Hi, I think I'm finally ready to open up to feedback. Just don't hate if this thread takes a looong time!
In the early days of my research (circ. 3 years ago), I came across arcadecab.com. I liked the 'no screwheads' approach, and the choice of cabinet grade birch. After my first lot of wood for Project Arcade was redirected to make a baby crib.. alls well that ends well! I learned about cutting and working with this stuff that maybe sharing will help. Oh, and yes, I bought the Project Arcade bible (2nd ed) and read here a lot before doing anything because procrastination is my best friend. Anyway, this scratchbuild is based mostly on the LuCiD's arcade flashback from the bible. Please let me know your thoughts!
The Design Goals: - 4p upright, come-fight-me aesthetic.
- Curvy structure, resembling a cylon (wearing bell bottoms)
- Varathane finish to show off the nice white birch and throwback to the fake veneers of the 70's (so I needed to be extra careful with each step to avoid scuffing the _very_ thin veneer surface). Also, don't you hate priming, then painting? I'll have none of that.
- No screwheads showing externally
- Ergonomic for sitting and using as a hidden computer desk, since it will be a living room fixture (I have the best wife ever). A swinging monitor system allowing the monitor to sit vertical for viewing from a sitting position, and leaned back for arcade times!
- Other super-secret features (TBA)
- Sexy.
What I learned so far:
- Home hardware here in Canada sucks for quality wood, and the stuff that I had bought had knots and was pretty warped. They had the 4x8 sheets on a shelf, but a carps expert tells me that they probably had the wood on its edge at the distro center, causing this slight warping to the wood. Argh. More on that later.
- Always use painter's tape to yield clean edges when cutting. I was using a jigsaw for much of the cutting and found that it's not critical to have the tape on the underside since the teeth of the blade bite this side and pull up on the top side.
- Countersink bits break. A lot. Have a few on hand.
- Don't leave clamps on overnight. Unless you like to trap moisture, leaving dirty black spots that won't sand out of your wood. More on that later too.
- Use painter's tape when routing too! I used a router from a router table that didn't have the nice plastic disc on the underside and made some major scuffs, luckily on less visible areas.
I guess I have a lot to talk about! Who knew?
Winning games (To-be-played list): - Smash TV
- Double Dragon
- Gauntlet
- Ninja Gaiden
- Ghosts n Goblins
- Ninja Baseball Batman
- Lots of point and click adventure games (trackball!)
BSG GamesDiaspora
http://diaspora.hard-light.net/Fleet Commander (Homeworld Remastered) -
http://www.moddb.com/mods/battlestargalactica-fleetcommanderFall of Kobol: Sins of the Fallen (Sins of a Solar Empire) -
http://www.moddb.com/mods/fall-of-kobolToday's business:At this point, I think I'm finally nearly ready to print a blueprint of this control panel design and cut it! Please let me know your thoughts! To the right of the trackball is the hole for the spinner, and finally, (don't hate!), a flight stick over the 'nacelles' since I thought it would suit the BSG style. Dimensions are 38x20 inches to avoid having wide 'wings' since it is a living room appliance..
Thanks in advance for your feedback!!!