Noobie attempt at a build

[sublimejhn]

Hey, just wanted to post some pics of my mame cabinet since I wouldn't have been able to do this if it weren't for this site. I have been thinking about building a cabinet for years, but I have no tools and no woodworking experience (other than highschool woodshop about 13 years ago. I never finished my project even back then). Anyway, I have been lurking on this site for a while and trying to read up on everything as best I could, and I finally broke down and built one. I had to buy a jigsaw just to make this, and of course that isn't exactly the best tool for the job. It didn't turn out anywhere near as good as the cabinets the pros on here build, but given my lack of experience, skill or tools I am happy with it. So thanks to everyone on here for the help. Even though a lot of people may not post when they are making their builds, you guys definitely have people on here lurking and learning from the advice you all give. I didn't want to just use the info I got here without giving a thanks to everyone for providing it.

So hear are some build photos. Based off the Ms. Pacman/Galaga style cabinet. Just needs a fan grill for the back and some touchups to the paint:

Getting an old fishtank light working for the marque:


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Marking wood:


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Sides cut:


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Putting it all together:


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Testing control panel:


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Finished product:


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[PL1]

Don't sell yourself short.  This looks like a very respectable build.

Your time spent lurking appears to have served you well.

I am happy with it.

Critical mission = accomplished.

If you had to do things better than Ond, Pixelhugger, etc. to post here, this forum would be a ghost town.


Scott

[danny_galaga]

Nice work, and very tidy CP (",)  So many people try to fit everything on there, your restraint will reap the reward of better quality game play I think .

[Drnick]

Very nice  May you get many many hours of enjoyment out of it. 

[GreggB]

For a self styled noobie you did an awesome job.  I've seen far worse from 'experts'.

[dgrams2000]

That is very nice.  Professional looking. 
One thing that I chuckled about was the picture where you see all the kiddie toys all over the floor... and mixed in with them  is a power drill.

[DaOld Man]

I agree with the others, nice build! Looks real good.
 

[griffindodd]

Well done, clean, solid does everything you want it to and you're happy with it, nothing else needed, I've seen waayyyyyyyy worse from those Pixel Hugger and OND guys 

[Jigenjuke]

Nice cabinet indeed 

You might later think about creating an original marquee, control panel, and sideart (like I can talk  , all of my stuff has been replica art).

The guys here are pretty awesome and generally really helpful in that sort of thing.

Anyway, really clean build!  Look great!

Jigenjuke

[Ond]

Well done, clean, solid does everything you want it to and you're happy with it, nothing else needed, I've seen waayyyyyyyy worse from those Pixel Hugger and OND guys 

Really?

@sublimejhn - It's a fine cab, CP art grabs attention and I'm a fan of the blue and red theme - works well.

[sublimejhn]

That is very nice.  Professional looking. 
One thing that I chuckled about was the picture where you see all the kiddie toys all over the floor... and mixed in with them  is a power drill.

Haha, didn't even notice that. My daughter was enjoying "helping" with the build at the time, she liked when I would mark everything in her little play area there.

Haven't logged on here in a while, but thanks for all the compliments! I have been having a great time with the arcade, lately I've just been getting the software how I want it. Added themes to all the games for hyperspin, and added a bunch of other arcade emulators so I can run just about anything that works with my basic control panel.

The one thing I have been working on is I took apart a logitech flight stick and I have a plan to be able to attach it when needed for games like star wars trilogy. I just need to get some more time to work on it. The coin door is just for show, the coin reject buttons actually add credit when pushed, so I am mounting usb ports inside the doors where the coin shoots would be. This way I can just plug in the flight stick or any other controller easily without actually having the usb ports visible.

I still get blown away when I look at what others on here are able to do, but I need to accept that all I have is a jigsaw so I can only do so much! In the end I'm still pretty proud of it considering, and if anything I may do as others have pointed out on here and possibly update the side art someday. It's definitely the low point of the build. Initially I didn't plan to get any art and was just going to paint everything because I didn't really expect it to turn out as well as it did. Buying the art was an afterthought and I just hopped online and bought it last minute. Kinda kicking myself for that one now 

[EMDB]

Nice build. I would have made the CP a bit deeper to have some space to rest your hands though. And the angle of the monitor seems a bit small, it seems to be almost flat?

[Arturius]

I love the look of your cab, my build stalled quite some time ago but you have definately given me some good ideas for the future

 

[sublimejhn]

I love the look of your cab, my build stalled quite some time ago but you have definately given me some good ideas for the future

 

Thanks, glad I could help!

Nice build. I would have made the CP a bit deeper to have some space to rest your hands though. And the angle of the monitor seems a bit small, it seems to be almost flat?

Yeah, the reason I chose this design in the first place was because I wanted something relatively small that wouldn't look to over the top in my house, and I like the look of the Midway cabinets. I used the jakobud templates for Ms. Pacman, so unless the template is off or my measurements where (which is entirely possible, measuring the monitor and keeping it level was a pain), it should be pretty close to the same monitor angle as the original cabinet. It's definitely not flat, maybe the picture isn't the best choice. I have plenty of other ones but I just kinda threw a few up on here real quick.

But as it was, to comfortably fit another player and a trackball, along with the 24" monitor that I had sitting around,  I had to make the whole thing 4" wider than the original. I'm sure I could have made the CP a bit bigger but it wouldn't have really fit with keeping it as a smaller full sized cabinet like what I was shooting for. With how short the Midway cabs are the monitor has to lie somewhat flat because you have to look down at it. The marquee sits at what would be eye level for a taller guy. I've never felt it was too small personally, but I'm also 5'6" so a smaller cabinet is probably not as much of a concern to me as others 

The only issue I have had with the way the monitor sits now is that, of course, I now find myself wishing I could play light gun games but I will never be able to do that without a vertical monitor. In the end though, I figure I can always throw hyperspin on my HTPC too and just play light gun games on a nice 65" panny tv if I decide to break down and buy guns. So for me I don't think it would have been worth tossing the cabinet style I wanted just to accommodate some games that I initially never intended to have on the cab anyway. Definitely something to think about for anyone looking at this style though, you will never have that option in the future

[Yvan256]

First noobie attempt, you say? 

It's already been all said, but I still have to say it once more: you avoided all the noobie mistakes, didn't go crazy on your control panel, kept the artwork nice and simple, have a nice marquee that doesn't stick out of the sides, etc.

Congratulations on your awesome first build!