Noobie - Planning Cocktail Cabinet

[MysteryM]

I’ve been in love with arcade machines since being child and now, having moved to a new house, I finally have the space now to finally for fill my dream and build myself my very own cabinet. 

The primary place for this cabinet will be in a home cinema theatre room and therefore I want to ensure that it looks high quality and not out of place. I’m sure I’ll make mistakes along the way but my main aim is fo the final product to look stunning. I'll do what I can to get there somehow!

I’ve got limited woodworking skills but already have an empty garage for building space and a limited set of tools (a bosch pfm multitool and jigsaw at the moment), but envisage that I’ll need to buy a circular saw and a router when I start the build.

My main aim is to want to build a 4 player pac man style cocktail cab, 2 players horizontal and 2 players vertical. I’m thinking black Melamine Faced Chipboard (3/4 inch/18mm – I’m UK based so am dealing in metric numbers), silver t-moulding, light up buttons etc.

I'm UK based, and my questions are:

1. Has anyone got a preferred UK seller for a toughened cocktail glass? I’ve seen a 32” by 22” piece advertised (with rounded corners) but with no warranty on delivery so if it breaks it’s on me as its current cost is £72 (not sure if I'm allowed to mention suppliers so haven't).
 
2. I’m really struggling to find table Cocktail plans for 4 player cabinet, with my biggest problem being how to build the control panels. Do people tend to buy control panels or build their own, without plans I’m going to struggle as I don’t know what slope to use etc. I’ve bought Project Arcade: BYOAM but the CD doesn’t contain plans for a cocktail cab. I've been looking for ages 

Can any kind soul point me to plans that even resemble this:


Do people make the control panels themselves or are they typically made from steel? As I don't have any decent plans I don't know where to begin.

3. Any UK residents know the best place buy cocktail table underlays? At the moment most ebay hits point to North America and they are quite expensive. Just looking for a classic space invaders one.
 
4. As I’m pretty messed up for decent plans, I was planning on buying a marquee first based upon the glass size (32” by 22”), then mark around that and cut out the top. Then I was going to just cut out the indents of the control panel based on the shape of the marquee. Again not sure if this is sensible. But without plans I’m not getting very far.

Anyhow that’s it for now, I’m sure I’ll have more questions as I progress, I want to start as soon as a I an and will post updates as I make progress.

 Thanks in advance.

[HaRuMaN]

Just hunt for the Pac-Man cocktail plans, they are easily found online.  All you would have to do is add a 3rd panel.  You can buy metal panels or make your own from wood.

Here are some:

http://www.mikesarcade.com/arcade/cabplans.html

[MysteryM]

Cheers, I never thought about updating that design even though I did come across it but it makes sense as the other control panel is just a longer version with more buttons. will check it out.

[Thestoney]

I'm also from uk and went for a full cab as I faced some of the issues you have mentioned , also when I did find what I needed everything felt overpriced ( might be as I'm from the south west and crunch carrots - they must have seen me coming  ) . Please let me know how you get on .
Good luck

[MysteryM]

After doing some more research, it’s clear that my biggest stumbling point is going to be the control panels. I want fantastic looking control panels and it seems the best way to achieve this is to get metal ones.
 
Where do people source there vertical and horizontal cocktail metal control panels from (pacman style)?
 
Have I missed the boat in regard to buying parts? I’m not sure if I’ve missed the golden age of cab building hence why I can’t seem to find anything.

[HaRuMaN]

There is a lot available here in the states, no clue about the UK, though.

[Sjaak]

After doing some more research, it’s clear that my biggest stumbling point is going to be the control panels. I want fantastic looking control panels and it seems the best way to achieve this is to get metal ones.

You can create great control panels with wood (mdf).

[Cynicaster]

Awesome idea; wish these were available when I was building, as I would have placed my coin buttons differently to incorporate them.

BTW, any half-decent camera should photograph the button just fine.  Try some different white balance settings, and set the exposure manually.  The camera's crappy "auto" mode is going to be fooled by the dark background and end up over-exposing the button, thereby washing out the colors.

[mgb]

There are also multiple sources online where you can purchase metal control panels for cocktail cabs

[matsadona]

When it comes to coctail builds, this one sets the standards
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,105480.msg1116796.html#msg1116796