Best Cabinet Design

[killr0y]

What is your opinion on the best cabinet design?  LuSid's? Scott's?  

Is there a web page that has a list of cab designs with links to them?  Its a pain in the ass going thru 30 different pages to find a design!

I'm primarily looking for a design like this one:


But the thing is, the design plans are based on Scott's Unicade and his plans aren't very easy to work with for a novice such as myself.  I'm not really concerned with having such a heavy duty frame, I just like the shape of the cab.  Any ideas on what other cab designs I should look at?

Thx

[Nailz]

I used Lusids, and modified the control panel to fit my needs.  His plans were extremely easy to follow, even for a non-handy all thumbs guy like myself.  

[killr0y]

You're right, lusid's design is pretty easy to understand.  I'll just modify the profile a little since I like a more angled monitor area.  I also like the more squared-up marquee vs. just using the speaker panel angle.   At least w/ lusid's design I can read it and more easily modify it.  I'm using 3/4" MDF all around (except the control panel which will be 1/2" with 1/4" plexiglas (so I can still use my 3/4" T-molding around it).   I figure with 3/4", I shouldn't have to worry about sturdiness...

[rampy]

What is your opinion on the best cabinet design?  LuSid's? Scott's?  

Is there a web page that has a list of cab designs with links to them?  Its a pain in the ass going thru 30 different pages to find a design!

Heh, that's part of the fun of BYOAC'ing... that's where you pick up the most ideas/do's and don'ts, tips etc.. by surfing through all the examples to get a feel for what you like/don't like, and what works and what doesnt....  and if you did do that, YOU could make a page that has a list of different cab designs in order to save work for the next newbie =P
(that sounds like a rip, but i'm kinda serious)

have you also looked at ultimte arcades stuff and mameroom had some plans too (unless i'm getting confused).

*shrug*

Good luck with your project - take lots of pics and post 'em somewhere.

Rampy

[PoDunkMoFo]

Just a note of caution on modified plans.  I usid Lucids plans as a starting point then I kind of played with the mounting height of the control panel going by my memory on how high the control panels were on my favorite arcade games from my youth.  I then modified the plans to fit that height.
Well let's just say that I forgot about the fact that I was 13 and quite a bit shorter back then.  My cabinet is a monster and I can only put it in rooms that have double doors.  The last time I moved it I had to pull my sliding glass doors.  I am curently thinking of doing a new cab and creating a gauntlet cab from scratch.  This time I will not go from memory.

[djsting]

If you choose large control pannels such as 4-player, try making it removable just like the real arcade cabinets are.  This should make getting it in and out of a standard door much easier.

[PoDunkMoFo]

Yeah my cp is removable and the damn thing still won't fit thru a standard door.

[unclet]

I loved Scott's Unicade andthat is what I used.  When I first looked at his site, I was afraid I would not be able to do it since he knotched out the 2x4 (dattos..?) to join them together.   This was way out of my league since I did not have the tooling to make such cuts.  This was the most scary part of duplicating Scott's design.

I went to Home Depot (hardware store) and found that they sell metal pieces (many different types and styles) which allow you to join 2x4s together easily.   I think they are called "angle brackets".   They should be in the roofing area since they are primarily used for joining roof trusses and 2x4s together.  Anyway, this is what I did and it was a piece of cake.  Once I got the skeleton together, I added the side panels and continued just like Scott's detailed pictures show.   It turned out great and was not hard at all....just a lot of planning and replanning before cutting .... and overall time of course...  Basically, I think Scott's design is most informative and quite well worth it, but I would admit seeing the knotched 2x4s almost scared me away from it before I realized these angle brackets could make that step idiot-proof.

PS:  I do not have a website so I can not show you pictures of the final cabinet, but if anyone wants me to send them pictures of the cabinet I will.  Just email me at emailAddrRemoved requesting them.