Re: Nintendo Style Cabaret- Done And In Good Hands

[404]

So after seeing Minwah's vertical cabaret, the design sat in my head for a few months. lo and behold, as I'm doing some Christmas shopping i noticed that sears had a 2 day sale on a bunch of tools, including a craftsman circular saw for just 29 dollars. They had a high tooth plywood blade for just 8 dollars. I was already at the mall so i headed over to pick it up. There were only two saws left. Paid for it and ran home.

As i was at the mall i remembered seeing a few videos a while back on how to make a quick jig that will allow you to make straight cuts with a circular saw. I had a bit of wood left over from some failed projects so i got to work on making a jig and made one in just a few minutes. I left the saw in my garage for a few days, thinking of what kind of project i could do with it.

While searching for cabaret and other small designs i came across this donkey kong junior cabaret created by a guy on KLOV. I set out to get the dimensions but unfortunately, out of all of the nintendo cabaret owners on KLOV, not one single person was actually willing to help to get accurate dimensions for anything beyond some old posts showing the dimensions of the sides. I'll just have to wing it together.




To add to the confusion, the nintendo cabaret dimensions made by goozer seem to be inaccurate. There few dimensions i could find indicate that the goozer sketchup has some issues. At least he was nice enough to put something up for the community.


After looking at your run of the mill boards at homedepot, i modified the known dimensions in order to accomidate  a 4'x8'x3/4" MDF panel.  I couldn't find any 9/16" ply and 5/8" melamine was only available in white. My dimensions are approximately one inch narrower and one inch less deep than the original. It's also 2 3/4" shorter than the original. I plan on offsetting that by creating a platform for the cab that is slightly higher. It still won't be as high as the original. This is strictly a sit down cab.

[Slippyblade]

Them is some sexy straight lines. 

[ark_ader]

Nice job! 

[EMDB]

But you missed your cut lines by an inch or 3...

[404]

I thought some folks would might have figured out what it was by now. I just updated the first post with more info.

[404]

My cameraphone pics are coming out even crappier than usual but here is the brunt of todays work. Sides, bottom and part of the back cut and assembled. After i took this pic, i laid out my first coat of primer. I may put woodgrain vinyl on the sides.





Now i have a major issue. From the few pictures of the back that i can gather, the top and the top-most part of the back of the cabinet are interlocked together. The easiest way i can think of doing this would be to cut both the top and back panel at a 60 degree angle. to give me the 120 degree slope i need (i think that's right). Problem is, my cheapo circular saw only cuts 45 degree cuts max. I'm sort of out of ideas on how to tackle this.

[pbj]

This thread needs more spread eagled nymph milfs

[404]

This thread needs more spread eagled nymph milfs

way too soon to worry about marquee ideas. 

[Drnick]

If you need a 60 degrees bevel then set the cutter to 30 and  when you cut through the end you should be left with a 60 degree bevel the only hard bit is that the saw can only be angled one way usually so you will need to make sure that the wood is in the right orientation before the cutting begins. You could always make the correct pencil line both edges to make it easier. (You may also want a piece of wood the same as you are cutting if you have to cut from the thin edge You will need it or there's nowhere for the saw guide to sit. 

[PL1]

Pic for Drnick's text.   


Scott

[404]

Thanks guys but i actually need something along the lines of ~120 degrees.

The side panels of the donkey kong cabaret sketchup model seem accurate (the rest of it mostly is not). I have only seen two or so pics of the backs of these units. It almost seems as if the top has a notch removed from it so that the top half of the back panel slides into it. I already tried that earlier today by setting the depth of my circular saw and going over the area multiple times. That failed miserably.

Upon looking at the sketchup model though, i think there is another solution, cut just one bevel on the bottom panel. Just have to figure out the accurate degree for it.

[PL1]

To make the cut for the back, set the circular saw to 30 degrees, base of the saw on the face to the right of the red arrow.

90 - 60 (angle between vertical and the top) = 30 (angle to set the saw)


Scott

[404]

To make the cut for the back, set the circular saw to 30 degrees, base of the saw on the face to the right of the red arrow.

90 - 60 (angle between vertical and the top) = 30 (angle to set the saw)


Scott

I really really really should have taken this advice to heart earlier. I wasted almost all day yesterday trying to come up with some sort of elaborate cut. I ended up just securing the top on and leaving a little bit of the back hanging. Then i simply cut the back panel which i had hacked up about 4 times earlier and then cut a quick 30 degree angle. I have to trim and sand the back bit that i left hanging. Shouldn't be too hard at all. At least it stops me from having to make another disastrous angled cut. I really have to practice that.

It didn't come out perfect but i couldn't afford to cut another panel of wood for it as all i have left over is enough to complete the other two pieces to the back panel. I'll put up some more pics later today of the work so far.

This project is really more for the lawls and to see if i could actually create something. Wasn't really to be taken too seriously but so far this hasn't come out bad at all. The neighbor actually wants one for her kids so I'm seriously contemplating giving it to them. Perhaps make a dedicated fix it felix cabaret for them or simple mame unit.

[Slippyblade]

This project is really more for the lawls and to see if i could actually create something. Wasn't really to be taken too seriously but so far this hasn't come out bad at all. The neighbor actually wants one for her kids so I'm seriously contemplating giving it to them. Perhaps make a dedicated fix it felix cabaret for them or simple mame unit.

There's something very fulfilling about making something.  Even something as, what some would call, frivolous as an arcade cabinet.  Even if it doesn't come out as awesome as some of the pieces of art on this forum, it's worth it just to build something.  Even crapMAME cabinets are worth it to their owners!

[eds1275]

To make the cut for the back, set the circular saw to 30 degrees, base of the saw on the face to the right of the red arrow.

90 - 60 (angle between vertical and the top) = 30 (angle to set the saw)


Scott

I really really really should have taken this advice to heart earlier. I wasted almost all day yesterday trying to come up with some sort of elaborate cut. I ended up just securing the top on and leaving a little bit of the back hanging. Then i simply cut the back panel which i had hacked up about 4 times earlier and then cut a quick 30 degree angle. I have to trim and sand the back bit that i left hanging. Shouldn't be too hard at all. At least it stops me from having to make another disastrous angled cut. I really have to practice that.

It didn't come out perfect but i couldn't afford to cut another panel of wood for it as all i have left over is enough to complete the other two pieces to the back panel. I'll put up some more pics later today of the work so far.

This project is really more for the lawls and to see if i could actually create something. Wasn't really to be taken too seriously but so far this hasn't come out bad at all. The neighbor actually wants one for her kids so I'm seriously contemplating giving it to them. Perhaps make a dedicated fix it felix cabaret for them or simple mame unit.

I have an angle on one of mine where the top and back meet. It didn't work out so well. I spray painted a piece of aluminum flashing, and velcro'd it in place. Looks amazing. I am not suggesting you give up, rather telling you that if it gets messed up there's always SOMETHING you can do about it.

[404]

There's something very fulfilling about making something.  Even something as, what some would call, frivolous as an arcade cabinet.  Even if it doesn't come out as awesome as some of the pieces of art on this forum, it's worth it just to build something.  Even crapMAME cabinets are worth it to their owners!

No doubt. This isn't a throw away cab IMO by any means but it was done simply to see how far i can take a build using simple tools and a dirt cheap circular saw.

I have an angle on one of mine where the top and back meet. It didn't work out so well. I spray painted a piece of aluminum flashing, and velcro'd it in place. Looks amazing. I am not suggesting you give up, rather telling you that if it gets messed up there's always SOMETHING you can do about it.

It's been raining cats and dogs here lately so i just now had a chance to look at the cab in the sun before the sun set for the day. I think it came out quite well all things considering. I filled the hole a bit with wood glue and saw dust. It's very close to flush right now but i may give it another pass with it or maybe some water putty.

[404]

Here is where the cab stands as of 2 hours ago.  I had two different kinds of primer laying around and so i just threw that stuff on there. Need to sand it and get one more coat of primer on it along with the top. The cruddy pictures you can just barely see where i left a bit of the top-back overlap. Going to sand that down with 60 grit to get it fully flat and level.  Need to also start sorting out how to mount the  monitor. Right now i have a 15" LCD but if i could find a CRT of the same size, I wouldn't be opposed to throwing that in there.

Things still need to be done
1x3 stand the cab is supposed to sit on top of
back vents
speaker hole
start thinking of how to mount the monitor

things still need to buy
joystick
buttons
1x3 for the stand
primer
paint

[404]

the whole week has been mostly a wash-out here. I did manage to finish the back of the cab and sand the top-back flush with the rest of the back of the cabinet. I also fixed a piece of the back that was torn off. Simply mixed some wood glue and saw dust together, filled in the chip and clamped it down with wax paper and a spare wood block. Came out decent enough. You can see the ding in the pic below,  darker colored areas at the bottom right.

I also attempted to cut the control panel out of the last bit of wood i had left from the slab. For some reason I ended up cutting it too short and don't have enough left on the remaining slab to cut another one. I may have to buy another panel just to finish this. 

pic of the back

[404]

Some more updates

I bought another wood panel. This time around i cut the control panel and the monitor bezel out of one single piece of wood. So far i have not cut out the area for the monitor and the front t-molding trim on the panel. My neighbor is actually supposed to get back to me about a 15" CRT VGA monitor. Would be a lot better than putting in an lcd monitor for this game.

I also attempted and failed to properly route out the nintendo style speaker area on the front panel. I patched it up but it still looks uglier than a dog bite. To add insult to injury, i accidentally painted the front panel black instead of blue like it's supposed to be. Debating what to do about the panel. Not sure if I should cut a new panel out, attempt another speaker route and/or go with a different speaker design. Decisions decisions...

I also finished a simple stand for the unit to sit on. Going to attempt to install that tomorrow.

Pics following the first coat of paint. Fixing some dings i didn't notice as i go along as well.

[BAMBOO]

404 that is rockin man!

[Louis Tully]

.

[404]

oh now you're just trolling because your cabaret came out 100000x nicer than mine.

Just joking.

My original plan was just to sort of do this for fun and to get some experience with the circular saw, then eventually gift it to the kids next door. They apparently got in trouble again so the project has sort of stalled.  I also realized that working with just a circular saw is still very difficult to make a good, accurate arcade cabinet. I definitely don't think i will ever have a cabinet with the quality I want without getting a table saw and more major tools for the job. At the same time I don't think the price of one justifies me getting a saw for just one project.

In the midsts of all of this I also tried to make a few pocket cuts with the circular saw for the bezel/monitor mount and control panel out of one piece of wood. What wound up happening is a crooked piece of wood and the circular saw jumping towards me almost cutting my leg off. So I'm still sort of debating how I'm going to tackle that without losing a limb.

Following a talk with the kids mother about them never getting the arcade, I was sort of tempted to keep the cab, strip the paint and use some wood grain vinyl i have here for the project. I have been slowly looking around for a CRT for it but so far i haven't found a small CRT on craigslist.

The patch i made for the speaker area also came out terrible so I'm going to have to either use a new panel or just go buy a speaker grill.

[Louis Tully]

.

[jdbailey1206]

I also attempted and failed to properly route out the nintendo style speaker area on the front panel. I patched it up but it still looks uglier than a dog bite. To add insult to injury, i accidentally painted the front panel black instead of blue like it's supposed to be. Debating what to do about the panel. Not sure if I should cut a new panel out, attempt another speaker route and/or go with a different speaker design. Decisions decisions...

I'm not sure if you have the $ but I would get a new panel for the front.  Also 404 if you do have the extra money I swear by my router edge guide.  Below you can see what I did with mine.  I took the speaker template from the Jakobud plans and drafted it out on my wood then drilled the holes the same size as my router bit and set my router with the guide in these holes and just ran the router to the next hole. 

Don't give up either.  This is a great looking cab.  Even though you had a couple hiccups. 

[404]

Damn, dude. That's no fun. Table saws are handy but not necessary. A jig saw would help you out and you'd have to really work at it to cut your leg off.

I've built everything with one of these. It's a ---smurfette--- sometimes when you get blade flex and cuts are a little wonky but all in all it gets the job done. Just go slow,cut close to the line, and sand the rest. A drill and a jig saw will take you all the way.
http://www.amazon.com/Black-Decker-JS660-Smart-Select/dp/B001JJD0Y4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1390933475&sr=8-1&keywords=black+and+decker+jigsaw

$30  much cheaper than a table saw.


You should keep it. I think the paint looks good as is, the blue and black, no need to strip it. I've never attempted to make one of those speaker cutouts but that ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- looks tough to do. I wouldn't even know how to go about it. I usually just drill lots of holes and cover it with one of these


Good luck on finding a 15" crt, I've been looking for some as well. All I can find are 17s

I have a jigsaw but it jumps more than a rabbit so i never even allowed it to cross my mind to use it for this. Almost no doubt in my mind that it would have come out just as bad.

I found some CRTs 2 counties over. A whole stack of them for 5 bucks each but it would cost me more on gas to get a few than its worth. Have an LCD here de-cased though. Haven't had time to hit up the thrift stores here to see if i can find something. If i kept it, I would really like to have a crt vga monitor at least.

I'm not sure if you have the $ but I would get a new panel for the front.  Also 404 if you do have the extra money I swear by my router edge guide.  Below you can see what I did with mine.  I took the speaker template from the Jakobud plans and drafted it out on my wood then drilled the holes the same size as my router bit and set my router with the guide in these holes and just ran the router to the next hole. 

Don't give up either.  This is a great looking cab.  Even though you had a couple hiccups.

I did something similar with the few tools i have laying around here

I actually have this multi purpose tool that doubles as a router using attachments but didn't have a bit to use on it. Was also seriously contemplating using one of my die grinders i have for metal work but i couldn't figure out a way to keep it flat and stable on the wood surface.

I do have a dremel with a small router attachment and a bunch of very good metal burs. After i patched the wood, I made a similar jig out of two pieces of wood to keep the dremel from moving horizontally across the wood surface. Took me a long time to make 3 slots but it still didn't come out as well as i had hoped so i just scrapped the idea. I really don't like the idea of having a speaker grill on a nintendo style cabinet but at this point, I'm running out of options. I just don't have the tools to do this the proper way.

I also made the stand for the unit out of some cheap 1x4 that i found. Brings the height up real nice.

Thanks for all of the great replies and encouragement. All in all I'm not mad about how the cab has panned out so far. I do definitely want to finish it. It's all a matter of how i can possibly make the bezel and panel. Right now I'm out of ideas. I'll be sure to take some pics of where the cab currently stands tomorrow.

[404]

LA Hips with an Oakland Booty

[Drnick]

Looks like early Iron Man prototype head 

[Louis Tully]

.

[kz1911]

check places like craigslist for tablesaws for cheap prices, got myself a nice one for $40 with blades and all....I also bought that same jigsaw from amazon for $25, it's great but for straight cuts it isnt ideal, tablesaw cuts it much faster and accurate, definitely helps to have the right tools, it will show in the end no matter how skilled you may be.

[404]

check places like craigslist for tablesaws for cheap prices, got myself a nice one for $40 with blades and all....I also bought that same jigsaw from amazon for $25, it's great but for straight cuts it isnt ideal, tablesaw cuts it much faster and accurate, definitely helps to have the right tools, it will show in the end no matter how skilled you may be.

Yeah, actually I have been keeping an eye out for a table saw small and decent that i can buy. So far I haven't found anything locally but it did cross my mind when i get real deep into this project.

[404]

did a little work earlier in the day before it started raining. Seriously debating whether i should just finish this up with some quick wood grain laminate and sell it and use the money to invest in better tools.

[BAMBOO]

404 man I love it so far.  I wouldn't sell that man in a million years.

[404]

404 man I love it so far.  I wouldn't sell that man in a million years.

will trade you for your wip bad dudes cab

[BAMBOO]

Seriously?  Cause I'd probably do that.  Only thing is my kids talked me into a Battletoads/Bad Dudes cab and I already had Scott Prior print it out.  Think its already on the way as of today. 

[404]

Seriously?  Cause I'd probably do that.  Only thing is my kids talked me into a Battletoads/Bad Dudes cab and I already had Scott Prior print it out.  Think its already on the way as of today. 

ya rly. I'm already a bad enough dude to play the game

[BAMBOO]

Holy Hell man!

[jdbailey1206]

Seriously?  Cause I'd probably do that.  Only thing is my kids talked me into a Battletoads/Bad Dudes cab and I already had Scott Prior print it out.  Think its already on the way as of today. 

ya rly. I'm already a bad enough dude to play the game

 

[404]

Seriously?  Cause I'd probably do that.  Only thing is my kids talked me into a Battletoads/Bad Dudes cab and I already had Scott Prior print it out.  Think its already on the way as of today. 

ya rly. I'm already a bad enough dude to play the game

 

admit it. you rubbed your nips a few times after seeing that pic. 

[Caparo8bit]

[BAMBOO]

Seriously?  Cause I'd probably do that.  Only thing is my kids talked me into a Battletoads/Bad Dudes cab and I already had Scott Prior print it out.  Think its already on the way as of today. 

ya rly. I'm already a bad enough dude to play the game

 

admit it. you rubbed your nips a few times after seeing that pic. 

Damn, yeah i did.