Pixelbox

[vrf]

umm... doesn't the CPO vinyl have a self-adhesive backing?

[psychotech]

eh...

So, I have missed a post (or two) along the line.. Sorry It's just that on Tomatocade the graphics are sandwiched between the CP and the plexi ..as they'll be on my next 'top also.. Well, not too feasible or sensible with Pixelbox, I'd guess 

Still, more pix! Can't wait

[leapinlew]

Your graphics are pretty simple - I wonder how etching would do? A chemical solution like they use on glass.

[vrf]

I'm not familiar with the etching process, although I'd briefly considered raster engraving. (This is also done with a laser.) I think I'm going to go with an overlay, though, because the acrylic is really a fingerprint magnet. Especially the black!

[madmarzon]

Hi,
just jumping back to your post on your trackball. I have been looking for a small trackball for my CP and have been looking at a local manufacturer here in the UK. I know they have resellers worldwide under a lot of different brands. First URL shows their product which seems to be similar to the product you bought. The second is the one I'm after.

http://www.cursorcontrols.com/P38_standard.html

http://www.cursorcontrols.com/P38_squaremount.html

My question is now you have it, does it feel like its a good trackball for gaming and did you get one with the backlit option?

Congrats on your project, it looks like a very slick little beast.
I had one of these when I was just knee hi to a grasshopper
http://www.handheldmuseum.com/Grandstand/Astro.htm

[vrf]

yup, that looks like my trackball. I don't have the translucent backlit ball--just the regular black one.

As far as performance, it is not a real arcade trackball. Doesn't spin nearly as long. However, it is better than what I thought I'd get in this size. You can get some spin if you give it a good little whack. It is certainly a well-built little trackball.

I'd be interested in how the stainless stell ball performs. I didn't know that option was available. (I got mine from Ponyboy, who resells Happ-branded stuff.)

Hmm... I wonder what kind of price you can get from the manufacturer or other vendors.

[blueznl]

MadMarzon, I think you're in the UK, where did you plan to buy that unit? Directly at the manufacturer or do you have a reseller?

[madmarzon]

I have a contact at the manufacturer (they are only 30 miles away) and they have also given me a sales contact at Micromark.net. I havent got round to chasing it up yet as Ive been busy with my cab and other controls (dead minipac) and a new job. I seem to recall coming across a p50 for about £50 from another UK distributor listed on cursor controls site.
I will make a post if I make any progress.

have just had a digg
http://uk.farnell.com/jsp/search2/browse.jsp?N=500015+1004063&Ntk=gensearch_001&Ntt=trackerball&Ntx=
stainless looks pricey but they arent cursor contol models.
unsealed p38 for £48. with usb out doesnt sound too bad

look here for wordwide distributors
http://www.cursorcontrols.com/contact_distributors.html

heres a company in belgium using them
http://www.nsi-be.com/pointing.htm
 

[vrf]

I have a contact at the manufacturer (they are only 30 miles away) and they have also given me a sales contact at Micromark.net. I havent got round to chasing it up yet as Ive been busy with my cab and other controls (dead minipac) and a new job. I seem to recall coming across a p50 for about £50 from another UK distributor listed on cursor controls site.
I will make a post if I make any progress.

have just had a digg
http://uk.farnell.com/jsp/search2/browse.jsp?N=500015+1004063&Ntk=gensearch_001&Ntt=trackerball&Ntx=
stainless looks pricey but they arent cursor contol models.
unsealed p38 for £48. with usb out doesnt sound too bad

 

Looks like good prices, although it appears they don't stock the USB one anymore. Or maybe I missed something...

[vrf]

Got a bit of the assembly done this week. Still lots to do, though.





Regarding the DIY acrylic cement, if anyone's interested in trying it: It's awesome. A little tricky to work with--like plasticky rubber cement--but it welds the pieces together very well. (I cut my hand trying to force apart two pieces of test acrylic.)

Two things, though: First, the vapor point of the acetone-based cement is very high, so you have to work very quickly or it will evaporate on you before you get the piece in place. Secondly, if you're sloppy, it's easy to notice because the cement streaks turn into a whitish color. They do scrap/sand off though, so it's not a big deal.

[javeryh]

Awesome!  I love how tiny this thing is.  You are doing a great job so far - keep it up! 

[vrf]

building, building... what fun. Not much time to work this week, but a little progress. Tried out a couple of frontends, too. Still not sure on that question. (Maybe GameEx so I don't have to spend much time figuring out how to tweak everything?)



And yeah, that's my "workshop." You can maybe understand now why I couldn't build an upright cab. (Someday we'll have a house, though. )

[Dudeman]

Holy crap! That's you're workshop!?!!?!

I'll never complain about my lack of space again.

[Unholyknight]

Great work so far!  For the quality and look of your build, its coming along pretty quick, can't wait to see it finished.

After I finish my Megalo 410 project I would love to build a tabletop MAME cab.

[leapinlew]

vrf!

How dare you not give us mid-construction photos!  I'm dying to know how this plastic is held together.

[Dmod]

And yeah, that's my "workshop." You can maybe understand now why I couldn't build an upright cab. (Someday we'll have a house, though. )

You'd have plenty of room to build a cocktail on top of that washer/dryer if you'd just bother to tidy up once in a while.  Seriously... do you really need that jar of pickles on the workbench?

Great job on the build.  This thing is just awesome.   

[vrf]

Tidy up?  Everything on top of the appliances right now is being used in the project. The pickle jar holds my DIY acrylic cement. Usually you can see the washer/dryer.

Actually, for a Taipei apartment, our place isn't too bad. It's a three bedroom flat, but there isn't really a place to have a work bench or anything. The kitchen table was not an option.

Lew, sorry about the lack of construction pics. It's hard to stop for pictures once you've reached the "hands on" part of the project. I'll try to do better, though. Maybe later I'll can put together a better explanation of how this came together.

It's not clear from the pics so far, but the side walls actually have another layer on the inside. So it's one 6mm layer on the outside, and the 3mm notched layer laminated on the inside. Most of these grooves and holes on this 3mm layer are then "plugged" with 6mm cutouts. The others receive notched cross sections. So the other panels like the top, back, bottom, side, etc, either sit on the cutouts or fit into the holes tongue-n-groove style. Hope that's clear.

Here's a pic of the two side layers. (These two are for the right side.)

[kizer]

Small workshop for a small bartop. Either way I think your project rocks.

I dig the baby toy on the floor. I think my boy had the same one.

[vrf]

We moved the baby toy out there because our toddler just wasn't interested anymore. But #2 is coming in May, so it'll get some more use. 

Here are a few more random pics, although not the real WIP shots that Lew wanted. (Sorry.) You can see how I was kind of messy with the glue inside the case. I'll probably spend some time cleaning it up as I get closer to done.

[vrf]

And a few more shots of the control panel...

[Dmod]

Nice pics.  Why'd you have to rout out the button holes?

[melarky]

yeah, I was wondering the same thing about routing the button holes?

[NiteWalker]

The thickest material sanwa buttons can be mounted in without removing some material is 4mm.

[Witchboard]

Right, the snap-in kind.

[vrf]

yup, they're snap-in Sanwas. The 24mm ones. (They don't make screw-ins this small.)

The back of the panel isn't really routed out in the way you might be thinking. The panel is made of three layers. The bottom two layers were cut with that big hole for the button area.

[NiteWalker]

They do make 24mm screw ins, there are just not available in as many colors.

[vrf]

yeah, there's the 24mm Seimitsu screw-ins, although the info at Himura Amusements says they only come in black.

Hmm.... now that Himura Amusements has gone belly-up, I wonder where people get Sanwa parts from these days...

EDIT: oh, I guess they do have more variety in 24mm screw-ins:

http://www.gremlinsolutions.co.uk/products/obsn-24.htm

I should have done more research!

[quick2shoot]

OMG!  I think I'm in love.....

I wanted to use acrylic for my (somewhat larger) bartop, but i don't know enough about it to work with it...
Pixelbox  is just so... awesomely small....
Bravo! 

(now how to get him to ship me one!) 

[leapinlew]

I should have done more research!

No... don't start thinking like that. You've done enough for 4 people. 

[blueznl]

Dang, nice and compact design! Wow! I could finally appreciate the scale with stick and buttons in place, it's SMALL (and, for a change, that's a good thing  ).

[javeryh]

I love this project.  It is really coming out nice.  I'm betting a ton of imitators will follow once everyone sees how small you can make a MAME cabinet.  Keep the pics coming!!   

[vrf]

Thanks guys for the nice feedback!

Trying to decide if I'm going to do some sideart or just leave it black. (I'm leaning towards sideart to match the CPO because this stuff gets smudged up so easily.)







I printed out several of these thumb-nailed blanks of my profile to be able to doodle and hopefully stumble across a good pattern. Nothing is really grabbing me so far.



I kind of like some of the designs that you see on motorcycle racing helmets.



(and if you really squint, my profile does look a bit like a helmet.)

[Loki]

Wow! That looks really nice!
To be honest.. I like the clean look.

[Aurich]

yeah, there's the 24mm Seimitsu screw-ins, although the info at Himura Amusements says they only come in black.

Hmm.... now that Himura Amusements has gone belly-up, I wonder where people get Sanwa parts from these days...

http://akihabarashop.com/products.html

Bit late now since you routed it already, but if you do it again good to know.

I love using the snap ins though, after threading Happ buttons it's so damn satisfying.

[javeryh]

If you do decide on some side art (I don't think you need it... yet - maybe try living with it for a while before rushing to a decision?) you MUST make it look pixelated.  I command it!   

[spacies]

NICE WORK!!!

This is a absolutely awesome little machine.
Great planning and design dude.

I think once you have you CPO, marquee and bezel in place you will find you wont need any side art.
Besides, it will take away that glossy look.

But at the end of the day its up to you. Maybe a couple of simple stripes running vertical near the back of the machine would be enough to break it?     Just a thought.

Look forward to more progress   

[odysseyroc]

I say no side art. What you have right now is absolute perfection, no need to mess with it. This is easily my favorite project and there has been a ton of great projects here.

[psychotech]

Awesome!

Looks REALLY good ..and my vote is NO sideart  ..as long as the perfect mirrorlike surface survives. Add sideart later ..after you've scratched it beyond repair, like in a month .. 

Really, that's a great build.

Psycho.

[theCoder]

Holy cow!  Blink and look what happens.  I remember 8 months back when you were dying to get to the states to get the plastic cut.

What are you going to do on the bottom to keep it from sliding around?

Regarding side art... putting something on will reduce the "fingerprint magnet" surface area.  I kinda like the horizontal strips in your sketch; like air vents or molded plastic.  You obviously want to go with a good printer/supplier.  Or, you can do as others have recommended and leave it alone.  At least until you get that inevitable nasty scratch in one of the sides.

What does it weigh?  You've probably got the lightest box to date.

It must feel good to have your long term planning finally materialized.  You should be proud.

[vrf]

Thanks for the comments.

Regarding the bottom, I have some rubber grippy stuff that I'll be fixing to the bottom access panel. Should hold it in place. I actually wonder if it's really needed. I "practiced" getting really aggressive with the controls and the box was pretty solid. Must be the lighter touch of the Sanwa stick. Also, my hands rest on the control panel which tends to hold the whole thing down. But I'll still put the rubber padding on.

Sounds like people like the plain black sides. The acrylic is reasonably scratch resistant, so maybe I'll leave it. Definitely not fingerprint resistant, though. (Maybe I can have a "no touching" sign...    )

Still lots of work to do before it hits the party scene, though. Just an empty box right now.