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Dig Dug Arcade Cabinet
kuchta:
Great job! How did you implement the monitor bezel? Is it attached to plexi or something?
Jumpman64:
Looks great! I love how the control panel graphics fit perfectly with your additional controls.
:cheers:
koolmoecraig:
Great job man.
mackey256:
Thank you all for the positive feedback. I think we can all breath a sigh of relief that no original Dig Dug cabinet was harmed during the construction of this cab.
Unfortunately for this project I never drew up any plans. I did rely heavily on the Centipede plans available at the following urls.
http://arcadecontrols.com/arcade_cabinet_plans.shtml
http://www.jakobud.com/plan.php?id=5
For the most part I used the jakobud plans and went from there. Once I had the sides and the kick plate I just put the rest together. (Then took it apart because something didn't fit, then put it back together. I repeated that process about 12 times per cut.)
The main differences between jakobud's plans and what I build was that I used rounded corners on everything and I made my cab 33" wide.
If I were to do it again I would change the back measurement from 56" to something a bit taller. Perhaps around 60" or so.
As you can see in this picture the artwork on the top back got cut off a small bit. The extra height would have saved that little piece. Nothing anyone would really notice but I see it all the time.
And yes real men do construction in Spider-man pajama pants. Also I'm standing on a milk crate in this picture. I'm not that tall/the cab isn't that small. :)
If anyone wants exact measurements I'd be more than happy to provide them for you. Here are a few other pictures that might help you see how this was constructed.
This is a good one because you can see the control panel before it was cut down to size and before the corner round was added to make the rounded edge. I just attached 1" corner round with finishing nails and then sanded it to make a clean edge. A little filler and it looks great with the control panel overlay. (I used the same method for the top of the cab)
I really wish I would have taken more progress pictures while I was working on this. Like I said, if anyone wants more info on anything just let me know.
Here you can see how the marquee is put together.
The entire top of the cab comes off for easy access to the marquee light and speakers. You can see I attached foil to a piece of cardboard to reflect more light toward the marquee. It also stops light from leaking through the speaker grills. (I use the term grill but I don't have grills on this cab. I actually routed out slots for the speakers to keep it looking like something that would have been built in the early 80's)
Those last two pictures also give you a good look at how the bezel is held in place. It's actually sandwiched between two 1/4" sheets of glass. You can see the glass sitting on a 2x4 support and behind it it's held in place by a 2x2 on each side. The control panel slides into place and supports the glass from the front.
The glass was found on my way to work in someones trash. I took it to a local glass cutter to have it cut to size. Unfortunately the glass is pretty heavily scratched up but since I went way over budget with the new monitor and the coin door It will have to do for now.
As for game play this cab plays really well.
The trackball has plenty of space for left and right movement and I've yet to hit the right joystick. The only problem I have with it is when playing Golden Tee you will hit the glass every time you go to do a long drive. I would love the have the trackball sit a few inches lower on the control panel but the large footprint of it stops it fitting any lower on the control panel. I'm not sure if you can see it from the pictures above but it's very snug against the front of the panel.
The other problem I've been having is with the joysticks. I cut the holes about 1/16" too large and the dust washers are starting to catch on the edge of the overlay. While not a big problem in and of itself it does become a problem when you remember that people like to pick at peeling stickers.
I did contact Andy at Ultimarc about getting some bigger washers for the sticks but that is the biggest size they have the for J-Stiks. I do have to say that Andy was incredibly helpful and patient with me as I tried to explain my problem.
Luckily for me there is a maker space (http://www.sector67.org/) down the street from me and they are willing to help me with some injection molding to make bigger washers. (that will be a huge project onto itself and I'll be sure to keep everyone updated on that as it develops)
I think I'll end up switching to the Servostiks at some point anyway which would result in a control panel redesign. I've found that people just don't get the pull up 4way to 8way switching mechanic. I guess you have to get a feel for it. I would say 99% of the time people were just using 8way controls and dealing with the problems.
Not even a month old and I'm already thinking about a control panel redesign. I guess that's how the hobby goes. :)
kuchta:
--- Quote from: mackey256 on December 08, 2012, 09:14:31 am ---Those last two pictures also give you a good look at how the bezel is held in place. It's actually sandwiched between two 1/4" sheets of glass. You can see the glass sitting on a 2x4 support and behind it it's held in place by a 2x2 on each side. The control panel slides into place and supports the glass from the front.
The glass was found on my way to work in someones trash. I took it to a local glass cutter to have it cut to size. Unfortunately the glass is pretty heavily scratched up but since I went way over budget with the new monitor and the coin door It will have to do for now.
--- End quote ---
Gotcha. 2 pieces of glass -- that explains why I couldn't figure out if it was in front of or behind the glass. Thanks for all of this info. I love seeing how other people handle certain issues. Again, great cab!
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