First bartop- very vanilla, but good method experience!

[bobbyb13]

It is more than slightly disconcerting how quickly these come together in relation to all the other crap I have been putting myself though for a few years.



Spare time across 4 evenings- rather than... 4 months
- or more?!
And that still was with making the whole thing up as I went along 

Real purpose was to see just how simple a build I can manage (fewest panels, cuts, blocking, screws, etc.) and hopefully have that wisdom bleed into whatever else I am up to here soon.

Something fun to throw in the truck for parties at other people's houses anyway, and chances are good that only I will notice or care that it is a 60 in 1 board in the short term.  At least it is JAMMA so I can put something higher fidelity/less objectionable in it at some point maybe (or ship it to my sister, who has no room for anything bigger and would be stoked.)

First experiment in a JAMMA build also now that I think about it.  Brilliant stuff, but a pre-made harness for these things seems unnecessary.

Fun to see how easy a screen mount and bezel can actually get though.
Now I see why so many people default to LCD (although no- it does NOT look right, and no- this is not the start of a trend.)

Formica laminate in this size is really easy to manage too (but the glue... holy ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---- as bad as MEK catalyzed polyester resin.)

I still feel a little stewed 

Still waiting for marquee artwork.  Haven't even peeled the skin off the plexi yet.

Seems to me now that EVERYbody who is getting into cabinet building should be STRONGLY encouraged to start with a scratch bartop.
A lot learned with little pain or expense comparatively.

I could post the side panel template with measurements and degree angles or build pics if anyone was curious.
But even for something done from scratch, it is pretty damn...

vanilla.

[Zebidee]

nice one bobby 

[wp34]

That's really fun.  I've often wondered if I could throw together a bartop with just parts and materials I already have in my garage.   

[Mike A]

Bobby,

Your shop ceiling looks just like mine, even down to the ceiling mounted speakers.

[Raktageno]

This looks great! Simplicity just can't be beat.

[bobbyb13]

Thanks y'all !   

Mike A- maybe the ceiling, but it stops there!
Your set up is to be envied.
If I can find a decent amp to run my thousands of flac file ripped cds through then I'm finally all set with tunes.

wp34, if you have a jamma harness, board, and power supply laying around I bet you can.
It takes REALLY little material to build.  If you are frugal with templating you have a lot of left overs from a single sheet of ply.
In fact, next time I am going to try for a design that only uses a half sheet in all.

And gotta love jamma and a vga screen.

I have a 2 1/4" trackball for the next one
 

[wp34]

wp34, if you have a jamma harness, board, and power supply laying around I bet you can.
It takes REALLY little material to build.  If you are frugal with templating you have a lot of left overs from a single sheet of ply.
In fact, next time I am going to try for a design that only uses a half sheet in all.

I'm pretty sure I have everything I need already with the possible exception of T-molding.  You have me thinking though.

Made your Mai Tai recipe again tonight.   

[bobbyb13]

Yeehaw!

Stoked that recipe is getting some use!
Have you made any alterations/improvements?

I should make one for myself in fact.

I have some wood to prime for the pile of wood I just cut

 

Go build yourself a bartop.
It certainly is a boost to ones motivation/ego
 

[bobbyb13]

wp34, if you have a jamma harness, board, and power supply laying around I bet you can.
It takes REALLY little material to build.  If you are frugal with templating you have a lot of left overs from a single sheet of ply.
In fact, next time I am going to try for a design that only uses a half sheet in all.

I'm pretty sure I have everything I need already with the possible exception of T-molding.  You have me thinking though.

Made your Mai Tai recipe again tonight.   

Did you start on your bartop yet?
I finally got to finish this one.

Artwork from GameOnGrafix crew is nice and they read my mind about how to lay out what I was asking for.



I'll need a Mai Tai again myself this evening to sort out how to get the damn board in there to stop resetting itself to the level of "obnoxious loud."

[firedance]

Nice clean bartop, can you share the plans and build pics, thanks 

For my next bartop I maybe going for t-molding 

[bobbyb13]

Nice clean bartop, can you share the plans and build pics, thanks 

For my next bartop I maybe going for t-molding 

It is a really easy build!  Not a problem to detail it here better.
When I can get a few minutes I will make a detailed materials list and post it.
I really didn't document step by step with this one, however...

One of my friend's kids got to play it over the weekend and they want to build one now too.

What is awesome about that is that friend is actually a legitimate cabinet maker.
I will shoot in process pictures of that second (inevitably streamlined) build and post it here as we go for blow by blow activity.
 

In the meantime, here's a shot of the back open so you can see most of what went into it.



Aloha!
Bobby

It may be a few weeks before we get that detail but it will be good.

[Zebidee]

Fast and neat work Bobby - I thought you were a noob at all this electronics stuff 

[firedance]

Thanks for sharing, will look forward to the pictures from the second build 

[wp34]

That turned out great!  Pretty impressive build for just using leftovers.  And quick too!

My problem is I really don't want or need a bartop but doing what you did seems like a fun challenge.

wp34, if you have a jamma harness, board, and power supply laying around I bet you can.
It takes REALLY little material to build.  If you are frugal with templating you have a lot of left overs from a single sheet of ply.
In fact, next time I am going to try for a design that only uses a half sheet in all.

I'm pretty sure I have everything I need already with the possible exception of T-molding.  You have me thinking though.

Made your Mai Tai recipe again tonight.   

Did you start on your bartop yet?
I finally got to finish this one.

Artwork from GameOnGrafix crew is nice and they read my mind about how to lay out what I was asking for.



I'll need a Mai Tai again myself this evening to sort out how to get the damn board in there to stop resetting itself to the level of "obnoxious loud."

[bobbyb13]

Fast and neat work Bobby - I thought you were a noob at all this electronics stuff 

Thanks Andrew.  A real compliment from one with your body of work 

And I will never be the likes of DaOldMan in terms of experience, but wiring for me is easy at this point-

Electronics however...?!

I'm a kook.
Still.

It appears that I need a quadruple Mai Tai to generate good soldering skills (seriously, best I ever did the other night!) and as far as sorting out what the hell is going on in the circuits in a monitor chassis....?

It will be awhile still I think.

But I am committed.
 

But to the subject at hand...!

A friend asked to use my board shaping space so I had a free pass to spend some odd time at the workshop- so I figured I should clean up stuff-
Including this template!



I tried to label it so that it is pretty self explanatory, but questions (and criticism!) are welcome of course.
My labels just might suck, and if I I am hard to understand then history shows you are in good company.

My one caveat-
I used a 19" 4:3 HP lcd in this and the dimensions are suited to that size screen.

If you are using a different size or aspect ratio screen you may need to think about how that impacts the screen area dimensions of this design of course.

BUT- it is a REALLY easy build if you have a jig saw, half decent table saw and a half sheet of 3/4" plywood however.

Other bits I used for the cabinet itself (in addition to screws, wire brads, wood glue, and black paint) are:

6 feet of 3/8" Aluminum C channel (and some 2 part epoxy and clamps to do it the way I did)
Formica laminate and contact cement (which requires a router and flush trim bit to pull off- otherwise sanded color coats of paint is lovely!)
T molding (and a router, 1/16" slot cutter bit and arbor of course)
Plexiglass or Lexan enough for your screen bezel zone and marquee

I tried really hard to dumb this down to the minimum amount of material, number/complexity of cuts and effort required and still get a reasonable result but still take up the minimum counter/bar space possible and still be comfortable/fun to play for your average bumbling adult (like me!)

If you consider that the control panel deck and front, speaker panel, top, three back panel pieces and bottom are all 18" wide then this one becomes pretty simple to cut.
Only 6 miter cuts if you go crazy with it- and those angles aren't difficult.

And when my buddy Charlie and I finally get around to building his I will offer more step by step detail.

[firedance]

Thanks for sharing the side profile plans 

Just need to find somewhere in the UK that sells the 1/16" slot cutter and arbour without being silly money or cheap and made out of poor steel that warps too easier 

[firedance]

sorry OP for slight off topic.

went for a trend 2mm slot cutter in the end, like this one - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/232821640382?epid=19020840587&hash=item3635404cbe:g:D7gAAOSw9MZftuvs as i got a decent offer (not from this company tho), yes i know it should have been 1/16" (approx 1.5mm) but am sure i can make it work