Turtle Box - Severdhed inspired pedestal cabinet

[pbj]

Credit to severdhed for inspiration found here:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,134038.0.html

And more specifically the measurements he provided:



I do not have the patience, talent, tools, or helpers that he does but I'm going to attempt a somewhat respectable clone.  I'm far too weak to sling around 3/4" MDF on my own, so I'm adapting it to 5/8".

Anyway, purchased a plethora of controls off another user here and I've been kicking around the idea of a pedestal cabinet with DDR pads for months now.

Materials loaded into my new truck.  I should have taken his advice and built this thing entirely out of pre-cut 24x48 panels but more on that later.



Traced out a side panel:



My first time ever using a copy bit on my router, and clamps!  Ordinarily I'd jigsaw out both panels, screw them together, and blend the differences with a belt sander!  Ooooooh yeah! 



View from the front:



So, yes, that old wonky board I thought was 24" wide in my garage was actually 23.25" at one end and 24" at the other.  My punishment for not thoroughly measuring it was putting it together, being puzzled as to nothing was lining up, and losing 90 minutes while I took it all apart, trimmed the middle panels down to 23" and reassembled.

View from the back:



That's my conure that anyone stupid enough to take off my hands can have for free.  I call him "SCREECHY".  No cabinet is complete without birdshit rubbed into the wood.

Anyway, not totally sold on the L-brackets.  I may remove them and brace it with more wood, but I'm happy to report everything is pretty straight and thus far rock solid.  Haters will inevitably hate but so far so good.

 


4/27/14 - Pretty much done for now:



12/30/2014 - Upgraded to a much larger TV:

[yotsuya]

Anyway, not totally sold on the L-brackets.  I may remove them and brace it with more wood, but I'm happy to report everything is pretty straight and thus far rock solid.  Haters will inevitably hate but so far so good.

 

Looks good so far. Where are you putting the glory hole? 

[severdhed]

looks like you are off to a good start.  as long as you glue everything, the metal brackets should be fine...otherwise i'd use some wooden braces.  keep those pics coming.

[BAMBOO]

Looking sweet! 

[404]

pbj doing a project!?!

[pbj]

A friend of mine showed up with about 20 minutes warning, and I was determined to make progress beforehand.



I simplified the measurements at the corners a bit.  Guess how wide my square is?   

After he confirmed I wasn't building a spoiler for my ricer, I was told, "dude, you could SELL this!"  My wife took one look at it, "Is this like Ninja Turtles or something?  God you're obsessed with that machine."  I am considering those up votes.

One end is 1/16th of an inch wider than the other side.  After I ran him off at the conclusion of an orgy including shots, visitation of one of the oddest malls in America, lengua tacos, lunch at two restaurants, and more booze, I went out there and polished the longer side down with the power sander.  It's close enough that I'm ready to attempt the flush router bit after 2-3 days of starvation and sobriety.

Pic of mall bling:



This does not even scratch the surface of what they had available.

 
 

[severdhed]

looks great....and i must say i'm flattered that you are using my design.   are you still planning on a tmnt theme?

[Malenko]

That Shreklace imbedded into the CP would really put it over the top.

[pbj]

Out of my head, Malenko.  Unfortunately I've been unable to find a bling Ninja Turtle with the exception of this one that's slightly out of my budget:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/10K-WHITE-GOLD-MENS-DIAMOND-NINJA-TURTLE-3-25CT-NEW-/250863336986?pt=US_Fine_Necklaces_Pendants&hash=item3a689ebe1a

I do intend to keep it TMNT themed.  My notorious cost cutting will be in full effect with this one.  Control Panel Overlay is likely to be a trimmed and laminated poster.

 

[severdhed]

a poster was my original intention as well...but i had a hard time finding a poster large enough to cover the 18"x46" panel

[yotsuya]

Obligatory PBJ-inspired "Like you're ever going to have four people over to play that thing!" comment. 

[TopJimmyCooks]

4 players.  Never happens no matter how long you leave the garage door open, jim.

[pbj]

Well, actually, I do indeed have three friends that come over occasionally for parties (plus their unimportant spouses and kids).  I made all of them play DDR during the Super Bowl.  They've all been informed that we will be simultaneously playing through TMNT from beginning to end without interruption.  We are all enormous and I'm expecting, nay giddily anticipating, a lot of Kaneda-style dick to ass action.

 

[yotsuya]

We are all enormous and I'm expecting, nay giddily anticipating, a lot of Kaneda-style dick to ass action.

 

Imaginary rep for you!

[Malenko]

We are all enormous and I'm expecting, nay giddily anticipating, a lot of Kaneda-style dick to ass action.

 

That's a lot to live up to. Good luck finding THAT carpet, look forward to the walk through videos! 

[yotsuya]

We are all enormous and I'm expecting, nay giddily anticipating, a lot of Kaneda-style dick to ass action.

 

That's a lot to live up to. Good luck finding THAT carpet, look forward to the walk through videos! 

Make sure you post one once a week, just in case.

[wp34]

A friend of mine showed up with about 20 minutes warning, and I was determined to make progress beforehand.



I simplified the measurements at the corners a bit.  Guess how wide my square is?   

After he confirmed I wasn't building a spoiler for my ricer, I was told, "dude, you could SELL this!"  My wife took one look at it, "Is this like Ninja Turtles or something?  God you're obsessed with that machine."  I am considering those up votes.

One end is 1/16th of an inch wider than the other side.  After I ran him off at the conclusion of an orgy including shots, visitation of one of the oddest malls in America, lengua tacos, lunch at two restaurants, and more booze, I went out there and polished the longer side down with the power sander.  It's close enough that I'm ready to attempt the flush router bit after 2-3 days of starvation and sobriety.

Pic of mall bling:



This does not even scratch the surface of what they had available.

 

So much wrong here.

[pbj]

Oh, it gets worse.  Popping olestra, eating one bite of ice cream, and throwing the rest away in front of horrified kids worse. 

Anyway, cloned the control panel:



T-molding slot cut:



I think I'm going to buy a board roughly 5" wide and cut that up for the middle section.

 

[TopJimmyCooks]

what's with the storebought plastic sawhorses?  already got enough holes in your scrote? 

seriously, I'm getting ready to pull your cheap card.  your pickup truck comes with  a free workbench attached to the back of the bed.

[pbj]

I bought those ~12 years ago when my wife repainted a Suspense pinball cabinet.  Still have that game, too.

My truck is long gone.  Leaked everything and the fluids were all starting to resemble each other.  When it devolved to the point where I had to disconnect the battery every time I parked it, I waited until a very cold day, let it idle for an hour, and hauled it to CarMax.  Got $2,000 after a thorough 7 minute inspection for my "excellent condition despite the age and mileage" truck.   

Just a friendly reminder, always push the router away from you.  Thankfully no wood or beanbags were damaged.

 

[jdbailey1206]

Just a friendly reminder, always push the router away from you.  Thankfully no wood or beanbags were damaged.

 

What if you have balls of steel?   

[kahlid74]

I bought those ~12 years ago when my wife repainted a Suspense pinball cabinet.  Still have that game, too.

My truck is long gone.  Leaked everything and the fluids were all starting to resemble each other.  When it devolved to the point where I had to disconnect the battery every time I parked it, I waited until a very cold day, let it idle for an hour, and hauled it to CarMax.  Got $2,000 after a thorough 7 minute inspection for my "excellent condition despite the age and mileage" truck.   

Just a friendly reminder, always push the router away from you.  Thankfully no wood or beanbags were damaged.

 

We've got a bunch of good threads in the WoodWorker area and yes, work with the direction of the head (typically away) and don't forget to always have both hands on it . . .

[pbj]

When did piano hinge get so damned expense?  Yeesh.

Lowe's didn't have any boards I thought would be good candidates for the middle pieces of the control panel, so I decided to try my hand at making a sawboard. Only after 30 minutes of walking up and down every aisle trying to find what I'd call a "saw guide", which is a flat aluminum slat you can clamp down.  Nobody knows what I'm talking about and they apparently don't exist on the internet. 

 

Anyway... Good ol Lowe's. 

Also turned out that wood glue I had is just about to solidify.  I thinned it a little with water, spread it out on some scrap, and am crossing my fingers I get a decent bond. 



Here's to hoping.

 

Dragged home a couple of more 2x4 panels and hopefully this saw board will help me make a couple of cuts straight enough to make the 4.5" middle pieces.

 

[jdbailey1206]

I hear ya PBJ.  Lowes has a nice one online that can be found here.  A little too expensive for my tastes.  I found one at Home Depot for almost half the price.  Not as intricate as the one from Lowes but has really gone above and beyond it's first intended use.

[severdhed]

good luck with those straight cuts. i ended up using 1x5 pine boards so i didn't have to worry about it.

[jbenesh]

I use 50" version of this. 

http://www.rockler.com/all-in-one-low-profile-contractor-clamps-new-improved-clamps/?sid=RTDRX&utm_source=dirxion&utm_medium=digflyer&utm_campaign=RTG68

There are better systems out there but this one is well built and wont break the bank.  If you find yourself cutting down full 4x8 sheets often it is well worth the 30 bucks.

[pbj]

Controls arrived today:



 

[pbj]

Much respect to those of you that can do things like this easily.  I just cut each piece, lined it up, and ran screws through the bottom panel into the sides.  Once it was all assembled except for the front plate, I added 2x2 blocks and removed all those screws that would have ripped out the side if someone sneezed on it.  I will lean on my wife to produce a helper because this really needed another set of hands.

The front plate either needs to be ground down, or that right hand front plate needs built up.  Or I just use wider t-molding and conceal that 1/16" gap.  Given that I made these boards, I'm satisfied.  Everything is screwed, nailed, wood puttied, and spackled on outside edges.  I'll let this sit a couple of days and polish everything down.

Considering this is the first time I've ever mitered... anything - I'm quite pleased with how this turned out.  Keep it simple - 45 degree cuts.

 

I got those L-brackets out of there.  My Konkey Dong could be completely disassembled.  I want this one solid.

 

[severdhed]

looking good

[pbj]

Lots of progress this weekend.  When it started raining at 4am, I decided this thing needed some feet.   

Anyway, went to Harbor Freight, acquired belt sander.  Corners on the control panel were rounded off and I polished out as much wonk as I could.

Flipped cabinet over, drilled narrow holes into pine frame, and twisted pinball feet onto the bottom.  It's stable!  Hooray.

Downloaded some control panel templates.  I left room for a trackball but I'm currently mulling over adding that.  Bottom routed out for the joysticks, blah blah blah.

Here it is all spackled up and diluted wood glue rubbed into the cut edges on the control panel.  This will cure for a couple of days and then I'll sand it all flat again.



Used a piece of scrap and a $15 ( ) piano hinge to make a back door.  There's about a 3" gap there that I'll cover eventually.  Probably a scrap of pegboard for ventilation.



Now to flop on the couch and recover from the cabinet marathon.

 

[Audiowizard]

Reading you talk about "straight edge guides" I thought I would throw this easy shop made plan out there. I made one a few years ago and have it set for circular saw on one side and jig saw on the other.



http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/reviews/4283497

[pbj]

That is precisely how I SHOULD have made mine.  Clamping them is a pain in the ass, and I'll probably router out some clamp notches if I ever use this for another project.

[severdhed]

awesome.   just out of curiosity, where are you getting such expensive piano hinges?  i'm pretty sure the hinge i used on my control panel was only about $8....i got it at home depot.

[Locke141]

4 player sweetness.

Even if you only get to use all 4 players once or twice a year, it will still be amazing fun. I liked Severdhed's build, it looks like your version is coming along well.

I started my 4 player build while Severdhed was doing his. I had to take a forced brake when it took 3 months for the paint to arrive. Living in Tanzania, shipping can be difficult. Hopefully the artist will have it painted before I leave for Kenya next week for the birth of my first child.       

[pbj]

awesome.   just out of curiosity, where are you getting such expensive piano hinges?  i'm pretty sure the hinge i used on my control panel was only about $8....i got it at home depot.

Lowe's     I decided I didn't want to hinge the control panel and this thing was just sitting there purchased without a plan in mind.  I'm out of 2x2 to make blocks, so I just stuck this on there.  I'm tired of spending money, so it's whatever works at this point. 

 

[pbj]

Net swiped a couple of TMNT posters and "tested the new printer heads".



The idea being that one of these can be trimmed down and look decent on the control panel.  Means I'll have to get plexi, though.   

 

[Malenko]

nice plotter!

[Slippyblade]

Sexy printer.  Much jealousy!

[pbj]

Yeah, the prints look amazing.  Hopefully I can get enough imagery on the control panels to make them not look overly cropped.  The current lack of a trackball is actually helping out there.

 

[BAMBOO]