First Build - "ManorCade" Four Player Cab

[Manorite]

I've been reading this forum for probably 6 months now, and started my own build a few months ago.  It hasn't gone as quickly as I'd hoped due to yard work, other plans, and my main priority, my 10 month old boy.  I wasn't sure I was going to post my build on here, but I think it would be best to post my challenges and mistakes for others to learn from or help me with, and to document everything!  Because I started a little while ago it may take me a few posts to catch you up on what I've done to date.

Here were my main goals when I started:

• I wanted it to play NBA Jam and TMNT.  These were my favorite games as a kid, and were the inspiration for building this cab
• I wanted it to be four players.
• I wanted to make use of what I had laying around to help save money.  This included the computer and some wood I had left over from the bar I built in my basement a year and a half ago

Aside from that I was pretty open.  I started browsing the web and these forums to find a cab shape that I liked and a control panel I wanted to emulate.  The two biggest influences (so far) have been OND's Metropolis Cabhttp://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,118612.0.html and ChanceKJ's Flynn's Arcade build http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,135116.0.html.

Using these builds as my guide, I set off designing my cab around 2 things:  the all-in-one Dell XPS One that had been gathering dust in my basement since it hard drive had died, and making sure this thing would fit through the doors between my garage and the basement.  I have access to Microsoft Visio on my work laptop so I used that to mock up the entire thing, including the control panel.  I'll post some images of what my Visio plans once I remember to get the off that computer.  This software seemed to work really well for what I needed.

As far as artwork goes, I've decided the cab is going to be black and yellow/gold based off the dorm I lived in during college, Morrissey Manor http://morrissey.nd.edu/.  It's a beautiful building (on the outside at least) and would fit in with the sports bar theme I have going in my basement already.  I mocked up a marquee in Microsoft Project:



I also came up with a side art concept (I know the yellows don't match yet)



After pouring through these forums and looking at the games I wanted to run, I decided on 6 buttons for players 1 and 2, and 4 buttons for players 3 an 4.  I also wanted a trackball.  I considered a spinner but opted to leave it off.

Here is my Control Panel Layout.  I designed it in Visio using dimensions from Slagcoin http://www.slagcoin.com/joystick/layout.html:


As you can see I've opted for a Start and Coin button for each player, and 4 admin buttons.  I've current got one labeled as pause and one as exit, and I plan on using the other two as volume buttons (but I'm open to suggestions here).

Here are the parts I've purchased for the control panel:
From Ultimarc https://www.ultimarc.com/
32 Yellow Classic Pushbuttons
4.8 mm Crimp Connectors
I-PAC 4
4 Black Oval-Top J-Stiks
1 Joystick Mounting Kits (meant to order 4...oops.  I'll figure this out)
PCB Mounting Feet
U-TRAK FlushMount Arcade Trackball with Pearl ball (in case some day I decide to light it with LEDs)

From Arcade Emulator http://arcadeemulator.net/
Yellow Replacement Trackball
4 Player Coin Door Assembly and Cashbox

I think I'm going to call it quits for my first post.  I'll try to share more details of my cab design this week, along with pictures of my progress, and some of my questions, issues, and concerns.  I look forward to sharing this with all of you!

[reptileink]

Looks like a great start, hoping to see some build pics soon! 

[Slippyblade]

I love the aircraft carrier CP. Good start! 

[Ond]

Nice to see somebody using Visio for Cab design.  I think it's a great tool to use for this purpose, it's easy to use and has plenty of snap and glue tool functions, it also has scaling features which mean you can print out control panel layouts accurately and use them as cutting guides with a router etc.

I like that you're taking what you want from other peoples designs and coming up with your own build plan.  Keen to see how it develops.

[yotsuya]

[Manorite]

Thanks guys!  I'll catch you up on what I've done for the build so far.  I bought two pieces of cabinet grade birch plywood from Home Depot, and the rest of the cuts were going to be made from some pieces of leftover oak plywood I had in my garage.  I figured they were both hardwood and it is all going to be painted so it didn't matter that they didn't match.  I went with wood over MDF because I already had some wood I wanted to use, and because I'm doing so much of this by myself, 4x8 sheets of MDF are ridiculously heavy.  In my mind hardwood plywood will also last longer/take more abuse, but that could just be in my mind.

Here are the build pics I have so far:

First, I drew out one of my side panels on the plywood, and using a combination of a table saw, circular saw, and jigsaw, I cut it out.  The table saw is too difficult to use for the very large sheets of plywood, even with two people, so I've mostly stuck with using the circular saw and clamping straight edges to use as a guide, and it's worked well.



I was really happy with how that turned out, and following the guidance of other builders I bought myself a flush trim bit (or pattern bit) from Amazon http://smile.amazon.com/dp/B0000225XQ for my router to cut out the second piece.  I traced the first piece onto the plywood, and rough cut around that traced line with my jigsaw.  I then used the flush trim bit (there are a lot of videos online that show you how to use it) to make an exact copy!  This turned out way better than had I tried to cut this one out by hand again.



I then proceeded to cut out the top and bottom of the control panel.  This was considerably easier than cutting out the side panels.  Here is the top right after I cut it:



Now I was pretty sure I had all of the parts cut that would be receiving t-molding, so I went ahead and used my slot cutter (I got this one http://smile.amazon.com/dp/B0002TUCRA) around all the edges.  Adjusting this so that it lined up exactly in the middle of the plywood was a bit of a pain, but for the most part it went well:



I did screw it up in a few places around the control panel, it apparently wasn't sitting flat, or i'd adjusted it wrong, or something.  I ended up filling that slot back in with wood filler, and I'm going to re-cut it.  Here is how the wood filler worked, I haven't  re-cut it yet, I'll let you know how that goes when I do:



I also cut out a few of the front panels, I haven't taken any pictures of those yet as they aren't exciting, just some squares.

Next, I cut out the sides of the control panel.  This was annoying because of the shape of my control panel, and the fact that I wanted a slight slope from back to front.  The angles weren't perfect, and I had to remake a few pieces (I still have one to remake and I need to cut the slope onto one of the others I re-made as you can see), but it worked out as well as I could hope and it's not going to be glaringly visible.  I've decided that I'm assembly this using pocket holes, so I've drilled all the pocket holes on to the inside of the bottom of the CP.  Once I re-cut that final piece I'll screw these in.



That's as far as I've gotten on my build!  After I finish the CP (aside from drilling holes), I'm going to cut out the rest of the large panels for the back, top, and bezel.

[Manorite]

Does anyone have good advice on how to pick the yellow color of my CP Overlay, Marquee, and side panels?  I plan on ordering them from Game On Graphix http://www.gameongrafix.com/ soon, but I'd like the color to match the buttons as well as I can.  Would printing things out on my personal ink jet printer and comparing to the buttons get me close?  The color of my t-molding, buttons, and replacement trackball don't match exactly, but I didn't see any getting around that.

[Manorite]

Here is the computer I'm going to use. 



It's a Dell XPS One, all in one computer.  It was my wife's computer from before we were married, and the hard drive had died so it's been sitting in a closet for years.  I bought a new hard drive for it, reinstalled windows, and now all it has on it is MAME, a few emulators, and HyperSpin (what a pain to set up...).  The positives of this computer are that it has a very nice looking display, I don't have to have a separate free standing tower, and all it cost me was a new hard drive.  It also has a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, so I'm not going to build any sort of keyboard tray into the cab, I'll just store these in the back.  The downside is that I'm going to need to make sure I have good air flow through the cab, and I can't mount it using VESA brackets.

I also bought a dongle so that I can use x-box controllers wirelessly with it for any console games in which my button layout isn't ideal.

[reptileink]

As far as the buttons, disassemble them, and buy a box of RIT yellow dye. Dump the whole contents of the dye into an old saucepan and bring to a boil. Back down the boil to a low simmer and place your buttons inside. Check the buttons(every couple of minutes), and let sit for approx an hour. This should get them bright yellow. Someone here did the same thing, and I've used this in the past when customizing action figures. Works great!

[Manorite]

That's an interesting idea. Has anyone tried that with t-molding?

[yotsuya]

That's an interesting idea. Has anyone tried that with t-molding?

I dunno. Long lengths of t-molding can get really unwieldy to manage. That's probably why I don't think I've seen anyone try it.

[Manorite]

That makes sense. I have a very large pot I could try it in with the T-molding coiled up, just not sure if it would hold its form and still be installable. Any experience trying to match a cp overlay color with button colors?

[Manorite]

So I thought I'd list a few of the things I haven't finished/decided on/purchased yet, and see if you guys have any advice for me.  I'll probably forget something but let's give it a go:

• The all-in-one computer I am using has built in speakers on the side of the monitor.  The speakers are pretty decent, and I originally had planned on using them.  Trying to design a bezel with speaker holes on the side has proven to be difficult, so I'm now leaning toward simply hooking up external 2.1 pc speakers like many others have done.  Thoughts?
• I've also been debating between using plexiglass or tempered glass.  I have a trackball and some very animated friends, so I'm wondering if pelxi would be best?  And should I have it be smoked or not, as I'm using a computer monitor and not a CRT?  Not sure what it would look like with smoked plexi/glass.
• I need to figure out how to retain my marquee.  I plan on buying my marquee from game on grafix, the ultimate with two sheets of plexi.  I feel like I should go to Lowe's or Home Depot and browse and see what I can find.
• I bought these LEDs to go in the front of my cab (OND Metropolis Cab Style) http://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00OWKCMZ0.  Do you think these could light my marquee too, or should I find something more like a tube?  My marquee is ~27" long.
• I was originally going to order my side art from game on grafix as well, but seeing how simple I plan on having it be, I'm now thinking about making stencils and painting the logo and building silhouette myself to save money.  If this would look like crap I won't do it.  Thoughts?
• I'm happy with my CP overlay design, but I am worried about getting the joystick arrows centered around the joysticks, and if I'm off even slightly that it would look bad.  Are these hard to install perfectly?  Also along those lines, should I send it to print exactly as I displayed it in my original post, or should I fill in all the sides with black and print it as a full rectangle, with all of the extra just getting trimmed off?  With the size of my giant aircraft carrier CP it won't be cheap and I don't want to screw it up.

[Manorite]

I made some progress on the control panel tonight.  I've got the lower box completed, it just needs a bit of sanding and touch ups.  It has a slight slope from back to front.



I bought this to attach the top panel.  http://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00GI1CWHO Hopefully it it will hold up the weight of that CP top.

Next step is to cut out the rest of the panels for the cab and start assembling that.

[Manorite]

Hello all!  I'm about to get my control panel cut template printed off and get started on that, which made me realize I had a few more questions I could use some help with.  I am using 3/4" oak for the top of my control panel, no acrylic on top, and I'm also using j-sticks from ultimarc.  I know that I need to route out the underneath side of the CP for the j-stick mounting plate.  Using this page http://www.slagcoin.com/joystick/mounting_layering.html I've determined that I should leave about 1/4" of thickness to get the right joystick height.  I know I should be using threaded inserts, but I'm struggling to find any that are short enough to not go through the remaining 1/4" of wood I have left.  Can anyone point me to some I could order, or is there some other method I should be using?

[Manorite]

Another downside of using this all-in-one computer is the power button.  This isn't using a typical power supply like you see in a desktop, so I'm not sure I'll be able to wire up a power button into the cab in the traditional way.



This is what the power button looks like from the outside.  I'm wondering if I can find a button with a plunger I could insert in the side and simply push this button physically.  The other option would be to hook some other component into my smart power strip, but I don't think just cutting the power to the computer and not shutting down is a great idea.



Ideas?

[Manorite]

Would something like this S plate be necessary to mount these j-sticks under my CP without having any nuts/screws/bolts exposed on the top?

http://www.focusattack.com/kowal-japan-s-plate-converter/?page_context=search&faceted_search=0#

[Manorite]

I've realized that this all-in-one PC came with a remote control with a power button on it, so that could be the easy solution to my power button issue!

[Manorite]

I made some progress by purchasing some things I needed tonight.  I went ahead and bought 4 of those KOWAL Japan S Plate Converters from Focus Attack, so that I can mount my joysticks with no hardware on top of the CP.  I can route the main part of the plate down to about 1/4" of material, and leave 1/2" of material on the s plate lip.  I contacted Focus Attack before I purchased them asking for dimensions, and they passed along this link saying the dimensions were the same as the Seimitsu LS-32 SS-Plate if anyone is interested http://wiki.arcadeotaku.com/w/File:Seimitsu-SSMeasurement.jpg

I ordered these threaded inserts http://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00270ZSIU (my CP is oak, which is why I ordered the knife threads) which are 3/8" in length.  I ordered these machine screws http://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00F34V2ZA to mount the joysticks and s plates in the inserts.  These should work i place of the joystick mounting kits i forgot to order, and hopefully work better because of my CP material and thickness.

I also took the plunge and bought a paint sprayer.  I bought the Critter Sprayer http://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00006FRPJ because it has great reviews, is $40, and I have an air compressor that will work with it.  It's a great design with the mason jars and is supposed to be easy to clean.  I'm going to try to use it to stain my fence as well.  I bought the repair kit (for extra gaskets and other parts), a respirator, goggles, and this filter http://smile.amazon.com/dp/B001NSYV58 to help keep water from the compressor out of my paint.

I've finished my cut template for the CP, and I think I'm going to get it printed at Staples, as their website says they do "engineering prints" on 48"x36" paper for about $8.  If anyone has a better suggestion let me know.

Headed out of town for a wedding this weekend, but hopefully I can get some more boards cut on Sunday when I get back.

[Manorite]

I got a few more panels cut earlier this week, and I'm trying to finalize my back panel access design before I make the final few cuts.  I'm leaning heavily toward routing a 3/4" slot in the base piece to rest the back panel in on the bottom, and using some barrel bolts on the top.  Once I've settled on that I can cut the panels around the top and start some assembly.

I received my KOWAL s-plates from Focus Attack and they fit perfectly.  This should help me under-mount my j-stiks with no hardware on top of the CP.  They also have a slightly smaller footprint, which should be good.



I went ahead and installed the yellow trackball I got from Arcade Emulator into my U-TRAK.  When I ordered it, I didn't realize it was translucent:



When I shine an LED flashlight under it...it looks awesome!  I now wish I'd ordered the LED lighting kit from Ultimarc.  I'm trying to find something I can rig up, but if I don't I may end up ordering that LED lighting kit.  Maybe I can disassemble this flashlight and re-purpose it?

[yotsuya]

I got a few more panels cut earlier this week, and I'm trying to finalize my back panel access design before I make the final few cuts.  I'm leaning heavily toward routing a 3/4" slot in the base piece to rest the back panel in on the bottom, and using some barrel bolts on the top.  Once I've settled on that I can cut the panels around the top and start some assembly.

I received my KOWAL s-plates from Focus Attack and they fit perfectly.  This should help me under-mount my j-stiks with no hardware on top of the CP.  They also have a slightly smaller footprint, which should be good.



I went ahead and installed the yellow trackball I got from Arcade Emulator into my U-TRAK.  When I ordered it, I didn't realize it was translucent:



When I shine an LED flashlight under it...it looks awesome!  I now wish I'd ordered the LED lighting kit from Ultimarc.  I'm trying to find something I can rig up, but if I don't I may end up ordering that LED lighting kit.  Maybe I can disassemble this flashlight and re-purpose it?

You probably can. I did something similar with a U-Trak I had. 

[Manorite]

Is this what you mean? http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,131030.msg1342697.html#msg1342697

That's almost exactly what I've been searching amazon for, some kind of small, cheap LED I can mount under this u-trak.  I've found some PCBs that would probably work, but they don't come with the LEDs and I'd need to teach myself how to do that. http://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00O9VVUEQ

[yotsuya]

Actually,  I hacked a cheap LED flashlight before I bought that board. That's what I was thinking of, but actually,  that little board turned out to be a better option. Go for it!

[Manorite]

That board does look just like what I need! Do you need to solder the power onto the board?

[yotsuya]

That board does look just like what I need! Do you need to solder the power onto the board?

No, it should have screw terminals.

[yotsuya]

Just checked. Yeah, get the complete unit.

[BorgDog]

Just checked. Yeah, get the complete unit.

What?  What/where complete unit?

Edit:  nevermind, found the link in the linked thread

[Manorite]

Just to help others out, here is the link to the trackball light http://www.nicemite.com/LightmiteTB/LightmiteTB.htm

I think I'll give it a go! Since they don't have a white light option, I guess I don't see a reason a yellow led behind a yellow trackball wouldn't work?

[yotsuya]

Just to help others out, here is the link to the trackball light http://www.nicemite.com/LightmiteTB/LightmiteTB.htm

I think I'll give it a go! Since they don't have a white light option, I guess I don't see a reason a yellow led behind a yellow trackball wouldn't work?

No, go with the yellow - you'll get a more pure yellow glow. 

Whammoed stuff is pretty good. He doesn't get much play here, but I've had good transactions with the guy.

[Manorite]

Thanks yotsuya!

Here is an on-the-fly paint mock up of my back panel idea that I did over lunch. The back panel will be inset a half inch from the side panels, as will most of the rest of the panels. Those yellow things are barrel bolts, and the black area is a routed out slot in the base. This will allow me to simply remove most of the back panel completely when needed. This will expose the casters from the back, but I don't think that matters.

[Manorite]

I did a little touch up work tonight on the control panel box.  As you can see, there were some areas where I didn't cut my angles right and had some overhang, so I sanded those down.



After sanding, I used some Elmer's Wood Filler to fill in the gaps between all the boards so that when I paint, it will look more like one solid box.





Hopefully once this is sanded down and painted it will look nice.

I also realized that the machine screws I ordered to install my joysticks were too small, so I jumped up to #6-32 size, and ordered new corresponding threaded inserts.  I also got a threaded rod and some nuts to help install them after seeing how ChanceKJ installed them on his Flynn build and watching a YouTube video.

[Manorite]

I've been on a bit of a hiatus for summertime activities, parents visiting, and a basement flood, but I'm back at it.  I routed out the slot for my back panel tonight, and attached the casters.  I'm hoping to get most of the rest of the panels assembled this weekend.  I also need to finish up my artwork so that I can get it ordered.



It's not shown in this picture, but I used scrap 2x4 pieces on the back side of the casters to attach them to.

[BGoulette]

That routing looks pretty nice! Do you run into many voids using plywood like that? I'm designing a cab that relies on a butt-ton of rebates, and I'd like the weight savings of plywood, but I'm wary of voids.

[Manorite]

Thanks!  I don't have a ton of experience with my router so I am always a little nervous when I bust it out.  I didn't notice any voids at all in this plywood, but it was left over pretty nice 3/4" oak I used as the top of my bar that I built.  Maybe if you used something cheaper you'd find voids, but I think decent plywood should be pretty void-free.  I haven't noticed any in the other plywood I've been using either.

[BGoulette]

Nice! I might have to consider plywood for the sides. I'd been looking at Baltic birch (I think), but I'll look for oak, too. Thanks!

[Manorite]

Cabinet grade Birch is what I'm using for the sides and back, I used the oak I had leftover to save myself some money. I figured they were both hardwood, and once painted should look good.

[Manorite]

Tried to finish off my artwork tonight. A friend sent me the building silhouette artwork, which I vectorize. I then tried to create the full sized side art... But my laptop was struggling with an image that size. I'll have to try again tomorrow on my desktop. Also trying to figure out how to turn my text to outline using GIMP, but I may get a 30 day trial of Adobe illustrator instead, the consensus seems to be that is more suitable.

[BGoulette]

How much text are we talking? I could toss it into Illustrator for you, see what's up. Let me know.

[Manorite]

Take a look at the first post, it's the marquee that says "ManorCade", and the CP that has "Coin" and "Start" for all four players, "Pause" and "Exit", "Morrissey Manor" and "Est. 1925".  If it's easy enough I don't mind getting the trial, but if you think it would be quick for you I appreciate the help!

[BGoulette]

I could knock that out later tonight or tomorrow without much trouble. Do you want the serif fonts for Coin and Start (looks like Times New Roman or equivalent, but I'm not sure), or would you prefer a different font? something more inline with the "manorcade" futuristic font. Also, do you want EPS files or something else? Say the word!

[BGoulette]

It was on my mind, so here's a first pass. You should be able to grab the relevant objects and do what you want with them in GIMP or whatever else can read EPS files.

[Manorite]

Thanks BGoulette!!  I'll take a look at these, really appreciated!

[BGoulette]

Yeah, no worries! Hopefully it'll be useful to you.

[Manorite]

I know this has been dormant for a long time...but I'm resurrecting this arcade project!  I got frustrated with the artwork and the arcade sat in my garage for months while I built a dining room table and other things.  I've now finished the artwork after talking with Brad (Lucian045, bjbowman045@gmail.com,http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,134866.0/all.html) who was extremely helpful and patient with me.  I also got my cut template for the control panel printed at FedEx/Kinkos and I'm going to get cutting that control panel next!  Hopefully more build pictures will be following in the next few weeks.

[Manorite]

A bit of progress was made tonight!  I received my art from Brad, and it looks great from what I can see!  I left most of it rolled up as I wanted to keep it protected until I need to use it.  The marquee looks great though!



I tested out drilling the button holes with a hole saw on some scrap wood, and it worked it well.  I know one of the is a bit off center, but I was eyeballing the center of the holes on this scrap piece, and I hadn't drilled pilot holes on the first few, which you definitely need to do.  I used the drill half way through one side, flip it over and drill the rest of the way through the other side method.





I attached my template to the control panel top, taped it down with blue painters tape, and drilled pilot holes for every button and joystick.  As you can see, I had the center of ever hole marked on the template so that it was easier to find dead center.





I realized in the process of doing this that I didn't have the right sized hole saw to cut the hole for the trackball.  I've gone ahead and ordered one (http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005LEZN?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00).  I've also realized that I didn't account for a large enough hole in my template.  Luckily on my CP art, I've left just enough room, so as long as I shift that hole down about an inch it will still fit.

Tomorrow I'll drill the shifted pilot hole for the trackball and start drilling out all of the button and joystick holes with the hole saw.

[Manorite]

More progress made today.  I drilled all of the button and joystick holes in the control panel.  I drilled the pilot hole for the track ball, and will drill that hole out tomorrow when the hole saw arrives. 



I also finished cutting the speaker panel and the monitor bezel panel.  For the speaker holes, I'm thinking of drilling out a custom hole pattern.  I'll give it a try this week in scrap wood and see how it looks.

[Manorite]

Tonight I drilled out the 3 3/8" trackballl hole, because my new hole saw arrived in the mail.



I also took a shot at drilling out a custom hole pattern for my speakers.  I thought I'd try to get a little creative here.  I drew a 5" circle in some scrap wood (I traced a 5" sanding pad), printed off the logo that I wanted to drill, and taped it to the wood.  I drilled around the image, and it didn't turn out too bad!  I think I can use this scrap attempt as a template, and just drill through it when I want to do it on the real thing.





Next I need to router out the recesses for the joysticks, and one for the u-trak, so it will mount like it would in 5/8 wood.  I also need to cut out the holes in the front panels for the coin door.

[Manorite]

Tonight I cut out the holes in the two front panels for the coin door (I'm doing this OND Metropolis cab style, so the front panel has some depth for LED lights).  I screwed up the first one a little bit, as you can see below, but that was the back panel and you won't be able to see that so it was OK.  I learned for the panel that shows, and it looks much better!







The only cuts I have left:  cut the back panel to create the removable piece, drill the speaker holes, and route out the areas for the joysticks and trackball.

[Manorite]

Today I routed out the recesses for the joysticks.  It was a two step procedure because of the mounting plates I bought.  First, I traced the mounting plate, and routed out 1/4" out of my 3/4" CP.  I then drew a line across the area where I needed to leave it at 1/4".





After that, I routed out the area another 1/4" (1/2" total) in the middle.  This left me with 1/2" ledges, and 1/4" in the middle, to get the joysticks to the right height:

[Manorite]

Tonight I finished all the routing on the control panel, including taking 1/8" off of the area around the trackball so that I can do the "ideal" mounting, which requires a 5/8" panel.



I also drilled some vent holes in the front panel.  These are going to be the intake holes, and I have 80 mm fans I'm going to mount behind them.



What I didn't realize is how crappy it would look on the back.  This is inside the cab though, so I don't think it matters as long as I can keep the holes clean and get the fan mounted properly.  I'm guessing this will happen again when I drill the holes for the speakers.  If anyone has any tips for preventing this let me know.  I tried with and without scrap wood under the board I was drilling through, it didn't seem to make a difference.



Once I drill the speaker holes, I think I'm ready to begin construction!

[Manorite]

Tonight it's started looking like an arcade!  First, I realized that the holes I drilled for the vents were too low, because the bottom of the front panel drops below the base a bit.  I filled in the old holes with wood filler, and re-drilled them a bit higher.



Next, I went ahead and attached both side panels to the base.  I left 1" of clearance above the ground, and I marked the lines where my other panels sit in a half inch, to make it easier to line those up later when I'm attaching them.  I then attached the main front panel to stabilize the whole thing.  I'm using pocket holes to construct this, so no braces were needed.



At this point I was excited because this actually looks like an arcade, so I set the control panel on there to get a good feel for how it's going to be in the end.  It looks awesome!

[Manorite]

Tonight I attached the computer/monitor (it's an all-in-one) shelf.  I've been trying to do at least one thing a night on the arcade to keep it moving, even if it's a small thing like this.  I've realized my driver bit for my Kreg jig system is pretty worn out, so I've ordered a new one that will be here tomorrow (love free one day shipping on Amazon!).  I clamped some boards to hold the shelf in place while I screwed it in, which worked out pretty well.  The holes are for air flow/cable management.  I may drill one more depending on how it looks once the computer is in place.

[Manorite]

A few nights ago I cut out the monitor bezel.  I put the board in place, put the monitor in place behind it, and traced around it.  I then measured an inch in from each side so as to be closer to the actual display, and cut it out with a jigsaw.  I then used a 45 degree chamfer bit with my router to cut around the window I made.  I had one slip up where a board moved, and you can see the mistake here.



I was able to just take a little extra material down there and even that mistake out, so it actually turned out looking pretty good!



The base of the computer actually stuck out a bit more than I realized and prevented the monitor from sitting flush against the bezel, so I had to route out a small hole on the bottom for that base to stick in to, and it can now sit flush:

[Manorite]

Tonight I decided to run a test on the Dell XPS One 24" all-in-one computer I had planned this cab around to make sure that the remote would work to turn the computer on and off through the monitor bezel.  When I went to turn the computer on, a fan turns on full blast, the blue light comes on the power switch, and the blue light comes on the monitor, but the computer doesn't boot.  I'm not sure what to do with it at this point, and I'm thinking I may need a new computer to be the heart of this cab.  Evaluating options, if anyone has any suggestions on what I can try with this computer let me know!

[Manorite]

I've been working on putting together a new dedicated MAME computer build for this arcade to replace the one that just died.  This is what I'm thinking at the moment:

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/pNyYVn
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/pNyYVn/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($189.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($83.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($30.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GT 730 1GB Video Card  ($62.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 300W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($35.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit)  ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Monitor: Acer G246HLAbd 60Hz 24.0" Monitor  ($129.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $623.83
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-08 23:09 EST-0500

I already have an old case and CD drive I can use.

This is an unfortunate increase in cost, but I will hopefully have a nice, reliable dedicated computer that can handle anything I decide to throw at it in this cab.  I'm debating ditching the graphics card because from what I've been reading CPU power is really what these games run off of.  The monitor I picked will fit right into the bezel I already created, so I won't have to redo that!

[Manorite]

So I've been milling this over and it seems ridiculous to spend that much money on a new build considering what I'm using it for. I'm leaning toward this refurbished HP 8200 from Newegg now. My buddy may have a monitor that will fit my bezel, otherwise I'll still order that Acer monitor. Any thoughts?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883283325


Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[Manorite]

Big update, I've done quite a bit of work.  I think I'll split it into a few posts.

I decided I'd spent so much time and money on this I didn't want to skimp on the computer, so I bought new components to put into my old case.  I ended up getting:

CPU: Intel I5-6500 http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0136JON7M?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s02
Motherboard:  Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3 http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B012AQGKXC?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s02
Graphics Card:  EVGA GeForce GT 730 2GB http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00L5GZG5C?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s01
Memory: Kingston HyperX FURY Black 8GB Kit (2x4GB) 2133MHz DDR4 http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00TY6A1P0?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00
Power Supply: Antec Basiq BP350 350 Watt http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B000H9J3ZC?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s01

I've got the computer up and running on Windows 10, but I haven't tried setting up the arcade software again yet.

[Manorite]

I finished construction of the cab!  I've got vent holes in the top of the cab, the marquee box (I'll drill a hole for the LED wires to go through), all the top/back pieces, the removable back panel, and the front decorative panel. I test fit the coin door, as can be seen here in this picture.





I did run into a few issues along the way.  First, I ordered the marquee slightly wrong sized.  It was an inch too short width wise, and slightly too tall.  I created some side panels to take care of the extra room on the sides, but had to cut it down slightly so it would fit vertically.  I tried to score and snap it, but that failed miserably and left a gash in my hand.  I ended up using my circular saw, which worked perfectly!

Before I start sanding, I need to finalize how I'm going to attach the control panel to the cab.  I think I may do something similar to what ChanceKJ did on his Flynn's build, as I have almost the same CP.  I will pick up some hardware to attach it this week.  I also need to figure out how I'm going to keep the glass in place at the top (I haven't ordered the glass yet).  I failed to leave a small gap in the speaker panel for it to slot into, so it will only be held in place by the CP at the bottom.  Maybe this is enough?  Or I could use some clips at the top to hold it in place.

[Jamesbeat]

In my opinion, you definitely did the right thing by using good quality plywood instead of MDF.

I know people will disagree, but I think that the only redeeming feature of MDF is the fact that it is cheap.

Otherwise, it is $hit compared to plywood, providing the plywood is a good grade with a smooth surface.

[Manorite]

Thanks Jamesbeat, I'm pretty happy with it so far!  I'm used to working with plywood, plus I had some leftover I wanted to use.

I bought my paint, and I've decided I'm going to make myself a PVC and plastic drop cloth painting booth.  Something similar to this: http://makelyhome.com/50-diy-collapsible-spray-paint-tent/.

Hopefully this week I can get on with sanding and painting the cab, provided the weather cooperates and doesn't get too cold!

[Jamesbeat]

To answer a couple of your questions from a while ago:

Buttons will take dye because they are nylon. From the feel of it, I think T molding is polyethylene, which will not take dye successfully.

For marquee retainers, many people use plastic corner protectors for walls.
You can get transparent ones and paint them on the reverse side.
I tried this, but they felt a little flimsy, so I ended up using some aluminum angle sprayed black. I'm pleased with how they turned out.

[Manorite]

Thanks Jamesbeat.  I bought some aluminum angle, hopefully it works well!

I've attached the control panel, stole the idea from ChanceKJ.  I attached a 2x6 to the cab with pocket holes, and then I drilled through the bottom of the control panel and through the board and attached the CP using carriage bolts.





I've sanded the cab and I'm ready to paint.  I bought PVC pipe, plastic sheets, and the wrong fittings (need to go get the right ones).  I hope to be painting within the week!

[Manorite]

I'm also debating what frontend to use.  I set up Hyperspin on the dead computer, and I've copied those files over, but I'm not sure if it's just going to plug in and run or if I'm going to have to set it up again.  That was so time consuming, I'm looking at what other options are out there.  LaunchBox looks interesting, has anyone used it in a cab like this?

[Manorite]

Hello everyone, I'm back! I've finally managed to get paint on the cab. I've finished priming, and I'm ready to put the top coat of black on. Does anyone know if there is any reason to put the black topcoat down on the surfaces where I'm installing graphics, or if the killz primer is enough?

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[BigCurtis]

There are likely other sources, but for $13 you get a set of 30" marquee retainers which become your required width by adding a saw http://www.twistedquarter.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=219_224&products_id=222&zenid=8nvsbh92q0h94csvn54k70tdv6

I've also used painted angle aluminum from the usual shops, with no complaints, not necessarily cheaper than $13 though.

[Manorite]

Thanks BigCurtis. I bought some angle iron, so I'll see how that works! Thanks for the link, if that doesn't work I'll check it out!

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[Manorite]

It's been quite a while since I posted an update...and I'm finished!  I'm going to try to catch up, I apologize for not doing this as I went.  I may split this into several posts.

I built my paint booth as previously described, and proceeded to paint the cab with a grey Kilz primer and black top coat.  As this was in my garage and I didn't want to build a big ventilation system, I went into the booth in my full paint gear...



I quickly found out two things.  First, the cabinet grade birch that I used for the sides was very easy to paint, and was very smooth after only 1-2 coats.  The oak that I used on the control panel did not take the paint nearly as well, due to the wood grain.  You can see it very clearly here after probably 5 coats of primer, and this does not make for a very smooth surface for the control panel overlay:



After doing a bit of searching, I decided to rub wood filler over the top of the control panel to try and fill in all that wood grain, and then sand it down and paint it again, to give myself a smooth surface.  This seemed to work really well!  Here is the surface after I used the wood filler and scraped off the extra, leaving only the bit in the depressed wood grain areas:



Unfortunately I didn't take any good pictures of the painting process.  While the primer went on very well with my critter sprayer, the top coat did not work quite as well.  I used a paint thinning product, but even with that it was very difficult to adjust the thickness of the paint and the spray gun to get the right consistency.  I had problems with dripping, and problems with too light of coverage, depending on the adjustments I made.  After many many coats of paint (I'd say 6 to 8 coats...) I gave up and decided to use a roller.  This actually worked a lot better for me.  While the cab didn't end up perfect, I had to move on because I'd wasted months trying to get the perfect paint job.  I probably needed a better spray gun than the one I was using.

[Manorite]

Next I decided to attach the control panel overlay so that I could get started installing all of the buttons and doing the wiring.  My first attempt at this was a disaster.  I secured the artwork in the center of the control panel (vertically looking at the CP from the front), peeled back half of the artwork, laid it down, and realized it wasn't very well aligned.  In a panic, I stupidly tried to pull the artwork back up, and cause some very bad damage, wrinkling, and tears.  You can also see some of the misalignment even after pulling it back up:





I made a few changes to my artwork to make it less sensitive to my alignment issues, and re-ordered it.  After reapplying, it looks MUCH better, but still ended up with a few wrinkles and air bubbles on the side.  These are really annoying, but I decided to move on and just finish the arcade.    The alignment was nearly perfect this time though!  You can kind of see the wrinkles/bubbles on the sides in this photo.  I've also installed the t-molding on the CP here, as well as all the buttons and joysticks.



In the process of mounting the joysticks, I did have a little trouble.  When drilling the holes for the threaded inserts, I got a little close to the lower routed out area.  I still had enough room to thread in the insert, but I moved to the inner holes for the other 3 joysticks to give myself a little more room.

[Manorite]

Next, I proceeded to wire up the control panel.  This went very well, although sitting on the floor doing this was hard on my back!  I daisy-chained all the grounds together (the black wire), and then used a different color for each player for all of the buttons and joysticks.  Hooking this all into the IPAC-4 was very easy and intuitive.  I used some Velcro strips for wire management.



I was a bit confused by the wiring on the U-Trak trackball.  The wires did not seem to match what was on the Ultimarc website, and it was even missing a wire.  I went ahead and plugged it into the USB adapter, and it worked just fine though!  I think the missing wire was a ground, so they must have hooked two ground together inside the casing.





I tested this out on a PC that isn't the one with all of the games installed, and it seemed to work from what I could tell!

[Manorite]

Next, after waiting several days for someone to help me move the cabinet from my garage into the basement, I installed the speakers.  I couldn't find any good brackets to use at my local big-box hardware stores, so I bought these Scotch mounting strips, and they worked perfectly!







The speaker wires were a little short, and couldn't reach the sub in the base of the cabinet, so I had to buy an extension cable for the 3.5 mm plug.  Not a big deal.

I also installed the speaker grills, these went on fairly easily:



Next I installed the side art.  This went MUCH more smoothly than the control panel, and I had no issues whatsoever.  I laid the cabinet on its side and used the method in the "Side Art Install 101" sticky on the Main forum.  The art is beautiful, and it made the cab feel real and finally almost finished!





Next, I covered the marquee box with reflective tape, and installed the LED lights inside that box, and on the front of the cabinet.



The t-molding also went on pretty easily:

[Manorite]

Next, I installed the Marquee.  I bought some angle aluminum, cut it to size, spray painted it black, and used that as brackets to mount it.  This was going really well until my last screw.  I put it in at an angle and gouged a nice hole in the artwork...



I took the brackets back off, and threw some electrical tape on the back to cover the hole.  It's not perfect, but unless you know it's there and are looking for it, you aren't going to notice:

[Manorite]

I also installed the fans on the top and bottom and fan covers on the top (which no one will probably ever see...):





Next I wired up the coin door lights.  I ran all of the coin door lights to one 4-pin molex connector that I connected to the power supply in my computer.  I also wired all the fans together and into a separate connector, and the marquee lights were wired into a third connector, all attached to spare connections on my computer power supply.  This was very handy!  I didn't want to attach them all to one connector because I didn't want to put too many amps through the smaller gauge wire that the connectors (which I cut off of the fans) used.

[Manorite]

I forgot to take pictures of these last few steps, but if someone wants me to please ask and I will.

The next step was to wire up the coin door to the IPAC-4.  I had a little trouble deciding if each coin slot should go to a corresponding player (one coin slot to player 1, one to player 2, etc.).  I decided against this, because it seems that most games use common credits, and I didn't want someone to put a coin in the wrong slot and have nothing happen.  I wired all of the coin slots together and ran these to player one coin.  If a game needs separate coins, the buttons on the control panel will serve that function.  This coin door is mostly for looks, but it's nice that it is functional!

next I sliced the end off of an old 5V blackberry charger to power the LED light that I bought for my trackball.  Worked like a charm!

I then installed the glass.  I got a light grey smoked, tempered, 1/4" glass from a local glass store, and it was perfect!  I had installed wear stripping around the edge of the display to "wedge" the glass in...but it turns out it was very difficult (impossible?) to get the glass wedged in there.  It actually looked great sitting on top of the weather stripping, so I left it like that!  I bought two small brackets and sprayed them black to hold the glass in place at the top, and it is held in place on the bottom by the control panel.

Finally I installed the back panel.  After a few coats of paint it was a bit tight so I had to use the old jigsaw and trim it down a bit to fit.  I installed the handle and bolts and it worked great!

Here is the end result!  Once I get the basement cleaned up and the cab in it's final place, I'll get some better pictures and update the original post with them.

Thanks for all of your help and inspiration!