Author Topic: Method To My Madness (photo updates 9/21/13) (video update 9/22/13) (Read 4697 times)

matt4949 · « **on:** October 23, 2012, 10:10:17 pm »

Hello, name is Matt and I am building a Mame cabinet. This is my first and so far a very interesting and frustrating and rewarding project. A lil history. I found an air hocky table at a church flea market with the electronics just destroyed, so for 25 bucks i picked up my first man cave project. Next i built a kegerator out of a 1940 GE refridgerator single tap with a custom paint job. Next I wanted to add an old standup arcade game so I was looking on craigslist and saw an ad for a 60 in 1 for 750 dollars which brought me to the internet to learn all about mame cabinets. After looking at the interweb i decided building my own would be cheap and easy. Ha!, shows you how new I am to all this. Anyways, I have a great laptop i don't use much so i tried to get some games to work two days later (about 16 hours of actual computer time) I still couldn't get a mame program to load. That was a month ago and since (thanks to YouTube and this forum) I have Mame running, MALA front end and SK Juke box with about 15 albums and 30 games all working. What follows are some pictures and explanations of "method to my madness".

matt4949 · « **Reply #1 on:** October 23, 2012, 10:18:02 pm »

Here is a pic of the airhockey table an kegerator.

matt4949 · « **Reply #2 on:** October 23, 2012, 10:25:26 pm »

sorry having trouble loading pics, gonna try to shrink them

matt4949 · « **Reply #3 on:** October 23, 2012, 10:36:19 pm »

Airhockey and keg fridge (where my new cabinet will reside).

matt4949 · « **Reply #4 on:** October 23, 2012, 10:57:55 pm »

The driving force behind my cabinet design is space and function. Originally I wanted a stand up cab. I also wanted a bar table with bar stools. Room did not allow for both so i decided to build a cocktail cabinet that was also a cocktail table.

matt4949 · « **Reply #5 on:** October 23, 2012, 11:45:56 pm »

I know i'm new and I don't want to get in trouble with the mods. This will be my last post until I get more built or have questions to answer.
I wanted to build my cab with the same type of computer and operating system as my test setup, so I searched craigslist for a dell. I knew I wanted a monitor with a 4:3 aspect ratio after all the problems I had with an old widesceen monitor I use with my test computer. After not finding anything for under a hundred bucks I turned to Ebay and picked up a desktop for 35 and a monitor for 65. When the monitor arrived it was broken. Cost 25 in shipping to return it (still waiting for my refund). I ended up finding a 20" LG medical monitor for next to nothing. 178 degree viewing angle. Zero collar loss at any angle and built to be mounted at any angle. Has anyone used this monitor? Seems perfect for my build. Should arrive in the mail tomorow. Also got my ipac and some controls. Built a control panel jut to test out my wiring and it worked great. Ordered the rest of the controls and hope they will b here soon. Started on the wood work it self and am very pleased with MDF board. I'm pretty good at working with wood. Got some other items I'm waiting on. Gonna use aluminum tread plate on the base. Ordered some 42 by 26 custom glass for the top and some aluminum taco molding for the edges.I really need some advice on LED wiring and any tips or words of wisdom would be appreciated Thanks.

drventure · « **Reply #6 on:** October 23, 2012, 11:59:18 pm »

You won't get into any trouble for posting pics of a kegerator and air hockey table around these parts

Welcome aboard!

Sucks about the first monitor purchase. I'm a little gunshy of picking up monitors online, or of buying new LCD monitors (a bunch of pixels can be out, or locked in white, and you sometimes won't be able to return it because that's "within acceptable defect margins". Yeah right.

The medical monitor sounds pretty good, though you didn't say if it's LCD or tube.

If you're going for full old school, then tube is probably the right choice.

LCD is just generally easier to deal with (and find) these days.

PL1 · « **Reply #7 on:** October 24, 2012, 12:03:05 am »

Quote from: matt4949 on October 23, 2012, 11:45:56 pm

I know i'm new and I don't want to get in trouble with the mods. This will be my last post until I get more built or have questions to answer.

Welcome aboard, Matt4949.

You've already done the first thing right to keep the mods from getting

-- You posted your project announcement in the Project Announcements forum.

You'd be surprised at how many otherwise smart people fail that part of the informal BYOAC reading comprehension test.

Scott

matt4949 · « **Reply #8 on:** October 24, 2012, 06:41:54 pm »

Monitor got here today.I love it. A couple of questions though. How difficult is it to remove a factory bezel? Also how do I rotate the screen for SK JukeBox? I'll be doing my own homework on these itms but any advice would be appreciated. The monitor is a LG 20.1" medical LCD.

matt4949 · « **Reply #9 on:** November 01, 2012, 09:07:37 pm »

I love the smell of new joysticks in the morning.

Unstupid · « **Reply #10 on:** November 01, 2012, 11:17:01 pm »

Quote from: matt4949 on October 23, 2012, 10:10:17 pm

After looking at the interweb i decided building my own would be cheap and easy.

Hahaha... That's funny!

matt4949 · « **Reply #11 on:** November 02, 2012, 07:28:40 pm »

I chose a larger format for this pic. I hope Ya'll can see it more clearly. Thanks Scott.

matt4949 · « **Reply #12 on:** November 02, 2012, 07:35:35 pm »

Quick question. I plan on running the two fire buttons on the left of the joystick wired to the first two of six buttons on the right of the joystick. In order left to right, top to bottom, What are the Street fighter buttons with Ipac default? I know that question is very confusing but I can't think of a better way to phrase it.

matt4949 · « **Reply #13 on:** November 03, 2012, 01:32:22 pm »

One homemade wiring harness jig.

matt4949 · « **Reply #14 on:** November 03, 2012, 04:59:26 pm »

Player one wiring harness complete. 10 buttons, 8 LEDs, 1 joystick, Took about 4 hours. Should have bought more zip ties and a dedicated wire stripper. Probably gonna finish some bodywork on the table section tomorrow and save player two wiring harness for next weekend. 44 terminal crimps with my cheap crimping tool and my hand is sore.

matt4949 · « **Reply #15 on:** November 03, 2012, 09:50:10 pm »

Got the monitor centered and mounted.

matt4949 · « **Reply #16 on:** November 04, 2012, 03:50:17 pm »

Drillin Holes.
Wanted to drill some speaker and cooling holes today.
First I figured out where the speaker was going and drew it out on the cab.
Then I printed off some triangle graph paper with .75 " sides.
Spray adhesive and pilot holes drilled.
Drilled the 3/8 holes and sanded.

matt4949 · « **Reply #17 on:** November 11, 2012, 09:44:37 pm »

Not a whole lot to update. Mostly been working on Gamelists and game configurations. Did get the player 2 wiring harness complete today. Had a whole slew of problems after I uploaded my MAME/MALA/SKJUKEBOX files onto the fresh (stripped down) version of XP on the cabs PC. Mostly missing registries and such. I now have it all working (I hope). A few of the games are laggy so I got rid of them. Been playing around with DIP switches trying to get it all just right. Question? I need some advice on second player screen rotation. Specifically MS PACMAN. When set up in Cocktail mode I end up with a split vertical. I've tried changing Mame setup and game options, Screen options, Cab options. What am I missing here?

matt4949 · « **Reply #18 on:** November 18, 2012, 06:38:40 pm »

My Taco aluminum T-Molding arrived earlier this week. Used a scrap piece for a jig and cut my slot with a fine tooth trim handsaw.
This material wont bend easily so I would not reccomend it unless you have straight runs on your edges. I love the look though. The base is going to be wrapped in aluminum tread plate.

matt4949 · « **Reply #19 on:** November 24, 2012, 07:28:19 pm »

Today I painted the table part of the cabinet black. Started working on the base. Let the kids test some of the games.
The base is built out of 3/4 MDF with the bottom square 24*24", Then 1.5" smaller squares up to the last 16.5*16.5 square. I did this for weight and looks. The finished look is suppose to have a feel like a martini glass. The weight of the base is about 60 pounds. Tomorow I will router 3/8 curves into the base and cut and assemble the pedalstal section. Should have some pictures of what the finished cab will look like.

DaOld Man · « **Reply #20 on:** November 25, 2012, 10:00:39 am »

Looking good! And welcome to the most satisfying although most expensive hobby you can get in to.
(Let me rephrase the "most satisfying" to "most challenging", because you never really are satisfied, there will always be another idea to build.)

matt4949 · « **Reply #21 on:** November 25, 2012, 01:36:35 pm »

Sneak preview of what the finished cab will look like

matt4949 · « **Reply #22 on:** November 25, 2012, 01:39:10 pm »

Quote from: DaOld Man on November 25, 2012, 10:00:39 am

Looking good! And welcome to the most satisfying although most expensive hobby you can get in to.
(Let me rephrase the "most satisfying" to "most challenging", because you never really are satisfied, there will always be another idea to build.)

Thankyou for the welcome. I have read almost all your posts and find that you are a valuable resource and really like your outside the box way of thinking.

matt4949 · « **Reply #23 on:** November 25, 2012, 08:06:38 pm »

So what's left?

Order the glass, the aluminum tread plate, the USb to USB cable. (This will be complete 20 minutes after I post this.)

One more coat of paint, two more color sandings and the "OND" mirror finish on the two major sides of the cab. (I love your work OND, but after color sanding for 4 hours today I decided the control panels and base will just get sanded and top coated.)

Mount the PC, joysticks, buttons, speakers.

Cut and skin the pedestal with tread plate.

Figure out a way to mount the glass.

Make a video of my creation and post to YouTube.

Have I missed anything?

CoryBee · « **Reply #24 on:** November 25, 2012, 08:32:00 pm »

I love it!

matt4949 · « **Reply #25 on:** November 25, 2012, 09:35:48 pm »

Thanks Cory,
I loved the mini you just built. I can't believe how fast it came together. I already have my next two projects planned out and one of them (although completely different in design than yours) will be designed for a 10 year old or younger child.
P.S. My wife thinks your nephew is the cutest kid ever. KEEP BUILDING,
Matt

CoryBee · « **Reply #26 on:** November 25, 2012, 10:25:41 pm »

Quote from: matt4949 on November 25, 2012, 09:35:48 pm

Thanks Cory,
I loved the mini you just built. I can't believe how fast it came together. I already have my next two projects planned out and one of them (although completely different in design than yours) will be designed for a 10 year old or younger child.
P.S. My wife thinks your nephew is the cutest kid ever. KEEP BUILDING,
Matt

Haha, thanks to you too Matt! His mother is going to love to hear that compliment

I literally pulled that design out of my

in 15 minutes of measuring my nephew to rush and get it done for his birthday. Not to derail your thread but have any sketches or ideas to share on what type of cab you will make for the youngins?

matt4949 · « **Reply #27 on:** November 27, 2012, 07:39:54 pm »

Watch out OND here I come. The second color sanding went a lot better than the first. Might take 4 coats instead of 3 but I do have that mirror finish in my sometime near future. One problem though and I hope my mistake helps someone else from repeating it. I am painting the cabinet black but used white primer. I know, after typing that last sentence I realize how stupid I was, but I thought everything was fine while I was doing it.

matt4949 · « **Reply #28 on:** November 29, 2012, 07:58:23 pm »

Santa came early. I now have everything minus the glass and the next 3 days are warm enough to paint. The completion is imminent. 2 4x2 foot x 1/16 alluminum treadplate delivered in 4 days for 66 bucks.

two40 · « **Reply #29 on:** November 29, 2012, 09:38:03 pm »

Nice work on the wiring harness. You've actually given me an idea for a project of mine so thanks.

Don't be afraid to post larger pictures. They're on the small side.

matt4949 · « **Reply #30 on:** December 02, 2012, 06:07:55 pm »

Ond · « **Reply #31 on:** February 21, 2013, 06:47:37 pm »

How are you going with this Matt? I'm watching for your progress fella.

Ond

matt4949 · « **Reply #32 on:** August 11, 2013, 03:38:50 pm »

Ok, so me and the kids have been playing with this cabinet for about a year now. I have made zero progress on completing it. I did add about 100 albums to the SK JUKEBOX side of it Still left to do is the glass top but with a price tag of about 300 for a custom made piece of glass. I have not been able to pull that trigger. Also I need to mount the power button under the cab (right now it hangs out of the top). Drill and router a hole for the power cord (also hanging out of the top of the cab). Cut and install the aluminum corner trim on the base. I hope to find the motivation to complete this badboy over the next month or so.

matt4949 · « **Reply #33 on:** September 21, 2013, 09:33:16 pm »

"https://picasaweb.google.com/102693389877161586599/20130921?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCP7upueXuYigqAE&feat=embedwebsite"
Got alot done today. I plan on finishing this bad boy up in a day or two and posting a video.

matt4949 · « **Reply #34 on:** September 22, 2013, 12:24:21 pm »

BadMouth · « **Reply #35 on:** September 22, 2013, 08:33:44 pm »

Nice fit and finish!

Makes sense that a cocktail table serve as a jukebox...never thought of that before.

You can make a change in mame.ini to make it skip that game info:
skip_gameinfo 1

There are also ways to hide xp completely, but I've never bothered with it personally.
I turn the machines on before anyone else arrives, so I'm the only one that ever sees it.
http://wiki.arcadecontrols.com/wiki/Hiding_Windows

Any plans for adding artwork?

matt4949 · « **Reply #36 on:** September 22, 2013, 08:38:28 pm »

Quote from: BadMouth on September 22, 2013, 08:33:44 pm

Nice fit and finish!
Makes sense that a cocktail table serve as a jukebox...never thought of that before.

You can make a change in mame.ini to make it skip that game info:
skip_gameinfo 1

There are also ways to hide xp completely, but I've never bothered with it personally.
I turn the machines on before anyone else arrives, so I'm the only one that ever sees it.
http://wiki.arcadecontrols.com/wiki/Hiding_Windows

Any plans for adding artwork?

making the change to the .ini file right now. thanks for the tip.
And no art. It's a piece of furniture.

matt4949 · « **Reply #37 on:** September 23, 2013, 09:06:57 pm »

this pic is for Cory Bee

CoryBee · « **Reply #38 on:** September 24, 2013, 12:12:01 am »


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