Making a 27" Full Height Cab - Advice needed.

[Nickb23]

Hey Guys,
As I seem to have a lot of time at home, and found someone who can deliver MDF next week, I have decided to skip my plans of buying a flatpack cab on ebay and make my own full size cab. I have decided that I will put in a 27" Widescreen monitor, and going to run a 2 player setup, with hopefully room to put in a trackball in the future.
It will be running a Dell withi5 3750 (i think) as well as a GTX 1030. My main games will be a mixture of Steam Beat Em Ups, Mame classics as well as Naomi and Tekno Parrot.
I will be pulling all the guts from my bartop to move across to the new machine, but have ordered a couple of Zippy sticks, as I never really got on with my mag stick plus'.

I am from england, so my questions are going to be in metric :-)

1. I am going to use 18mm mdf for the cabinet.  Is 18mm T-Mould easy to source? I want to paint the cab black, with neon green t-moulding. Is 18mm MDF the right size?
2. What type of monitor should I get? TN, IPS etc??
3. I dont really want to spend £90 on a trackball. Any good budget options out there for Golden Tee?
4. Plans - I kind of like the look of the Neo Geo MVS cabinets, as there seems not to be too many curved parts to it. Has anyone got any links to other 27" cabinets for inspiration? I will be cutting with circular saw and jigsaw.. My only limitation is that I have to keep it to about 70cm wide..
This was the one i was going to buy, (https://bitcade.co.uk/collections/arcade-cabinet-kits/products/bitcade-2-player-full-size-cabinet-kit), but i never really liked the size of the appeture for the monitor. I would have meant too much bezel top and bottom.

Also is 27" too big, or is a 24" better??

[bobbyb13]

Maybe someone across the ponds sells 18mm T moulding but you may not notice the difference in the 3/4" yankee versions anyway (about 19mm?)

I would only recommend a CRT but absent that I believe a TN monitor is superior to IPS.  Cheaper and faster refresh (if not as wide viewing angle- moot point for 2 player cabinet I think.)

Maybe someone can chime in on a trackball from Ultimarc (as that is only around 60 BP for a USB one I think.)  I use Happ trackballs but am well satisfied with Andy's spinner and U360s at least so maybe worth a go.

Plans are limitless.  Scratch builds need to focus on fitting the monitor you will use (acquire that before you start designing or cutting!), your desired bezel width, and the control panel you want to design.  There is so much leftover space for the other guts that they don't impact anything in a standard cabinet.
Whatever you do, agonize over your control panel.  Less is more.  Adjust and edit the design until it hurts.

If you plan on playing vertical games then bigger monitor is better.  Are used 16:10 ones prevalent there?

I use a 4:3 20" LCD Planar medical monitor for proof of concept/setup tasks myself.  I would prefer that one in a cabinet to a 16:9 27".

Bobby

[JohnnyJedi]

Well, if you goin MDF you can do it with a smaller one, I'm at US so i think that would be 15.875mm (5/8) mdf.. i just did my full cabinet with 3/4 MDF and those things are way too heavy, i wish I had done it with the smaller 5/8 but no biggy, just make sure you use at least 4 2inch casters for it.  ahh, and make sure you get some good dust masks, these things tend to be really dusty when cutting and that specific dust is harmfull to us.....    But whatever you chose just make sure you get the correct T-Molding for it, 5/8 T-Molding for that specific panel not for 3/4 doesnt look good.  trust me i tried it on my 3/4 mdf and changed it.. plans for it are all over the net for your specific taste, i just went on and did my own based on one from the internet.. if you need i can msg u with it..

For Mame builds anything is good not much requirements there, 4.3 CRT better but good luck there, i just used a 27" monitor I had laying around, mine is IPS and dont regret it... TN now days makes no difference since there are IPS Panels now with 1 refresh rate, but thats only needed for firs shooter games that rely on those... then again I'm no expert on the subject, i just love that IPS looks way better than TN..

do yourself a favor and go for a 27" monitor, you building your own cabinet so you adjust the wide of the cabinet to suit your needs.

I posted my DIY project on this site here in the Project Announcement Section --- http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,162377.0.html
maybe be useful to you..

[Rogue Trooper]

I made mine from 16mm MDF and that is fine. We have something called MDF 'Liteboard' here in New Zealand which as the name suggests is supposedly a bit lighter but the end result was still as heavy as a brick sh*thouse. I got my T-molding from www.t-molding.com funnily enough in the States and the closest size to 16mm still overhangs a bit but they also can supply a neat little trim tool that will make it all nice and flush.

If you are going to be using T-molding then you want to invest in a router. Plunge router preferably. It'll make your whole job a lot easier especially when also cutting out identical panels. You'll also need a drill and if you have access to a drill press that will seriously help you out when making your control panel.

Be prepared for a lot of dust. It gets everywhere. You really want to be doing your cutting in an empty carport or outside if you can. As Johnny Jedi suggested, you will need a 'good' dust mask.

I just went with a secondhand 21" 4:3 vertically mounted LCD display in my cabinet and that works great for the MAME vertical games I play, some Amiga games and FX2 Pinball. The response time is what you really need to pay attention to. The lower the better. One of the first screens I tried had a 17ms response time and it was rubbish. The current one is 5ms and it's great. I would imagine that if you are using a 27" screen that they are sufficiently modern that you won't have an issue there anyway.

I used an Ultimarc U-trak and it's great for Centipede. Haven't played Golden Tee so can't comment. Just bear in mind that you may have to transpose the wiring on the U-trak when connecting it up. For some reason there seems to be in issue with how these things are wired from factory.

[Mike A]

Plywood is better than MDF in every possible way.

Stop using MDF.

[JohnnyJedi]

Plywood lot easier and lighter, but never get 1/2 or 5/8 for this, those tend to snag more, but they also better to work with screws.. i used a nail gun with glue with my MDF so I had no problems, you can really screw up MDF with screws if you don't know how to work them..   Plywood paint is a lot harder, gotta make sure to use a Primer Filler --BINGO! Either that, or I was attempting to say "before" but it was too many letters to type-- your paint job.. lots of sanding as well.. unless you get the more best quality finished ones....

I regards to the T-Molding like he said you need a router with the 1/16 or a 3/32 Three-Wing Slotting Cutter Router Bit and make the grooves once you cut your side panels and --BINGO! Either that, or I was attempting to say "before" but it was too many letters to type-- starting your installation.. otherwise you will go through hell to make the grooves (which has to be dead center) to install your T-Molding.. I got my t-molding from this guy



I got 3 30ft different colors since they were not expensive at all.. got it in about 3 or 4 days at home...

oh and here are the plans I made for my cabinet, just finished the schematics in SW.... you just need 2 panels of whatever u decide to use..

[JohnnyJedi]

I used a router with a 1/16" Three-Wing Slotting Cutter Router Bit...





T-Molding fits perfectly, install it with a plastic/rubber hammer.