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to convert or build ???

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MYX:


--- Quote from: ArtMAME on August 28, 2006, 09:09:11 pm ---If you want to avoid scorn and flames from the forum members, just remember this:

"Please be wise, do not baster-dize..."  ;D

--- End quote ---

Arf arf arf arf
 :laugh2:

Please repost that in the goofball tron thread.

My personal feeling is BUILD. Because then you can proudly say you did. When you look opon a hand built cab, there is a different feeling than a conversion. It takes no blood, sweat, or tears to spraypaint someone elses hard work.
There is a real satisfaction that comes from pressing a button on the front and watching this thing fire up to life and knowing...Heh, I friggin did that.

NightGod:


--- Quote from: MYX on August 28, 2006, 10:54:13 pm ---My personal feeling is BUILD. Because then you can proudly say you did. When you look opon a hand built cab, there is a different feeling than a conversion. It takes no blood, sweat, or tears to spraypaint someone elses hard work.
There is a real satisfaction that comes from pressing a button on the front and watching this thing fire up to life and knowing...Heh, I friggin did that.
--- End quote ---
That's exactly why I, with almost no woodworking experience (I don't think building a for when I was 10 really counts) dove right into a full-on build project. Is it perfect? Hardly. Was it expensive? Hell yeah. Is it easily one of the coolest things I've ever done in my life? You're ---goshdarn--- right it is (and I've done ALOT of cool stuff in the past).

I'm nearing completion on mine and I wouldn't trade it for a conversion project for anything. Maybe a futue project, sure, but I'm SO glad I went this route for my first machine.

ArtMAME:

My first project was actually a build, sort of... If you can call a bunch of 2x4s and some random cuts of MDF with a PC monitor sittin on it a build... it was butt ugly!!!

Then I did the conversion which came out nice.  Now I am building one modeled after my converted cab for a friend of mine. 

I really do enjoy building, I have intentions to build a cabaret and some cocktails after I finish this one.  I knew I could not build just one, there will be many builds of all shapes and sizes in my future I asure you... ;D

If you have the facilities and the know-how to build, by all means, do it.  If you don't, then now may be a good time to start acquiring tools, parts, experience, etc...  maybe you will have some room in that new house to start your own little workshop.  Good luck  :cheers:

More Cowbell:

I decided to build based on the fact that I wanted it to be perfectly suited to me (I'm tall). I was very happy with the product once finished and felt all of the pride of creating something awesome from nothing. I was almost disappointed when I was finished because, now what? The hobby is over? So now I find myself searching for cheap cabinets to either refurbish or refurbish/convert to MAME. I like the idea of having original cabinets and for those that I can't get all the way to original, at least I can get the cabinet looking original and throw MAME in there to reproduce the original game. I'm doing this with Defender, Berzerk, and Hyper Sports and I restored a Xevious to original playability. The wife has a hard time understanding why since all of these games are already playable on my MAME cabinet. I think I just drool at the thought of a whole arcade of games, all my own.

leapinlew:

I started off doing a conversion. I think the 2 biggest factors to be concerned with are time and money. If you are short on either - convert. Within 2 hours of bringing my first machine home - I had it gutted, cleaned up and ready to start repairing/painting/building. I was able to finish it in 5 days. Here is what it ended up looking like:



I learned an important lesson with this arcade. Hopefully this little tidbit of advice isn't lost on you. You can't do it all with a single machine! My first attempt I tried to mount 2 sets of 8 way controls. The CP just wasn't wide enough. Now this machine only handles 4 way games in a vertical format. This machine cost me over a $1,000 because I had to buy all the tools.

My second machine was a convert from a 1976 Lemans. It turned out like this:


It's a very clean conversion.

My 3rd machine was a jukebox which I built from scratch.

Not very smooth lines, but I actually need every bit of storage this box provides. I built the entire cabinet from my own plans. Quite a bit of time is spent designing the machine.

My last machine is a half and half showcase machine. I built the TV stand and converted the pedestal portion from a Combatribes converted from a Xenophobe. Here is a pick of it nearly finished -


To be honest, building or converting are near the same as far as I'm concerned. I showed you the pictures because I've done a little of both and although there is pride in saying "I built it from scratch" there is also a bit of nostalgia saying "This was a 1976 Atari LeMans game".

If you don't have the time/money to build a machine exactly how you want, convert something. Don't make the same mistake many people do and try to get 1 machine to do everything.





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