Small Observation

[rampy]

I guesstimate that I'm around 75% complete with my MAME upright project and it's finally playable with arcade controls albeit just player 1 =P   (you can witness the power of my fully armed and operational gamestation, ubercade in my temporary gallery HERE newest pics at the bottom =)

The minor plug for my gallery isn't what the post is about though... It's what I've realized about my new hobby...

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<obvious>Making a MAME cabinet is a lot of work and takes a lot more time than I had originally anticipated

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But seriously...  I thought I could shlop a monitor, a PC and wire up some controls in an existing cabinet and wire and it up and be done in like a weekend...   several weekends and weeknights later (and trips to Aces/Home DePOT/radio crap), I'm still going...

Part of it is my desire to do things right and take my time and not rush it, cuz who wants a 6 foot 400 lb turd in their basement/game room (i didn't know you can pile s**t that high)... Part of it is not always haveing the best/correct tools or techinique.

(example: while drilling my control panel my 7 volt rechargeable B & D drill drained down from the excess needed torque of drilling button holes - although I learned how to lessen that by using different technique... which is funny as in a differen thread someone recommended getting a good high powered drill and others disputed that claim... now I understand =P  )

Now that it's quasi playable... I can really see the "magic" in what I'm trying to create/re-create and am very enthusiastic about my project/hobby.  

But, if you were to tell me a month and a half a go that i'd still be working on it and not be done and have put as much blood sweat and tears into it, I wouldn't have believed you.

So... yeah.  Just thought I'd share that thought/sentiment with  you guys...  

Rampy

PS I almost forgot to mention what a great resource and super helpful community we have going here at BYOAC and am glad that Saint, plaent jay, justmicheal, tom, etc maintain/operate/moderate it.

[Dink]

cuz who wants a 6 foot 400 lb turd in their basement/game room

I'm excogitating this exemplifies your observation superlatively.

[rampy]

I'm excogitating this exemplifies your observation superlatively.

I can tell someone got the "vocab word of the day" or "it pays to enrich your word power" calendar for x-mas.  You're gonna baffle the High School kids with that kinda of purple prose on this board =P   (j/k)

I sense an increase in http://www.m-w.com traffic originating from this thread  

Rampy

[Analog-X]

Well at least you have gotten that far.  My Cab has been sitting in the garage for the past 8 months waiting to be brought into the house.  I have to rush to get it inside before winter comes.

The reason is, My wife recommended I put the Cab upstairs rather than in the basement (unfinished and full of crap, but thats a different story), she recommended this because she knows how much I would freak if the basement were to ever flood and damage my cab  So I've been painting one of three bedrooms upstairs so I can house the cab in there, also i've ripped out the carpet and will be putting Pergo Flooring down.  I'll have pictures and updates once I get all that done.

So I envy how far your project is compared to mine

[kgriffin]

I finally moved my cabinet upstairs to my airconditioned bonus room. I tried to do all the "cosmetic" things in the garage (sanding, painting, drilling etc...) and found that it is way too hot in Arkansas to do this kind of thing in the summer. It also caused major slowdowns (humidity = slow paint drying time AND 100 degrees = watching TV instead of working on the cab).

I spent 3 hours "stretching" my CPO (official mame black marble contact paper). I used a razorblade to pop the airbubbles. After looking at it the next day, I noticed that you could see metal where the holes are because it is so hot that the holes stretched out.

After all this, I found my drive to finish it diminished more and more each day. Hopefully, now that it is in it's permanent home, my productivity will pick up.

[MrArcade]

I can completely relate to the immense difference between "how long I thought it would take" as compared to "how long it took".

Another thing that keeps them from ever getting done is this message board.  You are moving along nicely when you see what someone else has done...and immediately you are incorporating something new into your cab....which naturally conflicts with something else....etc

[chanson]

I finished my first cab late last fall and thought, "that was fun, I'll never do another probably".  I took several months "off" and after 3 weeks of planning, yesterday made the first cuts on my 2nd cab.  Already, I'm thinking how to redesign things for my 3rd, and may have early thoughts about a 4th!  

It's a great hobby, that DOES eat time.

Thanks for the help and things I've learned here!