Why hello there!
First post on this forum, been lurking for about three weeks.
I got the idea to make a mame cabinet recently while i was deciding what to do with my old computer.
The computer is a pentium 4 with H/T 3.2ghz with 2.5 gigs of ram.
The screen is a 19 4:3 aspect ratio lcd screen i had sitting around from my old computer.
The cabinet is roughly based off of a forum user here who build a neo geo inspired unit i sorta just copied the design off of his and figured out what size it would have to be.
anyways here was the first day.
i cut it out of 5/8 sanded plywood, they were out of 1/2 and i didn't want to wait to get started on the build.
I used these 1" by 1" cendar square lengths of wood i found to make bracing for the unit.
I cut the both side with a traced out template i made earlier so i could make sure the size would be large enough, once they were both cut individually i clampled them together and sanded the edges at the same time.
spent a whole day doing the bracing and sanding, had to come back a few days later to construct the unit, i had some old sony speakers from my old computer and decided to use them since they are powered and amplified, took them apart and i will just extend wires to them later on.
Came back a few days later, decided to work on the bezel holder and sand the unit some more, fill some cracks in with wood filler, and decided to mount the monitor, it ended up pretty good but i may need to adjust it still.
I made the bezel holder out of some wood trim i found that is essentially a 90 degree piece rounded on the inside, but the nice thing is the inside has a groove that will hold a piece of plexiglass nicely, the blue tape is a covered piece, though i am going to have to replace it since i think its scratched. but it will just be a place holder for now until i do the final building and painting.
The plexi was 5/64, i think it was way to thin to work with and snapped more then it cut.
anyways im going to finish the edge of the plywood with a adhesive birch strip to make it appear as a solid piece of wood rather then plywood, for the back i have some hindges and a little hook latch that should close the back off nicely. local hardware store had them on sale for 50% off.
i have some zippyy joysticks with the quieter microswitches and some buttons or order from groovy game gear, didn't want to spend a lot at first since i tend to have a lot of pipe dream projects that i don't finish or give up on, so far it seems like i will finish this unit.
i need to figure out a way to do the sizing on the front plexi better and a way to mount it nicely.
sorry about pictures not being the best, took them with my blackberry in low light.