Status UpdateSo good news is I've finally got around to cutting wood! (and metal)... bad news is I had planned to build the entire thing this weekend, however, the wood I ordered 2 weeks ago hasn't come in!! which means I won't be able to finish this till 2 weeks from now.
I stayed up many nights to 5am finishing the cad files. As I was making the cnc files I would find issues, as I was making the explosion diagrams (further down in this post) I found more issues, went to the hardware store looked at some parts and found more issues lol. each revision was updating the cad files, creating cnc files, emailing the new files and my mate recreating the tool paths. It's seemed like it would never end! But all good now. files are full done, there are issue I know about but will find a solution during the build.
New material: composite boardso originally I planned to use 16mm mdf to and route a 10mm wide, 15mm deep channel through the middle. This had issues with creating an even route and even making the edges of the mdf weaker, my solution to which was to add another panel of mdf as a shield and to carry the weight.
What I've done instead is use 3mm aluminum composite board on both sides to sandwich some 12mm mdf. the aluminum is lighter and stronger and doesn't need any prep work to get the vinyl to stick to it... its only major drawback is that the stuff is way more expensive almost 5 times the amount of mdf per sheet (depending on the amount of aluminum used, color combo and finishes).
This makes repairs to the leds easier as I can get to them by simply removing the side panel and unscrewing the composite board. Additionally using this layer solution opened up new possibilities (which could be done in the mdf but here it's stronger). the way I've designed it, the base and the side carry all the weight of the cab.
Updated design changes- Ive added tabs so that the whole machine can be almost entirely put together with friction. Still, a lot of these will be reinforced with a 18mm x 18mm blocks
- I've also added cable management channels on both sides so I can run cables from the base to the TV chamber (one side will be power, the other side will be everything else so that it's not affected by signal interference from power lines. In the below image: Point A is a hole of the led wires, B are the holes for the power and cables
- the whole cabinet comes apart into 5 sections for easier transport etc using type E screw inserts. I'm using inserts so that it can be screwed and unscrewed as many times as I need to without it damaging the wood
PartsThis cabinet is made with following sheets:
- 4 x composite board
- 2 x 12mm mdf
- 1 x 15mm ply wood
- 1 x 6mm clear arcylic
- 3 x 16mm mdf (with black melamine - special order that caused the delay)
bloody expensive, and I got my material and cnc at mates rates. I used to see arcades advertised for $1000, $4000 etc and think far out! that's so expensive! I could make one for cheaper. After doing this project I can say that it's a bargain and I get it lol. Still, I did this for the fun and the intention was to go all out with something designed from scratch. reproducing a cab would be so much easier, faster and probably cheaper. moving on.
The wood that is on special order is mdf covered in black melamine. which means when this is cut and assembled there is no priming or painting involved. One problem with melamine is that you can't glue to it, so this would greatly reduce the strength and bond of any reinforced joints. So looking at other arcades made with the same material I learnt that I had to score about 1mm deep, ie remove the melamine from the mdf where there is going to be a joint. This ensures wood to wood contact that can be glued, screwed and nailed.
AssemblySo here are the explosion diagrams step by step of how this will come together.
Artwork UpdateSo when i started working on the artwork, for some reason I create it in RGB colour space. So I had to redo all the artwork in CYMK for print and is a huge pain because a straight conversion dulls the colours. So I fixed all that and this time made all the colours link to a global pallet. Additionally, with the cnc file finalised, some holes and sizes changed so a redo was necessary anyways.
So the sides and bezel artwork is finalised
the one im having the most trouble with is the control panel. After about 5 different designs I've settle on one but I'm still having issues with players 3 and 4. have no idea what to do for them lol
anyway so it seems i have some time now to work on this and it wont be rushed