My custom cabinet design

[seoushi]

After really wanting to make a showcase cabinet I decided against it because unfourtunatley I just don't have the space. So I looked at alot of other cabinets and drew up this one. I chose to make it a two piece so it could easily fit in my car when I move to a new place.  For the more experianced builders is there anything that you see just plainly wrong with this design? or maybe a sugestion to make it look nicer? Any comments are welcome... Anyways here  it is.

*Edit* looks like the image below is pretty small and the text is unreadable... here a link to the full thing http://www.eng.utah.edu/~chapel/cab-design.jpg

[paigeoliver]

Two piece is more trouble than it is worth. Do your couch and fridge split into 2 pieces as well? Better off making it easy to take the monitor out. Someone (Lusid?) had a brain fart which resulted in a two piece cabinet that is now copied by zillions of cab builders, even though it is a bad design. If it made sense then real games would be like that. Real games got moved ALL THE TIME. It wasn't odd for a game to change locations every month out on route. You aint movin that often.

Also if you are really concerned about ease of movement, then build out of plywood, it is half the weight of MDF.

How often do you move that you need this feature anyway?

Also, that cab isn't fitting in a car, one piece or two pieces. That base section is huge.

And really, I do know what I am talking about with the cabs and the moving. I own 20 machines and have moved 4 or 5 times in the past 4 years.

[seoushi]

This is why I asked . The thing is I move about once a year or so (renting places to live) and I don't have a couch or anything else big.. also the bottom piece while being huge will fit laying down in the back of my explorer. Just to be fair real games also problem had professional movers with big trucks. The real question is my two piece design really that bad? It looks like it would be stable to me, then again this will be my first cabinet.

[paigeoliver]

You have an EXPLORER? The game will just fit in the back of it in one piece anyway, you might not be able to close the tailgate, but it isn't like you are gonna be doing it every day. If your panel can come off (and it SHOULD be removable with that design) then you are golden.

The 2 piece design is silly, extraneous, complicates the build, gives you one more place to mess up, makes for a weak point where the top and bottom meet, can possibly result in a "jiggly" cabinet, and it makes the cabinet heavier. And instead of having one big hunk of wood that takes two people to move you end up with two of them.

Also, if you move apartments annually then watch your width. 28" doors are pretty common in some apartments.

[seoushi]

hmm 28" limit.. that one is pretty tough with my current design as it would be 28.5" with the two 3/4" mdfs I have... but if I make the inside any smaller then I can't fit my 27" TV in there. also I need the length clearance for  the tv's length.

Thanks for pointing out the weaknesses in the two piece design. I can easily convert that into a 1 piece and just put casters on it. As for the size limit I might have to see what I can do.

[paigeoliver]

hmm 28" limit.. that one is pretty tough with my current design as it would be 28.5" with the two 3/4" mdfs I have... but if I make the inside any smaller then I can't fit my 27" TV in there. also I need the length clearance for  the tv's length.

Thanks for pointing out the weaknesses in the two piece design. I can easily convert that into a 1 piece and just put casters on it. As for the size limit I might have to see what I can do.

Decase the TV, you will gain those needed inches back. Literally take the parts out of the case and mount them on wood, that will get you the extra little bit you need.

[Samstag]

Instead of a two-piece, why not build it in a way that makes it possible to disassemble it?  Any place you have a panel or item that you would normally attach permanently to the side panels you add an extra support piece, like a 1x1 or 2x2, or a small strip of plywood or MDF.   Mount the support pieces permanently to the side panels, then use screws to connect the front/back/top/bottom/tv-mount/etc to the supports.  If you do it correctly you can break it all down into pieces that will fit through any door and can be moved by one person without a dolly (but it will take many trips!).

I'm designing mine this way because the room I'm putting it in has a very tight entrance that even a 24" width cabinet can't navigate.

[seoushi]

yeah I planned on having the whole thing connected by 1x1 pieces of wood and coarse drywall screws. I could disassemble it this way but it would be a pain to take it apart and put it back together I think. once I get the new measurements for the TV I will just have to deal with the average sized door. not that big of a deal really.

[crashwg]

I snapped of the heads of about 10 drywal screws when putting my cab together...  I'd recomend using a screw designed to join wood to wood. 

[DrewKaree]

Instead of a two-piece, why not build it in a way that makes it possible to disassemble it?  Any place you have a panel or item that you would normally attach permanently to the side panels you add an extra support piece, like a 1x1 or 2x2, or a small strip of plywood or MDF.   Mount the support pieces permanently to the side panels, then use screws to connect the front/back/top/bottom/tv-mount/etc to the supports.  If you do it correctly you can break it all down into pieces that will fit through any door and can be moved by one person without a dolly (but it will take many trips!).

I'm designing mine this way because the room I'm putting it in has a very tight entrance that even a 24" width cabinet can't navigate.

Just a little tip for you here.

If you build your cab out of MDF, when REassembling it, more likely than not it will be "loose" screwing in all the screws again, as MDF isn't the best screw holder in the first place.  When REassembling it, take a bit of wood putty (you won' t have to fill, redrill, and fasten again, don't worry) and stick it in there.  Wait for it to dry and give 'er.  The putty will make the holes just tight enough again.

Seriously, if you're contemplating disassembling your cab at all, drill into your bracing inside - the actual wood will hold the screw better.  It'll still feel a touch "loose" when driving the screw in, but you'll feel a whole lot better rescrewing into the actual wood than back into a piece of MDF.

[seoushi]

Since I've started building I'm locking this thread, and started a new project thread in the appropriate place. Thanks everyone for your help.
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,28347.0.html