Few Cab questions

[Spectrum]

Hi all.  I have been lurking here for a month or so and am starting construction on my cab pretty soon and just have a few quick questions.

1) Wiring for buttons/joysticks.  Should I use stranded wire or solid wire?  Does it matter?

2) Cabinet itself.  5/8" or 3/4"? plywood or MDF?

3) T-molding from t-molding.com.  Does it use a 1/16" slot or 3/32" slot?  From the diagram on their website it looks like it's 3/32" but I have seen quite a few posts refering to using a 1/16" slotting bit for a router.

That's all I can think of now but I'm sure I'll be back with more as I progress

Spec

[JLR2000]

1.  I used stranded, but I'm sure solid is fine.  My reasoning for stranded: Take a sample piece and bend it back and forth a few times....the solid breaks. Now, this should never really happen, but I decided to go with stranded based on this.

2.  I used 5/8" MDF.  I thought that 3/4" was not necessary(too heavy) and haven't regretted it yet.  MDF is easy to paint and easy to sand (for those corners that need a little help).  MDF is also EXTREMELY dusty/dirty and heavy to work with.  So you pay for it in the mess, but I found it to be easier to work with and I am not an experienced woodworker (i.e. my upright cab was my first real woodworking project).

3.  Haven't ordered from T-Molding.com but all the t-molding I've worked with (from Happs, from my local supplier, and off of an old cocktail cabinet) has fit using the 1/16th slot cutting bit in my router.

Sorry, can only speak to what I have experienced, so that's all I can offer for now.  I will offer this if you haven't already read about it....cut your t-molding slots BEFORE you assemble.  Seems simple, but I see so many project pages with the cab 90%+ done with "just need to cut the t-molding slots..." on the page. What a pain it would be to do this with the cab assembled!

Good Luck.

[Punchcard]

I used solid wire and it works fine, but like JLR2000 said, it isn't particularly flexible.

I used ply, because I being a guy in my early 20's and in college, I'm moving a lot. I wanted the extra durability, and wanted the moisture resistance it provides. A bit more difficult to paint, but some primer and a couple of coats and I am happy with the results. I went 5/8" as a due to weight considerations, and it is more than adequate.

I ordered all my T-molding supplies from www.t-molding.com, and I belive it is a 1/16th. What ever the size, it works perfectly.

Punchy

[SNAAAKE]

if you are gonna be soldrin anything then standard wire is good..dont bother using solid wire as it doesnt solder(it dont wanna stay in place even with good solding skills).its hard to work with thats all.doesnt matter what kind of wire.

def 3/4" because you want the cab to be strong.
mdf is perfect for painting.if you laminate then ply wood would be great because its little bit lighter then MDF.

for t-molding..1/16 is fine.

good luck .

[Spectrum]

Thanks much for the info guys =) will definately take it all into consideration.  (translation I'm going to bed and will re-read all of this tommorow when I am coherent)  

[Lilwolf]

I think you will save cash in the long run if you go 3/4.

why?  thats kinda standard.  So you will pay 1/3 the price (I think and big time assuming) for the t-molding ect.

It will be stronger.  

but doing so (in my mind) requires you to own a router.  This will allow you to have a sunken control panel

[zr5-2002]

I'd have to disagree here, I've soldered solid wires as small as 22 guage and as large as 10 guage (so that covers anything in a standard arcade cabinet), and I've done all of these upside down working under the dash of lots of cars (installing car alarms) with no problems at all.   I think its just a matter of how comfortable you are with a soldering gun and most importantly making sure that you let the gun get plenty hot before you try to use it, or you will have a hell of a time with solid wire.

if you are gonna be soldrin anything then standard wire is good..dont bother using solid wire as it doesnt solder(it dont wanna stay in place even with good solding skills).its hard to work with thats all.doesnt matter what kind of wire.

def 3/4" because you want the cab to be strong.
mdf is perfect for painting.if you laminate then ply wood would be great because its little bit lighter then MDF.

for t-molding..1/16 is fine.

good luck .

[Sasquatch!]

think its just a matter of how comfortable you are with a soldering gun and most importantly making sure that you let the gun get plenty hot before you try to use it, or you will have a hell of a time with solid wire.

I have to agree with zr5-2002.  SNAAAKE, saying "solid wire doesn't solder" is completely wrong.  Stranded is generally easier to work with for most, but please quit passing off your opinions as "fact".

[greenacarina]

Here's what I've done in building my control panel (working my way up to a cocktail cab). My wiring for my keyboard hack going to a 25 pin serial connector is all speaker wire (stranded 22 gauge I think) because that's what was lying around...worked great! The other half of my 25 pin connector is also done in speaker wire going to .167 female connectors to the various buttons,etc... Small wire doesn't crimp into those connectors for ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---. And yes I'm using the "red" connectors, and yes I'm using the good crimper (Klein), and yes I have a lot of experience with electrical. I ended up pulling all the plastic insulators off my connectors, crimped them and then soldered them. For some of the "cross-over" (shared) connections, I used bell wire (solid core) because I ran out of recycled speaker wire. (yes, I'm a cheap bastard!). The solid wire solders just fine! A few good tips for soldering- use a good hot soldering iron (better with a pointed tip, not a chisel tip), use flux!!! (the stuff in the can). Lots of people will tell you that you don't need it because you're using rosin core solder...they are idiots. Try it both ways and you will quickly agree. Also tinning your wire ends before you solder them will give you better results. HAVE FUN!!!

[hyiu]

my personal opinons as follows....

stranded wires are more flexible.... solid wires are easier to break if you need to bend and flex when installing the pieces... I personally find stranded wires better...

I would go for 3/4... as said.. cos its more "standard"... easier to get parts like molding.... etc... also strong...
if you're painting, and don't want wood grain shows up, then you have to use MDF.... but if you're going to laminate, then doesn't matter.... MDF has more dust when cut... I'm going to show wood grains... so, I'm using plywood....

for router for t-molding, use the 1/16 slot (sorry... that's what I read, but not what I use... ) I was told 1/16 will create the nice slot that will snuggly fit.... (try with some scratch piece...) I myself will just round the edges with router... I think thatwill look nice... heee hee....

hope it helps...

[eightbit]

Hyiu- Your going to round the edges of plywood? You should make sure you get good plywood then because most plywood has occasianal voids in the layers and they are going to show on your edges if you don't cover them. Your edges will show the plywood layers and aren't going to be very durable as plywood has a tendency to seperate when abused.

[hyiu]

Hi eightbit...

thx for the pointer....

I'm getting the briich (spelling ?!?!) plywood which is like $40+ for a 4 x 8..... they should be very nice...

yeah.... I've routed some scrape ones.... I think they're ok in terms of showing the layers.... but they're REAL SMOOTH... (also because I spend almost $300 for a NICE router with a set of routing bits....)  

I'm going to apply like 2 layers of cherry wood stain and then 1-2 layer of lacquer or something that helps protects it... what is that ? Poly%$#&%^*&$# ?!?!...
(sorry... I failed my Chemistry....)  

and NOONE is going to abuse my baby....  
so... hopefully... it'll last a long time.... (since I want a more furniture look... I don't really want to use t-molding.... routing the edges will give a nice smooth wood finish which should be nice....- as least when I imagine it.... heee hee...    )

and I know what you mean... occasionally... there are little holes (gaps) between layers.... so far... they're not on any edges... well.. if they do.... I'll use a little bit wood putter....

so, I guess I'm fine for now.....

now... all I need is some warmer sunnier weather so that I can work in my garage again.... (ok.. I maybe a little lazy....)
   

[Spectrum]

Again, thanks for the response.  I picked up some stranded wire to use for the electronics and have decided to go with 3/4 MDF.  I have access to an awesome woodshop and an awesome cabinet maker (the kitchen kind  ) so the dust will not be a problem.  I am still making changes to my cab design and hope to have it all worked out before I start sawing the wood.  For the time being I'm going to use a P3 450 computer I have lying around and a 20" TV.  I will upgrade the computer if/when needed and am planning on purchasing a WG 9700 27" monitor when money allows.  Over all I think it will be a fun project to build and enjoy for years.

On a side note, I'm documenting my progress and plan on setting up a web page in the near future.  Nothing fancy just some text and pics probably.  I might put up a 3D fly around if space allows - who knows.

Spec

[SirPoonga]

here's my response:)

1) Wiring for buttons/joysticks.  Should I use stranded wire or solid wire?  Does it matter?

Depends, I used solid in some areas and stranded in others.  stranded is flexible, if oyu plan on making a removable control panel like me then that's what you need.  Otherwise solid copper wire is good stuff to work with, I don't know what snaaakes experience is in him saying solid wire is harder to solder.  To me they are the same.  Plus I didn't do alot of soldering in my cabinet either, no need to.

2) Cabinet itself.  5/8" or 3/4"? plywood or MDF?

I like MDF, it is really easy to work with and fix mistakes with wood putty.

[SNAAAKE]

relax people...all i said was standard wire is easy to work and and I PERSONALLY prefer standard wire thats all .

[Warborg]

relax people...all i said was standard wire is easy to work and and I PERSONALLY prefer standard wire thats all .

try and soldin using solid copper wire then you will see what i am talking about here....you will start crying when you solder then then the wire comes off every couple of days(unless you are some expert soldering dude )

Sorry, I have to agree with the others...  You are just plain wrong about it being "harder to solder".  If you prefer working with stranded, that's great...  And yes, it does have it's advantages.  I have used Cat-5 for my wiring (which is solid, of course) and have had NO problems soldering to the PCB of my hacked gamepad.

Additionally, I find solid easier to work with *in certain circumstances* due to the fact you can bend it into shape and use that to your advantage depending on what you are doing.  It's all situational.  And what I think people are more disturbed about is the fact that you are passing off your bad experience with things as absolute fact, which might be detrimental to newbies that are just trying to learn this stuff.

Sorry, off my soapbox now...

[spidermonkey]

My whole cp is wired with solid wire. When using resin core soldering wire or paste/flux soldering solid wire is NO problem at all. I like the solid wire because you can bend and conform the wire to any angle or direction and it holds its position (a very nice feature when trying to organize and run your wires uniform fashion.) You can only do so much with nylon tie wraps. In my opinion, stranded wire is just too soft and floppy and unless you use tiewraps,electrical tape ect... it just doesn't hold its shape. Its also nice because since it holds its position I can run wires very close to leaf switches, microswitches and spinner encoder wheels and not have to worry that the wire will droop onto my spinner or get caught between a leaf switch or something. Space is at a premium inside my control panel so everything is pretty close to each other. My translucent leaf buttons are lit up with miniature 12v bulbs and the wires from these bulbs run VERY close to the leaf switches and because of the solid wire I've had no problems with them getting tangled up or blocking the leaf contacts. My cousin and I argued about this very subject as we were both building our cabs at the same time. Unfortunatly it was more of a competition between the two of us rather then putting both of our heads together and helping each other. All of our ideas were kept top secret from each other until both of our cabs were complete.Once finished we then went to each others houses and picked each others cabinets apart. (In a lighthearted jokeing way. No punches were thrown) One thing we did agree on. He saw the inside of my control panel and is now switching his stranded wire to solid. . Even though we probably could have finished quicker working together I must say it was kinda fun competing with each other. If you think stranded wire is better then thats cool too. But you'll never convince me
S.M.

[SirPoonga]

Oh yeah, being bendable and keeping it's shape is a good plus of solid too.  Though I mainly use solid with circuit boards since that is much easier.
I've never had a solder let go.  Use flux, helps out ALOT!.

[Ted_Striker]

One more person to jump on Snake .... Solid wire actually solders better than stranded.  All PCB electronics parts are solid.  Solid wire fits right into your perf board right next to your electronics parts.  

Also, be careful about using flux when you solder.  Some types of flux (specifically for plumbing) will damage etched circuit boards.  It can also actually insulate the small copper circles found on perf board.  So that's why everyone says don't use flux when soldering electrical stuff.  Flux definately makes solder flow better for soldering on wires and connectors but I would avoid it if you are soldering stuff on to a pcb or perf board.  Especially if you are working on an older arcade pcb.   So to be safe it is best to solder without flux on everything.  Soldering is a skill that takes practice and repetition to get good at it.  So if you solder the same  way every time you will get that repetition.

Hope this helps...

[SNAAAKE]

okay people wanna stop jumping on me .

I DONT NEED TIPS about how to solder.i know how..I chiped my ps2 myself(22 wires on ICs) so i know what i am doin.

[eightbit]

Hyiu- They make stuff called edgebanding, its different than t-molding. You can get it in birch to match your plywood. It comes the same width as the thickness as the plywood and has a pre-glued back. You use an iron to put it on to heat the glue. It goes on fast and really dresses up plywood edges. Plus it takes stains or varnishes the same as your plywood face so the edge will look the same as the rest.

Snake- Just because you've done it doesn't mean you know what your doing. ...Oh to be that young again when I knew everything.

[SNAAAKE]

Snake- Just because you've done it doesn't mean you know what your doing. .

Well the ps2 works(i knew what i was doin othewise i would fry it),i am alive..what more can i ask for .
Eightbit,
you are trying to attack me for no appearent reason.wanna stop ?

[hyiu]

thx eightbit.... its good to know....    
edgebanding.... I guess I need to go Home Depot...
heee hee heee....    

[enemyace]

hyiu, don't use edgebanding if you're spending all that money on really nice birch plywood. The whole point of that stuff is that is has uniform plys throughout the whole board, and the edges are really meant to be seen. If you've ever seen any designer molded plywood furniture by Charles Eames or anybody like that, you'll see what I mean. If you want to put the edge molding on, just buy regular plywood with one nice veneer surface (such as oak or maple on one side), since you're covering up the edge anyway.

[hyiu]

First off...
Merry Christmas to Everyone !!!!!
and to those who don't really celebrate Christmas...
Happy Holidays !!!!
   

Hi enemyace:

well... I don't know what edgebanding is right now... so... cannot draw conclusions yet...

hmmm.... I checked out that Charles Eames's furniture on the web.... quite nice....

I think I still would go to HD just to check out what those edgebanding is about.... and if its cheap... maybe I'll buy some and play around a little.... doesn't hurt to try different stuffs... heee hee....

thx for your pointers.....

and sorry that I kinda steal this thread......

 

[SNAAAKE]

yup you are stealing but i had to say something here..DO NOT USE edge bending.
its crap .

Did you see the brooklyn arcade yet?

http://www.pioproductions.com/mame.htm

SEE,you live in brooklyn so you should try to build brooklyn arcade 2(not bad eh) and i would possibly built part 3(ok...i dont care about brooklyn arcade so wont happend ) and i think the dude built exactly how you want yours to look right?
ERR...except the cp is little ODD .
and the spelling is Birch ply wood i think.you could also go OAK then stain cherry.
luck

[TazMan]

okay people wanna stop jumping on me .

I DONT NEED TIPS about how to solder.i know how..I chiped my ps2 myself(22 wires on ICs) so i know what i am doin

You chipped your PS2   That's too bad, you can probably buy some epoxy type fill to fix the crack / chip.    Relax Snaake, just teasing ya.  
OT: Snaake what type of chip did you use on the PS2?  I had chipped my PS1 and have been looking into doing the PS2 also.

[SNAAAKE]

again..sorry for thread hi jacking .
i use magic 3(cheap and easier then messiah).
mesiah is too funny(44 wires).
get it here..

www.easybuy2000.com

they sell for only $50.magic 3 isnt terribly hard to install and plays pretty much everything(you know what i am talking about right )
Also,since you are pretty lucky and managed to blow out the living room tv,did you ever get that happs 27" VGA?
How is it?
also do you have the exact dimention?
Wonder if my cab can hold the sucka .

[Spectrum]

As far as hijacking goes no worries    I'm learning something from most of these posts and that's what I'm here for.  I haven't had a whole lot of time to devote to my cab in the past few days.  Just got home from a lovely 14 hour day at work.  Working in retail sux this time of year lol.  I'm sure I'll be back with more silly newb questions as I progress and hopefully some ideas as well.  I have a few more tweaks on the 3d model of my cab.  Once I get those done I'll set up a webpage and give you guys some links to what I'm tackling.

Gotta get some sleep now though.  Tommorow is the BIG day for us at work and I gotta be fresh in the morning.
Happy Holidays

Robert