buiulding a mame cabinet - withought a pickup truck!

[tilezzzzz]

Strange title isnt it.

Ne way, I am intending to start building a mame cabinet and i have found some designs that I realy like however they seem to require that you start of with very large peices of mdf (8foot by 4 foot etc)

As I have access to only a standard sized car there is no way i could get this into it.

Are there any designs which split tha cabinet into 2 (top section and bottom section) or somthing which would mean i could by smaller sheets of MDF?

Hope somone can help

Cheers

Chris

P;S. How do you guys get the wood home? Im not sure if I could get it delivered but that would cost more money (which i dont realy have) and I would prob have to wait a while.

[Rahzel]

Save yourself a lot of trouble and rent a truck

[tilezzzzz]

lol,

Is their no design which has 2 sections??? - I am sure i saw one on the examples page but can not find it n e where - I have gone through nearly every link! (And that takes a very long time - lol)

I dont realy have a lot of spare cash so renting a truck just for the 12 mile round trip journey seems a bit of a waste

Chris

[madk]

Ha...try looking around for some pics of most neo-geo cabs.  I belive those cabs are split in 2.  I'm not positive about this.  They just look like the top of the cab is seperate from the rest.



Here is the only pic I could find right now.

[tilezzzzz]

Cheers for the replys guys

I have decided to try and design my own (kinda )

well not realy my own design, im kinda taking 2 designs and putting them together

I found one which was made from 2 sections and one which wasent which i realy liked and im goiung to try and make a happy median

http://www.leafstation.com/ms2home.html
http://www.csis.gvsu.edu/~hodgkinz/

Will be interesting to see if it works (realy hope it does as I have just spent

[ITrek]

Ultimate Arcade II also goes together in 2 sections.  I believe the Mamestation II is a slight variation on the Ultimate Arcade II plans.

http://www.cybertechdesign.net/mameroom/

[eightbit]

Gorf was a 2 peice cabinet, kind of like the neo-geo cab pictured above.

You could always get your wood supplier to make a couple of cuts for you. Home depot I think will make 2 cuts in each board before they start charging extra. The other option would be to just pile it on top. A blanket and some straps should hold it up there.

[toyguy]

Do what I did.  I'm in the same boat - my wife and I both have sport coupes.  I can barely get a 2x4 section of ply in there.  :^)

Buy a friend a lunch!  I got a buddy to move not only all my wood, but also the 27" TV, all for less than $20.  Much better than renting a truck...  More money saved for controls!

Toyguy

[1UP]

If you're making an average sized cab, you shouldn't need anything larger than a 3x6 sheet.  Just have them cut 2 feet off the end, and a foot off the side of the 4x8, and you should be able to fit it all in a hatchback.

[tilezzzzz]

Ok, well I have started

So far seems to be going quite well - tis a little wobly side to side (not much at all) but needs more supports going across I think.

Where do you guys think I should put some more??

The pic below is of the front view.

http://uk.msnusers.com/cjrailson@hotmail.com/Documents/Pictures%2FPIC00001.JPG

I would like to put an opening door on both front and back but not entirley sure how to go about this yet  

Cheers

Chris

[hyiu]

well..... I don't know if this applies to ALL home depots...
but I know... most Tri-state area Home Depot... (NY, NJ,CT)... HD has truck rentals for like $20+..... I mean... real cheap....

they don't rent it so that folks like you who don't have BIG trucks can buy BIG stuffs from them and can carry it home...

I think those rentals are like $20 for first 90 min. then some $5 for each 1/2 hr or something like that... and no miles, no gas... nothing much extra.... (you use your own car insurance...)....

could be your way to go if its available...
cos even if the cab is like 2 piece design.... some of the parts might still be hard to fit in a small car.... (if that's what you got...)

hope it helps...

[rampy]

Ok, well I have started

So far seems to be going quite well - tis a little wobly side to side (not much at all) but needs more supports going across I think.

Where do you guys think I should put some more??

The pic below is of the front view.

http://uk.msnusers.com/cjrailson@hotmail.com/Documents/Pictures%2FPIC00001.JPG

I would like to put an opening door on both front and back but not entirley sure how to go about this yet  

Cheers

Chris

I'm having trouble viewing your picture (even if I copy paste the URL in...)  do you have that addy correct?

rampy

[menace]

To brace sides and stop the wobbles i used carriage bolts, threaded rod and thread rod splice nuts and put them in the corners up out of the way--really helped pull the old girl together.  Just put the carriage bolts in each side (round side out ) then screw on a splice nut (basically a nut that is 3-4 inces deep), then cut your threaded rod slightly smaller than the distance between the ends of the carriage bolts--thread together and tighten till the thing stops wobbling.

Picked up this from old brick buildings that used to hold in the sides this way--good enough for a building--good enough for the mame cab!

[tilezzzzz]

hmm, maybe this link will work?

http://uk.msnusers.com/cjrailson@hotmail.com/Documents/Pictures/PIC00001.JPG

about the truck renting thing, I am in the UK, and from what I can tell we cant rent from the big stores. I think B & Q (biggest diy retailer over here) did do it for a while but do not any more.

Although it isnt realy a prob for me anymore as I have already started building the cab in 2 sections - thanks for the advice though .

I have added some more pieces of wood going across to try and help brace it (scince the pic was taken) but it still wobles just a bit.

Chris

[phantompower]

Hey ITrek,

You are correct, my MameStation II is a variation of CYBERTECH's design.  I created AutoCAD plans from pictures of his completed cab and some of the height and width measurements.

You can pick up the actual plans to the CYBERTECH cabinet at his sight for $20 I think.  Just to be clear, they aren't the same that I used so I can't vouch for them or speak to the level of difficulty.

Chuck