NES bartop with stand [done]

[edekoning]

2015 UCA Bartop of the Year





Finished pics: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,133712.msg1506761.html#msg1506761
Web album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/ukW3E3EaLzN1Zi5h8
Build plans: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,133712.msg1507198.html#msg1507198



Seeing as my Magneto cab is almost done, its time to start up a new project This time its going to be a bartop that I will build for my 6 year old son, though he will probably be 7 or 8 when its done As he is a huge Mario fan I'm going for a Super Mario theme, with white as the primary color and red as the secondary color.

The bartop will be based around a 17" lcd, and an old AMD computer (uATX). It will have an U360 joystick, 6 action buttons and 2 start/coin/select buttons. As this bartop wil target the 8bit/16bit consoles I grew up with, I added to USB ports on the front for connecting proper gamepads. Note that there is no marquee, but there is back art I will use 18mm (3/4") MDF for the sides and 12mm (1/2") MDF for the rest. I also plan on using red t-molding for the sides, and for the speaker cutouts, and the big ventilation cutout on the back.

Designing a bartop is hard! I kept having to make it bigger to fit the screen and then even bigger for the computer parts. I plan on ordering all the parts first, and not start on the actual build until my Magneto cab is fully done.

I eager to hear your suggestions/remarks/questions/whatever, so please let me know what you think.

[Le Chuck]

Looks nice, seems a bit plain with the art.  I like the white space and would frankly like to see more of it - mabye go with line art renderings of the Mario stuff.  Just on the white it can feel a bit clip-artish.  That doesn't read right, it's clearly not clip-art, it's just not anchored I guess

[jdbailey1206]

The Mario Brothers do seem to be thrown on.  The other thing that throws me off is having artwork on the back.  If it is on a table where it is up against or close to the wall you defeat the point of having art on the back.  If you are going to have it against a wall it would save you the time of creating the artwork and save you from spending the money of having it printed.  I'm just wondering if you are going to be able to see the back if you could completely wrap the back and two sides as a mural completely covering all sides.  I don't think I have seen that done.  Artists like Le Chuck seem to enjoy using all of the canvas.  Stuff like this really gets their goat.  Otherwise good solid build. Don't get discouraged and welcome to the forums.

[EMDB]

I really like the t-molding on the speaker cut outs 

I'm not sure the artwork is final yet. I hope it is not. It not really stands out. I agree Artwork on the back side seems useless.

If it's use is Nintendo focused I would use the button layout and coloring of a SNES gamepad. It's not handy to play consoles on an arcade button layout.

If you make the back straight you get more space for the components and you still won't need more room to put it against a wall.

[jmike]

 
       Looks like a fun project. Kind of reminds me of this one. You may want to add a 2-player set up for when his friends come over.



this is the link:

http://www.hadouken-shop.com/arcade-bartop-mario

[edekoning]

I like the white space and would frankly like to see more of it - mabye go with line art renderings of the Mario stuff.

When you say more white, does that mean that you feel the CPO and back are to cluttered?

The Mario Brothers do seem to be thrown on.  The other thing that throws me off is having artwork on the back. ... Otherwise good solid build. Don't get discouraged and welcome to the forums.

Yep, the side art is just two images slapped on there, as I am unsure what to with those areas yet. I kinda like the idea of art on the back. On my Magneto cab I also spend considerable effort in making the back look good. So to me it is not wasted effort/money. Oh and I'am not that new anymore here

I really like the t-molding on the speaker cut outs 
If it's use is Nintendo focused I would use the button layout and coloring of a SNES gamepad.

The bartop is focused mainly at SNES/Genesis, but my son really wants Mario art. Thanks for the gamepad tip. I'll see what I can do with it, although I vastly prefer the 6-button Sega layout over the SNES layout

You may want to add a 2-player set up for when his friends come over.

That's why I have USB ports on the front for plugging in gamepads. The bartop will be 40cm wide, which I feel is not wide enough for a 2P setup.

[jdbailey1206]

I would like to see, if it's possible, to incorporate speaker grills onto your speakers and put an image of either a Chain chomp, Red Shell, Bob-omb, or a Boo.  Putting the speakers out there just seems to get in the way.  I also noticed that you have a lot of room on your control panel.  It would behoove  you to throw a spinner in there.  I wanted to put one on mine but the two player got a bit too busy. 

Sorry my ideas sort of fly out when I see a new cab.  I feel like I got a case of the Busey's.  (Where my brain won't shut down my mouth.   )

Keep it coming. 

[edekoning]

Finally have the time to pick up this project again. First thing I did was redo all of the artwork. Seeing as its all inspired by a NES, I rename the project to NES bartop. This time I really do like the artwork and feel that it is cohesive.

Note that these were created / copy-pasted in paint, the final ones will be made in Inkscape. Also, the mini buttons and USB ports are not grey, but black. I just colored them grey to make them stand out from the black background.

[Louis Tully]

.

[JDFan]

The rework is MUCH better !! 

One thing you might consider is take a page from Louis Tully's recent work (Mario Pedestal) and actually route out the black portion of the grill graphic on the sides to give some extra 3d look.

[johnrt]

That is a beauty! 

[leapinlew]

The art rework looks great.

I've put speakers on the bottom of my bartops and they sound just fine, if that's an option for you.

[edekoning]

Thanks guys!

Holy ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---!

No man its holy ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- to your Mario Pedestal

I've put speakers on the bottom of my bartops and they sound just fine, if that's an option for you.

I kind of like the speakers there, but i'm not 100% sure yet. Though that's mainly because of the issues it will cause when applying the nintendo logo art.

[emphatic]

Love the artwork, but I don't understand the controller ports on the sides?

[Speed Racer]

Great design  Love that classic NES look artwork.

[stuzza]

Love the revised NES artwork!  Looks fantastic.  Exactly what I was going to do for a future bartop. 

[edekoning]

Pictures:

1- Bought some sheets of 12mm and 18mm MDF. Time to draw the outline of the side panel. I basically just take the x and y coordinate of every corner. Then I trace vertical and horizon lines through them. Now I just connect the correct intersections and use a compass to get proper arcs.

2- I made a rough cut using a Jigsaw. Here you can also see all those vertical and horizontal lines I was talking about.

3- One side done! For all the straight sections I used a router with a top-bearing flush trim bit. The bit just runs along a spare piece of wood that I lineup with the line I want to cut. All the corners were cut with a jigsaw and sanded smooth.

4- I traced the completed side on the MDF. Time for another rough cut using the jigsaw, about 5mm to 10mm from the actual outline.

5- Ready to copy the completed side using my favorite tool: the router. You can see the flush trim bit laying on top of the wood. I used this bit for the first side as well, but felt like I was continuously fighting the router. I remembered it cutting through MDF like a hot knife through butter. Apparently it was no longer sharp. Luckily I still had a similar bit (bottom bearing) which was still sharp.

6- Two exact copies.

7- Looking good 

[edekoning]

8- Time to cut the T-molding slots. Setting the router to the correct depth is always such a chore. I always wish I would have spend an additional 30 bucks and bought the more expensive version where you can easily fine tune the depth just by turning a knob.

9- That looks pretty much dead center to me

Know if it would only stop raining then I could continue

[johnrt]

I'm really looking forward to see more of this build. Great job so far! 

[edekoning]

I'm really looking forward to see more of this build. Great job so far! 

Well if my previous build is anything to go by, then I work really slow. Sorry 

[SavannahLion]

Holy ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---!





 

This got my attention.

[firedance]

Looks like a great start to a excellent build

[Malenko]

love the art, but gotta agree that the controller ports on the sides need to be covered in black

[edekoning]

love the art, but gotta agree that the controller ports on the sides need to be covered in black

Updated, and thanks for the suggestions.


I was also thinking about the front speaker panel. I can go with 12mm red t-molding or add a small bevel and just paint it grey. Not sure which one I prefer yet.

After looking some more at Louis Tully's Mario Pedestal, I thought it might do something similar as he did with the small 'warp zone' letters. So instead of a Nintendo logo sticker, create the actual logo from wood. I think it looks awesome, but it will be really hard to get right. Some letter parts are really thin, and they need to all be properly aligned or it will drive me nuts.

[Vigo]

 

A couple thoughts.

1 - That "Arcade series" logo should be tweaked slightly so that the line angle is completely parallel to the direction of the rest of the lines going up the side art. It is like 5 degress off, and that might be noticable on a print.

2 - I think the front would feel cooler with actual Rectangle NES power buttons instead of round buttons. If you are interested, I should have some that I can get you if you pay the shipping. However, since original rectangle buttons are gray, the artwork might need to be tweaked to make it look better.

3 - What is going to be plugged into the USB ports? I would think that if it is NES controllers and stuff, it would looks a bit cooler with actual NES ports. I would consider hacking a usb hub into a nes port, or just simply mounting something like this into it:

[edekoning]

A couple thoughts.

1 - That "Arcade series" logo should be tweaked slightly so that the line angle is completely parallel to the direction of the rest of the lines going up the side art. It is like 5 degress off, and that might be noticable on a print.

2 - I think the front would feel cooler with actual Rectangle NES power buttons instead of round buttons. If you are interested, I should have some that I can get you if you pay the shipping. However, since original rectangle buttons are gray, the artwork might need to be tweaked to make it look better.

3 - What is going to be plugged into the USB ports? I would think that if it is NES controllers and stuff, it would looks a bit cooler with actual NES ports. I would consider hacking a usb hub into a nes port, or just simply mounting something like this into it:

1- I agree and I plan on doing that, but remember this is just some paint copy-paste art  The final art will be made in Inkscape when I know the exact measurements of my control panel.

2- Interesting, could you measure them for me, so I can get feel for how they might impact the artwork. Also, how easy are they to mount/wire?

3- Those would indeed look awesome. However, even though the theme is based on the NES, it will run the 8bit/16bit console emulators. That's also the reason that I have start + select + 6 action buttons on the control panel. So the usb ports are there for plugging in controllers, whether that be generic controllers, authentic nes/snes/genesis controllers modded to usb, or just some usb knockoffs, I don't know yet.
Maybe its an option to add the controller ports as graphics to the cpo. Then instead of using the bulky Neutrik usb ports, take the usb ports from a cheap usb-hub (or extension cable) and use those. They would have a very small footprint, so they would not really obscure the controller port graphics.

Lots of stuff to contemplate

[Vigo]

Yep! Lots of things to consider.

I figured you had a lot of work with the art still. I just wanted to point it out the graphic to make sure there was no oversight. Even incomplete, the art is awesome and I love how you stuck with a very classic theme.

Here is a photo of the buttons. I can dig out my buttons tonight and measure, but they are standard NES button measurements. They are not gonna be an easy mount on wood, so you would probably need to cut something into a sheet of metal or plastic as a face plate. They do come with a led lens for having a power light. 




What you can do is maybe have a couple NES ports for plugging in real NES controllers, and obscured underneath have your usb ports for plugging in other things. It is extra work, so suppose you just need to weight the benefit vs effort. I think they also make all in one adaptors for genesis, atari, NES and SNES to USB. Keep one of those handy and you can probably plug in whatever controller you want into your usb slots.

[edekoning]

I finally glue+screw'ed on the battons. The resulting sides are not really identical, but overall close enough. Only the bottom batton is noticeably off on the front side by about a mm.

[edekoning]

I also received some packages:

• bright red t-molding
• red Gold Leaf bush buttons
• Seimitsu LS-58-01 black joystick with an additional red balltop
• KADE encoder; this thing is tiny!
• Neutrik NAUSB-W B
• various mini buttons; I'm really liking the square one
• power socket
• new CMT router bits

[Louis Tully]

.

[jdbailey1206]

Im not sure what your plans are for the power and reset for the computer but I had planned to make my weecade a Nintendo based bartop.  Long story short I picked up 5 sets of buttons like Vigo mentioned and I have no future plans for them.  If you want a couple sets let me know.

[DaOld Man]

...the bottom batton is noticeably off on the front side by about a mm.

A whole mm? Unacceptable! You're gonna have to start again.

If my projects were that far off, why I'd probably pat myself on the back!

Good job so far, I like this bartop.
Don't forget to post it over at bartopmania.com, if you haven't already.

[edekoning]

A whole mm? Unacceptable! You're gonna have to start again.

Long story short I picked up 5 sets of buttons like Vigo mentioned and I have no future plans for them.  If you want a couple sets let me know.

I was actually planning on using a pair of square mini buttons (see my previous post), as those Nintendo buttons just look way too hard to mount neatly in wood. Thanks for the offer though!

Don't forget to post it over at bartopmania.com, if you haven't already.

Ah forgot about that site. Will post there as well.

[Slippyblade]

Got the Nintendo logo laser cut, sorry it took so long.  Looks fantastic.  It's white acrylic so should be easy enough to paint.  I'd just spray with red Rustoleum then attach with an adhesive.  Still has the paper backing on it, you'll need to peel that.

PM me the address to ship it to.

Grrrr....  Server won't accept the attachment.  Will keep trying.

[edekoning]

PM sent 

[Slippyblade]

Ok, here's the laser cut for the marquee.  Just mailed it out today.  International postage sucks!

[grippie]

Can't wait to see this one come together.   

[edekoning]

Ok, here's the laser cut for the marquee.  Just mailed it out today.  International postage sucks!

Holy ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- that looks fantastic

[edekoning]

Yesterday I worked on the lower back panel, which will be fixed to the bartop. This was the most involved panel I have done to date. First I used a jigsaw to cut the power socket hole and cut a rough hole for the ventilation. Then I used a router with a flush-trim bit to cut a clean ventilation hole. A chamfer router bit was used to finish the ventilation hole. To get the curve on the bottom edge I used my new roundover router bit. Finally a spade bit was used to drill the button hole. I'll use an aluminum grill to cover the ventilation hole, which I will spray paint to match the grey color of the bartop.

I also cut out the bottom panel, and the monitor panel. So I guess its time to start assembling the sides, bottom, monitor panels. However, I am not sure what the easiest way is to do that. Any suggestions?

[leapinlew]

quality work

[jdbailey1206]

Im surprised Slippyblade didnt cut out your marquee in red and black acrylic.  I found  Krylon makes a plastic paint called Fusion.  Its available @ Walfart and it looks like its gotten good reviews. 

Its good to see you could take the idea of a NES and turn it into a cohesive idea.  I tried this with my weecade and it turned into a horrible mess.

[Slippyblade]

I would have if there'd been any available.  I'm using the laser cutter at the local hackerspace and all that was in stock was the white.

[edekoning]

I live in the Netherlands, so Walmart is across the ocean for me

[nordemoniac]

I'm gonna have to steal this sometime. Either the idea, or your finished build.
My kids will be forced to play it, and like it the way I loved my NES growing up   

[edekoning]

I'm gonna have to steal this sometime. Either the idea, or your finished build.
My kids will be forced to play it, and like it the way I loved my NES growing up

I'll upload the complete plans (sketchup) once I'm done.


Got some work done last weekend:

20- Finished the top panel in similar style as the back panel. Note that I won't be using any fans in this build, so these vents serve as my passive cooling solution.

21- Now it was time to start putting the pieces together. It took me some time to come up with a solution that would allow me to easily mount the bottom panel to the sides. After quite some fiddling I managed to jam several pieces of scrap MDF (all 40cm wide) between the two cut sides. I then used two huge clamps to keep everything firmly in place.

22- Now I tilted the cab onto its back, and glue-screwed in the bottom panel. I then tilted the panel back to its upright position and placed it on some more spare wood. This caused all the weight of the cabinet to press down on glued joints.

23/24- Next up was mounting the back panel. Because the cab was still sitting on the spare piece of MDF, I could used that to easily position the back panel: just press down until it won't move anymore This time I only used glue, and clamps of course.

25/26- Now for the top panel. I tilted the cab onto its back, and placed some spare pieces of MDF underneath. I again used that for easy positioning of the panel. Glued it in place, added two clamps, tilted back upright, and added two more clamps.

Quite happy with how snug everything fits. Next up is positioning and mounting the 17" lcd monitor, and cutting the bezel.

[edekoning]

I received the Nintendo logo that Slippyblade was kind enough to cut out of acrylic for me. Its 20x5cm of pure awesomeness It will look fantastic once painted red and mounted between the speakers.

[HaRuMaN]

Why not just use red acrylic? 

[yamatetsu]

I would have if there'd been any available.  I'm using the laser cutter at the local hackerspace and all that was in stock was the white.

[HaRuMaN]

Doh.  That's what I get for skimming...

[jdbailey1206]

Why not just use red acrylic?

I really think this would have popped with red or even better transparent red acrylic.  Oh well.

[edekoning]

I really think this would have popped with red or even better transparent red acrylic.  Oh well.

Maybe so, but I was planning on hand cutting it from wood, so this is already infinitely better.

[nordemoniac]

I'll upload the complete plans (sketchup) once I'm done.

[ChurchOfSolipsism]

This is starting to look really good, although I have to admit I'm always wondering what the point of those console based cabs is supposed to be. The different concepts just clash too much for me.

[edekoning]

29 - Front speaker panel time This panel has two round cut outs for the speakers. To cut these wholes I used the large drill bit from the picture. It can cut holes between 25mm-63mm in diameter. Just remove all the blades besides the one you need. I first cut a few holes of different diameter in a spare piece of mdf. I settled for the 58mm one, which I copied to the front panel using my trusty router.

30 - After some more routing the results looked really good.

31/32 - Now to see if it fits, and how it looks.

33/34 - These are the speakers I want to use. They are roughly 7x7x7 cm, usb powered, and only 10 bucks. I then placed the front panel on top of the speakers and metal mesh, just to see how that would look. Not liking it, as I find the mesh to be too coarse for these small cutouts. I then tried using speaker cloth, but I only had really thick dark blue, so that also did not look quite right. Then my wife suggested wrapping the speakers in thin black panties. That looked rather ok, but still I have not decided yet. Sorry no pics of the panties

[edekoning]

35/36 - Then it was time to work on the monitor mount and bezel. The bezel took me at least 3 hours to make. Mainly because I can only route one side at a time, and the wood it really narrow. It also did not help that I had a small router slip, ruining my first attempt. In the end though I am extremely pleased with the result.

37/38 - Testing fitting on the monitor -> excellent fit 

39/40 - Next I started on the monitor mount, which is just a simple 15x40cm piece of wood. Until I tried mounting the monitor and the M4 bolts were 8mm too long. So I glued on an additional 6mm piece, and used a washer.

41 - As the monitor has several buttons on the the lower right, I needed to route a small 2mm deep channel in the bezel for them. After that I test fitted the bezel. Now I noticed I had two problems. For one the bezel and speakers now occupy the same space. Secondly once the top panels are placed there is no way to get the bezel in or out anymore. As there is just no space to tilt / slide it out. So the bezel will need to be shortened somewhat. I also still need to figure out on how to keep bezel and plexiglass (todo) in place. And how the heck I am going to mount the speakers in such a way that they can be removed. I'm currently thinking of epoxy gluing some L-brackets to them so I can just screw them in place after painting is finished.

[nordemoniac]

I received the Nintendo logo that Slippyblade was kind enough to cut out of acrylic for me. Its 20x5cm of pure awesomeness It will look fantastic once painted red and mounted between the speakers.

Try Tamiya X-27 on the rear side of them. Maybe top of with chrome/silver/mirror paint afterwards.
It's acrylic paint, so I don't know how it would be to paint with that on acrylic.

Do it on a test piece, it could look really cool!

[grippie]

I like the look of that bezel in there! I'm using a 19" monitor for my bartop and I will only have about 1/8" all around for a bezel. It will fill the space nicely, but I like how yours if framed by a consistent space all around. Looking great so far

[edekoning]

but I like how yours if framed by a consistent space all around. Looking great so far

This weekend I found out that's not entirely the case. I centered the monitor vertically within the visible area. However, the bottom bezel of the LCD is thicker than the top one. So the bezel I made is shifted up a bit. I'll wait until all the panels are done before I decide if this is an issue for me. I could always drill new holes on the monitor mount to lower the LCD if the holes are not to close to the old ones.

[edekoning]

Finally figured out how to mount the bezel and plexi, as I wanted something that is removable, so it won't further restrict me when I need to slide in/out bezel.

42 - I figured I could use an aluminium L-strip to hold the bezel and plexi. The aluminium strip itself will be kept in place by two small pieces of wood. These have a small channel where I can slide the aluminium strip in.

43 - Screwed the wood into place. No glue but I might still do that later on.

44/45 - The aluminium strip fits really tight.

46 - Inserted the bezel, and two dummy pieces of plexi.


I also cut the plexi and control panel, but forgot to take pictures. Hopefully I can post those tomorrow.

[Slippyblade]

Bartops always require creativity.  Good job on this one!

[grippie]

Nice solution on the plexi stop.  I still hadn't figured that out yet but now I have an idea. 

[edekoning]

Thanks guys 

47 - Here is a pic with the plexi in place.

48 - I also cut the two CP panels. I used a chamfer router bit to cut a 45 degree angle on the top panel, so it can sit flush against the plexi glass. Note that the panels have not been joined together yet. I might need to do some router work on the bottom for mounting the joystick/buttons, and that needs to be done first.

49 - Could not resists adding the speaker panel I still need to figure out how to mount the speakers before I can glue it in place though.

[johnrt]

But do you really need the plexi? I think it's looks awesome without it, and then you also avoid reflections. But this is a kick ass build. I've been following it with great excitement! 

[edekoning]

But do you really need the plexi? I think it's looks awesome without it, and then you also avoid reflections. But this is a kick ass build. I've been following it with great excitement! 

Thanks man. The plexi still has the protective layer on, and the bezel still needs to be painted light grey. So I think it will look good with the plexi, as it will give the bezel a slightly darker tone. Anyway, I can always get rid of it later on.


Its been quite some time since I posted an update. Sadly I have not had much time to work on it.

I mainly worked on figuring out how to mount the speakers. The speakers I have are almost square boxes of roughly 7x7x7cm. As I wanted to be able to remove them if needed, I decided on gluing aluminum l-brackets to them and then to use insert nuts and bolts to hold them in place. Unfortunately, the space around the speakers that I can work with is extremely limited, so I could only use l-brackets on a single side Sad Then it hit me that I could just join the two speakers by gluing some additional aluminum strips to them, thus creating a single speaker assembly. Now it no longer mattered that each speaker was fixed on one side only.

After that I could finally glue the speaker panel in place, as well as the small panel between it and the plexiglass.

I also needed to cut a piece out of the plexiglass and bezel, before the speakers could be mounted. Yeah its a tight fit alright.

The removable back panel was also cut, but I still need to figure out how to mount it: magnets, bolt, lock?

[edekoning]

Oh and I also started with putting two coats of primer on. I'm waiting till I have the artwork printed, before I go out and buy grey paint. As I want the colors of the print and the paint to somewhat match  Speaking of the artwork, I started but it is going sloooowwww, as I'm pretty clueless with inkscape

Anyway the first coat of white primer is on.

[grippie]

I'm no artist, but I learned a lot about insckape working on my bartop artwork. Let me know if you have any questions.

[edekoning]

Thanks man. I'll have some free time towards the end of the year, which I plan to work on artwork. Will probably post in the artwork forum if I need any assistance.

[edekoning]

Spend a ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- load of time on this, but here are the new CPO (with all controls) and side art. I think this looks a lot better than what I started out with.

[Rockhart]

I agree, way better than what you started with. The art looks awesome, especially the CP!

[edekoning]

Things are progressing at a snail's pace

I received the side art, control panel overlay, and drill template from www.gameongrafix.com, and as usual the quality is excellent.
Before I started drilling the CP, I first joined the two pieces together. Then I taped on the drill template and started drilling. All the top holes are spot on, but the smaller front holes are slightly off-center. Hopefully that won't show after I put the artwork on.

For the back panel I wanted to use a lock, but no local shop carried any. All the online ones I found were rather expensive, so I decided on using magnets instead. I drilled a 18mm hole with a small chamfer. This will allow me to use my finger to pull the panel out.

Now I'm in painting mode. Have to do all the painting in the evening hours in a badly lit room. I took a piece of the side art to a paint shop to find a matching light grey colored paint. But that was harder than I thought, as RGB color values (204, 204, 204) mean nothing to them Anyway I think I got a pretty good matching color. I've got 3 layers on so far, probably one more is needed. I can't tell yet as I need daylight to make that call, so that will have to wait till this weekend.

Once painting is done I want to start spray painting the Nintendo logo and aluminium grills.

[ChanceKJ]

HOW THE HELL DID I MISS THIS  ing  THREAD?!

seriously, pure awesome. 

[edekoning]

  thanks man

[scoodidabop]

Nice router work dude!  The project looks great.  I'm totally stealing your plexi bezel mounting idea - it looks like it works well!

For those speaker grilles maybe you can use something that resembles the black ridges on the NES console?  Something like these, trimmed to fit perhaps: http://www.hifisoundconnection.com/Metra-85-3021-Speaker-Adaptors-for-Chevy-S-10-S-15-Blazer-1982-1993-Vehicles-MET13-85-3021?utm_source=google&utm_medium=base&utm_campaign=GoogleBaseFeed&gclid=CjwKEAiA05unBRCymrGilanF9SwSJACqDFRm8cWXobSebG0_uKDoeb-rGt1mGUucGNMiNxDUpcPU4BoCEP7w_wcB

Might look good, and again it borrows the aesthetic of the original hardware a little.

[edekoning]

Not sure yet. I'll mount them without any grill/cloth/cover and see how that looks first.

[DaOld Man]

Good work.
Very professional.
The bad side is it's going to make my bartop build look like a piece of wet dog poo.

[edekoning]

Good work.
Very professional.
The bad side is it's going to make my bartop build look like a piece of wet dog poo.

Who cares man, as long as you enjoy the build and or the end result 

[edekoning]

I spray painted the ventilation grills mat black, and the Nintendo logo bright red.

Mounted the lower grill and power button. Note that the power outlet no longer fits, due to the paint, so I need to do some more sanding.

To Keep the back panel in place I used two kitchen cupboards magnets in the top, and two metal bars in the bottom. The metal bars keep the panel firmly in place.

[edekoning]

Also applied the side art and t-molding. I know some people just use their router for trimming the side art. So I thought I would try that on a scrap piece of wood. The results were really bad, as the cut is not flush enough. That's probably because the bit starts accumulating the sticky substance from the sticker. Back to the slow method of using an exacto knife. Gotta love the end result 

The t-molding is 19mm thick and the wood is 18mm thick, so the t-molding extends a bit. This means that I can't get the back panel into place. banghead The control panel only went in after using quite some force. More sanding I guess Sad

[edekoning]

Almost forgot, but here is the spray painted logo. Can't wait to glue this in place 

[otsep]

Beautiful as usual.   

[johnrt]

This is a kick ass build! 
It looks fantastic!

[bfauska]

SEXY.

[wp34]

Wow!  That is beautiful. 

Almost forgot, but here is the spray painted logo. Can't wait to glue this in place 

[Slippyblade]

Almost forgot, but here is the spray painted logo. Can't wait to glue this in place 

So glad that came out looking that good!  Can't wait to see it all together.

[edekoning]

Thanks guys 

Gluing that logo on is gonna be hell though. So many small pieces that need precise alignment, and any screwup is going to be extremely visible.

[otsep]

Thanks guys 

Gluing that logo on is gonna be hell though. So many small pieces that need precise alignment, and any screwup is going to be extremely visible.

Perhaps a spray adhesive on clear material and attached it on the outside face. This could help you glue the other side to the cab and help keep it aligned.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[HaRuMaN]

Use transfer tape.  Like you would a vinyl decal

[otsep]

Use transfer tape.  Like you would a vinyl decal

That's it. I couldn't remember.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[edekoning]

I glued on the laser cut plexi logo. As I still had the 'waste' between the outline and the letters, I figured I could just use that as guide for where to glue each individual letter. So I first glued two screws, so I could easily move the guide.

I started with the outline, inserted the 'guide', then added glue to each individual letter and dropped them in place. Pulled away the guide, than I noticed the letter O was slightly rotated. Unfortunately, I was using some kind of ultra superglue, so before I could correct this (within 5sec), the letter was unmovable  .

Besides this screw-up, the results do look stunning.

[edekoning]

Some more miscellaneous updates:
- added magnets to hold down the CP
- covered the speakers in a pentyhose 
- bought pc parts (AMD Athlon 5350, ASRock AM1H-ITX, Crucial SSD MX100 128GB, Crucial DDR3 DIMM 1x4GB 1600)
- made a ssd mount
- mounted the pc

[edekoning]

I also put case feet on the bottom and mounted the speakers, lcd, ssd, laptop adaptor. The reason I choose the Asrock motherboard, is because it can be powered by a 19v 60w laptop adaptor. This takes up much less space than an regular power supply.

[JimmyU]

Ooohhh, dat sexy!

[johnrt]

- added magnets to hold down the CP

I bought these extra strong magnets for my build. These can hold 4kg.

[edekoning]

I bought these extra strong magnets for my build. These can hold 4kg.

Mine can also hold 4kg. I have two on the front and 1 additional one near the joystick, so that should be enough.

[johnrt]

The paintjob on this build looks awesome! My paintjobs (especially when the color is black) looks nothing like that. Good job!
Your bartop is stunning!

[emphatic]

Looks great!

[dkssprs]

I loved your magneto cab. Very clean project. Real inspiration for my new cab. 

This is also a very sweet project. The Nintendo 3d logo is awosome!!! I will try something similar to my new cab. At the marquee i will place a "Nintendo entertainment system" style 3d logo with the diffenrence that it will be "Famicade entertainment system".

Keep up mate!!

[skottles]

Really great work here. Nicely done! 

[Slippyblade]

Woo hoo!  Glad that worked out for ya.  It was my first cut with the machine.

[ChanceKJ]

Pffft, you're not supposed to tell him that. Milk it a bit and convince everyone what a struggle it was to create.

[GnobarEl]

This is awesome!

Any possibility to share the plans? Do you have 1:1 plans or the 3d?

Thanks!

[edekoning]

Thanks guys 

The paintjob on this build looks awesome! My paintjobs (especially when the color is black) looks nothing like that. Good job!
Your bartop is stunning!

Yeah its my best paint job so far. I did use better quality paint this time, and added up to 7 layers (3 primer, 4 glossy).

Woo hoo!  Glad that worked out for ya.  It was my first cut with the machine.

I was really surprised how well that red spray paint ended up looking. It really makes the logo pop. Thanks again 

Any possibility to share the plans? Do you have 1:1 plans or the 3d?

Yes I will share the plans when I am done, including all the artwork. I used sketchup to create 2d and 3d plans. All art was made using Inkscape, so its in SVG format. I hope to finish this build off somewhere next month.

[GnobarEl]

Thank you so much.

Best Regards!

[edekoning]

Got all the computer wiring and power setup done.

[edekoning]

I also mounted the bezel and plexi, but I do not like the results. The color of the light grey through the tinted plexi is just not doing it for me.
I could order some transparent plexi to keep the light grey color. Alternatively I could paint the bezel black. Suggestions / opinions please!

[BorgDog]

Nice neat job on the wiring, looks great. 

I vote black on the bezel definitely.

[otsep]

Definitely black bezel.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[JDFan]

+1 on black --- or Red matched to the T-molding.

[dkssprs]

Definitely black!!!

[Le Chuck]

Take the plexi to a paint store with a sample of the nintendo gray.  Go through the gray chips until you find a match as viewed through the plexi then just repaint. 

[yamatetsu]

Since the light gray is the prominent color on the cab, I would do the bezel in the same color if possible, either by using clear plexi or using LeChucks method.



IMHO the black bezel is just too much.

[yamatetsu]

Another idea if you go with the light gray. Let's assume your tinted plexi is 5 mm thick.
Paint the bezel light gray, use a router to cut a groove 2-3 mm wide, 5 mm deep along the insides of the bezel.
Cut the plexi to that size. You now can put the plexi inside the bezel, thus having the right bezel color and the tinted plexi.

[otsep]

Re-thinking the black.  What about a charcoal grey?  A wee bit dark than what you have now.

[edekoning]

I made some changes to the 3D sketchup model to show the differences. I also removed the dark plexi from the actual build, and added a clear sampler piece I have. My initial preference was for the black bezel, but now its shifting towards the clear plexi. The black does indeed seem a bit too much, especially considering the control panel overlay.

Another idea if you go with the light gray. Let's assume your tinted plexi is 5 mm thick.
Paint the bezel light gray, use a router to cut a groove 2-3 mm wide, 5 mm deep along the insides of the bezel.
Cut the plexi to that size. You now can put the plexi inside the bezel, thus having the right bezel color and the tinted plexi.

Interesting idea, though the plexi is 3mm and the bezel 6mm. I could just swap the order of the bezel and plexi, and see how that looks. Though I would need to cut a hole in the plexi for where the lcd buttons are.

[yamatetsu]

Regarding the CPO ... Those black blocks just look too chunky. I would just use the stripes or, better still, don't do a CPO at all. The cab already looks very good without one.

Interesting idea, though the plexi is 3mm and the bezel 6mm.

It should still be possible to cut a groove 3 mm wide / 3 mm deep. The plexi only needs a space to rest on, 3 mm should be sturdy enough to hold it.

[Yvan256]

Wow, that looks great so far!

For the CP artwork, I'd try to mimic the design of the NES gamepad as much as possible. Each button has a white square with slightly rounded corners around it, for example.

[edekoning]

Thanks for all the feedback guys!

For the CP artwork, I'd try to mimic the design of the NES gamepad as much as possible. Each button has a white square with slightly rounded corners around it, for example.

The CPO does mirror the NES controller. However, arcade buttons are rather large, and I do not want to have too much space between them (=uncomfortable). As such I decided to place them all in a single rectangle.

Regarding the CPO ... Those black blocks just look too chunky. I would just use the stripes or, better still, don't do a CPO at all. The cab already looks very good without one.

The CPO was already printed and waiting to be applied

It should still be possible to cut a groove 3 mm wide / 3 mm deep. The plexi only needs a space to rest on, 3 mm should be sturdy enough to hold it.

The cab was designed for a bezel+plexi thickness of 9mm. Just using the bezel leaves a 3mm gap at the top and bottom, so I would need to remake the bezel from 9mm MDF. I decided to go with clear plexi: ordered and waiting for delivery. If that does not work out, than I'll go with your suggestion, and remake the bezel.


I also did some work on the CP  Note that the USB ports are not screwed in place yet as I cannot find a shop that sells black screws

[otsep]

Love it. 

[emphatic]

Nice! Any way to lower the profile of the black buttons? It'd be a shame if you end up snagging stuff on them because they are so tall...

[NintendoJim]

Wow! I really like the look of the CP.

[Brouhaha]

This is VERY cool...  Very tempted to tackle a bartop just half as nice for my sons when my project is done.

[edekoning]

Nice! Any way to lower the profile of the black buttons? It'd be a shame if you end up snagging stuff on them because they are so tall...

Yeah its funny how those small buttons are so freaking tall. I'll keep on looking out for smaller ones though, but those that I tried were either not square/rectangular, or are extremely difficult to mount in wood.


Wired the CP, and showing off my two new NES30 controllers

[edekoning]

I'm done        

I'm am so happy with how this bartop turned out. I think its of much higher quality than my previous Magneto cab.

With done I mean the building/hardware part of it, as I still need to do all the software setup. I'm also thinking of writing my own frontend for this bartop. So that's probably gonna keep me busy for the remainder of the year 

Anyway, here are some pics!

[edekoning]

More pics!

[edekoning]

Moved it to my desk, and showing its actually working

Somewhere this week or the next I will upload all plans, art, and an overview of all expenses.

[BorgDog]

Very nice! 

[johnrt]

So nice and clean! What a great job! And a nominee for the next BYOAC Small Cab Award! 

[yamatetsu]

                                                         

[opt2not]

Turned out great!  I especially like that the artwork isn't mirrored on one side.   I kid, I kid. It did turn out really nice, and definitely an improvement to the initial design you had started.

[bfauska]

So nice and clean! What a great job! And a nominee for the next BYOAC Small Cab Award! 

It may be early in the year but I suspect John speaks the truth. Good work.

[Superfrog]

                                                         

 

High quality bartop 
It's a masterpiece you could be proud of.
And don't put it on marktplaats 

[ChanceKJ]

  Love it.

It's to bad we couldn't get the NES bartop and SEGA bartop in the same place side by side.

[yotsuya]

Love it.

It's to bad we couldn't get the NES bartop and SEGA bartop in the same place side by side.

You notice those two are never in the room at the same time.....

[opt2not]

One thing that has stuck with me is the marquee.  Due to the small-form nature of bartops, I find the glare on your eyes from the lit-up Marquee area to be too distracting, because of the position you're sitting in, you're basically being shone straight in the face by it.

But this marquee feels so elegant being clean and simple.

I'm not sure if you discussed it before, I didn't completely read through the thread, but it's also giving me the idea that perhaps a little 'halo' (under) lighting would make the Nintendo sign look great as well, without having that light-in-your-face marquee.  Just thinking out loud here, as you're 100% complete with this project, but perhaps it'll give others some ideas as well.

edit:  wait, is there halo lighting here?  I can't really tell from the final pictures, since the machine isn't turned on...

[sharpfork]

The build quality, artwork, process pics, and final product are all awesomness! Great work, thank you for sharing!

[edekoning]

Love it.
It's to bad we couldn't get the NES bartop and SEGA bartop in the same place side by side.

You notice those two are never in the room at the same time.....

Indeed, I used to own a NES, but sold it to buy a MegaDrive.

One thing that has stuck with me is the marquee.  Due to the small-form nature of bartops, I find the glare on your eyes from the lit-up Marquee area to be too distracting, because of the position you're sitting in, you're basically being shone straight in the face by it.
But this marquee feels so elegant being clean and simple.

I choose this approach because:
- Like you said, I did want to have to look into any light other than the screen. Of course I could have put a very weak light in there but still.
- There was no room for speakers below the marquee.
- The thought of having speakers in the back did not appeal to me.
- I think I saw a Vigolix like build with front facing speakers at the top that looked really good. So that stuck in my head.

edit:  wait, is there halo lighting here?  I can't really tell from the final pictures, since the machine isn't turned on...

Tsss, the last picture clearly shows the cab turned on with Mega Man II running. There is no halo lighting, but that can look really good. See this bartop over at bartopmania.com for a great example of that same idea applied to the sides:
http://bartopmania.com/index.php?topic=834.msg10877#msg10877

I'll upload the plans/art/etc tonight. I just need to get the sketchup file size down, as its currently 13Mb

[camperman73]

That is amazing. I love and i want it now!!!

[danny_galaga]

You guys with your fancy woodworkin' skills make me sick!

 

[edekoning]

You guys with your fancy woodworkin' skills make me sick!
 

Said the man whose Jetsons build has more curves than I would dare to take on 


As promised, here are all the artwork and design files that I used to build my NES Bartop. I also included an overview of all expenses that I made building it.
Let me know if/how/what/when/where you do something with it.

Oh and for those only interested in pics, here is a web album of all 130+ photos: https://plus.google.com/photos/105504065879104206989/albums/6049005748236036513

[heykool69]

This is some crazy work.  Love the colors and designs.  You got mad skills.  Brings back memories just by looking at your control panel.

[retroarcadefan]

one of the best bartops i have ever seen ! great work !

[edekoning]

Thanks guys!

I had some issues with the fuse in the power outlet. It kept blowing up every 1 in 3 times when I turned on the power 

Now I'm not terribly knowledgeable about these sort of things, but I thought you should pick a fuse depending on the voltage (V) you are using and the expected power usage (W). So in my case its 230V and an estimated max 100W. So I went for a 250V 0.8mA fuse which would be sufficient for 200W.

I also measured the actual power usage when playing a game and that appeared to be only 38W!

For other reasons I replaced the cheap 7,- power strip with a 30,- quality one that also has more ports, and all my problems went away  Just in case I also ordered 1.6A and 3.2A fuses just in case.

[pbj]

Those black buttons ruin it.  You have GOT to replace those.

[reptileink]

Hall of Fame right here! 

My question, really doesn't have much to do with the build, but where you guys are finding those "switchable" power inlets? Do you just wire the back side to the PC/Game system, etc? Right now, I have to reach in the coin door and switch on the powerstrip each time (which is not a HUGE deal), but it would be nice to just flip a switch.

[PL1]

where you guys are finding those "switchable" power inlets? Do you just wire the back side to the PC/Game system, etc?

If pressing a switch inside the coin door is a pain, wouldn't reaching down/around to the back of the cab be more of a pain?   

Lots of vendors like Amazon carry the inlets -- search for keywords "IEC inlet switch".

Fuses are often sold separately, so check the listing.

Obligatory wiki link for wiring and fuse selection tips: http://newwiki.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?title=Wiring#IEC_Fused_Power_Inlet_with_a_Lighted_Switch

Depending on how many outlets you need/available space, you can wire the inlet to a power strip/smart strip, outlet box, power splitter cable, put a pushbutton on top of your cab connected to the power switch on your motherboard (use with smart strip), etc.


Scott

[reptileink]

This cabinet is not an issue for that, but I don't plan on only having one cabinet..

Thanks for the info!

[Jakobud]

Hands down one of the best looking bartops I've seen. I'm always a bit against adding console designs to arcade cabinets (because they are two completely different platforms...), but this is outstanding work imho.

[Malenko]

Great execution of a theme! I love the CP artwork, so simple yet effective! Definitely a UCA contender

[dmckean]

Got all the computer wiring and power setup done.

Were you able to power the PC, monitor and speakers off a single power supply?

[Happydayz]

Been a lurker for years but had to sign up to say wow .....
Been some great builds on hear over the years but that imo is 1 of the nicest..
Well done dude..
That really has motivated me to finally get of my arse and make a machine myself..

[nordemoniac]

Got all the computer wiring and power setup done.

Were you able to power the PC, monitor and speakers off a single power supply?

The monitor is plugged in directly from AC. You can see the cable going over the mount.

[SpaceHedgehog]

Been a lurker for years but had to sign up to say wow .....
Been some great builds on hear over the years but that imo is 1 of the nicest..
Well done dude..
That really has motivated me to finally get of my arse and make a machine myself..

Welcome Happydayz and get building

Have to agree with you, this is a top notch build.

[Ginsu Victim]

I haven't been around as much these days, but holy ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---, that's a nice bartop! Beautiful work!

[edekoning]

Thanks for all the kind words.

I'm currently working on GameWall, which is a custom frontend for the bartop. This will probably keep me busy for at least the remainder of the year . The only progress I made is a small program where one can specify emulators, systems, games, artwork. Games can be filtered based on data from no-intro dat files (region, language, clones, etc). All that stuff is then stored in a sqlite database. So next up is start working on the actual frontend, which should end up looking something like the following mspaint mockup

[Vidiot]

Superb! Absolutely beautiful. You gotta be proud of that bartop.

Definitely hall of fame worthy.

[ctozzi]

I haven't posted here in a while but this made me want to say what a piece of artwork this is. Plus your sharing the files is a major bonus. I'm going to try and build this in my free time as well. Congrats on a beautiful cabinet !
Chris

[edekoning]

I haven't posted here in a while but this made me want to say what a piece of artwork this is. Plus your sharing the files is a major bonus. I'm going to try and build this in my free time as well. Congrats on a beautiful cabinet !
Chris

Thanks man, i would be very interested in how it turns out

[DrAlves]

HI!
Im in love with this project! Really!
I'm going to do a replica for myself, and I already have the computer for that!
I have a VeryPOS 715 Touch.
That way I want to make this a hybrid project, containing the mame system through Retropie, and I also want to put the Megatouch system.
Can anyone help me in this regard?
Thanks in advance, this is my first post!
Hugs
Carlos

[Mattiekrome]

Wow, super jealous of this!  Been out of the BYOAC scene for a looooong time, but am getting the itch again.  This is good inspiration!  Looks awesome!

[RW]

Amazing! I guess I'm adding this to my wish list.

[edekoning]

Wow has it really been 7 years ... the older you get the faster time seems to move 

Anyway, time for an update. This bad boy has been sitting on my desk all that time. Since I now have a smaller room, I had to change the L-shaped desk by removing the side part, making it a regular rectangular desk. And now the bartop no longer fits. So I decided to build a stand for it. Took a long time deciding on a shape, and now that I have I hope it will turn out sturdy enough 

The stand will have a power socket at the bottom. A power cable will exit at the top to be plugged in the bartop above. That should keep cables neat.
The bartop had 4 rubber feet underneath. I will route out some space on the top plate for these feet. This way its easy to correctly position the bartop, and makes sure it won't move.

The top plate extends more on the front. This ensures the bartop's center of gravity is in the center of the central column. To find this center of gravity I placed the bartop on a broomstick  , and the moved it around until I could almost balance it. It does not have to be exact, so being off by 1-2 cm should be fine.

As you can see the the back is narrower than the front (14 degrees). This is my only worry, whether the central column will still be sturdy enough. Oh well, guess I'll find out.

[Mike A]

I hope that stand works out for you.

In my arcade room that bartop would be on the floor 5 minutes into one of my parties.

The stand does not look like it will be stable enough for arcade play.

[edekoning]

Using 18mm (3/4") MDF for everything. I don't especially want to use MDF, but the bartop was also made out of MDF, and want to get a similar paint finish.

The back panel is rather narrow, so getting a 14 degree cut on both sides was tricky. I also decided I wanted more strength, and opted to go with some cross pieces and dado joints. Never did those before, and unfortunately my router bit was 16mm, so 2mm smaller than the 18mm wood. This meant 3-4 router passes for each channel, trying to make them really snug and too wide. I also had to make these dado joints line up perfectly between the front and back panels. As their sides have opposite angles, I just taped them together, so I could route both panels in one go. This worked really well.

[edekoning]

Dry-fitting everything before gluing.

[edekoning]

While waiting for the glue to dry I started work on the top panel.

I used the router with a round-over bit on both sides, to give it a nice finish. And used a frostner bit to get the holes, where the case feet of the bartop will reside. Both the top and bottom panels will be glued and screwed to the central column.

Unfortunately, it has been raining all day long now, so can't cut the base plate yet. Will have to wait till next weekend.

[edekoning]

I hope that stand works out for you.

In my arcade room that bartop would be on the floor 5 minutes into one of my parties.

The stand does not look like it will be stable enough for arcade play.

I hope to know in a week or so. Do keep in mind that this will be placed in a corner of my room. So the bartop will sit against the wall. Also I am the only person playing this. But if its wobbly I will have to come up with something else.

[Mike A]

If you are the only one playing it, it will probably be fine.

The stand looks good.

[leapinlew]

This posts looks like "Tell me you don't have kids playing your arcade game without saying you don't have kids" 

The front of the tower could be storage for NES games. Not sure if that would look good, or like clutter. I can relate to updating a bartop. I did something similar, At first I built a table, but I eventually just built it to be a cabaret style cabinet.




Just like before, you're doing quality work. Keep it up!

[edekoning]

Well I have one 15y old son, who does not care for any of this ...

Anyway, I decided on the base plate shape, cut it, rounded the edges, and then glue and screwed it in place. Tomorrow, once the glue has fully dried, I'll see how stable it is

I can't find what paint color I used on the bartop, so instead I will use a darker grey on the stand. I'll try and match it up with the darker grey from front of the control panel. Should not really be noticeable then if the color is a bit off.

[edekoning]

Its slightly wobbly to the sides, like if you put your hand on the side of the bartop and start pushing it. But there is pretty much no movement in the front-back direction. So if I would redo it I would probably make the base pillar a bit wider and less narrow at the back, say 10 degrees instead of 14. But when actually (pretend) using the bartop on the stand, I don't notice any flex. Overall the height is quite comfortable for me, and I have enough free space to put my feet down. Overall quite happy with it -> next up paint prep.

[BlueGhost]

Very clean, but I can't help thinking of this when I see the pedestal.

[edekoning]

Got two layers of white primer done. Now I am wondering what color I should paint the base. Should I go with the same overall light grey from the bartop, or the medium grey from the front of the control panel? I think going with the darker grey makes the bartop itself stand out more. Whereas the lighter grey will make it more a single piece.

[yamatetsu]

Or maybe option 3? Medium grey on the front, light grey on the sides. Makes it even more cohesive.

[edekoning]

Or maybe option 3? Medium grey on the front, light grey on the sides. Makes it even more cohesive.

That is a great idea ... until I went buying paint ... 40 bucks for 0.5 liter ... so Instead went with light grey.

I found this nifty website where you can convert from RGB to nearest color standards. Including RAL which is a common paint color standard here. So I used that to convert from my side art to a pretty spot on paint color!
https://www.e-paint.co.uk/convert-rgb.asp

Anyway here are the results. Note hat I put the Bartop against the wall, which made it really stable. Quite happy with the results

[leapinlew]

Good clean job!

You could add another base under that base, and make it bigger all the way around if it just needs a little more stability.