Author Topic: Blue Light Special! (Read 27724 times)

Mark70 · « **Reply #40 on:** October 25, 2005, 10:31:11 am »

At first glance it looks like that CP has "huge tracts of land". Roomy. But when I look closer, I think it's because the buttons and control colours blend into the CPO.

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #41 on:** October 25, 2005, 11:15:19 am »

Quote

At first glance it looks like that CP has "huge tracts of land". Roomy.

Your right it does look vacant. The coloring on the picture is a bit off the first three buttons adjacent to the stick are actually purple and in real life don't blend all that much and looks fuller.

the3eyedblindman · « **Reply #42 on:** October 25, 2005, 07:43:16 pm »

VERY NICE

markrvp · « **Reply #43 on:** October 25, 2005, 09:33:47 pm »

Looking good. I love the CP layout design

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #44 on:** October 26, 2005, 12:29:03 pm »

Quote

I love the CP layout design

thanks.... its a total rip-off of the SlikStik quad with some "Williams" and flight stick tweaks.

markrvp · « **Reply #45 on:** October 26, 2005, 01:04:39 pm »

I had a similar idea when I did this one. It's really good for playing all the games.

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #46 on:** October 26, 2005, 01:29:06 pm »

Quote

I had a similar idea when I did this one

Actually at some point I did come across your design... I liked it very much and thats why mine looks so much like yours as well!

Like I said before.... Total Hack I am!

markrvp · « **Reply #47 on:** October 26, 2005, 01:54:40 pm »

Quote from: RetroACTIVE on October 26, 2005, 01:29:06 pm

Quote
I had a similar idea when I did this one

Actually at some point I did come across your design... I liked it very much and thats why mine looks so much like yours as well!

Like I said before.... Total Hack I am!

That's the fun part of this hobby . . . you can see a bunch of cool ideas and take them to the next level. You've done a great job of putting together a very functional, elegant cabinet.

Can you show some more pics and describe how you mounted the power supply and cooling fan into the lower back panel.

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #48 on:** October 27, 2005, 11:23:41 am »

Quote

Can you show some more pics and describe how you mounted the power supply and cooling fan into the lower back panel.

Sure... I'll get some more pics! Tonight I am planning on starting the CP internal wiring.

For the power supply, I created an aluminum access panel at work (we have a cheesy machine shop for metal bending / stamping) and mounted it in a routed recess.

For the fan/fan filter I used threaded inserts mounted into the panel to accommodate the machine screws. And like the power panel, I routed out the material around/under the fan filter so that it would mount flush to the wood work. I also mounted the fan rotated 45 degrees so the screw inserts for the fan would not collide with the screw inserts for the filter... you can see a pic of that mounting technique above.

BTW: I hate my steel screws... I wanted black anodized instead but could not find them at the hardware store. I don't like visible screws... a pet peeve of mine.

Mark70 · « **Reply #49 on:** October 27, 2005, 11:38:02 am »

How did you template your trackball and joystick openings? Or did you just cut them by hand with a jigsaw?

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #50 on:** October 27, 2005, 11:48:45 am »

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How did you template your trackball and joystick openings?

For the trackball: I used a straight edge to route the recess and hand cut the hole with a jigsaw.

For the joystick:
1. Marked the center point.
2. Used a "BIG" compass set to the correct radius (8 1/4" = 2 1/4" recess).
3. Drew the circle around the center point of the joystick.
4. Drilled a pilot (1/16") hole all the way through the panel at the center point.
5. Drew another circle on masonite board and cut it out using a jigsaw. Sanded it and cleaned up edge.
6. Clamped the masonite template on the panel aligning it with the circle previously drawn.
7. Routed out the recess.
8. Hand routed the underside for the joystick base.
9. Drilled the 1 1/8" hole for the stick
10. Oh yeah .. also did the t-nuts at some point.

BTW: thanks for the compliments.

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #51 on:** October 27, 2005, 11:50:12 am »

Duh.. for the analog joystick... I got a little full of myself on that last post...

Like the trackball... straight edge for the recess, hand cut hole with jigsaw...

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #52 on:** November 03, 2005, 09:45:41 am »

More pics from various angles

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #53 on:** November 03, 2005, 09:46:52 am »

Front and back... I have just chucked the stuff in for now to get it out of the general living space of the room!... when I complete the internal wiring it will be cleaned up!

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #54 on:** November 03, 2005, 09:47:43 am »

Adding the AC power cord... using strain relief grommet.

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #55 on:** November 03, 2005, 09:48:23 am »

All done!

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #56 on:** November 03, 2005, 09:49:16 am »

Cooling fan filter removal and replacement.

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #57 on:** November 03, 2005, 09:50:09 am »

Internal fan mounting... machine screws in through the fan body and into threaded inserts in rear bottom panel

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #58 on:** November 03, 2005, 09:50:52 am »

Power switch and monitor kill switch...

subcriminal · « **Reply #59 on:** November 03, 2005, 10:22:15 am »

Those castors look proper handy! Where did you get them? My local store only has light duty ones or massive wheels.

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #60 on:** November 03, 2005, 10:25:13 am »

I know that happ controls sells similar ones. I got mine from partsexpress.com (262-278) ... 330lb capacity... I wanted a more rubberized wheel for in the home.

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #61 on:** November 03, 2005, 10:28:31 am »

BTW... the manufacturer of the wheels is Penn Fabrication... UK based!

subcriminal · « **Reply #62 on:** November 03, 2005, 10:59:28 am »

Cheers, found the wheels on their site. I'll email them for a UK distributor.

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #63 on:** November 09, 2005, 10:13:43 am »

Made some more progress... tied up cables and built all wiring harnesses for coin door, power switch, etc...

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #64 on:** November 09, 2005, 10:16:45 am »

Volume control, mounted to the base of the controller, cable set into routed channel. I opened the controller up and put 4 machine screws through the base that were long enough to go through the wood. I did not want to use tape...

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #65 on:** November 09, 2005, 10:19:39 am »

Here is a view of the coin door from the rear. As you can see I made two separate harnesses for lighting and credit switch.

The soft-start power switch was wired to the power panel, I cut the small fan (3 pin molex) connectors from the power source on the inside and used it to break out the 2 pin power and reset switch. I don't see a need for the reset.

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #66 on:** November 09, 2005, 10:20:47 am »

Ooohh romantic..!

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #67 on:** November 09, 2005, 10:30:29 am »

Its ALIVE!

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #68 on:** November 11, 2005, 10:57:29 am »

All the p360's are working and some of the buttons.

sliddick · « **Reply #69 on:** November 12, 2005, 12:16:47 pm »

Very nice cab. I love the look of the Midway cabs, and the handle/caster idea will hopefully end up in mine.

I wanted to ask you about your monitor. It appears to be an arcade monitor, is that correct? Or is it a decased TV (which I plan on doing). Either way, how was it mounting it, ie, did you have to make custom brackets or anything?

I guess while I'm at it, I'll ask another question. I love the cam lock idea for construction, but was unsure whether or not to pursue it due to durability. Is the stability of your cabinet pretty solid? How many times have you assembled/disassembled it?

And to echo some of the thoughts in this thread, I've been wanting to build a cabinet for last 6 years or so, but I plan on doing it shortly since I've settled down and own a house now. I've been reading these forums forever and have really honed in on a couple of cabinets that I plan on modelling mine after, including yours.

I love how much work these guys put into their cabs, and how willing they are to share their learnings. Not too many other hobbies can say that.

Again, very nice work.

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #70 on:** November 13, 2005, 07:53:38 pm »

Thanks for the compliments!

I used a Betson arcade monitor and I purchased slikstik custom monitor brackets. I liked the simplicity of the slikstik cabinet so I built mine almost identical to theirs.

I've taken the beast apart more than 10 times now... it is really SOLID! It does not wobble and I was pleasantly surprised as how sturdy it ended up.

Yeah.. some of the cabs people have done are pretty fricken' amazing! I just wanted mine to not look homemade...

thanks again
good luck

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #71 on:** November 13, 2005, 10:25:59 pm »

Finished up the CP...

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #72 on:** November 13, 2005, 10:27:28 pm »

More CP innards...

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #73 on:** November 13, 2005, 10:27:59 pm »

and the IPAC-4...

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #74 on:** November 13, 2005, 10:37:53 pm »

Well folks... I am done... for now...

My daughter, step-daughter and step-son were playing this thing out from under my feet!

This has been one heck of an experience. Thanks to all for kind words and suggestions.

On the agenda:

- order a piece of glass for the monitor...

- clean up what mess I have left around the house...

- get my wife some flowers.... and anything else I can afford!.. to thank her for letting me be a kid again and temporarily destroying the downstairs and garage! This project has taken way more time and money than I thought it ever would. However, the results are worth it.

- when the dust settles... buy a pinball machine!

unix4hire · « **Reply #75 on:** November 15, 2005, 11:46:58 pm »

Incredible job! I hope my eventual cabinet looks even 1/4 as good as yours does.

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #76 on:** November 16, 2005, 08:44:57 am »

Thanks unix!

I have just ordered some new lighting. I'm going to replace all of my 12v incandescent lamps with super bright leds. The coin door I could live with, however the trackball is dismal. I figured I'd give the incandescents a shot, but based upon what others have said/done, I was not expecting it to be fantastic... guess what.... it wasn't.

Here's to thinking I was done !

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #77 on:** November 16, 2005, 08:46:13 pm »

ok... I couldn't resist!

DrewKaree · « **Reply #78 on:** November 16, 2005, 08:58:12 pm »

When I saw the first coin pic, I was thinking "Damn! Dude mighta got a good deal on buttons, but why put ALL of 'em on his CP!"

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #79 on:** November 16, 2005, 09:02:11 pm »

not real creative... not a photog... just like shiny stuff... and a little full of myself right now...


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