An Arcade for the Office

[SkyKapture]

I've been watching the page and gleaning as much information as I can, and now I've decided to take the plunge and build my own cabinet. This cabinet will eventually be in the office so the artwork will be related to my business rather than based on old arcade games.

My requirements are that I can play games in both 4 & 8 way, 2 player for fighter games & a trackball so the boys can play Golden Tee when it's raining here in the Austrian Alps. It also needs to be a slim cabinet based around an old 21 inch 4:3 screen I have.

First pictures show how I've laid out the sides.

[vwalbridge]

What is Sky Kapture?

[SkyKapture]

SkyKapture's a business I'm trying to get off the ground (literally). Video filming & editing, with drones and helicopters mostly.

https://vimeo.com/skykapture

[SkyKapture]

For the sides of this project I'm using 19mm MDF and I don't have a flush copy bit long enough for that. Instead of waiting to duplicate the other side, I started on pieces that I can do.

Here I'm cutting the coin door hole from the front panel.

[SkyKapture]

And a handle for the back, that also doubles as an air vent.

[SkyKapture]

While I was on a roll, I also prepared a box for the control panel with a 5mm recessed base.

[rablack97]

 

Somebody knows wood!!!!!!

Great start....

[SkyKapture]

A package arrived from the States after I posted this yesterday with T-molding & a slot cutter, and my flush copy bit arrived too. So I got to work copying the side, then cut the slot on the sides and my CP. I got really excited when I first started this and laid out the CP before I even started on the sides so I will post pictures of that later on.

[SkyKapture]

Somebody knows wood!!!!!!

Great start....

Thanks! My Dad made sure I was active in the garage when I was a kid.
I often wish that my career involved playing with wood, but it doesn't. I guess that means I can actually enjoy it as a hobby!

[yotsuya]

Somebody knows wood!!!!!!

Great start....

Thanks! My Dad made sure I was active in the garage when I was a kid.
I often wish that my career involved playing with wood, but it doesn't. I guess that means I can actually enjoy it as a hobby!

PinballJim plays with wood all the time, and it ain't his job, either.

[rablack97]

Are you putting plexi on the CP or just laminating/painting and then an exposed overlay.

[SkyKapture]

Are you putting plexi on the CP or just laminating/painting and then an exposed overlay.

I will get the sides, CP and marquee printed on vinyl and apply directly on, as an exposed overlay.

[Malenko]

I keep reading your "water mark" as Sky Rapture :/

makin good progress!

[SkyKapture]

The CP will have 2 x 8-way joysticks with 6 button layout, 1 x 4-way joystick with 2 buttons, a trackball and 4 extra buttons (player select and whatever). I've recessed in the joysticks and used a couple of cheap brackets and inserts to hold them in place and they are bulletproof! I couldn't be happier.

Here are some examples.

[SkyKapture]

I keep reading your "water mark" as Sky Rapture :/

makin good progress!

  Yeah, when I came up with the name I was torn knowing that Capture is spelled with a 'C' and I'd be forever correcting people. But I grew to like it.

Thanks! I'm off on the road touring Europe at the end of next week and we have our town festival this weekend (read: Lots of  ), so I'm trying to get as much done before I go. I'll be waiting on parts while I'm gone too.

[SkyKapture]

After 3 weeks around Eastern Europe, i'm glad to get back to doing a little more on this project.

I've been using mostly 19mm MDF for this and it's obviously very heavy & solid now. If I was to do it again I'd probably use 19mm only for the sides and CP, 15mm or less for the rest. So I have changed my plans a bit. I'm using 19mm for the top, under the marquee box, the handles (top back), the front and the centre piece where the CP will rest upon. The rest (back & speaker mount) I'll use something lighter. Oh and 19mm to mount the monitor on, as it's already cut and the monitor is pretty heavy.

Here are a few quick shots of countersinking and how I've mounted the pine strips. 20x20mm pre-cut pine.

[SkyKapture]

Oh, and I couldn't wait to see it assembled so I put it all together.

I'm liking the look already! Satisfying to see it all slowly working out.

[rablack97]

Why are you screwing in from the outside?

That CP is too big man, it's not proportional to the cabinet, especially for 2plyr only.

[SkyKapture]

Why are you screwing in from the outside?

It's MDF, so without biscuits and Ikea insert joiners this is the way I've gone. There's probably plenty of ways to do it but this is working for me. Probably the easiest & cheapest way of putting it together too. I'll putty it all up when I'm done, sand it back and coat away.

That CP is too big man, it's not proportional to the cabinet, especially for 2plyr only.

Meh! It suits my purpose (2 x 8 way jstk / trackball / 1 x 4 way jstk), and it's compartmental so if I find it is too big I can make a new CP & box down the track. All the guys that will be playing this are big guys so no problem having a little extra shoulder room. Total cabinet width is 638mm and the CP is 800mm so not much bigger. Two player with trackball wasn't going to comfortably sit between the walls. And I'm still yet to cut a couple of slots out of the top of the CP that will allow it to sit in a little deeper (closer to the monitor).

[rablack97]

Hmm interesting, every cab i have built with MDF, i screwed in from the inside through the batons.  The glue is your true bond the screws are just to hold it place.

Time saver as you dont have to find where your batons are, and wood putty and sand back down. Nor a need to countersink.  Cheapest way i found, just uses screws and glue, rock solid.

The width is fine, it just looks too long.  The forearm space looks a little overdone.

I have your setup on my build, just looks like alot of unused real estate on there.



practically the same layout....

[SkyKapture]

Hmm interesting, every cab i have built with MDF, i screwed in from the inside through the batons.  The glue is your true bond the screws are just to hold it place.

Time saver as you dont have to find where your batons are, and wood putty and sand back down. Nor a need to countersink.  Cheapest way i found, just uses screws and glue, rock solid.

I like that idea. I might give it a go on the next project. I've always just gone through the MDF into the batons, drilling a hole right through with a countersink attached to the drill bit. One hole with countersink, no need for MDF screws or pilot holes into the batons. But you're right with the extra work on puttying.

The width is fine, it just looks too long.  The forearm space looks a little overdone.

I have your setup on my build, just looks like alot of unused real estate on there.

Cheers for the example. You're probably right about the extra space and to be honest, this size was all guestamation for me originally. I like the way your buttons & trackball are in line with each other - mine is definitely lower. I'll stick with it for now, but can always change in the future. Thanks for the input! 

[rablack97]

Yeah this wont be your last one.

There is no wrong way to do it, either way is fine.

Your too far into the design to start over, you have nice woodworking skills.

One word of advice is mockup and post to the forum first, and get advice and ideas prior to diving in.  Get input then go with your gut.

You can get some cool ideas and examples to help your build and possible skip the redoe's, the forum guidance has saved a few folks from disasters.

Keep up the good work...

[SkyKapture]

Installed the screen today. Picked up a 21" Infotronic 4:3 screen online before starting the project. There are still a few of these fairly readily available near me (Germany/Austria). Very solid construction and surprisingly heavy. I want perspex to lay flush on the front of the frame when I'm done so I removed the little raised rubber selection buttons with a pair of long nose pliers.

I'm back on the road for a month around UK/Ireland/France/Switzerland at the end of the week so it'll be a while before I can continue  My goal is give this to myself as a Christmas present!

[RxBrad]

Why are you screwing in from the outside?

Wouldn't it make more sense to do it this way? I'd trust the furring strips to grab to screw threads more than I would MDF. By screwing through the MDF into the furring strips, at least you're allowing the head of the screw to hold the MDF in place.

But yeah, you have to fill those holes afterwards...

[JDFan]

Why are you screwing in from the outside?

Wouldn't it make more sense to do it this way? I'd trust the furring strips to grab to screw threads more than I would MDF. By screwing through the MDF into the furring strips, at least you're allowing the head of the screw to hold the MDF in place.

But yeah, you have to fill those holes afterwards...

Actually the screws are only there to hold the furring strip in place until the glue dries -- the actual bond between the panel and the furring strip is from the glue and it is strong enough that the rest of the MDF will break off before the glue comes off.

[SkyKapture]

Back in town and have had a bit of time to add a few things to the build. I've built this without a base so far knowing that I'm building on level ground, and not having feet and wheels. I've tried to utilise what's lying around and this is what I came up with. I used some scrap wood from a construction dumpster outside and I've attached wheels on a 45° angle so they can slightly stick out the back.

For the front I cut down some cupboard legs and a threaded foot screws in to allow me to adjust the height a bit.

Note: The MDF base for this was pre-cut when I started this project.

[SkyKapture]

I started building the framework to support the perspex and at the same time I mounted the board for the speakers.
The top of this perspex frame was mounted directly onto the speaker panel. Works well.

At the same time I painted the monitor frame black.

I've added a picture of the shed I'm building this in, while spraying the monitor outside. The power cord running from the shed powers our beer trailer, so this is one cable that rarely gets removed!! 

[SkyKapture]

At this stage of the build, a lot of little things take a fair amount of time, but there seem to be very few tangible results to show.

The hinge has been attached to the control panel, and the back of the marquee lightbox has been added. Inside the cab the monitor has been wired up directly (mainly because I had a spare cable that the plug had been removed from). Still yet to add a power switch for both the power and the lightbox. I'm thinking of going with LED strips, but I'll see how I feel and what I find.

[SkyKapture]

By the end of today (or by the time my ears were too cold for me to stand outside any longer), I've added the rear doors and applied putty to all the outside holes. I was daydreaming while doing the doors and made some simple mistakes    But in the end they came out alright. I dropped the board on one corner and ended up cutting that corner off to make it easier to open the doors (top door, bottom right).

That wasn't the end of it though. I then attached the hinges to the wrong edge of the panel  After correcting them I was left with gaps where I'd recessed the original hinges. I fixed this by adding a strip of 'c' shaped metal to the top that I found in the dumpster. I filled the gaps with putty first.

AND, I tried to fix what I thought was an alignment problem by trimming the bottom of the top door on a bit of an angle. Once it was all installed I realised that I should have trusted my measurements instead of going by eye. I'll trim it back to square next time I work on it and if there's any more of the metal trim lying around, I'll add a strip to the top of the bottom door as well. That should fix things up. 

[jlfreund]

A package arrived from the States after I posted this yesterday with T-molding & a slot cutter, and my flush copy bit arrived too. So I got to work copying the side, then cut the slot on the sides and my CP. I got really excited when I first started this and laid out the CP before I even started on the sides so I will post pictures of that later on.

I like the little lip on the sides of the cabinet to lock the CP into place

[SkyKapture]

Just a small addition today. Once the doors were all on I realised there possibly needs to be a bit more ventilation at the back. Keeping in theme with doing this for the office, I took part of my logo and printed it on a sheet of paper. The design is all straight lines so after taping it in place, I used a nail to mark the main points in to wood. And yes, just cheap & crappy chipboard for the rear doors.

Then I used a strip of my marquee trim to mark in the straight lines. Drilled some starter holes and used a jigsaw to cut out the logo. Viola! Air vent with a bit of style, and didn't take too much effort. I will cover it from behind with some sort of black mesh eventually,  but for now it's perfect.

[opt2not]

Nicely done.  Surprised those thin lines in the center didn't crack while jigging!  Chipboard is sometimes so delicate when it comes to thin parts like that.

[SkyKapture]

I keep finding gold nuggets in the dumpster outside. Not only have I found enough wiring to wire up this entire project, today the old perspex light from the beer trailer was dropped off. Perfect for a piece for the marquee. I was originally intending to sandwich the marquee print between two clear pieces, but now I will try sticking a design to the outside of this white piece. I'll test it and see.

[SkyKapture]

Today the LED lighting arrived for the marquee box. Quickly and easily stapled the strip in place and it works fine. It's bright enough to shine through the white perspex, but I think I'll go with my original plan of sandwiching the print between two clear pieces. Also I'm going to change what I'm using for marquee trim. But it's still nice to see some shiny lights!

[SkyKapture]

Sanded, fine sanded and wiped down the cab. First coat of paint applied. I used a 2 in 1 (primer & colour) but it's not a wonderful finish. And I picked up matt by mistake. I'll sand it back in a few days and paint a second layer with a glossy black.

[talkgeek]

Looking good 

Would suggest using Satin vs Gloss, Gloss is very hard to get a good finish with unless you have a lot of experience - good spray painting gear

If you are keen on the high gloss look, an approach that has worked for me is to cover using Black gloss vinyl - still need to have a perfectly smooth finish though (so doesn't forgive the sanding effort  )

[SkyKapture]

Nicely done.  Surprised those thin lines in the center didn't crack while jigging!  Chipboard is sometimes so delicate when it comes to thin parts like that.

Yeah, I was a little surprised too, but at about €2 for that door I wasn't too worried if it damaged. It worked well, a little chipping away on bits of the inside edges, but all in all I'm happy.

Looking good 

Would suggest using Satin vs Gloss, Gloss is very hard to get a good finish with unless you have a lot of experience - good spray painting gear

Thanks for the input. We've got some good spray painting gear lying around so I might give that a go. Otherwise I have to work out what Satin is in German! One of the drawbacks of being an expat. 

[yamatetsu]

satin = seidenmatt.

[SkyKapture]

satin = seidenmatt.

Danke! 

[yamatetsu]

De nada. You might want to take a look at Ond's 'videos on painting and finishing to a mirror finish', in the Are there "How to Videos" on arcade building? thread.