70's design retro cab

[mixomatosis]

Hi guys, it's been a while since I discoverd arcadecontrols.com and it made me dream a lot ! Now after lots of researchs and experimentations, here is my first personal retro cab with my own personal "transformable" design.

Transformable, because it can be used for retro-gaming on a xbox, and as a working computer cab with another panel...

It's built from scratch, and took me lots of work (I'm not the only one !)

You may find details here : http://mixo.matoz.free.fr/arcade_cab/

[Bones]

That's pretty original. I like the fact it isn't looking all serious. Its not trying to be something it is not......

Make sense? Anyway, I love it!

And sorry to ask.... is it finished?

[danny_galaga]

tres tres bon! very original. refreshing! the goggly 'eye' speakers are interesting. are they made from heavy duty carboard tubes? and what colour/s will you be painting the cab?

oh, and i'm curious about your name. at first i thought you must be an aussie because australia knows all about 'mixo' as it was introduced to stop rabbit plagues. do you just like exotic diseases?

edit: just read in your site that , yes they are cardboard tubes.

[mixomatosis]

well I've been thinking about painting it, but I'm afraid it could be a total failure  !!
so I'm using it "as it" until I gain some experience in painting (in fact I'm a painter but I'm not used to realize clean paints !).
and I'm satisfied with this unusual aspect, it is really soft and confortable...

about my name (wich I've benn using for years), I have multiple reasons for it.
one is the word sounds funny, another is the red eyes going with the desease, wich are symptoms of hardcore gamers and smokers  ...
moreover, as an art student, my work always uses epileptik colors and designs (an exemple of it : http://madframes.free.fr/ )
so I'm not an exotic desease lover!

[maxlamer]

If your afraid of paint, you can cover it in vynal

[missioncontrol]

I really like the design, but it really needs some color and graphics....

very refreshing to see someone do something different....

[missioncontrol]

also a sugestion on your website.....


most people prefer to scroll down rather than sideways....I would also like to read more details of the building process

[Santoro]

I like it.  Mus'tve been a pain to cut and bend the MDF.

[walls83]

that is really nice looking.

[Stingray]

Very unusual and refreshing design. I really like it so far. Should be a stunner with paint & artwork.

-S

[DrewKaree]

A painter who's afraid of paint should not call himself a "painter"

[IG-88]

Cool cab! Now how did you get that top curve figured and then made?

[acasualtourist]

Looks very kool.

I'm betting he bought curved plywood...

I could always be wrong though...

[MikeDeuce]

Awesome... love the unique take!

[arcadefever]

  unique design !!!!
where did you got the inspiration for that type of design

[Pixelhugger]

OK - that is one of my new favorite cabs. WOW! wowowowowow!! Please bend more MDF for the front kick panel. That'll make it feel like one solid mass.  My hat is off to you!!

[DrewKaree]

For all you guys wondering how he bent the MDF, take a closer look.  Do you see all those black marks?  Those are saw kerfs.  The MDF is run over a saw repeatedly in a uniform fashion to put lots of those cut lines (called "kerfs") in the material.  This helps the material bend easily.

[danny_galaga]

about my name (wich I've benn using for years), I have multiple reasons for it.
one is the word sounds funny, another is the red eyes going with the desease, wich are symptoms of hardcore gamers and smokers  ...

ahhhh!

moreover, as an art student, my work always uses epileptik colors and designs (an exemple of it : http://madframes.free.fr/ )
so I'm not an exotic desease lover!

hmmm, do you like Mondrian?

[mixomatosis]

I'm sorry not answering faster, but being in France I'm not synchronised at all with you !
(I just woke up, seeing all those questions and reactions ! nice !)

You're right about how I bend mdf, even if I'd have much trouble to say it myself in English !
" The MDF is run over a saw repeatedly in a uniform fashion to put lots of those cut lines (called "kerfs") in the material.  This helps the material bend easily. "
That's it ! the cut lines are 8 mm tall, on a 12 mm mdf.
After that it's glued and maintained squeed for a while.
The point is it's really really cheapper than curved plywood and not viewable at all from outside (the idea is not mine, I was told by a carpenter).

I just should fill the black holes with some "wood paste" for it to be perfect.

The design idea came to me after few experimentations about the usual cab shapes.
I had started working on a naomi-universal-cab-like this summer but then I remember the round shapes of the cab you can see in "Soylent green", the same that acasualtourist uses for his logo  ! I had seen it too in an exhibition called "Game On" (really cool) but couldn't remember exactly what it looked like.
Instead of looking for it I went for a few drawings, until I had the one I wanted...

You're right I should bend some more mdf at front kick panel, it'd match better with the drawing I did, moreover it would be easy with 3 mm mdf.

I'll do when I stop working all day long on it, needing some space for my knees !
you see I stopped painting few months ago and now I'm more working on computer-art...
did someone say I should not call himself a "painter" ?   

edit : s**t, my animated gif are not animated ! animations viewable here : http://mixo.matoz.free.fr/arcade_cab/gif.htm

[mixomatosis]

wow ! I've just seen the "Bob's space invader" cab, from danny_galaga's homepage (which cab seems really cool ! a rotating monitor ?!  ).
what a cab ! and what a site !
that's ok, when I'll have a moment people will scroll down rather than sideway on my site too... 

[MameMaster!]

wow, that's really neat an very original.

Nice job!.... 

[RetroACTIVE]

I really like your design... Very organic... and has a definite personality to it.  Almost as if it has an expression on its "face".

I'm so jealous of you creative types!

[nullb0y]

really nice wood working!

[teetu]

cool design

is the only way practical way to acheive the repeated saw kerfs with a table saw?  This really opens up some possibilities for me...

[DrewKaree]

It's the most "manageable" way to bend stuff. 

If you were looking to bend MDF, as far as I know, it WILL be the only way.

The other way to bend stuff is to use water.  Either soak or steam the piece of wood until it's pliable enough to bend.  You can do cold bending, which is just bending it and using some sort of mechanical fastener like nails, screws, glue, or a combination of those.  That way is a bunch harder and won't give you curves as nice as the other methods.

Use the kerfing method.  If you're worried about not putting the kerfs in the right place, build a sawboard (see the project announcements forum) and use your circ saw. 

[quarterback]

Wow! 

I've never been a fan of the "candy cabs" but even though yours shows some similarities in shape, I really dig what you've done.  The bent/curved wood looks fantastic! And I love the retro-ness of it.   Cool stuff!

[mixomatosis]

as DrewKaree said, another way to do the bendings would be using steam.

it would work efficiently with 3 mm mdf, simply left outside for a wet night (nothing sexual  ), or artificially steamed.
the point is it must be wet not only on the surface but inside too, and not too much for it to loose its aspect.
after that it should be maintained squeed (a bit more than the angle you need), until dry.

that's what I was going to do until my "carpenter-adviser" told me this other way, much stronger.

moreover, this 3 mm mdf method can't be used for bounds under ~15 cm radius, or it breaks or cracks. but it's an easier method.

I've seen a third method.
It's a wood I can't remember the name (and I've heard it only in french !), which must be around 3 mm thick with wrinkles on it.
It's quite expensive but really boundable, in fact it's nearly too much boundable, not really strong, and one should have to use wood paste to hide the wrinkles...
in fact it doesn't seem to be a good method, forget it  !

here the kerfs are around 1 cm far from each other and it's amazing how it's easy to give it the shape you want...

[RetroJames]

That's news to me! - http://www.retroblast.com/newsitem.php?cid=665

Great job man!

[missioncontrol]

That's news to me! - http://www.retroblast.com/newsitem.php?cid=665

Great job man!

RetroJames i'm not getting that page to load..

[RetroJames]

That's news to me! - http://www.retroblast.com/newsitem.php?cid=665

Great job man!

RetroJames i'm not getting that page to load..

Odd, try just going to the news section:  http://www.retroblast.com/news.php

[teetu]

Use the kerfing method.  If you're worried about not putting the kerfs in the right place, build a sawboard (see the project announcements forum) and use your circ saw. 

I do have a sawboard, but I'm thinking that the circular saw blade is too narrow.  Did he use a dado blade to do his- because they seem much wider. 

I'll give it a shot sometime and see what happens

[apeekaboo]

Nice and original cab! Lots of space on that controlpanel. Do you plan to add any more controls?

[DrewKaree]

It's a wood I can't remember the name (and I've heard it only in french !), which must be around 3 mm thick with wrinkles on it.
It's quite expensive

I think you're talking about bendable plywood.  It's just got some more elastic properties, but you're DEFINITELY right that it's more expensive.  I haven't ever dealt with it because normally, you can hide the kerfs, and that's the easiest of all the methods and the most controllable, so that's what I'd always use if at all possible.

I do have a sawboard, but I'm thinking that the circular saw blade is too narrow.  Did he use a dado blade to do his- because they seem much wider. 

The thickness of the blade doesn't matter at all.  What's MOST important is that you space the cuts evenly so the curve is nicely radiused without flat spots.  Once you start, you'll see what I mean.  Practice on a LOOOOONG piece of scrap so you can do several different widths to see what best fits for you.  What a thinner blade will most likely mean is that you have to put more kerfs into the piece, but the radius will be smoother and easier to hide.  With smaller kerfs, you also tend to have more control, since you can only bend it so far before one side of the kerf contacts the other side.

[mixomatosis]

I'm on RetroBlast !
cooool 

as apeekaboo was saying, the panel is quite large (60.4 cm).
And now that my candy machine is finished (if such a thing can really occur !), I may feel unconfortable : I want to build something !!

I've a stick and some buttons from my old dreamcast arcade stick (adapted years ago to feet on super famicom, psx, and computer) so I will transform the actual panel in a two-player panel when I have a second pcb to hack (I'm looking after a cheap Vibra Stick on ebay).

More interesting, I'm thinking about including a driving wheel in a new panel...
I think it could be really enjoyable, much better than on-the-knees-wheels.
I could take the case apart and try to feet it a bit into the panel for it not to be too much tall.

I'm gonna look at similar projects to see how people do it, I'm opened to any suggestion.

( The problem is I only have a Mad Catz playstation wheel.
Did someone managed to make it work on xbox ?

Or does anybody know a good not-too-expensive xbox wheel ? This info is not easy to find on the web... (In fact I may ask in a specialized forum  ) )

[missioncontrol]

I sugest paint the cabinet before moving on and calling it done.... It is a really great design and it would be a shame to leave it in an abandoned state...

but that's my 2 cents for you......

[danny_galaga]

wow ! I've just seen the "Bob's space invader" cab, from danny_galaga's homepage (which cab seems really cool ! a rotating monitor ?!  ).
what a cab ! and what a site !
that's ok, when I'll have a moment people will scroll down rather than sideway on my site too... 

yeah, he was very inspirational to me in that he got it done quickly with a really nice result. his construction diary starts:

28 Nov 03     Installed MAME on my home PC for the first time after reading about it that day. Played Galaga, had religious experience.


and finishes:


31 Dec 03      IT LIVES. My beautiful creature lives.



i dont know if bob is on this site, but thanks for showing me it CAN be done in something under a year!

[DrewKaree]

Any plans on putting a door on the bookcase looking shelves under there...please? 

[mixomatosis]

ok, I surrender  ,  my cab in not really finished at this state...
at least I should paint it, and find a way to hide both computer and xbox.

i think the perfect thing would be to bend some more mdf on the low part of the cab. it'd give a perfect solid shape. I just would have to put a door in it, which is not really complicated.
but because it's not only a gaming cab, I need space for my legs, so I think I'll had mdf in a few months, when I'm no more 'at home' student.
so DrewKaree, you're right, I could put a door (or two) for now. I'll be thinking about it.

in fact, what convinced me I should paint my cab (not thinking about all the people telling me I should do it, in this forum and much more in France !) is looking at other projects, like Bob's space invader, or KenToad's Bartop.
but I won't be able do it before summer, at least.
it leaves me much time to think about a well designed artwork...
I already have ideas, using few acid colors and simple signs.

so, except the 2 players panel and the wheel driving wheel panel I'm planing to build in a week or 2, my cab project is stopped "as it" for a while...

thanks for all your advises buddies  !!
and be sure you'll be noticed when I paint it !

[DrewKaree]

Is it done yet? 

[missioncontrol]

hurry up with it allready and make sure it looks good while your at it.....