Control panel conversion...

[Animeka]

Hi everybody,

has anyone converted a cabinet like mine (http://www.animeka.net/mame.htm) to a larger control panel with everything on it? (tball/spinner/4way/2 8 ways)?

I'd like to see examples / get input on how to implement that... the front of the cab is not really meant to hold a big CP, so how would I go about defying gravity?

Thanks for the input!

Marc

[Vigo]

Yeah, that looks like a hard cab to fit a deluxe NASA panel, maybe you could make some sort of pedestal if you want to have everything.

[Kremmit]

You could fit everything but the 2 8-ways on to one other panel, and swap them back and forth as necessary, without making it look weird.

edit- After a 2nd look at your website, it appears that's exactly what you've already got, so I guess you've already determined that you'd prefer not to swap panels anymore. 

How about making a 2-tiered panel, that sticks out the front of the machine a little more?  Lemme see if I can do a quick drawing..

[Kremmit]

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[Animeka]

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Good idea, but I'd probably reverse the layout, putting the tball, 4 way and spinner on top and the 2 x 8 ways at the bottom, the trackball being so big...  or would the 8 ways be in the way?

This is a friend's cab, he finished it this week... I was thinking of doing something similar (but smaller) but fitting this on the cabinet I have is kinda hard...

Marc

[severdhed]

my cabinet was a bit different than yours, but it also had a small control panel in it...i cut out part of the cabinet sides in order to accomodate a larger panel.


it isnt done yet, but you can check out a few pics of the process....

http://www.severdhed.com/

[Vigo]

Animeka, is cutting your machine an option for you? If so, I would go with severedhed's approach, if not, you are going to have space issues, and will have to do either a tiered approach like kremmit suggested. I once tried to make a deluxe control panel on a 4 player cabinet, and there wasn't enough room. (I wanted a 3 inch trackball though). I'm going with swappable control panels now. You may just want to make a control panel that just spills over and you just need to be careful about weight distribution (make sure that you will not put pressure too close to the front of the control panel). With some effort and thought though, you cold probably do something like this without cutting into your cab.

[Animeka]

Animeka, is cutting your machine an option for you? If so, I would go with severedhed's approach, if not, you are going to have space issues, and will have to do either a tiered approach like kremmit suggested. I once tried to make a deluxe control panel on a 4 player cabinet, and there wasn't enough room. (I wanted a 3 inch trackball though). I'm going with swappable control panels now. You may just want to make a control panel that just spills over and you just need to be careful about weight distribution (make sure that you will not put pressure too close to the front of the control panel). With some effort and thought though, you cold probably do something like this without cutting into your cab.

Cutting could be an option but more of a last resort... I'm gonna see if I can fit the spinner and 4 way on my current panel, and then build an "add-on" for the 3" tball...

I really dont want a square box, that's for sure so both suggestions look good to me so far...

Keep em coming! If anyone has pix of a similar cab with a job like i'm looking at doing, I'd like to see real life examples

Marc

[jelwell]

I never said it was pretty:
http://singleclick.com/gallery/v/Joe-Elwell/album324/DSC06514.jpg.html

You can see that I basically used a couple of L-Brackets to affix a base board to hold the weight of the monstrous control panel. The control panel is cut to the exact width of my old control panel (for the top 4 inches or so) so that it fits right in place (even using the same screw holes) as the old panel.

You can also see that I didn't cut the sides or front (or anything) of the old cabinet. The new control panel rests ontop of the existing structure - including the t-molded sides of the cabinet!

There are ton of other photos in that album that show you what it looks like with out the control panel as well as with the control panel properly mounted.

Here's what the old control panel (still in my garage) looked like:
http://singleclick.com/gallery/v/Joe-Elwell/album220/DSC04544.jpg.html

Joseph Elwell.

[Animeka]

rofl... that's exactly the same kind of panel i have... (the metal one). Do you enjoy your cab more with an all-in-one setup?

Thanks for the pictures... Gives me ideas, exactly what I need

Marc

[Kremmit]

I'd probably reverse the layout, putting the tball, 4 way and spinner on top and the 2 x 8 ways at the bottom, the trackball being so big...  or would the 8 ways be in the way?

Yeah, something like that probably would work better- I wasn't really thinking about the layout, just the basic concept.  I've just never cared for control panels that stick way out on the sides- just looks wrong to me.