Starting a Cab Build

[Dreadnaught]

Here is my dilemma.  I have zero woodworking skills.  I want to make a cab.  I can handle all the stuff that is electronic easily.  I don't have any friends with woodworking skills to teach me the ins and outs.

I was walking around my local Goodwill and noticed that there are giant speaker boxes strewn about randomly at super low prices.  Then I looked them over to find they were about the size and width of a bartop.  I've also been toying around with the idea of creating a virtual pinball table out of one of these longer boxes.  Do you think that is a viable option?  The only problem that I run into with this is getting some legs to attach to the damn thing.

 Do you think that one of these speaker boxes could be remade into a cab on the cheap?  Are they structurally sound enough?  What kind of tools would I need to convert this box over?  Would it be easier just to start from scratch?   

[Mike A]

If you want to learn woodworking then start from scratch. Otherwise buy a kit.

[JDFan]

Easier to start from scratch rather than have to work around other limitations caused by reusing something that is already designed for something else. There are plenty of plans out there for building a cabinet - just look around and find a design you like that fits with what you are wanting.

It really doesn't take much woodworking skills to build most of the cabinets - IF you know the dimensions beforehand it's easy to get an MDF panel cut down so that the major parts can then be finished with either a circular saw or jigsaw ( can buy a jigsaw from Walmart for less than $20 ) - Figure the hardware stores will cut a panel for you for free for the first couple cuts and $0.10 - $0.25 for additional cuts to cut down a 4x8 foot panel so you can get the panel cut down to the width of your side panels and the width of the inside pieces making it easy to then cut the pieces from that with just a jigsaw or circular saw at home. Then just a bit of sanding to clean up the cuts.

It's really not that hard to do from scratch and MDF panels are not that expensive so even if you mess up a piece replacing it won't break you.

[javeryh]

If you have a basic set of tools that you can use the woodworking is much easier than you think it is.  A router and a jigsaw are all I ever use for the most part so it’s not even that expensive to get up and running assuming you are interested and will use the tools for other stuff.

[Dreadnaught]

So I would basically only need a circular saw, MDF, a jigsaw, a router, and a drill to start from scratch?  I am a dirt poor teacher in Arizona so tool acquisition will be slow going. 

Believe it or not I had most of those tools the first time I set on this task, but unfortunately all my tools were stolen by a "handyman" my old slumlord sent to fix a hole under my sink.

[Mike A]

If you are dirt poor don't build an arcade cabinet. Spend your money more wisely.

[Zebidee]

If you have some decent quality plans then you can take them to a CNC workshop and get them to cut all the major pieces out for you. Prices can be relatively cheap esp if it is all cut out of a single large 1.2m x 2.4m piece of 18mm - 3/4" plywood. Here are a few cab plans, must be plenty more out there if you have a look and others contribute. Adapt from others, or make your own! http://arcadecontrols.com/arcade_cabinet_plans.shtml

Regardless of whether you get it cut by a workshop or not, you'll have plenty of minor carpentry to do with putting it together and adding your own extra bits.

[Dreadnaught]

If you are dirt poor don't build an arcade cabinet. Spend your money more wisely.

For some reason I want to build it twice as much as I did before.  Hmm...


Looking at some plans I have decided to build the cheapest arcade cabinet as I possibly can.  One came up on craigslist for $40, but after the comment above I can't help but think that perhaps the world needs this.  Generally given my occupation and the area in which I teach, I am told that people of a certain class cannot achieve the dreams that they set forth for themselves based on their economic level.  I I were to accept that little death then how could I teach children otherwise. Hand tools it is.  Those I have.  I will begin this week. 

[Mike A]

My comments weren't constructive. Good luck with your build.

[Zebidee]

If you are dirt poor don't build an arcade cabinet. Spend your money more wisely.

For some reason I want to build it twice as much as I did before.  Hmm...


Looking at some plans I have decided to build the cheapest arcade cabinet as I possibly can.  One came up on craigslist for $40, but after the comment above I can't help but think that perhaps the world needs this.  Generally given my occupation and the area in which I teach, I am told that people of a certain class cannot achieve the dreams that they set forth for themselves based on their economic level.  I I were to accept that little death then how could I teach children otherwise. Hand tools it is.  Those I have.  I will begin this week.

Sorry, I can't help but agree with Mike and I feel that you are being a bit hypocritical. The mere fact that you have access to hand tools, the space to use them to build a cab, and the time to do it all tell me that you already belong to a privileged class of people.

One option is to teach those disadvantaged kiddies that they can achieve dreams (like an arcade cab, or whatever) by focusing on the creative inputs and outsourcing the hard bits (eg like I suggested above, getting a pro workshop/school workshop/friend's workshop to cut the big bits out), the real added-value is in how they pull all that together. The future is about creativity & cooperation/combining strengths, not trying to do everything by yourself.

EDIT: Maybe I as a bit harsh above - and in Mike's words, not being constructive enough. I think your heart is in the right place anyway.

[yotsuya]

Where’d I put that eyeroll .gif?

[Zebidee]

Where’d I put that eyeroll .gif?

[DrakeTungsten]

If you are dirt poor don't build an arcade cabinet. Spend your money more wisely.

For some reason I want to build it twice as much as I did before.  Hmm...

EDIT: and in Mike's words, not being constructive enough.

Thirded! Now if only somebody can solve the mystery of why Mike plays this same scene out with nearly every newb (or rarely-posting lurker) who crosses his path.

Dreadnaught, I'm glad to see you didn't let the herd discourage you. Mike is the same genius who advised that I stop playing my daughter's favorite co-op video game with her, so take his life advice for what it's worth. Good luck.

[Mike A]

I started a new thread so we don't wreck this one.

[yotsuya]

I’ll just throw this out there, and I’ll be as positive/neutral as possible -

If you’re going to take the time to do something, and you want to be proud of the effort you put in to it, then do it right. Buy quality materials and components. Do the research. Be willing to go through some trial and error. Watch YouTube videos. Ask questions. I guarantee you 90% of us started this hobby in the same exact spot you are in, but have gained those skills over time. I can now paint better, work with wood, repair electrical components, and more. It’s just takes time, patience, and the willingness to being ok with failing as part of the learning process.

You don’t want to make something that makes people think “that looks like someone jammed arcade parts into some speaker boxes from Goodwill”, because that sounds like exactly what you’re going to end up with. And don’t build something janky out of spite - no one wins that one.

[Osirus23]

^ Yep. Don't get in a hurry. Do things right. If you're patient you can get a lot of things cheap, like waiting around for a TV or PC hardware for free. My first cabinet took a year to finish.

[opt2not]

If you’re not able to do full-on wood working, just buy a pre-cut kit, or find a restorable, conversion worthy original cabinet off craigslist or something. I don’t see where the drama has to come in, with these two alternative options being available to your skill level.

[Ond]

Hello Dreadnaught welcome to BYOAC!  I think if you're inexperienced with woodworking then trying to adapt speaker boxes to an arcade cabinet build may be more trouble than its worth.  The effort you'd have to spend to modify them to suit your purpose may be better spent working through a new build.  I'm not dismissing the idea through, I'm all for adapting found objects where it makes sense to do so. 

Have a read right through my Metropolis build project thread. It's at the top of the main page.  In there you can read about how the project got off the ground and then follow through my step by step build process.  It may not be the design you'd like to build, but it does cover the use of power tools, making cuts from a plan, using a router etc.  You can see how other builders went on to build their versions of that design (including a bartop version) and some of the challenges they faced.  If you are handy with electronics then the smaller space of a simple bar top cabinet, built from scratch, may be a good project to think about.  BYOAC is a great resource.  Look past the squabbling to the useful body of knowledge that's here. Being a teacher you’d appreciate the value of doing research before diving in.

[luizw81]

^ Yep. Don't get in a hurry. Do things right. If you're patient you can get a lot of things cheap, like waiting around for a TV or PC hardware for free. My first cabinet took a year to finish.

+1.  I waited until I had an old TV and donated PC to build my cab.  The total cost for my build, included tools, was ~$350.  I did have to borrow a router from my father in law, though.  My advice from what I've learned from this website is take your time, do your research, let the negative criticism roll off you, and absorb the positive criticism. 

[Ian]

No one is born knowing how to wood work... Only advice I can give is give it your best shot. Wood is cheap. Good luck brother! 

[gildahl]

I'll second the wood is cheap remark.  I had learned some basic woodworking skills when I was young, but never built anything of fine quality--until the arcade machine, which even today I still can't believe I actually made myself.  My philosophy was simple.  I just built one part at a time, often practicing on some scrap if trying out a new technique, and determined ahead of time that I would spend as much time as necessary on each part to make it perfect before moving on.  And the corollary...any imperfect parts would be done over as many times as necessary to ensure they were perfect before continuing.  I also plugged a two-year timeframe to full completion into my head to prevent myself from rushing.  It was strictly a one-day-at-a-time project.  Remarkably, in the end I only had to remake a couple of parts and finished in just seven months; much earlier than expected.  Note, however, that this was about six years ago and I'm still cleaning up the dust in the basement.

[SyxIron]

Find a house under construction. ask for scrap wood. practice making cuts on that. If you don't own a circular saw, but one for around $30 at HD/Lowes or maybe buy 1 off of craiglist/pawnshop.

also wood pallets are fun to play with. you can make an arcade cab out of pallets and scrap..

Just FYI scrap lumber at construction sites are not dimensional. they are usually warped and what not. So, don't expect perfection out of it. For arcade purposes, I made a temp control board out of it.

[simbamame]

LOL was in the same boat as you so i documented what i did.

[JudgeRob]

The cool thing about this project is that you will learn a lot about woodworking while you do it!  I know I did.

You can get by without the circular saw.  The router can make everything straight and smooth.  Jig saw, sawsall or I guess hand tools for the rough cuts...