That's a lot better than my first cab.
Mine started out as an experiment with a raspberry pi. I bought some controls and got mame working, but I was really only planningit as an experiment.
We were throwing away an old piece of furniture, and it occurred to me that it would be a hoot to use the boards to make a bartop to house the pi experiment.
I never intended for it to a permanent thing, I just assumed we'd get bored of it after a week or two and I'd get rid of it.
Well, that 'week or two' turned into a couple of years, and we're still not bored with it.
Thing is, it looks really shabby.
Visitors think it's cool that we have an arcade machine, but I'm always a bit ashamed of it.
The boards I used were laminated chipboard, and I just painted the edges. The edges look like a granola bar painted red.
I have just started work on a new cabinet , and I really wish I had done it sooner.
It looks as though you put a lot more effort into yours than I did with my bartop, but it seems like a shame to put all that work into something that will never look how you want it to because of the material you used.
Your workmanship looks really good. Imagine how good that cabinet could look if it was made out of better wood.
How much money are you going to put into it to try to make it look acceptable?
Could you use that money to buy some MDF instead?
I apologise if I am sounding a bit harsh, but I feel like you are in the same boat as I was.
What I see when I look at your machine is a lot of talent and a good design let down by unsuitable materials.
Please consider it a compliment