[CoryBee]

Picked up some edge things I am not sure what they go to but I will be using it as the marquee holder. Need to cut it down a bit first though.

[CoryBee]

Nice, just got my friend to finish designing his marquee art and boot screen. Will post soon, been fixing these two LCD TVs I might use for a standup arcade.

[CheffoJeffo]

If somebody else has already asked, then I apologize.

Why the hell didn't you go with a material that could provide a better finish ?

You put a lot of time in and your work is diminished by a poor choice in materials ... and no t-molding.

Can we move this to PA ?

[CoryBee]

Yes, someone mentioned this already. I didn't realize my material choice until after I bought several sheets of this ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---. That is why I went with the contact paper to cover the finish. I wasn't sure at the time what MDF was, I hadn't done much with wood since making my workbench and high school wood-shop. Also, I can't find T-Moulding that is a quarter of an inch. If you have source let me know, Thanks for the input.

[CoryBee]

Looks to be a bit bigger than 1/4

[CoryBee]

I will be sticking with the way it is now. I don't think it looks that bad, but there is a ton of room for improvement on this visually. I will be going to home-depot today or tomorrow to get some MDF for my next bartops\stand up arcade. What thickness should I get for a bartop and for a stand up? 1/2" for bartop and a 3/4" or 1" for stand-up is what I was thinking.....

[mytymaus007]

Awsome pics and documentation most people charge for this! your the man!!I love this forum everyone shares their work!! Greedy people must leave now

[CoryBee]

Haha, thanks boss. I mostly pulled this stuff out of ---my bottom--- and tried to shine it into gold. Working some things out and getting new wood at the moment so we will see how much more shiny I can get it.

[CoryBee]

Just a quick update. Printed out (x2) the marquee my friend finally picked out and cut the acrylic for it. Just need to install the marquee holder now, shell MalaFE and this one is done.

[Unstupid]

Because friends have asked me to build them one =). Plus had the extra wood. Can make probably 4 shells with $14.50 in MDF board.

You do realize that what you are using is not MDF? 

[gamuhar]

Very nice. Just one thing. Your signature does not belong on the MAME splash screen, I'm afraid. And the placement... you don't want people to think you created MAME, right? Your signature belongs on the cabinet itself, unless you just copied iCade design, in which case you shouldn't give yourself too much credit anyway. Sorry if this doesn't sound too friendly as I do think you are doing a good job, but there is no need to take away someone else's credit and your work will still be cool for all the things that you did do yourself.


@unstupid:
Are you a drama writer, or actor? Why are you being rhetoric when you could simply say what the material is? So, what is it, please?

[CoryBee]

Very nice. Just one thing. Your signature does not belong on the MAME splash screen, I'm afraid. And the placement... you don't want people to think you created MAME, right? Your signature belongs on the cabinet itself, unless you just copied iCade design, in which case you shouldn't give yourself too much credit anyway. Sorry if this doesn't sound too friendly as I do think you are doing a good job, but there is no need to take away someone else's credit and your work will still be cool for all the things that you did do yourself.


@unstupid:
Are you a drama writer, or actor? Why are you being rhetoric when you could simply say what the material is? So, what is it, please?

Yea I realize that it isn't MDF, when I first started getting into I wasn't sure what was what. By the time I wrote that though I not sure what I was thinking cause I knew the difference. I already stated this and will be using MDF in the future.

I created the design for the bartop myself, was the hardest part in my opinion. That curve was a ---smurfette--- to get right.

As for the signature, it was just to take credit for the bartop itself. I have built them for my friends and they seem to like that it is there. I didn't think that it would look like I created MAME altogether =) .... Also don't like the idea of physically signing it which is why I went to edit the boot logo.

Speaking of which, this latest white one wont have the mame boot screen, but will have the dreamcast system boot logo. I edited that one with MAME by Cory, and am now second guessing what it should say. What do you think would be a decent signature on the MAME boot and Dreamcast boot??




I take no offense to constructive criticism. I don't have many tools to work with or a background in woodshop so I do what I can. The first one I made all I had was a Jigsaw, Ruler, and a drill.

[gamuhar]

We are obviously not looking at it with the same eyes.

It says: "MAME, created by CoryDee"

It says nothing else, so I'm not sure why don't you see it. It says so on MAME splash screen, in SOFTWARE that you did not make. Your modification of that splash screen image is probably improper by itself and most likely implicitly prohibited by the authors of that front end, and you seem to be taking their credit as well.

I feel though you genuinely don't realize the weight of what you did, and I think you will eventually change your mind about it, so I will not persuade you to it anymore. The best thing is probably to wait and see if other people find it inappropriate as well.


Still, great looking cabinets!!

Thank you for sharing.

[CoryBee]

We are obviously not looking at it with the same eyes.

It says: "MAME, created by CoryDee"

It says nothing else, so I'm not sure why don't you see it. It says so on MAME splash screen, in SOFTWARE that you did not make. Your modification of that splash screen image is probably improper by itself and most likely implicitly prohibited by the authors of that front end, and you seem to be taking their credit as well.

I feel though you genuinely don't realize the weight of what you did, and I think you will eventually change your mind about it, so I will not persuade you to it anymore. The best thing is probably to wait and see if other people find it inappropriate as well.


Still, great looking cabinets!!

Thank you for sharing.

Thanks for the comment. I honestly didn't see it that way. The people that are receiving these don't know what the MAME software is, they only know that it stands for (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator). I am designing something else to go there, any suggestions for a decent signature so that people wouldn't take offense?

Maybe, Cabinet by CoryDee?

Also, it is a boot screen for XP that I altered with the mame logo. Then running Mala Front End.

[CoryBee]

What do you think of this one?

[gamuhar]

Maybe, Cabinet by CoryDee?

Yeah, and bit further from MAME logo, that's all.  

[gamuhar]

What do you think of this one?

Perfect! Looking much better overall, I think.

[CoryBee]

Maybe, Cabinet by CoryDee?

Yeah, and bit further from MAME logo, that's all.  

  thought you might like the new distance

[ChrisK]

<sarcasm>Wow, I totally thought CoreDee made MAME at first!  By the way, did you guys know Donald Trump built this building with his bare hands?</sarcasm>

[gamuhar]

I don't think sarcasm works because Trump build it with his own money, and that's just as good to warrant the sign, even a picture of himself over the face of the whole building... and how cool is that?!


@CoryDee: I'm not upset about any software license, I said it so it does not cast shadow over what you should really take a credit for. Keep up the good work!

[ChrisK]

He financed the tower, but didn't build it.  He still put his name on the tower itself.  And the sign doesn't say "financed by Trump, Inc."  That's what you were complaining about earlier.

In any case, my point is nobody here is going to think CoryDee designed MAME.  And those that don't know what MAME is will look at this cabinet playing, say, Donkey Kong, and they won't be thinking "wow, you're the guy who made Donkey Kong?"

Anyway, thanks for sharing your builds, CoryDee.  You've blazed through a few cabinets in the same amount of time it took me to read a bunch of threads and procrastinate about building my own. 

[CoryBee]

  You guys crack me up. Thanks for the comment, but please no more Trump....his hair (or lack there-of) scares me.

[CoryBee]

Alright guys, I am pretty much done with this Bartop Arcade and will get some more pictures and a video of it up here. I was browsing some Build Logs on here and ran into this, http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=87113.msg914585#msg914585 .

It gave me the Idea to build a removable base for it (if my friend wants to pay extra ).
My idea is a bit different then his as the arcade will still be 1 player when disconnected. Any-who, here are some sketch ups I did. Don't mind the use of paint, I don't have quite the awesome CAD skills you fold have at rendering ideas.

Here is a GIF of my first idea, this way keeps it a 1-Player and is basically just a base for it to bring it to relative standing height.



This is the design I prefer though, it makes the Bartop a 2-Player cabinet and adds a working Coin door.



What do you guys think?

[ChrisK]

Proof that great minds think alike! 

This is what I was planning to do, and why I was planning on building a tiny cab in the first place.  I have a toddler who likes to pound on my iPad, an old netbook, and pretty much anything else with buttons or a screen.  I figured a little arcade cabinet would be a fun five-minute-at-a-time toy for her right now, and in a couple years she'll probably have fun with a few games here and there.  And if not it'll be my own little bartop to sit on my desk in my office.

My idea was to build a bartop much like yours out of my old 14" laptop and drill some holes into the bottom of it, like modular office furniture.  Then I'll make a matching wood base with some pegs on top, and connect the two for a tiny arcade cabinet.  Something like the American Ace, only smaller.  (My daughter isn't even 3ft tall yet.)  The bottom part will just be a simple wooden cube, probably with some weight in it.  I built a cat tree a while back where the base is all 2x4's, and that was nice and heavy/stable.  It was almost a Weeble. 

Over time I can build a taller bottom box as she gets taller, or just abandon the stand-up cab design as desired.  But having the cabinet split into two pieces is a big benefit for me, because I can change the cabinet around without redesigning the whole thing.  And I'm nothing if not lazy. 

Sooooo... I think it's a good idea!  My only complaint is that if you go and build one in a weekend I won't be able to post my design when I finally get around to it and claim to have a cool new idea! 

[CoryBee]

That's an excellent idea, I would recommend a thick acrylic for the screen bezel to protect from the tiny fists. 

Could you do some drawings for me of how you would go about connecting the two pieces? I am having some troubles choosing what I think would be a suitable way of accomplishing this.

Sorry to say Chris I already have all the wood\joysticks\buttons\wires I need to get this done. All I am really missing is the coin-mech, paint and whatever hinge\connector need to fit them together.

Also, came up with this too. Seeing how this Base will have all of the components minus a computer, I will add a usb hub inside it so with one plug of the USB you can use it on any ("big"  ) screen connected to a computer.



Mind=Blown

[ChrisK]

Acrylic might not be sufficient for my daughter's temper.  What do they make the Popemobile's glass out of? 

I'm afraid I'm pretty awful at making drawings, but I can swipe images with the best of them!  Here's what I was thinking....

Build a sealed wooden cube for the base.  At the top four corners drill one short vertical hole each.  In those holes put some wood glue and a wooden peg.  You end up with a cube with four pegs sticking out vertically.  Here's a picture of the pegs I'm thinking of... common in modular furniture like you'd find from Sauder or Ikea:



On the bottom of the bartop, drill four peg holes to match the base.  Then you just drop the bartop onto the base.  On the back of both pieces you could (if needed) add some kind of fastener to keep the pieces from separating during play.  Something as simple as a door hinge could do the job cheaply:



I'm guessing, but I suspect that just one fastener on the back would be plenty.  There are better mechanisms for fastening the pieces for sure, but those fancy metal buckles with the swinging clasps are surely a lot more expensive than some cheapo door hinge.

This is just what has been floating around in my head for the past couple months.  I haven't even mocked anything up, so I don't know how well this might work.

[CoryBee]

Pertaining to your youngins destructive properties....



 

I like that peg idea, but I think that would cause a transition that is a bit rough (stuck feeling at first). Take a look at my gif, I was thinking two hook type pieces of wood would slide into the bottom of the Bartop and then secure it in place as a first step. Then you could have something on the back side of the base that would grab a latch or something and hold it secure.

A weighted bottom is also a needed factor for this so it is not so top heavy.

  Cheers mate for similar ideas working together for the common good (of arcades anyways)  

[ChrisK]

I think THAT will be thick enough!  Ya gotta protect the cab, you know?  There's no telling how strong she is until the first time she gets her butt kicked by Chun Li. 

Those hooks you're planning on would probably be more secure because they hold in two directions.  For latches we have some furniture at work with these on them.  They secure two big wooden desk pieces to each other and are very secure.  Two of these on a cabinet would be plenty tight, I think.

(Sorry for the crappy cell phone pic, it's all I've got at the moment.)

[CoryBee]

I thought I was the only one that got my butt kicked by Chun Li every time.

I like those latches a lot, pretty much what I was looking for. To find them locally I will probably just wander around Home Depot till something sparks my interest. Usually how I pick things out for my wood projects, no one should get the kind of joy I get strolling through Home Depot or Fry's Electronics.

[CoryBee]

Early this morning I jumped right into building the Base attachment to the bartop. With some rough measurements of the bartops bottom I started cutting the wood. I played around with how tall I wanted the base to be and came up with 3' exactly. Makes it almost perfect height for someone 5'10" - 6'.

Cutting pieces using a quick guide





Using 2x2 supports, nice heavy weight to it to help keep the whole thing from being top-heavy.









Test fit for the height. Still need to design and build the control panel for it too.





I have the marquee holder drying from the white paint and installed the bottom wood piece in after I took these pictures. 

[CoryBee]

Cut an opening in that pedestal and put a door on it so you can fill it with treasure.

Already on it brother!

Ordered one of these

[ChrisK]

I've seen those latches at hardware stores, I just don't know the name of them.  That's what always slows down my search for parts like this.  I know what it looks like but I have no idea what it is.  

I think if you use those latches you might also want to use the pegs I was speaking of before.  Those latches are very secure against pulling, but not so much side-to-side movement.  Even a couple pegs would keep the unit from moving around at all.

EDIT: I see while I was typing you went out and built the thing!  Man, you're quick. 

How are you going to weight it down?

[ark_ader]

How stable is that pedestal?

Yeah cut a door in that bad boy and fill it with consoles.

[CoryBee]

Took a little break when I received some free much needed tools

 

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=120631.0

 

[CoryBee]

Got to working on the Bartop Stand (pedestal).

Don't mind the chicken scratch









Test fit of CP pieces



Attaching 1x1s







Side pieces, little under 5" in height







Top piece in place





Brainstormed many ways to keep the bartop secure in the "pedestal". This way is easy and very secure. The bottom of my bartops have these little rubber feet and I made holes with a spade bit in the pedestal top to have them slide into. I shook it all about and did all kinds of things to test if it was rigid enough.







Mounting the control panel on the pedestal





Make sure everything is level 



It fits! Also, it is at the perfect height and the controls will be at the desired distance from the screen.









Fits all of my bartops too





Extended cup holder for 



Next is to design and place the joystick & buttons on the CP. Sand, fill the gaps\screws with filler and paint it. After which I will get to the electronics side.

Thanks for looking

[phyrosis]

amazing looking work, i need to get off my bum and build some of these units...

[CoryBee]

amazing looking work, i need to get off my bum and build some of these units...

Thanks boss

So it's a detachable pedestal with a second set of controls.  That's such a weird idea that I like it.

 

Yes sir, the idea intrigues me. You get a portable 1-player bartop that you can take on your travels or leave on your table\desk. Then you can place it on your pedestal at home for a two-player mini arcade system to play with others. Another feature is just plugging the pedestal into your computer for a gaming session in front of (in my case) a wide screen 55" LCD.

[rooter]

This is an awesome idea. Are you going to make the controls on the base connect with a USB cable that connects to a USB port on the bottom of the bartop?  I would have made bottom of the base as wide as the control panel as no one is going to be standing in that space anyway.  I would have to, because my friends would rip that thing over playing fighting games no matter how heavy those boards in the bottom are.

This is a great project, I am having a blast looking at all the pictures.   Thanks!

[CoryBee]

This is an awesome idea. Are you going to make the controls on the base connect with a USB cable that connects to a USB port on the bottom of the bartop?  I would have made bottom of the base as wide as the control panel as no one is going to be standing in that space anyway.  I would have to, because my friends would rip that thing over playing fighting games no matter how heavy those boards in the bottom are.

This is a great project, I am having a blast looking at all the pictures.   Thanks!

Thanks again guys, I really tried to make sure I took a ton of pictures through the build. I know I love just scrolling down the pages of peoples builds looking at all of their work.

Having the base that wide would really be too big for me to be honest, I thought about it long and hard before I started. I like the look of it this way as well. Even without the extra weight I plan on adding to the base of it me and my brother couldn't tip it over while -pretend- smashing buttons "very" hard.

Right on the nose about the usb connector, I will have a usb port on the bottom panel of the bartop. A 6ft usb cable coming from the pedestal. Control panel is two USB gamepads that will be wired into a usb hub so only one wire comes out of this thing.

[CoryBee]

Just finished dinner and got all gitty to continue working on this pedestal 

-----You guys know how I like my pictures so here you go-----



Printed out two control panel layouts and cut them to size (much thanks to Slagcoin for this)





Lining things up



Marked a line across the CP where the top buttons will be with a t-ruler, Helps to keep them lined up





Mark holes with a nail and then I like to poke it with a sharpie to better mark where the holes are



Used the t-ruler again to mark the top buttons this time



Testing the look, and the tight fit of where the buttons and the 1x1s meet



Now my favorite part, DRILLING the holes 





Fits well



More drilling 







Test fitting again but with all buttons, joystick not installed yet so just hangs





With the bartop docked





Prepping to cut the plexi





Plexi cut, nice fit too







What looks like scratches and scuff marks is merely sawdust from the table I cut it on.

Hope you guys like the documentation 

Now I need to figure out how I will mount the control panel top (hinges maybe), sand and paint everything. Cut the holes in the plexi glass, and get to working on the electronics.

Thanks again.

[CoryBee]

My friend decided he did not want a coin door mech.....makes me sad. He does however want a mini fridge.



I figure I would mount the thing where a coin door would be, paint it black and slap a mock coin door sticker on it.

Speaking of which, I can't find that sticker anymore. Anyone know where I can get it?   

[PL1]

I figure I would mount the thing where a coin door would be, paint it black and slap a mock coin door sticker on it.

Speaking of which, I can't find that sticker anymore. Anyone know where I can get it?   

http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=89&products_id=308




Scott

[Mysterioii]

Cut an opening in that pedestal and put a door on it so you can fill it with treasure.

Already on it brother!

Ordered one of these

Sorry to hijack, but anyone know where one might be able to get just the outer frame to go around a coin door like this?  I picked up a similar one on the buy/sell/trade that was really just the inner door, I didn't realize there should be a frame around it.  (At least it was cheap...   )  Of course I'd have to make sure it  was a matching model but I'm not sure where to start looking.

[CoryBee]

I figure I would mount the thing where a coin door would be, paint it black and slap a mock coin door sticker on it.

Speaking of which, I can't find that sticker anymore. Anyone know where I can get it?   

http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=89&products_id=308




Scott

Thank you good sir

Sorry to hijack, but anyone know where one might be able to get just the outer frame to go around a coin door like this?  I picked up a similar one on the buy/sell/trade that was really just the inner door, I didn't realize there should be a frame around it.  (At least it was cheap...   )  Of course I'd have to make sure it  was a matching model but I'm not sure where to start looking.

You should start a new thread buddy =) bound to get better results that way

[leapinlew]

I feel though you genuinely don't realize the weight of what you did, and I think you will eventually change your mind about it, so I will not persuade you to it anymore. The best thing is probably to wait and see if other people find it inappropriate as well.

It's not inappropriate and it's not a big deal. I think it's a bigger deal to even mention it.

[CoryBee]

I feel though you genuinely don't realize the weight of what you did, and I think you will eventually change your mind about it, so I will not persuade you to it anymore. The best thing is probably to wait and see if other people find it inappropriate as well.

It's not inappropriate and it's not a big deal. I think it's a bigger deal to even mention it.

I agree, and thanks. It really isn't a big deal. But anyways I like the new MAME boot this way so it works out.

[Malenko]

I don't think sarcasm works because Trump build it with his own money, and that's just as good to warrant the sign, even a picture of himself over the face of the whole building... and how cool is that?!


@CoryDee: I'm not upset about any software license, I said it so it does not cast shadow over what you should really take a credit for. Keep up the good work!

Hey saint, can you just ACTUALLY ban Driver-man this time? Its obvious the vacations aren't working.

[phyrosis]

why are you people continuously taking this project off topic and battleing about stupid things, cant you enjoy the excellent updating for what it is.

Cory, this project looks fantastic, the only thing i would like some more detail on is the laptop wiring, i am not a wire guy, i build stuff, but when it gets to running my own wires, using resistors and such i am learning.

Care to share the process?

[leapinlew]

why are you people continuously taking this project off topic and battleing about stupid things,

First day on the internet?

[CoryBee]

why are you people continuously taking this project off topic and battleing about stupid things, cant you enjoy the excellent updating for what it is.

Cory, this project looks fantastic, the only thing i would like some more detail on is the laptop wiring, i am not a wire guy, i build stuff, but when it gets to running my own wires, using resistors and such i am learning.

Care to share the process?

Yea I would like it to stay on topic, as the point of this was to have a ton of pictures that was easily scrollable. 

I can go into the wiring a bit more for you if there are some discrepancies in my posts about it. I thought it was pretty straight forward.

Basically though;

 - Take apart the laptop down to the motherboard

 - Secure any wiggling parts like the fan and hard drive

 - Build some type of mount like I did with 1x1s for the motherboard and screen to fit on

 - To extend the power socket and switch outward you need to solder onto appropriate connections

 - Here is a picture of prepping and soldering the main DC power that comes from the AC plug





 - It was easy to find which was - & + with a multimeter while the ac adapter was plugged in

 - Same goes for the power switch to turn the laptop on





If there is more you need me to elaborate on please point it out, I love helping with things. Especially when it is electronics related.

[phyrosis]

yeah that is pretty much what you said before.... well... i guess it is time for me to just break out the old laptops and doing some trial and shocker...

[CoryBee]

yeah that is pretty much what you said before.... well... i guess it is time for me to just break out the old laptops and doing some trial and shocker...

do you not have a multimeter?

[phyrosis]

somewhere.... but if you saw my garage right now you would try to murder me with my own supplies....

a gent that ran an old arcade sold me all his left over stock (wireing harnesses, buttons, switches, a mame cab, a nice arcade monitor, 6 or so game boards, over 500 manuals, coin doors, ect) for a hundred bucks... and then i rescued the atari cab from the dump, so i just started sorting through it all as i was too busy for the last year... when i find it, i will have one again...

if i dont find it by wednesday next week, i will go buy another. (wednesday is payday! )

[CoryBee]

jesus man, you hit the buttload of arcade parts

[phyrosis]

yeah, he had em up on the local trade site for 5 min before i had called... i hung up called a friend stole their truck and went, while i was on my way he had 5 others call him for it...

but your mini cabs will probally be recreated for some use in my home bar... i like the design of them, might modify the cab a bit to be mine but looking at it all, i like them.

[CoryBee]

I would have jumped on that quick too. I converted an old arcade cab from a Caveman ninja (ridiculous game) into a MAME cab a few months ago and used the buttons and one of the joysticks to make the Punch out machine in my signature.
You can hardly tell by the picture but the thing was a bloody mess. One of the bulbs was out on the coin mech, acrylic was cracked, monitor was faded out and stretched around the edges.





Anyways I have some video of it too I might post in the convert thread or something.

[CoryBee]

So I drilled the acrylic and did some painting, here is a picture update  

Aligned the Control Panel and acrylic up with clamps.



There will be a few white headed screws that will hold the acrylic on the control panel, I drilled the holes for it here and inserted the screws to help keep the piece from shifting while I bored the button holes.





Some people have their own ways of making holes in their acrylic, I prefer to use my spade bit. I align it with the hole, set the drill to Power - 3 so if it tried to pull and rip the acrylic it stalls. I push in slowly and basically what I am aiming for is the spikes on the outer part of the bit slice a perfect circle. Kind of like a jewelry thief cutting glass.



Turned out pretty well in my opinion



------------

Painting prep.

Small spade bit to create a hole for control panel wires to go into the pedestal





Removing the control panel from pedestal.



Time to close up any gaps and screws with some filler



Used to be a screw here - I am sure you all know how it works, I just like pictures



There were a bunch of spots to cover so I wont go anymore into that

Painting  



After first coat, will then sand and do another coat (maybe 3 altogether)







(I swear my electronics bench is clean most of the time)

---------------

Shot of the bench when I work on a project



And when it is idle (clean)



---------------

Okay, back to the project

First coat on the control panel, just the bottom & sides for now



Just need to sand\re-coat the wood (including the CP) and I will be done with cosmetics for now.

  Soon to be working on my favorite part of all, the electronics!

[phyrosis]

cory, how do you like using the spade bit for doing the acrylic? i have used standard bits, low RPM bits, spade bits and forstner bits, and i am just wondering what your impression is and at what speed you use it at?

[CoryBee]

cory, how do you like using the spade bit for doing the acrylic? i have used standard bits, low RPM bits, spade bits and forstner bits, and i am just wondering what your impression is and at what speed you use it at?

I quite like it, I find it easier than using the hole saw bit I first started using. It ended up cracking the acrylic half the time. With the spade bit I have it works pretty well and haven't cracked any acrylic since I turned my drill down.

Oh and like I said I keep the drill at speed "3" while using that bit on the acrylic.

[CoryBee]

Didn't get much sleep last night due to this project, made some headway though.

Prepping with filler and painting the control panel









Dry Fitting the buttons









After painting the control panel I wanted to see if I could add a little design, a V in black on the pedestal

Keep in mind I have never done something like this so out of my element







Taped a bag around the bottom to catch any spray paint that dares drip on the great pedestal



PAINT  





Removed the tape and bag, I think I did a stand-up job for the first time. The black will match the buttons







Inserting a 6ft USB cord into a small hole I made. It goes to the control panel via the hole I made before





Cord with control panel base connected



Thought I would get a little soldering done too, here is the USB hub. De-soldered the short cord and soldered on the 6ft cable.







Testing the gamepads on the USB hub



Installing all of the buttons and mounted the joysticks





  Finished with the cosmetics!  





I think the black stripe really accents the black buttons

 



Bartop docked   No actual wiring is done yet so It is just for looks as of now











I am thoroughly pleased with how it looks considering the minimal tools I have, crappy wood, and no wood working experience.  

Let me know what you guys think. I will be getting to the electronics side of it soon, I already figured out how I will duplicate the player 1 controls to the dock through USB. Stay Tuned

 

[CoryBee]

Just started the electronics, Pictures to come soon 

[leapinlew]

Looks like I could tip it over pretty easy. No?

[CoryBee]

Looks like I could tip it over pretty easy. No?

Looks like it, but no. Pretty heavy at the bottom buddy. PLus I will be adding more weight as well. I stress tested it pretty well.

[phyrosis]

this has motivated me to work on my mini cabs, i am currently getting my laptops ready... i am thinking one will be made into a jukebox,

[CoryBee]

Brother is in from South Dakota with his girl, set them up with this as soon as they got here. Brother on Marvel VS and she is on pac-man.





---------------

Solder time   My brother thinks I am crazy because I like to solder and that it relaxes me.

De-Shelling controllers and removing shoulder button PCBs





Prepped with solder, ready for wires



Mounting to scrap board cut to fit in the control panel for mounting



Don't mind the multi-color wires, I ran out of wire on my spool and am using scrap wire from an old arcade tear-down. Wired up the controller PCBs





Ground connections of buttons daisy-chained



All wires soldered from PCB to buttons & joystick





I swear I am working on my wire management, It doesn't look so chaotic now with the wire ties

Gaming Tests and glamor shots. There wasn't and elbow bumping either (until we played Mario Kart 64 - then it was everyman for himself)













BooBees - So much pun intended  

[CoryBee]

Will be removing the ability to use the Bartop as a controller to make the back port available for the Pedestal. No need for the previous function anyways because of the pedestal can be used as a controller for any computer.

[CoryBee]

I'd run a little wood putty around that front seam and repaint it but otherwise this looks good.

What did you end up doing for the marquees?  Figure out how to make a long piece of paper out of posterboard?

The front seam you see is not so visible when the screws are in  , I just didn't have them in after I was done soldering.

I ended up sticking two pieces together, I forgot about trying that. I did just get a drawing pad though. See if that fits.

[CoryBee]

Switching the ability to use the bartop as a controller to make the USB port for the Pedestal. I don't like splicing wires much, so I cut open a USB cord with the soldering iron and soldered directly onto the connector.







Also, I brought the pedestal over to a friends and played it on a projector 





I found that this thing does tip a bit when on carpet.....

I am thinking maybe a better base? or those heavy wheels would help instead of the rubber feet I have on it now.

Maybe a base like this? or any better ideas?

[leapinlew]

Add a foot to your current design to give the base a little more width/depth. Paint it black and it should look decent.

Wheels will give it too much play movement, even when locked.

[CoryBee]

Add a foot to your current design to give the base a little more width/depth. Paint it black and it should look decent.

Wheels will give it too much play movement, even when locked.

What exactly do you mean a foot?

[leapinlew]

Create a bottom portion and add it to your base to make it wider and deeper. You can disguise it to look as a foot rest or put some arcade pedals on it for driving games. Paint it black and it will look like it belongs there.

The easiest, non-decorative thing I can think of would be to use a piece of wood 4"-6" wider\deeper than the base and secure it to the bottom of the base. That would give it a bigger base and add stability.

[phyrosis]

i would create a surround for it,

i bet i am thinking the same thing as leapin

i would do a 4 sided stand that the base is placed into, three sides (back and two side panels) sloped to 45 degree and go out about a foot, and the front part have chrome foot rests that connect into the two side bits,

i would also add some weight to the bottom, bricks, bottles of water or sand would help alot...

[CoryBee]

Quick video I took a couple days ago. Since then I screwed the CP in place and touched up with paint. Also fixed any light leaks from the Bartop. Might add some more pictures soon. Have to give it away soon though....hopefully building a full sized will give me solace. Had a bunch of fun making these, just as much fun playing it while drinking though   .




Also, feel free to skip through the video, it was mainly a demo for my friend before I deliver it.