Yet another Aussie cocktail cab conversion :D

[Mickey Juice]

Hey everyone!
I've been working on my cocktail cab for a few weeks and ButeLegz has talked me into posting some pics. I'll get a big of a blog up somewhere online, but I thought i's start here.

The cab is a typical Aussie "school desk" cocktail style. It was originally running Time Pilot '84, but was DOA so i'm making it into an MP3 jukebox with mame, running Mamewah as a front end.
 The top half was originally sparkle gold laquer, so I've painted it black. Currently there is no guts in it, except for the coinmech.

I want to fit the monitor in before I finish the controllers and get a PC for it (I was going to use my old AMD 333Mhz, but it's too slow for what I want). I picked up a 21" monitor from work yesterday, but it's waaayyyyyy to big for the cabinet. I *could* fit it on, but it's too heavy and there's no knowing how long it will last (it's 10 years old already!). So i'm currently shopping for a 17" or a 19" which will be more practical.
*update, I tested the 21" last night and the colours are screwed and one corner is slightly greyed out  

My goal is to have a horizontally mounted screen (just like Butelegz "Corey Feldman table for 2") don't say it can't be done  , with 1P & 2P controls side-by-side on side A of the machine. This way I can play both horizontal fighters and vertical games (eg 1943). Side B (opposite)will have a single stick & 2 buttons for 'cocktail' games as well as a trackball for all the trackball games such as Crystal Castles and Marble Madness.

I have to finalise the controls, as they're a bit cramped side-by-side. I had it perfect with 4 buttons per player *but* after discussing it with a mate, some of the best 2 player games are fighters ... that means i'll need *6* buttons each if I want to play Street Fighter, SNK vs, Mortal Combat etc etc Although there are plenty of other good games if I don't include fighters eg NBA Jam, co-ops such as Double Dragon, Simpsons etc.

Here are some work in progress photos:

Not much room in there




This is the old top which will be replaced


You don't need a hacksaw when you have an angle grinder


My prototype control panel. I'll wait until all my parts arrive to make them final. These are the buttons, sticks from the old machine. The black plastic above is the old panel.

[DarkSoul1]

If you were not aware:

http://www.users.on.net/bradandpam/cocktail/index.html

 

[Mickey Juice]

Yeah i've checked that one quite a few times

[Mickey Juice]

I've put the 17" monitor in and here are some pics. I've also put in two intake fans at the bottom of the cab.

[ButeLegz]

Yeah man, niiice. Looking good Mickey... took me aaages to get my monitor in my cab. Those brackets you've got going on there are hella handy. That coin box is cool too, mine was missing so I've covered it up... would've been sweet to hold the remote for my telly. Aussie cocktails represent!

[Mickey Juice]

Thanks mate!
One problem with the coin box is that it's preventing me from making the control panel on that side any wider. But I think I can manage  ;)That's the main obstacle now... the control panels!

[NiN^_^NiN]

Great cab

so great u just made me buy a cocktail cab  

Just went down and picked up a dead 1 for $250

there really getting hard to find now a days in australia

But i love it now i'm trying to figure out if i should keep the panel as flat against the cab or on a piece of wood sticking out.

http://www.users.on.net/bradandpam/cocktail/cabinet.html  mine is like that but its a has a few diff things but its still from the same company

can't wait to start playing around with it.

I still have a full size arcade cab i havent mamed yet its almost done but i need to fix the controls and redo them and add a pc etc.

but i have all parts for the cocktail cab but i dont know if it's good to have it as a vert cab like it is

what do u think?

great to see another aussie doing a cocktail cab its cool i was drooling at all the games that were at the werehouse i was at soooo many and it has a Super sprint cab 3 player i wanted it baaaaaaaaad  

Great work on the cab good luck with it all maybe u can help me if i run in to something and vice versa

[DarkSoul1]

NiN^_^NiN

I checked the cabinet.  It is mine afterall.   ;D

You could reduce it sticking out so much from the machine by cutting where I have indicated in the picture with red lines.  Also angle the panel a bit more to the vertical as shown by the green line.  It was so wide to ensure I didn't knock my knuckes when pushing the joystick to the "up" position but there is about 3 cm clearance anyway.  Also it was wide to give my wrists something to lean on (lazy me).

If you guys need any help/advice with layout inside the machines let me know.  I can get more pics, give a bit of advice if you need.

[NiN^_^NiN]

Hey thanks

I'm still not sure if i wanna use the control panel like that or make it flat against the cab as it orignally was.

But thats very helpful  

[DarkSoul1]

No probs

[NiN^_^NiN]

Darksoul1 i do have a question?

How did you get the metal legs to look so new? did u get them recromed? did u spray them with a crome paint or something else?

nice cab looks good and i hope all is going well mickey

[DarkSoul1]

I had the legs re-welded, they were not straight and were cracked on the welds.

I then used one of those heavy duty wire brush attachments on an angle grinder.  I was brutal, making sure there was absolutely no rust left whatsoever.

I then used "Ferronite" available at hardware stores.  It fixes any remainign rust, seals the metal and is a primer.

Then sprayed 2 coats of chrome paint.

It came up better than even I thought it would.

[dtu]

What is it with Aussies converting Cocktail Cabs.
I'm an Aussie, new to this site and am also looking at a Cocktail Cab instead of an Upright Cab.
This is a great site for ideas and help.

Nice jobs on the Cabs

[microwrx]

It's because our cocktail cabs look much better than the US ones plus we didn't get many dedicated upright cabs.  Most of our cabs were the brown timber look laminate 20" cabaret style cabs so they are not very interesting to look at.

Well that's what I reckon anyway!

That being said I have a 4 player upright cab.  Still looking for a good priced Tatio cocktail though.

[NiN^_^NiN]

I must admit i like our aussie cocktails better than the USA cocktails they have a better retro look

I have an upright and a cocktail.

I was gonna buy a working orignal space invaders cab for $600 but the controls panels were the japanese space invaders 1 and they were worn.

But the Leisure and Allied cocktail cabs are starting to become alittle thin

they place i went to wanted $500 for 1 but cause i had already got an upright from him and helped him with a cab he let me have 1 that was in a corner for $250

its pretty beat up the vanieer (spelt wrong i know) is damaged so im gonna have to rip it off and put new 1 on or some fake woodgrain contact. dont know which 1 yet.

All the cabs i'v seen were dedicated but most were converted 2 jamma or ran a different game. The cocktail i got had been a space invaders clone and it was converted into a lesiure play system.

i dont know that that is but i was told that it was like jamma but the games were on small cards u sloted into the cocktail.

wonder if i can find any of them cards. Oh well

[microwrx]

All the cabs i'v seen were dedicated but most were converted 2 jamma or ran a different game. The cocktail i got had been a space invaders clone and it was converted into a lesiure play system.

i dont know that that is but i was told that it was like jamma but the games were on small cards u sloted into the cocktail.

wonder if i can find any of them cards. Oh well

Wonder if he meant Playchoice 10?  The games for those were on small cards that look like our current PC ram that slotted into a motherboard in the cabinet.  You can find them on eBay in the US quite often.  Never saw one here though.

[NiN^_^NiN]

Well if it was a playchoice it wouldnt be the playchoice 10 that system uses dual monitors

it could be the orignal playchoice system as that use 1 monitor
nd in KLOV it says: A dedicated tabletop version was made late in 1988

who knows could be what i have altho i dont think so but i dont know hwo the Play choice was setup.

I'll have a look at the cable and see if the slot is the same?

[microwrx]

Yeah, sorry.  That's the one I meant.  I didn't realise the single monitor version wasn't a '10' as well.

[NiN^_^NiN]

yeah i only found out the Playchoice used 1 monitor the play choice 10 used dual which makes sense if your gonna have more than 1 game use 2 monitors

the plug seems to be the same size it has the same amount of pins and its small size looks like it fit on a playchoice 10 board.

Problem is playchoice is rare the playchoice 10 is common but not the 1 version boards.

But i dont think we ever had playchoice boards or even games down here in australia.

Plus the guy told me what it was and it ws lesiure play or something.

oh well it doesn't matter I hopd i get some time to work on the cabinet its getting hard to find time i need to see my baby nephew been so long since i'v seen him he would of grownup alot.

1 thing microwrx

Why you looking for a Taito cocktail cab? are u willing to look for others or it has to be that 1?

Also i was wrong about the playchoice tabletop its a tabletop not cocktail doh

[microwrx]

Doesn't have to be Tatio but must be this exact style/shape.  If I can't find one cheap I will be making a miniature version to scale from the dims I get off a friends cabinet.

[NiN^_^NiN]

Well my Leisure and Allied cabinet looks like that but doesnt have the speaker grill things.

My cab is a different design to all the cabs shown in this thread but its looks the same just mine has totally different legs and just where the coin mech was etc.

but5 the speaker grills u can make easily yourself

[Mickey Juice]

Great cab

so great u just made me buy a cocktail cab  

Just went down and picked up a dead 1 for $250

there really getting hard to find now a days in australia

I managed to get mine for $50 + $50 for delivery

I still have a full size arcade cab i havent mamed yet its almost done but i need to fix the controls and redo them and add a pc etc.

but i have all parts for the cocktail cab but i dont know if it's good to have it as a vert cab like it is

what do u think?

If I was going to build another one i'd go for an upright. Mainly because there is NO ROOM inside a cocktail cab, esp. if you keep the coin box like I did.
But it's well worth it in the end because they take up less room. Plus can fit in like a piece of furniture.

great to see another aussie doing a cocktail cab its cool i was drooling at all the games that were at the werehouse i was at soooo many and it has a Super sprint cab 3 player i wanted it baaaaaaaaad  

Great work on the cab good luck with it all maybe u can help me if i run in to something and vice versa

Sure thing. You always run into problems along the way... I had my fair share!

How is your's going?

Mine is almost complete, I just have to finish off the ends of the CPs and build the top!

Here are some progress photos:


































Complete with cardboard lid!

[danny_galaga]

so you putting t-molding on that cardboard lid? hehe.
hey, its good to see this type of cocktail cab. i think its all to easy to build the US style, but it really doesnt bring back the memories. might as well put MAME in an esky or something

[NiN^_^NiN]

I managed to get mine for $50 + $50 for delivery

Damn u

Code: [Select]

Sure thing. You always run into problems along the way... I had my fair share!

How is your's going?

Mine is almost complete, I just have to finish off the ends of the CPs and build the top!
Mine hasn't been touched lol

I just got wiring on my upright have a switch outside the cab to turn off all the power ( its using dos )  and i also have a switch inside so i can turn that off and lock the door so no1 can turn the machine on even if they use the outside switch

It's hooked up so the switch inside must be turned onto use the outside switch otherwise it wont work

smart eh

My cocktail cab did run into the problem of my 14" monitor not fitting in depth ways so im gonna pull the metal cup thing on the bottom of and then build a small box around the end of the monitor tube.

but yeah havent had time at all works been stressing me out

im tempted to buy a driving cab on ebay thats working just to keep me in the arcade mood if its not working then it be stored under the house till i got time.

Good luck with your project it looks great  

[stevo123]

Hi, that's a great cabinet ! Nice work.  

I really want a cocktail, but as I can't find an original cabinet to buy I've decided to build my own from scratch.

I want to make it as authentic to the original design as I can - it's great to get an idea of the general layout from pictures like yours, but a need a few sizes to get it right.

Can you let me know a few overall dimensions (eg. length and width of tabletop, overall height, etc) from your cabinet? It would be a great help. Thanks a lot.  

[Mickey Juice]

OK, it's been a long time but here's an update!

Got a friend to make the lid for me. It's just mdf with fake woodgrain laminate. I just have to get some glass cut for the monitor cover. He didn't make a bezel for the monitor, he used foam rubber instead.

THe next thing to do is make a web blog for this machine




The small gap is because the lid isn't closed properly









oh, and the ends of the control panels are just finished off with some thin mdf painted black.

[DarkSoul1]

good job.

Loks good with the woodgrain top.  Just like I remember at the football clubrooms and Downtown in Hindley Street, Adelaide.

 

[NiN^_^NiN]

I come back after a year or so and u only just finish it the day i come back

Good timing

I'm starting on my cab again this weekend

Hopefully it will workout good gonna get the body fully done then worry about the control panels later.

I did have problems with the monitor tho i tried to stick a 15" but it was 2 big then i found the smallest 14" available and it was still way to big so it looks like i'll have to use a LCD screen and fit it to the top

Great to see you finished it i love the woodgrain top 

[Mickey Juice]

I come back after a year or so and u only just finish it the day i come back

Good timing

heh, I had mine just sitting there for quite a few months. I came back and there was even a new version of MameWah. I'm happy with the current setup now, so i'm not gunna touch it.

I'm starting on my cab again this weekend

Hopefully it will workout good gonna get the body fully done then worry about the control panels later.

I did have problems with the monitor tho i tried to stick a 15" but it was 2 big then i found the smallest 14" available and it was still way to big so it looks like i'll have to use a LCD screen and fit it to the top

Mine is a 17" which I had to widen both mounting brackets by about an inch each. Other than that it fits fine. What used to be in your machine??
Surprising that a 14" wouldn't fit. i'm assuming you took the tube out of the casing

[NiN^_^NiN]

Yeah i took the 14" out of the case i only had the tube in and it still wouldn't fit.

Unlike your cocktail cab mine has far less room

It's a shame i have to use a LCD but thats ok

The orignal had a 13" (it said 13" on the actual tube it looked like a 13" too compared to my 14" pc monitor)

I'm not surprised i can't get it in there.

I did think of cutting as bigger hole on the bottom of the cab but the tube was almost touching the metal bar between the 2 Legs.

My cabs the shortest out of yours and feldmans cab which has ended up as a bad thing

I think i'll apply the iron-on woodgrain look then gloss it to make it look less cheap 

Now i'm gonna have to go to the hardware store 

[Mickey Juice]

I got my laminate from a local laminate place. They just put the mdf through a machine (I wasn't actually there) and it stuck it on all sides  I'm guessing an advanced version of iron-on laminate.