How to solve the "moving your cabinet" problem...

[djflip]

hey...ok...I have been thinking about this for quite some time now.  I am planning on cutting and painting my cabinet in the garage, but then transporting it indoors to the third floor to be assembled.  My stairway up to said floor is REALLY narrow, so if I ever want to bring the cab downstairs, I can't....or i'd have to break it.

Is there anyway to build a "assemblable" cabinet?  By this I mean building some sort of metal (might be really expensive) frame or even a wood frame (2"x2" or something)....with holes for carriage bolts to hold the sides and all the rest in place?  Has anyone out there attempted this before?  Please let me know if I should go ahead with this idea.  

I don't care about the bolts showing (i'll either get black bolts, or paint them)  

[nipsmg]

Well, I built a Ultimate Arcade II from MAMEROOM.com.  

I modified the design so the top, bottom, and control panel are 3 detachable pieces.

the top (which really is separate and connected only by 3 screws anyways), was built, reinforced, and attached to the bottom by 3 bolts on either side in a triangle configuration, that were sunk & painted black.   Nuts & Lockwashers were used on the inside.

The control panel itself is a separate entity with a hinged top.  It fits onto the frame that juts out in the front, and is secured to the body by inserting 4 bolts (2 on each side) through holes in the bottom, which also go through holes in L Brackets I have secured to the inside of the cabinet frame.  I then take reach underneath (with the keyboard drawer out of the cabinet), and screw on 4 wingnuts.  I then slide the keyboard drawer back onto the rails.  the control panel is connected by using 2 25 pin parallel cables and a 15 min monitor cable.


I can take the entire cabinet apart into its 3 pieces in a matter of minutes.

If you want details/pictures let me know .. PM me-

--NipsMG

[FractalWalk]

My cabinet is a 1UP design. It has 2x2's screwed & glued to the inside of all panels. These are then attached with deck screws to cross pieces (four 2x4's and  3 plywood shelves. All attachments are inside the cab so no screw or bolt heads visible.

Although it isn't necessarily designed to be dis-assembled, it certainly can be (and has been numerous times!). When its apart, it's just a bunch of panels, easily transported anywhere. The deck screws into the 2x2's are only good for a finite amount of un/re-screwing, but certainly are capable of handling the limited amount of de/reconstrunction I'll put it through.  You could easily substitute nuts & bolts in the design if you want.

[ChadTower]

I don't see any reason you couldn't design a cab that was secured by furniture bolts instead of gluing.  Most self-assembly furniture (cribs, entertainment centers) are done this way.  Half the furniture in my house is done this way and it's possible to disassemble any of it for moving.

[FoX]

nipsmg:

Hey, was thinking of doing the same thing with breaking the top in half.  Is all the weight of the upper half supported on the 3 bolts on the sides?  How do you remove it / put it back on?  Got any pics of how you worked this?

Thanks!

[hyiu]

when you say its narrow, how narrow is it ??..

it would be best if you can give us some measurements...

is it like 24 inches ??... 26 inches ??... 30 inches ??...

beware to measure the corners..... some might look like its do-able, but you won't be able to turn...

I would say... if your narrowest point is 26 in or more...
you're ok.... only thing is you might want to take out the monitor, and it'll be do-able with 2 guys....

but if its 24 in or less.... then making the cab 3 pieces doesn't really help either... cos usually a cab is like 24 in wide....
then you'll need a completely disassemble-able cab....
(that will be tougher to build without wobbling....) just harder... but still do-able....

and easiest is... after you measure and decided on the main dimensions, make up a cardboard box of that size... and try it on the stairway... then you'll know for sure....

[Thenasty]

the best way is to make a big Magic Box in both rooms. So when you want the Cabinet in the other room, shove it in and say Hocus Pocus and then run to the other Magic Box and open it, BINGO at least thats how David Copperfield would do it  

[rsoandrew]

no, no, no. You need to do what the moving company did to my cab today.

[hunky_artist]

that's quite possibly the  best picture I've ever seen  

[AlanS17]

no, no, no. You need to do what the moving company did to my cab today.

At least they understand the importance of the sentimental value of a machine. (Or they were freaked out and didn't now what else to do with it.)

[SirPoonga]

I designed my cabinet to be movable by two people.  The nice thing about computer monitor cabinets is usually the computer monitor is on a shelf and just pulls out.  And arcade monitor cabinet if you want to futz with removing the monitor you could.  It helps reduce the weight by alot.  Also I have "handles" so to speak designed into the cabinet.  The footrest, also a good holding point fo whoever is on the bottom side of the cabinet going down a stairs.

Just make sure you have enough man power to do it.

[MameJunkie]

My cab design is in sections.
Top - TV, speakers.
Bottom - Guts.
CP - Joy & Buttons.

All removeable so hopefully it can be moved by just 1 or 2 persons.
Dont have pics yet as its still under construction.  But will post some soon.

[rsoandrew]

no, no, no. You need to do what the moving company did to my cab today.

At least they understand the importance of the sentimental value of a machine. (Or they were freaked out and didn't now what else to do with it.)

I think they were more freaked out than anything. I also learned later that the movers here get paid by the hour instead of by the pound (as they frequently are in the US). The guy took almost three hours to box the cab up while his buddies were packing the rest of the house.