Last summer, my desire to have an arcade cabinet was driving me through the internet, when I stumbled upon a YouTube video of someone that made a hidden chest of drawers behind the side panel.
That was the epiphany my wife and I needed to negotiate building my own, but I definitely wasn't going to build the style presented as it didn't meet any of the criteria I wanted. It needed to:
- Be lightweight, but sturdy
- Have a timeless, elegant design based on actual Golden Age machines
- Let ANYONE walk up to the machine and learn how to play in 30 seconds, just like original arcade machines
- Have swappable bezels, marquees, and control panels built to match each game
- Play one game at a time - no choices that can lead to decision paralysis
- Have a working coin door - Quarters Only (Once a game is free, it starts to become worthless)
With those in mind, I did about two solid months of research and design. For external design, I settled on the 1982 Williams design that was common for Joust, Moon Patrol, and later versions of Robotron 2084. I used Classic Arcade Cabinets for the DXF of the Side Panel that would reference important external dimensions like the bezel, control panel, and front panel.
I followed the suggestion of my co-worker to do the design in dowel-and-biscuit for strength and durability. I agreed despite not having any proper woodworking experience knowing access to good tools is always a substitute for skill, and he had good tools.
I over-designed it slightly to support a lifetime of rough play knowing the side panels were not going to be structural. I underestimated the sturdiness of the 22" drawer rails, though, so it's definitely overbuilt, which is just fine even if it's not as light as I originally intended.
Because it was so custom, I had to design everything - the control panel is somewhat like an original Pac-Man, with a 16ga. steel outer shell and wood underlayment that actually holds the Sanwa JLF joystick and Suzo-Happ buttons. I went with a microswitch partially because I didn't get deep enough into my research before I ordered, but in hindsight it made the build much easier and more reliable so I could focus on other things.
Electrical Hardware:
-The CPU is a TerASIC DE-10 Nano in MiSTer configuration, running an auto-boot into the Pac-Man Core.
-The Monitor is a Samsung SyncMaster 971p: 19", rotating screen, stripped to screen, rotating mount segment bolted to wood bracket and wiring loom.
Amplifier is some inexpensive unit recommended by a friend that restores pinball machines, and the speakers were a gift from him as well!
-The Coin Door is a Suzo Happ Compact Over/Under.
-I cut off all the power bricks and powered everything through a Mean Well 5V/12V combo power supply that's attached to a switched IEC60320 socket so transport is easy.
-The control panel is connected by a DB-15 connector to an Ultimarc i-PAC2, so I get about 4ms latency, but the FPGA should be cycle-accurate to the original PCB, so that and the Sanwa joystick are the two biggest compromises to the original experience. I used a "NEO GEO" style connection so I could swap out control panels in the future. (I already bought most of the controls internals for Joust!)
Everything is "outside" the dresser section except for the coin door, so I sanded a groove with a Dremel inside the front panel to get wires for switches and lights around a drawer rail.
I put over 200 hours into it between July and December and learned a lot about BASIC woodworking. I still have a lot of fine woodworking to learn, but I can at least build a solid, square frame and drawers!
If you want a photo-essay of the bulid process from conception to completion, see:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/2dJZ7hi2N9T8bGhx8I hope this is an inspiration! I'm working on converting the CAD into publishable materials. I want to revise the design for lighter weight and easier assembly, using dado cuts to increase strength instead of biscuit joints. More specialized tools required, but pays back in time and materials.