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Author Topic: Nintendo cabinet build - Wreck-It Ralph  (Read 69155 times)

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UnclearHermit

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Re: Nintendo cabinet build - now with possible theme!
« Reply #160 on: April 17, 2020, 01:36:12 pm »
Thanks, I'll have to experiment with hanging the door because I'm pretty sure that with the door open there are some bits that aren't visible and so couldn't be painted, which is why I opted for masking.  Obviously if I can get away with hanging (and find a contact place for the hanger that doesn't need paint itself...) then that would be a lot easier.

For the other stuff I seem to be getting caught between your obvious expertise and believing what manufacturers tell me.  The putty, for instance, says it can be used for filling metal and that it can be painted directly.  The Hammerite tells me I can use it on bare metal, no primer needed.  For the glaze putty I'm struggling to search without just finding glazing putty, as in putty for use when installing windows  :)  Is this kind of filling putty the sort of thing you had in mind?
https://www.halfords.com/motoring/paints-and-body-repair/fillers-and-preparation/holts-cataloy-knifing-putty-100g-154211.html

UnclearHermit

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UnclearHermit

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Re: Nintendo cabinet build - now with possible theme!
« Reply #162 on: April 20, 2020, 02:39:18 pm »
I did a quick print of the control panel overlay to see how it looked at the right size and also to have a look at colour fit with the likely cabinet colour.  The print is only on plain paper so the colours aren't standing out like I want them too.  The red looks a bit muted and the darker colours on the instruction card are almost unreadable.  I'll do a glossy print at some point to make sure things look better, otherwise the colours will need to be tweaked.

UnclearHermit

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Re: Nintendo cabinet build - now with possible theme!
« Reply #163 on: April 20, 2020, 02:47:46 pm »
Oh, a little tip for printing these things.  I produced a pdf of the file, but then struggled to print it because it's wider than A4 and so it only wanted to print the first page.  It turns out that this is one of those (fortunately rare) times that you actually need something like Adobe Reader rather than just the native pdf handling of the browser.  With Reader installed you can print across multiple pages, which I'll be testing more with the bezel at some point.  With a set of the artwork on paper I can try them out for size and spot any sizing issues etc. before I get them printed properly in the future.  I'm considering widening the 1P/2P holes a fraction, for instance, so they accommodate the buttons without going outside the frame.

On that subject, when it comes to the CPO do people usually cut the holes in their control panel using a test print like this as a template?  I'm trying to figure out the best order.  When I have a real perspex CPO I'm assuming I'll have to cut holes in it, and if I can cut through the control panel wood to make those cuts then that sounds like a good approach.  Otherwise I could cut the control panel wood by drilling through the perspex/plexi/whatever but trying to cut that without guides sounds like something that's bound to go wrong.  But I don't want to use the test print as a template and then find that the final perspex ends up being a slightly different size.

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Re: Nintendo cabinet build - now with possible theme!
« Reply #164 on: April 20, 2020, 03:02:37 pm »
On that subject, when it comes to the CPO do people usually cut the holes in their control panel using a test print like this as a template?  I'm trying to figure out the best order.  When I have a real perspex CPO I'm assuming I'll have to cut holes in it, and if I can cut through the control panel wood to make those cuts then that sounds like a good approach.  Otherwise I could cut the control panel wood by drilling through the perspex/plexi/whatever but trying to cut that without guides sounds like something that's bound to go wrong.  But I don't want to use the test print as a template and then find that the final perspex ends up being a slightly different size.

Lots of ways to skin this cat but here's what I did. I had the CPO printed with the button holes pre-cut. I lined that up onto my piece of wood, then dropped my drill press down (with a forstner bit in it) to lightly indent the center of the holes onto the wood. Removed artwork, drilled holes, put artwork back in place; this time with the buttons in place to hold everything together. Removed backing on half without buttons, stuck that down. Removed buttons, removed remaining backing, stuck it down.

I have less experience that most of the people here but i would NOT recommend drilling through the artwork and the wood at the same time. I don't think drilling through artwork is a good idea in general. I've used exact knives or other blades on them - but can only imagine what a drill might do!

The test print looks nice, imo

Edit: Realize now you were thinking of using your test print, sacrificing that, to drill your holds. I suppose that could work - as long as your test print and final artwork don't have any variations.
« Last Edit: April 20, 2020, 03:05:36 pm by meyer980 »

UnclearHermit

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Re: Nintendo cabinet build - now with possible theme!
« Reply #165 on: April 20, 2020, 03:07:21 pm »
Thanks, yes, if I can get the CPO cut with the holes done for me then that would make things easier.  Of course, if they don't get drilled in quite the right place then that's going to really annoy me though  ;)

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Re: Nintendo cabinet build - now with possible theme!
« Reply #166 on: April 20, 2020, 03:12:37 pm »
Thanks, yes, if I can get the CPO cut with the holes done for me then that would make things easier.  Of course, if they don't get drilled in quite the right place then that's going to really annoy me though  ;)

True enough! I've been fortunate though, at least with my custom artwork, I've been sent proofs with the cut lines added so I can confirm it's what I want. And with the type of equipment printers have access to today, they can get pretty damn exact. SlammedNess here on the forums, for example, printed my miniature build artwork. And the cuts were like right on the money.

yamatetsu

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Re: Nintendo cabinet build - now with possible theme!
« Reply #167 on: April 21, 2020, 03:12:15 am »
First of all, include the center of the holes in your art (x marks the spot), so that you can lay the art on the CP and know exactly where to drill.

You can use a piece of scrap wood to do a sandwich. It has to be big enough to cover the holes, it doesn't have to have the exact shape of the CP.

- do a test print of the art, align it on the CP

- use a nail to punch holes at the center of the holes (that's why x should mark the spot)

- clamp the CP and the scrap wood together, the CP goes on top

- drill pilot holes through the marked spots

- apply the art to the CP, using the pilot holes as reference

- flip the CP over, put nails into the holes so that they stick out a bit if you put the scrap wood on top

- put the scrap wood on top of the CP using the nails as a guide

- clamp CP and scrap wood together

- remove the nails and drill the final holes (drill through the scrap wood and about halfway through the CP, then flip the thing over and drill through the rest to avoid blowout)

OR you can use an exacto knife/router. Take a look at this: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,130690.msg1425323.html#msg1425323. Scroll down a bit, skip the part about the t-molding and the joysticks.
                  

UnclearHermit

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Re: Nintendo cabinet build - now with possible theme!
« Reply #168 on: April 21, 2020, 06:08:16 am »
First of all, include the center of the holes in your art (x marks the spot), so that you can lay the art on the CP and know exactly where to drill.


Thanks for this, and the rest of your info.  I like the idea of marking centres.  Now I just need to figure out a good way to position circles like this on the artwork accurately, but I stand a lot better chance of doing that then finding four circle holes manually afterwards!

UnclearHermit

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Re: Nintendo cabinet build - now with possible theme!
« Reply #169 on: April 21, 2020, 06:17:04 am »
A print onto photo paper didn't really lift the colour much, if at all (see below). 

I changed the SCORING VALUE/POWER-UP and the "Extra Felix" text to be the same colour as the logo in order to bring them together and lift the colours, but the colour still looked too dark, so I ended up brightening the all-caps items to use the same font colour as "Extra Felix".  Oddly those colours still look different, but a think the brightness is better now.  I'll do a print when I have a minute.

 

yamatetsu

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Re: Nintendo cabinet build - now with possible theme!
« Reply #170 on: April 21, 2020, 06:51:54 am »
I like the idea of marking centres.  Now I just need to figure out a good way to position circles like this on the artwork accurately, but I stand a lot better chance of doing that then finding four circle holes manually afterwards!

That's easy. Say your buttons (including the ring around them) are 35 mm wide. Make a circle in your graphics program that has a diameter of 35 mm, place it perfectly in the player 1 button shape. Draw a horizontal line through the center point of the circle to the FIX shape. Draw vertical lines through the middle of the 2-Player, JUMP and FIX shapes. Now you have the center points of the three other circles. Place the three circles, put an X on each center point, remove the help lines.



I don't know if it's just the perspective of the photo, but it looks like if you would lower that button down, it would blot out the black line of the JUMP shape. You might need to make the shapes bigger. 
                  

UnclearHermit

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Re: Nintendo cabinet build - now with possible theme!
« Reply #171 on: April 21, 2020, 04:28:36 pm »
I like your thinking, thanks.  I should be able to figure out how to find the mid-point so I can draw those verticals.

I think it's perspective and that the button JUST fits.  If you look at a number of DK CPO photos then the buttons seem to overlap the shape and spill outside, but that's one thing I don't see a need to faithfully emulate.  I'm planning to test fit the button into my paper cut-out, but given what you've just said about drawing circles then it also dawns on me that I can test this there as well.   I think I'll end up stretching all those shapes a little bit.

UnclearHermit

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Re: Nintendo cabinet build - now with possible theme!
« Reply #172 on: April 21, 2020, 05:05:38 pm »
I'm going to be fitting a couple of service buttons on the horizontal panel that sits beneath the control panel area, as others before me have done.  I've settled on just a power button and a back/escape button, both of which seem pretty vital.  I know I could shift-key access to "back", but I want something more accessible to people.  That said, I don't want either of these buttons to be in your face or easy to accidentally press. 

Neither button has a place on the 80s-themed cabinet in terms of look and feel, which is another reason to tuck them away.  But I also want a clear distinction between original/non-original features.  So whilst the visible cabinet won't feature anything modern like LED buttons and the like, I feel like these buttons almost ask to be treated differently.  Like a modern extension on a period house  :)

I've found some recessed buttons that are about half the diameter of a standard arcade button.  The power one features a power icon and is lit green for both the icon and the surrounding ring.  The  "escape" one is lit white and has the ring but no icon.  Both are momentary switches.  They do latched versions, but I don't need them.  The idea is that the power button will glow gently green to help anyone who is LOOKING for it, but it's on the underside of the panel and so won't be advertising itself too much.  A momentary press will turn on the PC inside the cabinet using the PC's standard power header extended up to this switch.  Once the PC turns on I'll take the 12V from the PC to switch a relay which will extinguish the power button light and light the escape button instead.  Again, this helps make the escape button more discoverable.  The power button won't do anything beyond this point to prevent it being accidentally pressed by people looking for the escape button.  Shutdown will only be possible by exiting the launcher.

The only challenge here is that a PCs power supply doesn't give out 12V until the PC is turned on.  The switch LEDs are 12V but they glow fine at 5V, so to solve the problem I'm taking 5V from USB, thanks to USB charging support.  I've tested this tonight and it's just about worked as planned.  I'm taking 12V from the power supply to power to relay and the USB 5V for the LED.  When I turn the PC on it flips the relay.  The only thing that's NOT working is the 5V USB when the machine is first connected to power.  If I turn on the PC then I get 5V as expected, and if I then force the PC off again then the 5V remains.  If I can't find a solution then it's not the end of the world and simply means that the power light won't come on when the machine is first connected to power (or after a power cut).  If I absolutely can't live with that then I can always put a small USB-powered battery in there and have it acting as my 5V source, constantly re-charged when the PC is turned on.

« Last Edit: April 21, 2020, 05:08:36 pm by UnclearHermit »

UnclearHermit

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Re: Nintendo cabinet build - now with possible theme!
« Reply #173 on: April 24, 2020, 06:32:17 am »
I've sort of settled on this for the cabinet colour.


It has a fancy trigger mechanism that I think it supposed to be better, but I'd opt for a normal spray nozzle any day.  Firstly I really struggled, mad as this sounds, to get any paint to actually come out.  There's a little piece of plastic that you have to remove before you can squeeze the trigger, but even after that squeezing the trigger (gently, then gradually more firmly) failed to actually produce any paint.  I tried a second can with the same results, consulted online in case I was missing anything (video shows smiling model gently squeezing trigger), tried again, shook the can a bunch more, tried agin, turned upside down, tried again, suddenly there's paint.  So I'm not quite sure what actually made it work in the end, but I've more cans to try and figure this out.  Really, getting paint out of a spray can shouldn't be hard.

Anyway, once the can is working the spray is relatively low pressure, so it's easy to work with but as I use it I seem to have to apply more and more pressure to the trigger to get paint to keep flowing.  Also, every time you START spraying it splutters ineffectively for a couple of seconds, so you have to watch out for that.  But overall it goes on okay, or at least it DID.  I got to this point.



Then, after a light sand I added another coat, but now the can has started spitting during use.  The can feels like there's a decent amount in it still, and either way it shouldn't just spatter paint.  The lighting isn't good, but you can make it out in this picture:



Obviously this is really frustrating because I'll now need to sand that back and respray, but I'm nervous about other cans now doing the same.  I'd deliberately picked the coin door for a test because it's big enough but not massive, and because I can paint it before assembly without any massive downsides.  The thought of an entire side panel getting messed up on later coats with dodgy spray is a bit worrying.

Whilst spraying this panel I noticed that the MDF in one corner had become a bit spongy.  I'm not sure if it got damp over winter or something else, but I clamped it back to size and then spread the edges with some wood glue.  That seems to have firmed it up nicely.  I was slightly worried about glueing the clamp to the top surface of the wood and so destroying it when I removed the clamp, but luckily I got away with that one.


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Re: Nintendo cabinet build - now with possible theme!
« Reply #174 on: April 24, 2020, 03:47:19 pm »
Seems like you shouldn't have that kind of trouble with pressure on an aerosol.  I don't recall that kind of issue amongst the 5+ cans I've used across different brands.  They all were top spray triggers, not sure if that makes a difference.   :dunno

UnclearHermit

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Re: Nintendo cabinet build - now with possible theme!
« Reply #175 on: April 26, 2020, 04:48:48 pm »
It's odd, I decided I'd use the can for first coats on other pieces of wood and it's behaved almost perfectly since, so I've no idea what the earlier problem was.  Now I've just got to figure out how to stop random bits of crap and insects falling in my paint when it's drying.  Losing count of the sand/resprays now...

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Re: Nintendo cabinet build - now with possible theme!
« Reply #176 on: April 26, 2020, 05:43:37 pm »
Obviously a clean booth would be best, But if you spray 2 cans of yard guard upwind before you paint that will give you enough time for 3 coats before it wears off and the bugs figger out they been tricked,  Painting while it is raining outside really helps too as it gets everything wet...If you can spray water on the floor of your paint area (nothing above what your painting) and it will stay wet long enough for your 3 coats.. And lastly, if anyone non essential to the project is hanging around, don't paint till you get rid of them, curiosity is one thing, but kicking up dirt, is another.

UnclearHermit

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Re: Nintendo cabinet build - now with possible theme!
« Reply #177 on: April 27, 2020, 04:26:37 pm »
Great tips, thanks.  It's been pretty dry here lately so there's certainly a lot flying around in the air, both alive and not.  Rain starting tomorrow so hopefully that will help!

UnclearHermit

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Re: Nintendo cabinet build - now with possible theme!
« Reply #178 on: April 27, 2020, 04:49:39 pm »
A few random updates.

Some may recall that I painted the inside of the side panels some time ago, and left taped-off areas where various bits needed to be glued later to ensure good adhesion.  One mistake I'd made when doing that was to tape off the area where the monitor bezel/control panel support goes.  This doesn't need to be left unpainted because it's not attached to the side panels, but is instead screwed to the blocking that goes behind it.  The downside of this is that there are a couple of areas where the paint doesn't extend as far as it needs to.  One is the little recess in which the bezel sits (no idea yet how I'm going to paint that without needing to spray a much larger area) and one is the area in front of this support.  This, typically, is a very visible area.  I'm not quite sure where the inaccuracy lies.  I've got about 1-2mm of visible wood in front of where the piece will mount, but I can't bring the piece forward by 2mm because it's in contact with the "key" piece on the side of the panel.  So the key could be 2mm too far back, or 2mm too deep etc.  There's an error somewhere and it could be in the plans or, most likely, something I've done. 

Anyway, easiest solution - I've trimmed a couple of mm off the front of the support, which isn't visible anyway because it's underneath the control panel.  This should do the job.  One side-effect is that it affects the position at which the control panel enters the support, so I've taken a bit more wood away so that the control panel can still make the angle that it needs to.



Next, the little horizontal piece that bridges between the coin door/front panel and the speaker panel.  This is where my service buttons are going.  I'd cut this piece last year but left it deliberately a load deeper than it needed to be.  I couldn't trust that the various panels would all meet and leave exactly the right gap.  Now that the blocking is in place I can make a more accurate cut, so I've measured with some offcuts in place and now cut it down to what's hopefully the right size.  I'm now about 3mm less than what the plans call for, so hopefully this isn't wrong.  Unless you're a toddler you're never going to see anyway.  I rough-cut this down with the jigsaw and then finished off with the router.



After that I drilled holes for the service buttons.  These have ended up not 100% level with each other, which is a bit annoying.  I had the centres marked accurately, but I noticed on the second hole that the drill bit has a slight wobble to it, so I think that's what's taken the holes out of alignment.



Taping the speaker grille ready for spray.  This wasn't fun, and I'm sure plenty of spray will be leaking its way into the gaps.  I'm bound to have to clean up the black paint a bit.



And, finally, a bit of colour on those two pieces.  This is them looking pretty nice, some time before the insect population descended upon them and left me with the marks that I'm now trying to clean up...





UnclearHermit

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Re: Nintendo cabinet build - Wreck-It Ralph
« Reply #179 on: April 27, 2020, 06:15:53 pm »
Thought it was about time that I sorted out the thread title...

UnclearHermit

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Re: Nintendo cabinet build - Wreck-It Ralph
« Reply #180 on: April 28, 2020, 06:14:47 am »
:banghead: close to screaming at this paint now.  I moved onto a second can to put a final coat or two on those pieces after recovering them from bug damage.  Same problems getting paint to come out, finally coerced it into spraying after several minutes of twisting the cap/manipulating the trigger etc., gave it a quick test to make sure it was spraying evenly, then moved on to spray my final coats and it happily splattered all over them in full raindrop-style.  So frustrating, and reading reviews for the product it seems that plenty of other people have the same issue.  I'm wondering if I can get the fancy cap off it and replace with a standard nozzle.

UnclearHermit

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Re: Nintendo cabinet build - Wreck-It Ralph
« Reply #181 on: April 28, 2020, 09:01:44 am »
I wonder if this could explain the problem with getting paint out initially.  I removed the fancy trigger and cap into order to try out a regular nozzle and found rust.  It's quite possible that the rust is preventing the nozzle from depressing until it works loose.

Also, with a standard nozzle attached the paint comes out fine, from a quick test.  Pressure is higher as well.  I'll be honest and say that the fancy nozzle and its lower pressure does make it easier to work with, but I'll be interested to try a normal nozzle on a decent-sized piece and see what the finish is like.  First I need to wait for the current damage to set so I can sand it back.

UnclearHermit

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Re: Nintendo cabinet build - Wreck-It Ralph
« Reply #182 on: May 02, 2020, 09:24:38 am »
One of the big items I'd been deliberating over since the start was the choice of monitor.  An arcade monitor would be great, but I had to GET one from somewhere, I had to hope that whatever I bought would actually fit, and then there's the many short and long term challenges that comes with using an arcade monitor compared a nice, easy, safe LCD panel.  LCD wins on every front apart from picture which, of course, is what it's really all about.

Some time back I took a punt on a Jamma cabinet with the thinking that it would be an interesting side-project at some point to do something with and, most importantly, might give me an arcade monitor for my Ralph cabinet.  The Jamma has sat in my garage over winter, and the garage is a fairly damp place although I've periodically run a dehumidifier.  I did test the arcade monitor before winter but only re-tested it in the last couple of weeks when the weather warmed up.  It works, although I haven't spent much time looking at the picture in detail, and there's a scratch on the glass that I probably can't do much about.



I'd taken some measurements from the monitor frame whilst it was in the old cabinet, which was imprecise because the metal bracket is angled etc., and come to the sad conclusion that it wouldn't fit.  I was convinced enough that I'd started to de-case an old LCD panel with a view to using that.  But I kept wondering about the arcade monitor and knew I wouldn't be able to rule it out until I'd given it a proper go.

Getting it out of the cabinet turned out to be a lot easier than I'd thought.  I wasn't quite sure what kind of weight I was expecting (memories of lifting old, large, CRT TVs in the past) but it's not THAT big and the frame is mounted onto a sheet of MDF with nice grab handles on each side.



There's quite a bit of bend on the side of the MDF, but I'd need to re-make it anyway to fit the Nintendo cabinet, which is a couple of inches wider than the Jamma.



To try and figure out if it had a chance of fitting in the cabinet I grabbed the paper 1:1 plans and held the monitor on top.  First the front got aligned with blocking of the shelf that would end up supporting it. 



I could probably bring this forward a little bit if necessary.  I also need to think about height, because I don't know how high the original monitor actually sits; there's danger of it being obscured by the bezel support.  Best case the MDF would hang over the front of the shelf and the metal frame would sit ON the shelf, but I suspect it would need to sit a little bit higher.  I'd also need something to secure the bottom of the frame so that the couldn't simply fall forwards if the cabinet tilted.

Anyway, signs weren't good.  It's hard to be accurate with this because it involves standing the monitor upright, and it doesn't naturally stand in this position.  But even balancing the monitor in one hand whilst eyeballing the frame it was clear that it didn't fit.   


I pretty much gave up at this point, and then it dawned on me that the frame shape is different at the top at the bottom of the monitor.  Sure enough, turning the monitor the other way up looked a lot more positive.


I can work with that, even if it ends up needing a tiny bit of movement inside the cabinet.  This is great news, and if anything terrible happens in the future then it wouldn't be a massive amount of work to downgrade to an LCD.

I think the MDF frame attached to the metal monitor frame is probably the easiest approach for mounting.  At the bottom I've already got the shelf, as mentioned.  I just need to think about what to do at the top for support.  This is where an original cabinet would have bolts from the outside holding a bracket which takes a metal support bar, but if most of the weight is being held by the bottom shelf then the top support becomes more about just making sure the monitor is at right angles to the shelf (I ASSUME that's the correct angle) and so I'm thinking that an L-bracket at either side would do that and also let me secure the monitor in place.  Thoughts welcome on that one if I've missed something.

That brings me onto the cabling side of things.  I've got an isolation transformer in the original cabinet along with some frankly dubious wiring that I'd replace.  I'm also amazed quite how thin the power wires going into the monitor are, but I can only hope that someone in the past knew what they were doing on that front.  So I'll steal the necessary parts from the Jamma cab (I'll downgrade that to LCD and other modern innards at some point, and feel fairly guilt-free because it's already far from original) and sort out the wiring where it needs it.  I just need to think about connecting the monitor to a PC.  I'd rather not use a J-PAC here if I can avoid it because I'll be using a U-HID for controls and so the J-PAC would be just be for the monitor connection.  I've got an old AMD 5450 1GB card.  Is this a situation where I can use ATOM-15 to flash the card to protect the monitor during boot, and then use GroovyMAME with CRT Emudriver beyond that?  If I can, then is it just a case of taking a VGA output from the card and figuring out the approrpriate wiring at the other end to connect to the monitor?  If not, any pointers here would be appreciated. 

 

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Re: Nintendo cabinet build - Wreck-It Ralph
« Reply #183 on: May 02, 2020, 11:27:51 pm »
Your work is outstanding.  :applaud:

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Re: Nintendo cabinet build - Wreck-It Ralph
« Reply #184 on: May 03, 2020, 11:21:13 am »
Appreciated, thanks, especially coming from someone who has produced such amazing cabs :notworthy:

Just wasted a merry few hours hooking up a mini amp and speaker to test out sound.  I got a cheap mini amp from Amazon that had pretty good reviews and I THINK I may have already mentioned that I picked up a 6.5" speaker off eBay a while ago.  The speaker, if I didn't mention, is about 1/2" bigger than the original and so it's had a brutal little grind down to bring it down to size.  The amp can take voltage up to 24V but will run off a lot less, so I've got it running on an old mini-PC 12V power brick.  The annoying thing is that once it was all connected I had a hum from the speaker that was much too loud to be ignored, although the intensity of it dropped when sound was playing.

The time was then spent checking cables, trying different speaker wire, looking into possible offenders and reading lots about ground loops and the like.  Since I'm already using a separate power supply and running it and the PC from a shared 4-bar then I was running out of ideas.  And then I moved one cable and the hum stopped for a second, but the cable was just a USB lead that wasn't even connected to anything.  On further investigation I noticed that the USB cable was in contact with the sound wire, and I finally tracked down the problem to the 3.5mm jack socket.  If I lift up the 3.5mm jack then the hum stops, let it drop and it hums again.  It's great to have found the cause, but now I've got to figure out how to deal with it.  The socket is one of a bank of 6 of them on the back of the motherboard, and since I've already tried multiple plugs then I know it's the socket that's at fault.  I need to see if it's possible to crack it open and then maybe I can wire directly onto the terminals rather than use the socket.  It's amazing how time can get eaten up on the stuff that should be straightforward!
« Last Edit: May 03, 2020, 11:30:57 am by UnclearHermit »

UnclearHermit

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Re: Nintendo cabinet build - Wreck-It Ralph
« Reply #185 on: May 03, 2020, 06:26:06 pm »
Managed to work around the audio issue.  I had a look at the ports on the motherboard but they're clearly not designed to be serviceable.  So I turned to software, and it turns out that the Realtek ports can be remapped so you can effectively map any port to any other port.  Took me a few goes to get the relevant registry entry right, but now I'm able to get line out from one of the other ports, nicely buzz-free  ;D

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Re: Nintendo cabinet build - Wreck-It Ralph
« Reply #186 on: May 03, 2020, 06:59:18 pm »
Managed to work around the audio issue.  I had a look at the ports on the motherboard but they're clearly not designed to be serviceable.  So I turned to software, and it turns out that the Realtek ports can be remapped so you can effectively map any port to any other port.  Took me a few goes to get the relevant registry entry right, but now I'm able to get line out from one of the other ports, nicely buzz-free  ;D

Glad to hear you got it figured out. Some motherboards have terrible shielding or use very cheap analog audio ports, a tough problem to deal with.

Sounds like you're good to go but one solution I've heard people do is buy a cheap USB sound card and use that instead. Something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-External-Adapter-Windows-AU-MMSA/dp/B00IRVQ0F8/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1JQQ1O9FY8248&dchild=1&keywords=usb+sound+card&qid=1588546721&sprefix=usb+sound%2Caps%2C166&sr=8-3

UnclearHermit

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Re: Nintendo cabinet build - Wreck-It Ralph
« Reply #187 on: May 04, 2020, 03:58:39 pm »
That's really good to know, thanks.  I hadn't realised I could get something like that so cheap.  If anything else goes wrong then that's definitely the way forward!

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Re: Nintendo cabinet build - Wreck-It Ralph
« Reply #188 on: May 06, 2020, 01:39:24 pm »
Sometimes things go as well as you could hope.

If you remember, I'd bought a coin door which needed a little work.



Aside from the dirt there was some scratching and a couple of dents.



So I'd taken it back to metal and then used a metal filler on it, but then Jen mentioned that I really needed something on top of that.



In the absence of product knowledge I bought some of this:



It's not the easiest thing in the world to work with because you have to use a tiny bit of hardener with a load of filler.  The ratio is a pot of filler to a small tube of hardener, which would be fine if making up large quantities but it means that when making SMALL quantities (which you have to, because it sets fast) then you've absolutely no idea how much hardener to use.  The tiny dot of hardener just doesn't seem like it'll actually mix around and make any kind of difference and so there's the temptation to add more, but then it all sets so fast that you get some time to spread it before it suddenly won't spread any more.

Anyway, when it goes on well then it's great stuff and it's incredibly smooth when sanded.  I did a few rounds of filling and sanding to work out the ridges and ended up with a much wider area than the original metal filler BUT it felt nice and smooth and gave me confidence for the paint stage.



I'm using the Hammerite spray, hammered finish, which says it doesn't need a primer and so I didn't give it one.  I abandoned my original masking job and just hung it to spray (that was fun, figuring out how to suspend in various ways so I could reach all the edges) but after a few coats I ended up with this, which I have to say I'm really happy with.



It's blacker than that in normal light, just reflecting the sun in that photo.


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Re: Nintendo cabinet build - Wreck-It Ralph
« Reply #189 on: May 07, 2020, 02:37:58 pm »
This mess of wiring is a test for the coin door wiring.  Since I'm having coin mechs then I HAD to have a coin counter, so I picked up one for not a lot off eBay and then had to figure out how to wire it so that it would increment for either coin entry and also send the relevant coin entry code down to the U-HID.  I read various sources for this and took away lots of good stuff but couldn't find anything that described how to wire it for both coin mechs.  I thought I had it figured out on paper and this was my chance to test it before a proper wiring job later, running the whole thing off a 9V battery (complicated by the fact I didn't have a connector for the battery to-hand).

I had it set up so that the first mech would send key "a" and the second would send "b", and both microswitches were pulsing the coin counter fine.  When I pressed down switch 1 I'd get an "a" and when I pressed down switch 2 I got a "b", but then it started spewing out endless "a"s on repeat until I pressed switch 1 again.  I couldn't find anything wrong with the wiring and so I stripped it back to simpler and simpler setup but it was still doing it even when I just had each switch cable directly to the U-HID.  I then swapped out the "bad" microswitch for a different one and the problem went away, at which point I thought I must have a bad switch.  But I then put the original switch back and the problem remains "fixed".  So I'm a bit confused, but it's working fine now.  The only thing missing is a service button that will give a credit, but that's just a simple switch in parallel with either of the existing switches.

Now just need to figure out how to wire this all neatly with all the diodes etc.  Some soldering and cable sleeving coming up, I think.


UnclearHermit

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Re: Nintendo cabinet build - Wreck-It Ralph
« Reply #190 on: May 07, 2020, 06:35:36 pm »
Anyone know the angle that the monitor screen is supposed to be in relation to the monitor shelf? I’d assumed it would be 90 degrees because I see in pictures the frame gets attached to the shelf at that angle. But that would mean the monitor frame must itself be angled, because Gaetan’s plans show the bolt holes for the top monitor bracket much further back than they would be to form a 90 degree angle.

https://www.classicarcadecabinets.com/uploads/4/9/8/2/49822065/donkey_kong_cab_-_gaetan_-_coupe__1.1_.pdf

I found a mention of the screen being at 35 degrees in the cabinet itself but I need to check the angle of the shelf to see if that makes sense.
« Last Edit: May 07, 2020, 06:48:14 pm by UnclearHermit »

UnclearHermit

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Re: Nintendo cabinet build - Wreck-It Ralph
« Reply #191 on: May 08, 2020, 06:33:03 pm »
Checking the diagrams it looks like the monitor shelf would put the monitor screen, if placed at 90 degrees to it, at about 47 degrees.  The rear door support, on the other hand, is at about 36 degrees.  The back of the monitor sits just in front of this, so if I assume that the monitor front sits parallel to this then it would be at the same 36 degrees.  I don't really understand why the monitor shelf and this rear support aren't at 90 degrees to each other, but I assume it must be something to do with the shape of the original monitor frame. 

If I hang my MDF frame over the front of the monitor shelf then the screen will probably be slightly further forward than it's supposed to be, but in the absence of information I'll probably go with that. If I then put an L-bracket in the original place for the monitor upper support and lean the top of my MDF frame against that then the angle of the monitor shouldn't be million miles off what it's supposed to be.  But I'd need to change the angle of the L-bracket to sit at 90 degrees to whatever angle gets created between the MDF frame and the monitor shelf, and I'll need a support piece (ideally angled) attached to the underside of the monitor shelf to screw the MDF frame to.  This would all be a lot easier the the monitor shelf just sat at 90 degrees to the monitor screen!

UnclearHermit

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Re: Nintendo cabinet build - Wreck-It Ralph
« Reply #192 on: May 09, 2020, 09:21:41 am »
A picture might help.  This is the angle at which the monitor will hit the monitor shelf, and you can see how the metal frame will hit the shelf at a point rather than lying flat on it.

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Re: Nintendo cabinet build - Wreck-It Ralph
« Reply #193 on: May 09, 2020, 12:45:40 pm »
Coin door looks great after all your hard work, keep it up  :applaud: :D

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Re: Nintendo cabinet build - Wreck-It Ralph
« Reply #194 on: May 20, 2020, 12:54:55 pm »
Thanks  :cheers:

Finally bit the bullet today and ordered the metalwork and other bits that I need from Mikes Arcade.  I'd really been hoping I'd find a cheaper way of doing this, because the shipping and import duties to the UK are a killer.  But I can't ever finish this thing without the bits, so I'll just have to swallow the cost and get on with it!  I'm just lucky that there are sites even creating and selling this stuff, otherwise it wouldn't even be possible.  But if one of them decided to set up shop in the UK then that's fine too :)

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Re: Nintendo cabinet build - Wreck-It Ralph
« Reply #195 on: May 20, 2020, 03:30:06 pm »
I needed something to go behind the speaker panel to act as a grille, so after much eBay (hard to shop around in the real world at the moment) I found a sheet of perforated metal that I was able to order in a size that would meet my needs.  This arrived last week and I was able to set to work on it over the weekend.



I'd decided that I could use the same material to, with luck, create something to go inside the rear handle opening, so I ordered a bit to meet both purposes.

The speaker bit was a simple piece to cut, but for the handle inserts I needed to make sure it would cover the opening comfortably, allow room inside to "grab" the handle, and have a folded edge to allow it to be screwed to the wood.



First step was to measure and mark.


Tin snips then got the unneeded pieces out of the way without too much trouble.  What I HAD found by this point is that I'd made a little bit of a mistake with the order.  The eBay seller had a choice of metals available, so I opted for the cheapest without REALLY thinking that through.  Cheapest was mild steel, but I was expecting a very thin piece of metal that I'd have no trouble cutting and bending.  Steel, of course, is pretty tough even when it's thin...



It wasn't hard to cut this with the snips, but to get the stuff to bend I had a bit more work on my hands.  Obviously I was wishing I'd bought the aluminium for a couple more quid at this point. 

I don't own a vice, which would have been the easiest way to do the bends, so I had to get creative.  I settled on using the metal of a clamp as a line to bend against, and then clamp my mesh sheet to that.  I then scored along the marked lines to make the bends favour those lines, starting off with a screwdriver to score the metal and later resorting to an oscillating tool.  The screwdriver does generally work fine, but it's easy to get pushed off the scoring line because of the holes in the sheet material.  I did the bends by starting to apply pressure from the furthest point, to give the most leverage, but following up pushing more with the palm close to the folding edge in order to try and keep the fold tight.



For the bit where the metal will screw to the wood I just flipped the metal over and scored the other side, but I clamped down on the small edge because trying to bend such a small bit would be practically impossible.



As I progressed with the "box" shape I couldn't keep the bar to fold against so I had to resort to wood offcuts clamped against the fold lines.  I also used additional clamps to actually apply the pressure to fold in the metal.





Ended up with one of these, which won't win me any metalwork awards but which will certainly do the job for the inside of the cabinet.



Even unpainted this looks quite nice behind the handle hole.



To paint everything I used the same spray that I used on the coin door because it doesn't require a primer and I hoped it would give a nice finish.  I'd already cleaned the whole sheet with meths when it arrived.  I needed to suspend them somehow so that they didn't just stick to the surface, so I popped a bunch of nails through the back of some cardboard.



With a little bit of positioning I was then able to balance the pieces on the end of those nails.  The end of the nails, which isn't a perfect point, means that the actual contact area with the pieces is really minimal.



A couple of coats of paint (both sides, for good measure) and I ended up with these.



I think it's a decent solution to the problem that doesn't require much in the way of DIY skills.  Thanks has to go to Chance for his DK Ulitmate build thread, which gave photos and some inspiration for this!

UnclearHermit

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Re: Nintendo cabinet build - Wreck-It Ralph
« Reply #196 on: May 29, 2020, 03:11:49 pm »
A few random updates of recent bits.

Inspired by success with the rear handles I thought I'd try another bit to hold the service button.  Not perfect, and I've got the 3D printed version on order from Mike's Arcade, so I can still swap it out if I want to.


Here it is in place on the coin door, along with a little wooden mount I've made for the coin counter.  The counter I have isn't original and so I needed a way to attach it.  This seemed like the easiest solution.


Used a few offcuts to add support pieces to the rear panels.  These aren't mentioned much in build threads, but seem important for supporting the rear door.  The recesses on the wood are because I cut these back pieces from 15mm well before I realised the rear door was thinner, so I had to trim the edges to match the door's smaller depth.





Fitted the rear handles.


And the speaker plus grille.


Looks nice in place.


And, ending with a really dull one, found some brackets I can use to support the monitor, so gave them a quick spray because, well, why not?








UnclearHermit

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Re: Nintendo cabinet build - Wreck-It Ralph
« Reply #197 on: June 01, 2020, 06:00:49 pm »
A few odds this weekend and then actually started putting the thing together!

First thing was to get a support bracket in at the correct angle (hopefully) for the monitor.  For this I printed out the angle onto paper, cut it out, then used a straight edge to get the bracket in the right position.  The angle had to take into account the shelf that the monitor will rest on, so I used an offcut above the blocking to simulate that for now.  My own photo had me confused for a while.  Where the square meets the wood that's not an angled piece of wood, but the offcut of MDF standing vertically.



Next was the marquee light.  I've got one from eBay that was recommended elsewhere.  It's LED, which is fine, and mains voltage, which is irritating.  I'd prefer to have run this off a 5V or 12V supply from the PC, but it's not the end of the world.  I DO need to think about powering on the cabinet at some point.  I'm going to have the PC PSU, 12V power supply for amp, a 240V plug for the LED and the 240V for the monitor.  I can't see myself pulling the cabinet out every time just to power it on, so ideally I'd have it plugged in but not burning money on running the amp permanently etc.  One of those smart strips seem like a plan here, but I need to find somewhere that still sells them.  Searching for them these days just brings up loads of Alexa-controlled stuff...  Alternatively I could use a 240V relay to swtch on a separate 4-bar of devices once the PC is powered on.  I wouldn't mind having the marquee light switched separately as well (so I can have it lit as feature lighting even when the cabinet is off), but that might be more hassle than it's worth.

Anyway, marquee light, with the world's shortest power lead, in place:



Any thoughts on how thin wire I can get away with for this?  Since it's just LEDs it's going to be a tiny power draw at 240V.

Gaetan's plans are brilliant, but be aware that they mainly highlight blocking that's on the SIDES of the cabinets.  For front and back you're on your own.  I've attached some pieces as I've thought on them, using photos for reference where possible.  For others, like the top handle panel, I forgot until now and added some blocking to allow the panel to be attached to the top of the cabinet.



And so to assembly!  Since everything is attached from the inside it can be pretty fiddly to access the screws.  It's not helped by the fact I've currently misplaced my angle driver bit.  The tighest area so far, which I've seen mentioned in other threads, is inside the marquee area, where I've resorted to a socket set to get access.



Anyway, I've got a few bits in place, glue and screwed.  Next step is to get the other side panel on top, hoping everything is in the right position and square.



One problem I'm noticing is that the matt panels are marking really easily.  "Paint it last, not first" would be a suggestion, but it's going to get brushed against/dusted/whatever in the future and so I need to find some way to make it more resilient.  Any suggestions for a protective layer on top of the matt spray?


ChanceKJ

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« Reply #198 on: June 02, 2020, 05:26:15 am »
.
« Last Edit: March 19, 2021, 02:10:56 am by ChanceKJ »

UnclearHermit

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Re: Nintendo cabinet build - Wreck-It Ralph
« Reply #199 on: June 02, 2020, 05:57:15 am »
Thanks.  That looks like what I need.  So do you apply the matt(e) version to your matt finishes and the semi-gloss to semi-gloss?  Or do you find the semi-gloss is okay without this top coat?

I can't get exactly the same stuff in the UK by the looks of it, but they do a Rust-oleum "Crystal Clear" in the same finishes.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=rustoleum+clear&ref=nb_sb_noss_2
« Last Edit: June 02, 2020, 06:05:35 am by UnclearHermit »