First Project - "Nameless" Bartop

[7Stefan7]

Hello Everybody,

Let me start by introducing myself.
My name is Stefan and live in Wormerveer (Near Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
Aged 29 and father of 2.. Ever since I can remember I've been dreaming of owning my own arcade cab and I have finally decided that it's time for me to build my own! The misses isn't too happy about it, but supports my long time dream..

I've been browsing these forums for quite a while now and last week I went to the local hardware store to get myself some supplies!
Also giving that my house isn't the largest and the misses doesn't want a full size cab in the living room.
I have been drawn to Floriske.nl's building plans and decided to go for something like his..
Downloaded his plans and adapted them a little, as I'm looking for something a bit smaller..
Smaller sized bartop with a 22" flatscreen and prob go for 2 player, 6 button lay-out

I placed some orders for buttons/sticks etc from China, as I'm fairly new to this all and don't want to mess up expensive gear.
If all goes well I'm planning on ordering some more "reliable" stuff from Ultimarc or so.

What I've been doing so far:

- Spousal approval - CHECK!
- Make plans - CHECK!
- Get wood (!!) - CHECK!
- Cut wood - Semi-CHECK!
- Buy LCD screen 22"
- Buy PC (Pentium 4 3.0 GHZ)

What i still need to do:

- Think of a name and think about artwork/design artwork
- route sides for t-moulding
- route bezel for screen
- cut side-panels of cab
- wait for buttons / sticks etc so I can build cp

I'll try to update this post as much as possible and I'm also very open to feedback, tips and tricks!

Thanks for reading

[7Stefan7]

Progress pictures so far..
Bartop will be made of 15 mm MDF



Decased monitor



Test if I measured right (after making a calculative mistake)
Fits perfectly!

[EMDB]

Hi there. Welcome to the forum and to an extremely addictive hobby.

Update as much as possible. You will get a lot of useful advice (and annoying comments )

If you are planning to add t-molding you might want to round the sharp angles of your side panels a bit. If you are planning to add a marquee it might be a bit too low. Are you planning to add speakers, the overall dimensions might be a bit tight...

Greetings from Eindhoven 

[edekoning]

Update as much as possible. You will get a lot of useful advice (and annoying comments )

I agree!


Good to see another 'nederlander' start a build 

Greetings from Monnickendam (also near Amsterdam).

[7Stefan7]

Thanks guys!

Exactly why I haven't cut the side panels out yet, still not satisfeid with the "design"
As I was wondering whether it would all fit in there..
Plan is to put speakers in there as well..
Looking at it now... Back to the drawing tables!

Thanks again

[edekoning]

I suggest using SketchUp to make a quick 3D drawing of the cab (its really easy). Then create a bunch of boxes representing the various components. Now you can freely move the components around to see how it would fit. Just remember that cables and plugs also take up space.

Or just make a paper/cardboard model.