Mini Cabinets, a newbies attempt

[phyrosis]

so i have been a woodworker for a little over 2 years now, i have had some large cabinets that i got cheap or salvaged from the dump, have tons of parts... but never made anything with any of it. now i am going to jump head first in and try to build three or four mini cabs, one being a jukebox. all of these ones will be roughly based off of CoryDee's http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=120067.0 inspirational post... so here is the start.



these are the computers i am going to be using, i am formatting every single one right now except the very centre one, that is the garage laptop. it stays. the one directly left of centre is an old dell, it is going to become a larger mini cabinet. the one far right is being formatted, the one far left needs a HD but those are inside the house... and i am lazy... and the one directly right of centre i have yet to try.

all these computers are being ripped down to as bare bones as possible, all will be using hacked keyboards as their interface, or hacked game pads if i can find em as i go through my junk.

here is the hopeful start to something great.

[DCsegaDH]

You should just buy an encoders from Vigo, they are only $22 shipped. I have one, it works really great, its cheap and it comes with wiring too.

[CoryBee]

  Glad to hear you started you adventure! 


I will be watching your build as you go along, thanks for crediting me a bit boss. I am glad I helped somehow.



Good luck

 

[phyrosis]

where can i get those encoders you mentioned?

i grabbed an I PAC VE from ultimarc and am just waiting for it in the mail, but that is gonna go into one of my larger cabinets.

[PL1]

where can i get those encoders you mentioned?

If you're looking for inexpensive keyboard-style encoders, you might want to check out Degenatron's AVR encoders in this thread.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=120362.0;all

Degenatron has some with screw terminals available. He's in the UK, so shipping bumps up the cost a bit but still very reasonable.

404 has some without terminals if you can solder -- PM him if interested.

There are several other vendors for the AVRs listed in one of my posts in that thread. (Program the ones you buy from them using Degenatron's firmware.)

If you don't need a keyboard type encoder, Vigo's ZD encoders (HID joystick type) might work for you. See his Buy/Sell/Trade thread. http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=114744.0

Best of luck in your builds.   


Scott

[CoryBee]

Yes, best of luck. And make sure you use better wood then me 

[phyrosis]

well i have the 3/4 MDF sitting in my garage for a year to build some cabinets now...

i am just working on getting the front end and everything setup for an NES cabinet... i have a sizeable collection of NES games so i figured i would grab the roms of my favorites and build a "dedicated NES" mini cabinet. i am downloading Hyperspin on one of the laptops right now, and have RockNES ready to go...

now to take measurments and make some cuts.

[CoryBee]

well i have the 3/4 MDF sitting in my garage for a year to build some cabinets now...

i am just working on getting the front end and everything setup for an NES cabinet... i have a sizeable collection of NES games so i figured i would grab the roms of my favorites and build a "dedicated NES" mini cabinet. i am downloading Hyperspin on one of the laptops right now, and have RockNES ready to go...

now to take measurments and make some cuts.

I have been thinking of making a dedicated Cab for different systems. I wanted to make a dedicated SNES or N64 or something. Just so it doesn't have to be neutral to all systems. She art and theme would look like a nintendo system and the control panel could have the right buttons labeled to the original controls.

Take lots of pictures!!!

[phyrosis]

so i started construction.

the starting drafting tools

the outline of sides

to get a perfect circle edge i built a scribe








it worked great!


first side cut out

second ready to go.


you can really tell in this picture but they dont really match up the two sides, i i fixed it with some spindle sanding,



BAM! match up!

i attached the back first to give some stability for the sides, and after the sides were attached good i removed the back to get it ready for other work to be done to it.



oddly enough i did not take a picture of the sides on... meh, i will load on next post.

i wanted to do the front like a original NES system as it is a NES only mini cab. i also am aware that a original NES has a raised area around the power buttons, but i did not want to do a raised area. so meh.

so i got to work with the router and sandpaper.







and now for the buttons,




i have since rounded the edges of the buttons and got them ready for mounting into the front panel.

the front panel power button will be the button to remove the PC inside from sleep mode, or power it up, the reset button is probally gonna do a whole lotta nothing... maybe take a screen shot... i dont know...

[CoryBee]

Jumped in the water fast. Good work so far boss. To make sure my sides were even I cut around my design and placed two pieces of wood together then cut it out. Looks like you got it pretty even with sanding though. 

[phyrosis]

i prefer the sanding method cause then i am not playing with saws with pieces that might move when attached to each other... i tend to be over cautious when it comes to blades.