Dowdy's Mame Arcade!!! ***FINISHED***

[rdowdy95]

Haven't posted in a while.  I have been doing some sanding and staining lately though.  The inside of the cabniet sides are now stained.  Also the top panel and the back bottom panel are stained as well. 

Today I test fitted the speaker shelf inside the cabniet.  Now I need to mount the strips.  I am using 2x2s as my mounting strips, but need to cut the strips length wise to 18".  Then I need to cut the speaker holes before screwing it into place.  Once I get all panel pieces and shelf pieces inside I need to lay cabniet down on it's side to rout the groove for T-Molding.  I am going to order the T-Molding first though so I can test it out on some scrap 3/4" wood.  Here are some pics.  Also put up a 100watt bul in the garage.  Makes things easier to see!

[leapinlew]

Once I get all panel pieces and shelf pieces inside I need to lay cabniet down on it's side to rout the groove for T-Molding. 

Also put up a 100watt bul in the garage.  Makes things easier to see!

LoL. Thanks for the light bulb pic! You may want to consider getting a worklight. They are good and bright and if I remember right, they aren't that expensive. Like $15 for a big double halogen light.

As for the t-molding, I know that you don't do a lot of woodworking. This next step could be very dangerous. Many people route thier cabinets before they assemble them. The reason being is it's easier, but also because there won't be any screws in the way of the slot cutter. If the slot cutter hits a screw the router could easily fly out of the track and into your face.

...

Hmm, that needs more emphasis - the router can hit you right in your FACE!.

Much better.

Make sure there aren't any screws in the way of your slot cutter bit. Route carefully.

[rdowdy95]

Hey Leapin,

I know what you mean.  I have made sure that all of my panel pieces are put in at a 3/4" depth.  I also have used the slot cutting on a scrap piece of wood, and stuck a thin ruler in the wood to see how far the depth the slot cut went, and as long as I keep putting the panel pieces in deep like that plus my screws going into the strips are no where near the outskirts of the cabniet to be a problem.  Definately something to look for.  Before I do the cutting I will also double check and triple check from all sides.  Thanks buddy for watching my back.

[rdowdy95]

This is just a couple of pics of the monitor shelf inside.  I had to recut another piece cause the prior monitor shelf wasn't wide enough.  So today I am going to finish sanding and staining just the top of the monitor shelf.  Then I will fasten it in the cab with the screws and shelf brackets.

[rdowdy95]

Here is a pic I took tonight.  I finally figured out the perfect way to stain.  I am using the T-Shirt rags from Home Depot.  Wiping stain on thin and making sure there is no standing thick stain on the pieces.  I am wiping off the excess very good.  Also using 500 grit sanding discs.  Very smooth finish!  I do need to redo the back panel piece because I didn't know the staining secrets.  I am not going to redo the top cab piece no one will put there hand up there and rub that piece.

This Friday I should get the T-Molding in the mail as long as UPS is good to me.  Then I can cut the slot sometime this weekend.  Then I can bring the thing in the house and finish the big piece up inside.  Once that is all done I will work on the control panel box.

[rdowdy95]

Yesterday I cut my slot for T-molding.  I did pretty much all around the cab except for the bottom.  What I need to do tonight is sand both sides then blow out all the saw dust stuff.  I am wanting to bring it into the house.  I need to get two more panels screwed in.  I also need to get the coin door installed.  It is just getting too cold in the garage, and I don't want my wood to get warped.

[rdowdy95]

PS: Hey Leapin my face is intact.  I played it safe as normal with the router.  Took a long time though.  I had to up my Ryobi to the B Speed cause A speed wasn't cutting it.  No Pun intended.  I am going to get the whole big part of the cab done. 

I am going to redo my control panel box since the wood pieces I cut were sucky and warped.  Then my control panel top the wood had a big void in it.  I have a 2x4 piece of the birch ply in my bed room that I checked real good for screwups.  I hope it stays nice and flat I have it propped up agasinst my bedroom wall, but the climate is good so it should be okay untill I am read to do my control panel.  I still have my other control panel top that I will use as a router template so that will make that part go quickly.  I want to get this done by Thanksgiving, but it is looking to be more like Christmas.  I just think the Control Panel Box is going to be tough.  No so much drilling the holes in the top as it is just getting the CP box to fit real nice.

[miles2912]

Looking great man.  This is the fun part.. go slow and enjoy it.  Just make sure you plan the next step well ahead of doing it.  When you go to sleep and all you can think of is the cab you are on the right path  .


D-

[leapinlew]

I have it propped up agasinst my bedroom wall

Ahh yes! I remember this... You start in the garage, then move a few peices in the living room and kitchen. Next thing you know you have crap all over the house.

Your in deep now!

[rdowdy95]

We moved the cab inside the house tonight.  Wasn't that bad I chipped a lil 1 inch piece on the bottom but nothing a little wood filler won't fix.  My son is pumped.  He keeps saying, "Daddy lets play games"!  I say what kind.  He says, "Basketball, Soccer, Football....etc.  All sports stuff.  LOL!  So I am going to have to get some NBA Jam on there!

[rdowdy95]

I am in the process right now of staining the back angled piece of my cab.  I have put the TV Power Button, and the Computer Power Button on this angled section.  Last night I hacked up a cheap $7 RCA Universal Remote!  Did the stuff that one user did.  Extended the IR and wired a pushbutton.  I am not totally done yet.  I soldered the IR.  Total Ghetto job, but hell I haven't used a solder iron since 1996.  I am hoping it will stay.  I need to electrical tape a +and- wire to the power button area on the circuit board, and then I will be done with it.  Won't complete it till I put the back angled section on there.  Thing that makes it hard is that the back of it is the batteries.  Sometimes the board wants to pop up when I move it loosening the batteries.  So I need to secure it down with electrical tape  nothing is on the top of it.  I guess I will lay the top of the remote on top loosely.  So dust won't get i there.  But my computer is sometimes dusty I think it will be okay.

[rdowdy95]

Put T-molding on the cab last night.  I will update with pics this weekend.  I want to get more work done on it though.  I have been lazy in the cab building.  I still need to get a 2nd coat on the back angled section, and need to work on the main power button to the cab.

[javeryh]

Looking good!  These things really are a blast to build, aren't they?

[rdowdy95]

Hey guys.  Lately I have just been doing some wiring here and there.  I have got things ready for a dedicated TV Power button (AKA Hacked remote) and main power button w/ the Smartstrip.

Anyways here is a picture of my marquee, TV, and son.  My son won't be in the final build, but he may play some sports games on here with me.

The second pic is the Happ Bezel.  It doesn't lay perfectly flat against the TV so I have it pulled away and centered a bit more.  The TV casing permits me from laying it all the way down on the glass.  No worries though once I get some velcro strips on the bezel it will look nice.  The other thing I have to do is trim the bottom of the bezel.

The TV has this circular base that barely fits in the cab so I will have to cut out a bottom notch for it when I trim up the bottom part of the monitor bezel.  No one will see it though due to the control panel in the way.  I also have to attach my front panel and get the coin door attached to it.

The coin door panel is cut out and ready to go.  I just have to drill for the carriage bolts and what not. 

So this weeks job is to get the bezel finished cut.  Get some velcro for it, and possibly get the front door on there.

Later on I will work on building the computer, and last but not least get the control panel box started.

[rdowdy95]

My main thing I am going to be working on this weekend hopefully is the control panel box.  I did manage to get the audio amp and computer all wired up.  I guess computer is not fully wired since I have not wired the main power button for the computer and the smartstrip.

Anyways here is some pictures of NBA Jam, my son's favorite game, Ms. Pac-Man, and my MameWah layout.

Enjoy.

[rdowdy95]

It has been a while since I posted.  Fellow byoac member LeapinLew thought I had routered my face off so I thought I would give you an update. 

I currently have the coin door on my system.  Also I need to still wire the coin door lights to the PSU and I need to wire my powerbutton to the outside of the cabinet. 

I am currently working on the design of the control panel box.  It is the Lucid/Project Arcade style.  Thanks to LeapinLew to pointing me in the right direction I have the template I wanted for the joystick and the six button layout.  I also have the trackball template.  I just need to lay them on the control panel top, and then tape them on and cut the holes and trackball stuff.  I now have laid butcher paper on top of the control panel top and have it taped to draw lines on it as I see fit to go along with the paper templates.

I also need to order my T-Molding for the control panel top and stuff like that.  Also need to order the IPAC2 and the Tornado Spinner.

[rdowdy95]

Hello everyone,

Sorry it has been awhile since I last updated you on my progress.  Right now here is where I am in my progress.  I still haven't wired the power button to the computer nor have I wired the coin door lights.  This can be done on a free afternoon.  My main thing I am doing is I am setting up some ahk scripts for my House of the Dead PC games.  These scripts start the game, and esc the game by pressing the esc button on my control panel.

I have started cutting holes with the forstner bit.  The bit is slow, but the circles are very nice.  Trackball cutout is done as well.  I need to get in gear I have about 18 more button holes to cut.  When i get that done I will cut the little hole for the slik stick tornado spinner which I also have. 

I did make my mind up on a keyboard encoder and am now the proud owner of a KeyWiz Max 1.5 by Groovygamegear.com.  So that is where I am on the project.  LeapinLew has been wanting me to update more.

I still need to order about 10 more feet of T-molding to go around the control panel top.  I also need to get some little scrap pieces of wood to go around the underside of the control panel top to keep it in place, and use some velcro to hold it down as well.  Before all that though I need to cut the rest of the holes, and sand/stain the control panel box.  I will get some pictures tonight or atleast I will try. 

I need to quit playing my Xbox 360 and that Gears of War game.

[rdowdy95]

Well still I haven't posted any new pics.  I know that sucks.  I also had my PSU go out on me.  It was one of those cheapos that came with the case, so I can't play any of my games till I get the new one.  This will get me going on other things though.  I need to cut my slot for T-molding, and I need to sand and stain my control panel.  Then I need to work on getting the velcro attached to the underside of the top portion and so forth.  Like the enegizer bunny still going still going....

[rdowdy95]

As usual it has been awhile since I have last updated.  I did get my new power supply in.  It works like a charm.  I have scraped away the carbon on my universal remote, and the taped + & - wire works way better.  All software and games are installed and it all works perfectly.  I recently picked up the Xbox 360 Wireless Gaming Receiver for Windows XP/Vista.  It works like a charm.  It allows me to use wireless Xbox 360 devices with the arcade.  Since I have a two player cab whoever comes over to play 3 player or 4 player games....Well the 3rd and 4th player can use the Xbox 360 remotes.  See pic below.

[rdowdy95]

oops.  No pic.  I hate when that happens. 

[rdowdy95]

Back in January 27th of 2006 I took the following picture of my control panel template.  I used some butcher paper, and some templates from the Project Arcade book.  So here is a picture of that.  I used tape to keep the template attached to the actual control panel top.  Can someone say BRILLIANT!  Just Kidding!

[rdowdy95]

Here is some pics of my control panel box and control panel top.  I just finished assembling these this past week.  I attached the little mounting strips to the underside of the control panel top with wood glue and a screw.  i drilled the screw through the black velcro as well. 

The control panel box is all assembled and I just attached those mounting strips to the control panel box with wood glue.  I didn't use any screws for those.  I didn't want to splinter the wood in between the ply of the mounting strips.

Both of these need to be sanded and stained sometime this week.  So I can start installing buttons and joysticks.  Then comes the fun part.....WIRING!!!

Here are some pics. 

[rdowdy95]

Now as of right now the Arcade of mine looks something like this.....Oh also I haven' taken a pic yet, but I have some red superbright LEDS behind the coin labels.  They glow a nice red...

[AMDman13]

rdowdy95

If you get a chance I would love to see a picture of the Red LED's behind your coin mechs.

[rdowdy95]

You bet man.  I will take a picture of my current setup tonight.  Still in the wiring phase.  I also need to stain the back of the control panel box.  I am adding some more microswitches at the moment.  Then I will do some wiring to the setup.

[rdowdy95]

Okay sorry it has taken so long to get some more pics online.  As we stand now, I have to wait till tommorow to go back to Radio Shack since today is Easter Sunday.  I bought the wrong black wire and I got solid core instead of the stranded stuff.  BAH!!!  Anyway here is some pics of my coindoor and lights.  Also some pics of my custom layout in Mamewah!

[rdowdy95]

Here are some shots of my control panel.  The ground wires are not hooked up yet, but this is it.  Haven't tested nothing out yet, but once I get all the ground wires done I can't wait to try this thing out on my arcade cab!

[AMDman13]

Looks great Dowdy! Like everyone say's try to take your time and enjoy the build. I know when I was building mine the problems were always caused because I couldn't wait to finish! Reading through your project brought back memories from last year for me. All I could think about was my Cab. Now one year later I only think about my cab 95% of the time .

[rdowdy95]

Yeah once I get it moved to my computer office room it will be all finished.  Then I am going to go through all 475 games and make sure they are all setup to where I can play them.  Also need to make some instruction cards and what not.  Prolly put instructions close to it on the wall.

[rdowdy95]

Well I should of posted this on Saturday the 14th of April, but I was too busy playing my finished Arcade.  Let me tell you this was monumental for me.  My last bit of wiring I was saying to my self OMG it is almost finished. 

So on Saturday I put my Happ Control Panel Clamps on.  I didn't test, but what I did I lined them up and went about 2mm below the bottom parts original hole markings, and at 2mm they are a nice snug fit.

On the wiring I hooked up a power button to lead into the computer's motherboard.  I had to retape some electrical tape to my hacked up TV Remote to get it working again since the wires got jiggled off the contact.

I fired it up and started to test all the buttons (using keywiz max 1.5).  Everything worked except the coin buttons.  I had the coin buttons from my blue pushbuttons located by the P1 Start and P2 Start.  Anyways so I flipped the control panel over and tested just the blue buttons they worked, then I put the wires in from the coin mech, and they constantly press 5s or 6s.  So I found out they were in the Normally Open position, so once I set the switches to normally closed everything worked.  I also looped the grounds to play it safe on my daisy chain. 

The first game I tested was Street Fighter 2, then I played some Pac-Man, tested my spinner on some Arkanoid, and tried Golden Tee Golf with my trackball for the first time ever.  I am currently setting up some of my buttons in MAME and tweaking sound in some of the Midway games, but all I got to say is I love my creation.

I just want to say thanks for my family for being patient with me while I bought and built all this stuff, and a special thanks to all of you fellow BYOAC guys out there!  Thanks alot.  I will get my pics up soon of the finished product.  I haven't uploaded them yet because I am still taking some pics and having fun playing my Arcade.  My Dad is coming over tonight to play, and my wife actually played alot yesterday.  We ran through the X-Men beatem up game and won that game.  It was fun.  The cool thing about Building Your Own Arcade is it is hard work, but once it is built the whole family can enjoy it and there are games for all ages on there.

Thanks again I will get some pics up soon.

[javeryh]

Congrats!  Let's see those finished pictures!!!

[leapinlew]

Damn. I had a bet that you wouldn't survive this build. 

Congratulations. Now that your a veteran stay around and help out the new noobs.

[Kaytrim]

 A long time coming.  please

[rdowdy95]

Okay guys sorry it took so long.  Here are some of the pics of the finished product.  These were taken on Saturday, April 14th 2007.  Here they are.  Enjoy!  I will also be staying on the boards to help some of the noobs.  If I can build one of these things anyone can.

[rdowdy95]

Here are some pics of my dad and my son, John playing some NBA Hangtime.  The last pic is of my dad playing one of his oldschool favorites Galaga.

The funny thing about the NBA Showtime game was my son actually won by one point.  He was using Chicago with Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman and my dad was using Houston with Olajuwon and Drexler.  Another thing that is neat is that my son is almost 3 years old and my dad is almost 63 years old.  Pretty cool old and young gamers unite!

[Kaytrim]

Here are some pics of my dad and my son, John playing ...

Just goes to show that you are never too young or too old to enjoy video games.   

[javeryh]

   Beautiful job!  Everything really came together nicely - it's so cool to see people enjoying it too.  I think that's the best feeling when you're done building.  Definitely stick around to help the noobs - plus, I'm betting you'lll be starting another cabinet sooner or later!

 

[rdowdy95]

I sent out an e-mail last night around 7pm, and one of my friends came by at about 8:30 to play Ms. Pacman, and he loved it.  It is cool to see your friends and family play the machine.

[Kaytrim]

I sent out an e-mail last night around 7pm, and one of my friends came by at about 8:30 to play Ms. Pacman, and he loved it.  It is cool to see your friends and family play the machine.

That is a for sure.  Even though my test cab is a piece of junk everyone that spends some time on it has a blast.  This is the best argument that I have against my wife.  Especially now that my son has friends come over from time to time.  I actually had a tournament on it when he had his birthday party.  The boys couldn't get enough.  One of them even had to be dragged away by his mother.

[Chapel]

Excellent work, love the Marquee!


Chapel