Lockup stage!
I got the front door fitted today. I also fitted a simple panel to close up the back (not pictured). As a tribute to yamatetsu, I got the magic marker out
While I was there, I changed the hex-head bolts for the control panel for carriage bolts, to match the ones used on the door. In case you are wondering, I used a small chisel to carefully square the top of the bolt holes.
I am starting to think I will leave the carriage bolt heads chrome, instead of painting them black like I was thinking a while back. Once I put a bit of colour on the door/sides, I think they will "pop" nicely! A little bit of bling doesn't hurt.
You can see here how the door hinge will just sneak in below the T-molding! More on this in a moment.
Here is how the door looks before installation:
FRONT:
BACK:
For the door hinge, I used the same technique as already used on the control panel - and welded an L bracket onto one half of the piano hinge. This got a little trickier though, because I used a larger piano hinge for the door.
The large hinge, and needing to sneak it in under the T-molding, created some issues. The L-bracket came out too far from the door! Of course, this only became glaringly apparent after the welding.
Another issue was that the welded hinge was a little off a proper right angle. So I fired up the table saw, angled the blade very slightly to match the angle of the hinge, and shaved a little off the end contacting the hinge.
To pull the hinge in, I used some washers to "shim" out the hinge, at back, to the right position. You could also cut a piece of wood to size, but throwing the washers in was easy. Oh, and the carriage bolts I bought were too short now, so I had to buy longer ones! Ah well. I got to use the shorter carriage bolts for the control panel anyway.
Now this may shock you - I plan to cut a hole in that door! I want to put a mini-control panel in there, maybe about 4" x 6", which will accommodate credit/pause/admin buttons, a volume control and USB ports. Maybe headphone port too! More on that later.
The inspiration is awesome.
I won't live long enough to make what I want to!
Thanks Andrew- on numerous fronts.
CP height at 37-38" is a requirement at this point (shorter people can get a step-stool) as I build for myself.
If I make more than 2 of anything it is because I found somebody to fund an arcade/roller-rink venture out here!
You inspire me too mate. I'm particularly impressed with how quickly you can whip up a quality cab, and your work with materials like fibreglass. I'm slow, spend too much time thinking/planning, though I speed up when I get a fire in my belly.
Interestingly, even though this cab's designed for smaller folks, the control panel is still at about 36". There isn't really a lot of difference, comes down to just a few inches. Stools are great equalisers.
Ultimately, like many of us, I'd like to have a handful of cabs to cover off most of the games we like to play. Also would like some "dedicated" cabs, or at least plain JAMMA, to run my boards in. We often have guests here (we run a guesthouse) so want that available for them. Would also be great to make some extras to sell and recoup my costs!