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Author Topic: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab  (Read 120171 times)

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theCoder

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #80 on: November 03, 2006, 10:06:39 pm »
No Saw at Home Depot
I picked up a sheet of pressboard at my local Home Depot the other day.  My car isn’t big enough to handle a 4x8 sheet, and I really only needed a 2 ft. section.  Unfortunately their saw was broke.  I freaked out a couple of customers in they isle by placing the sheet on the floor, putting a 2x4 on it, standing on it, then pulling the sheet ‘til it snapped.  I brought the mangled pieces of wood to the checker and paid for it.  It was great.

Wheels
This cab is going to be big and heavy.  Initially I thought of putting 4 or 6 wheels underneath.  My concern was that it might move around when getting in and out.  I’m also concerned that it will crush the carpet if all the weight on just 4 – 6 touch points.  Instead I decided to mount two wheels on the front.  I had to cut off part of the brackets so the wheels could be mounted closer to the ground.  This way, it is just above ground level when the cab is flat, but takes all the weight when I pick up the back end.  The majority of weight will be at the front.  I’m expecting to wheel it around like a wheel barrow as needed.  The wheels are not mounted yet, but I wanted to see how it will look.

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #81 on: November 04, 2006, 06:34:14 pm »
I freaked out a couple of customers in they isle by placing the sheet on the floor, putting a 2x4 on it, standing on it, then pulling the sheet ‘til it snapped.  I brought the mangled pieces of wood to the checker and paid for it.  It was great.

 :laugh2:  :laugh2:  :laugh2:

That's so awesome.

theCoder

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #82 on: November 06, 2006, 02:20:01 am »
The removable round frame was having troubles being held in place with the 4 rotary clamps.  They were causing the frame to widen out as they were tightened.  I replaced the bottom two with strips of hardwood held in place with a wood screw.  This pulled the sides in a bit to the nominal 32 inches internal width.  I made sure I got a picture of this before skinning the frame to show how to remove the top frame if the TV dies.  I’ll include it in the documentation if/when I sell this cab.  < frame_screwplates.jpg >

I mounted the kick plate and bottom dashboard plate.  I used the pocket jig to mount the wood without support strips.  I’ll go back and strengthen up the joints between these two boards because they will be taking all the forces from the pedals.  <kick_plate.jpg>

The front round skin went on much easier on this project compared to the PartyBox project.  I think this is because the radius is larger and the skin is under less stress.  The top and bottom edges have screws about every 3 inches.  On the cross members they are about 6 inches apart.  Before screwing them down, I put on lots of wood glue.  I countersunk the screws before putting them in.  A few of the screws were countersunk too much and the screws pulled through so I had to quickly add a few more.    In the first shot, notice the piece of walnut wood leaning against the cab.  This is going to become the front surface of the control panel.  Its a beautiful piece of wood that my friend has had for years, just waiting for a project like this.  <pictures skinned_1.jpg & skinned_2.jgp>

The cavity in the front will house the Xbox, amplifier, switching circuit for the seat, base shaker amp, power supplies, ect.  It is a little less than 12 inches deep and about 24 inches high.  <back_compartment.jpg>

While the glue was drying, I had time to design the pedal mounts.  More to come…

johnm160

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #83 on: November 06, 2006, 10:58:07 am »
Looking good!

I am following this one closely, I might have to relocate the air hockey table out of the game room to get one if these in......(luckely air hockey is the wifes game and is my best chance to get into a different room) :applaud:

FunWithFire

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #84 on: November 06, 2006, 12:12:11 pm »
Does anyone else see this and get incredibly frustrated knowing that they will probably never, ever have the opportunity to actually sit inside it?

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #85 on: November 06, 2006, 11:00:17 pm »
Looks great Coder! I like the 12" subs right behind the driver's seat. It reminds of the days when I was doing car stereo and we used to shove the biggest subs we could fit behind the seat of a pickup truck.

What are the dimensions of the woofer enclosures? If you can get me the dimensions, I'll do some calculations to let you know what would be ideal for porting. What are you going to use to power the speakers?

theCoder

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #86 on: November 07, 2006, 01:04:44 am »
Thanks guys.

Does anyone else see this and get incredibly frustrated knowing that they will probably never, ever have the opportunity to actually sit inside it?
Whoa, now that's a complement.  Thanks.  But you know, you can releave your frustration by making one yourself.  The alternative is to buy one, but I hear they are kinda spendy.

What are the dimensions of the woofer enclosures? If you can get me the dimensions, I'll do some calculations to let you know what would be ideal for porting. What are you going to use to power the speakers?
Thanks for the offer.  The inside cavities are prism shaped.  They are 45-45-90 degree triangles.  The hypotenuse is 15.25 inches.  The width of each prism is 15.5 inches.  If you could post the equation I (and the community) would greatly appreciate it.

I'm using a 230 watt Pioneer amplifier I picked up at a pawn shop.  The woofers are 8 inches from my lower back, the mid-ranges will be on the dash, just arms length away, and the tweeters will be arms length away just above the monitor.  This box is going to rock!

theCoder

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #87 on: November 11, 2006, 01:36:07 am »
Front Door
Today I finished the front door.  The bottom of the door has a strip of wood to keep it from coming out, and small blocks on the sidewalls keep it from going in.  There is a similar strip on the top of the frame to keep the door from going in too far.  With a couple of key locks, this should all sit flush.  I based the design what my first cab had for a back door (1980 vintage Atari).   Notice on the second photo the rounded corners I put on the strip.  I try to do this to all pieces that I may bump into later.  It just takes a few minutes to do, but adds a nice touch and avoids blood down the road.  < front_door.jpg & front_door_bottom.jpg >

In the third photo you can see the completed front frame, its mounting hardware, and the top portion of the front door.  It was a pain to make the front frame removable, but it will pay-off if/when the TV dies.  I will primer all of this when I get to paint. <front_frame_from_inside.jpg>

Wheels Mounted
The front wheels got mounted today as well.  I used large ¼ inch lag bolts to hold them in.  When mounting, I put down a small scrap of wood about 1/8 inch thick to let the wheels ride slightly above ground.  My thinking here was that as I’m setting it down, it will stop rolling just before it is all the way down, allowing me to control it a little better and to help me get my fingers out of the way.  I did not have the nerve to try to lift it yet.

Dashboard
I have been avoiding starting on the dashboard, but ran out of things to do, so...  The top piece coming down from the TV is a critical piece.  The front edge needs to be flush with the foot-well piece.  I wanted the dash to have a slight slant upwards so I left the straight edge on the foot-well piece (it comes up at a slight angle).  The top dash piece has an angle cut on the face to be flush with the plane of the edge of the foot-well piece.  To accommodate the front glass, I had to make an angled cut on the backside of the top dash piece to be horizontal when in place.  This was a tricky piece to make.  <dash_frame.jpg>

I decided to go with a different piece of wood on the dash.  My friend offered up a nice piece of walnut.  Unfortunately it had a slight crack on one of the ends.  We have a specialty hardwood store a few miles from where I work.  Over lunch I picked up a nice piece of Bolivian Rosewood.  Its not like I know this stuff or anything, it just looked so cool.  It is chocolate brown with black grain.  I bought it a little oversized so I can center the steering wheel in the center portion of the grain pattern.  A little bit of oil should make this wood really stand out.  <dash_wood1.jpg & dash_wood2.jgp>

Timoe

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #88 on: November 11, 2006, 07:11:49 pm »
Not only does the Bolivian Rosewood look cool, it sounds cool ta boot.  "yes, we have here a custom dash featuring Aged Nigerian Zebra Wood."  mmm

leapinlew

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #89 on: November 12, 2006, 01:33:09 am »
Coder....

I know you like planning things out and all... but this arcade is out of control! Did you plan on things becoming this involved?

Amazing work. I don't know if I could keep focus long enough to put together such a detail oriented project.

theCoder

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #90 on: November 12, 2006, 03:47:07 am »
I know you like planning things out and all... but this arcade is out of control! Did you plan on things becoming this involved?

Amazing work. I don't know if I could keep focus long enough to put together such a detail oriented project.
Out of control is relative.  I work with some pretty anal planners.  The level of involvement grew as the details came in.  The removable front for example was a trade-off when I realized that TVs die occasionally.  I wanted the side doors to be small to minimize visual distractions.  The TV would not fit through a small side door.  This lead to the need for the front to be removable.  Good planning I guess, but it complicated the build a bit.   The original plan was to have 4 latches, but I hadnt planned on the sides stretching.  The lower screwed in straps were a on-the-spot adjustment to the plan.  I try to start at a high level (objectives), then work backwards from there.  Start simple, then add complexity only as needed.  I didnt plan to the screw size level of detail, but I think the big stuff has been thought through. 

To help me plan and juggle the various aspects of the project, I use a tool called Freemind.  It is great for brainstorming and arranging random pieces of info.  I've included a screen shot for this project.  I drop random thoughts in, then arrange and re-arrange as needed.  It is pretty free-formed in nature.  In reality I am pretty scattered, but this tool helps me focus just long enough to fake it. 

Freemind is available at:  http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

marknetwork

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #91 on: November 12, 2006, 09:01:49 pm »
I want to see the finished product, this is taking forever!!   :hissy:  What does your wife think about this huge machine?
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theCoder

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #92 on: November 13, 2006, 12:17:48 am »
I want to see the finished product, this is taking forever!!   :hissy:  What does your wife think about this huge machine?
You and me both.  Unfortunately I can only get in about 2 sessions per week, ranging from 2 to 5 hours each.  Maybe I will start working like javeryh, early morning, perhaps even before work.  The kids are pretty demanding with homework and sports.  Actually, it is more the journey than the destination.  The cab is going to be fun to drive, but I am enjoying the build process. 

I finally showed my wife a picture of the cab last night.  She did not seem to excited.   She is very forgiving though because things at work are pretty stressful right now and this is a great creative outlet.  The basement is big and is pretty much devoted to gaming (pool table/air hockey combo, Foosball table, Xbox area, and PartyBox.  This project will just take up the corner where my first arcade box stood (donated to my kids school for charity auction / tax write-off).

theCoder

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #93 on: November 13, 2006, 01:36:41 am »
I managed to get in a few hours tonight, working on some loose ends;  dome light, seat mounting holes, top dash mounting strips, and the round back Plexiglas supports.

Dome Light
The dome light was not flat; it had a slight rounded surface to mate with the car roof top profile it came from.  I had to sand it flat.  The dome light will be mounted in the front top piece of wood, just above the monitor.  To simplify life, I took this piece off to work with it.  While I had it off, I rounded off the leading inside edge with a 1/4  inch bull-nose router bit.  I hate sharp edges on anything that people might come in contact with.  The light wires will be embedded in a slot routed into the wood.  I will tack the wire down, then cover it up with Bondo.

Plexiglas Back Supports
The back half and top will be covered in grey smoked Plexiglas.  I needed to make two half round supports to mount it.  I started by holding a piece of plywood up to the existing profile and marking with a pencil.  I then cut to the line with a band saw.  I then used a compass to get a consistent 3/4  inch width for the following cut.  The edges were sanded and I rounded over the inside edge with the bull-nose router bit (done after left & right pictures were taken).  As soon as I know the thickness of the Plexiglas I will glue & screw these down.

javeryh

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #94 on: November 13, 2006, 07:25:32 am »
WOW!!! Not sure how I missed this but this is one of the coolest projects I've seen in a long time - awesome work as usual theCoder.  I will definitely be following this project.

EDIT: working in the early morning is great - I find I am most productive when no one else is awake but lately I've been walking around like a zombie due to lack of sleep.... it's worth it though because building these things sure is fun!
« Last Edit: November 13, 2006, 03:14:59 pm by javeryh »

theCoder

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #95 on: November 14, 2006, 09:21:27 pm »
Financial blunder!!!!!
Last week I went to my local glass shop to order the Plexiglas for the top/back.  It is 1/8 inch grey Plexiglas, approximately 3 ft by 4 ft.  I was a bit surprised when the estimate came in at $47.  Ouch!  The next day I got a call from them saying that they did not have the stock, and it would be another 4 weeks before they could get any.  Today I went to another glass shop near work and asked if they had any in stock.  Sure enough they did, and they went to work right away to cut it to size.  Ten minutes later, with the cut piece in hand, the lady behind the counter said I owed her $80.  Double ouch.  After a half hearted complaint, I paid the money and left. 

Lesson Learned:  Get the quote before you commit.

johnm160

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #96 on: November 14, 2006, 11:01:25 pm »
Financial blunder!!!!!
Last week I went to my local glass shop to order the Plexiglas for the top/back.  It is 1/8 inch grey Plexiglas, approximately 3 ft by 4 ft.  I was a bit surprised when the estimate came in at $47.  Ouch!  The next day I got a call from them saying that they did not have the stock, and it would be another 4 weeks before they could get any.  Today I went to another glass shop near work and asked if they had any in stock.  Sure enough they did, and they went to work right away to cut it to size.  Ten minutes later, with the cut piece in hand, the lady behind the counter said I owed her $80.  Double ouch.  After a half hearted complaint, I paid the money and left. 

Lesson Learned:  Get the quote before you commit.

Wow talk about price fluctuations! I might have considered walking out.

FunWithFire

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #97 on: November 15, 2006, 01:17:19 am »
"My wallet is in the car, would you mind waiting here while I run out and grab it?"

johnm160

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #98 on: November 15, 2006, 08:33:44 am »
"My wallet is in the car, would you mind waiting here while I run out and grab it?"

I would not have even done that, I would tell them exactly why I was walking out. They were charging almost double.

And as a business they should always quote and ok a price before they cut product.

I bet what it came down to is coder did not want to wait a month to get it.

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #99 on: November 15, 2006, 10:00:39 am »
Financial blunder!!!!!
Last week I went to my local glass shop to order the Plexiglas for the top/back.  It is 1/8 inch grey Plexiglas, approximately 3 ft by 4 ft.  I was a bit surprised when the estimate came in at $47.  Ouch!  The next day I got a call from them saying that they did not have the stock, and it would be another 4 weeks before they could get any.  Today I went to another glass shop near work and asked if they had any in stock.  Sure enough they did, and they went to work right away to cut it to size.  Ten minutes later, with the cut piece in hand, the lady behind the counter said I owed her $80.  Double ouch.  After a half hearted complaint, I paid the money and left. 

Lesson Learned:  Get the quote before you commit.

That $47 amount is a good price! I been paying about 10 bucks a square foot for the stuff.

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #100 on: November 15, 2006, 10:56:28 am »
Will the seat be adjustable and I didn't notice if anyone else mentioned it but:

- Air freshener

-Turn key to start up the whole dealio!!!


At Fry's I actually saw a keyed lock with built-in switch. It's simple on/off, though. And it uses a barrel lock. Still, it's a good start.


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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #101 on: November 15, 2006, 10:59:03 am »

Now that I think about it, I'll probably go with the key.  I can just forget to put in the key when the kids forget to do the dishes.


I have a few "keyless" locks that you could use to build a simple circuit. It fits the form factor of a barrel lock, but instead of having a key hole, it has a flat knob that you turn in place. (Does that make any sense at all?) If you're interested, you're welcome to have one.


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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #102 on: November 15, 2006, 03:56:53 pm »
Quote
What are the dimensions of the woofer enclosures? If you can get me the dimensions, I'll do some calculations to let you know what would be ideal for porting. What are you going to use to power the speakers?
Thanks for the offer.  The inside cavities are prism shaped.  They are 45-45-90 degree triangles.  The hypotenuse is 15.25 inches.  The width of each prism is 15.5 inches.  If you could post the equation I (and the community) would greatly appreciate it.

Coder - apologies for the late reply as I've been away from the forums for about a week. I've run some quick numbers and if the dimensions you are giving me are the external dimensions of your enclosure, you don't have a whole lot of internal box volume for these 12" woofers (please see image below). With a 15.25 inch external hypotenuse, you have about an 8.25"x8.25"x15.125" internal box volume for both speakers, or cut that number in half for your volume per speaker - in this particular case about .3 cu. ft. per woofer. Typically 12" speakers should be placed in an enclosure roughly 1.0-1.5 cu. ft. depending on the Thiele-Small parameters of the woofer and a general rule of thumb is the more volume, the deeper the bass.

If you have some extra wood, I would see what you could do to increase the volume of the box a little bit by redoing the woofer board. If you can increase the hypotenuse dimension from 15.25" to 23.25", you'll be able to increase the internal volume for your woofers by a factor of 3, or roughly increase each chamber to 1.0 cu. ft. This increase in hypotenuse length will only add 5.5" to the distance from the back of the cabinet to the back edge of your seat. I don't know if you've mounted the seat or if it has the ability to slide back further from your images, but it does appear as though you have enough space to do this.

If this isn't an option or you don't wish to go down the path of redoing the enclosure, one thing you can do to 'virtually' create additional volume is to place damping material in the enclosures. Typically this is done with acoustic fiberglass, but typical home-grade fiberglass (without the paper) or polyester batting from a fabric store will suffice. You may even have some from the original enclosures. You want to put as much damping material in the enclosure as possible without packing it in too tight – it’s ok to have the speaker rest in the stuff, but you don’t want to compress it too much. Even if you do go down the path of redoing the enclosure, I suggest using the damping material in addition.

As far as porting goes, if you don’t do anything and leave the enclosure as it is, I recommend picking up a couple of these ports from David Levy Corp. These particular ports will effectively tune your existing enclosures to somewhere around 70-80 Hz. I’d recommend tuning the box lower, but with the current volume and lack of depth available for longer ports, I don’t think it’s feasible.

You can use the following site as an easy reference for tuning any size box – http://home.new.rr.com/trumpetb/audio/fboxjs.html

One other thing I’ve noticed from the images is that the only place where I can tell the woofer board is secured is along the enclosure dividing wall. I’m not sure if this is the case, but these woofers are going to be moving quite a bit with 230 watts driving them – you’re going to want to have that enclosure as secure as possible or there will be an awful lot of unwanted buzzing going on.

Keep up the good work - it's looking great!

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #103 on: November 15, 2006, 08:41:03 pm »
Thanks fiscap.

After your first post I did a little more digging.  I found a site with various speaker enclosure calculators.  I was a little disappointed when I determined that the internal volume of my enclosure was around .5 cubic foot (cf) per speaker, when the calculators said I need at least 1.5 cf for optimal sound.  They also recommended a port hole around 7 inches long.  I really dont have the room to lengthen the bottom, but I can increase the height.  More like a 30-60-90 triangle rather than the current 45-45-90 triangle.  This will not necessarily get me more room for the port hole length, but it will increase the volume.  I will run the math and see what the triangle would look like to get 1.5 cf.  At this stage the plywood is cheap.  If I didnt try this I would always wonder how much better it would have sounded.  The batting and secure mounting is good advice.  Thanks again.

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #104 on: November 16, 2006, 02:33:11 am »
I just found this thread :o  Congradualtions on an amzing project! ;D

Just a comment on the ports.  Ports don't neccessarily have to be straight.  You can construct a bent, or u-shaped port if need be, it's the length of the port that really matters.  An alternative would be to create an sealed box, and filling it with acoustastuff (as mentioned by fiscap) this allows you to slightly shrink the box's litre dimensions as the acoustastuff slows the air movement symulating a larger box.

Basically to compare, a ported box = higher DB - but not as "low", and a sealed box = lower DB but it can handle lower frequencies (also reduces booming at certain frequencies that ported boxes tend to suffer from).  The thing you need to be careful of with a ported box is that you don't send a lower frequency than it's been tuned for, as it will unload.  Sealed boxes don't have this limitation as the back pressure prevents this from happening.

I'm not sure how technical you plan to go with tuning and driver selection, but hopefully that helps. :)

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #105 on: November 16, 2006, 11:32:55 am »
I just found this thread :o  Congradualtions on an amzing project! ;D
Just a comment on the ports.  Ports don't neccessarily have to be straight. 
Thanks.  From what I've learned, to get better low end base sound, I want the largest internal volume I can afford (within reason per some of the charts on the net.)  The enclosure will have a bad booming sound if I send it frequencies lower than it is tuned for.  The longer the port hole, the lower the tuned frequency (within reason per charts on the net.)  Internal batting improves the sound quality. 

For some reason, I thought the port hole needed to be perpendicular to the cabinet face.  Based on your comments, I think I have the room to make the port hole longer if I mount it at an angle.  There is room for the height of the triangle to increase quite a bit.  This will give me an internal volume of around 1.4 cf, and plenty of room for a 2 to 3 inch port, around 8 to 10 inches long.  This should tune it to somewhere around 25 to 35 Hz.  Much lower had I just gone with the original volume and the ports fiscap suggested as a compromise.  Thanks to both of you for the input.

I did not really intend to get that technical as far as tuning and driver selection, but I will go with thumbnail geometries based on the summary above.  The cool stuff you learn with this hobby...I love it.

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #106 on: November 16, 2006, 04:51:36 pm »
I put together a little spreadsheet to help you determine your optimal enclosure size given the space you have to work with inside your cabinet. You can modify the external depth (the space between your back wall and seat base) and the desired frequency of your box at the top of the worksheet. The sheet will calculate your internal dimensions, box volume, theoretical volume with damping and port length based on your desired frequency. The sheet reads down in .25" increments for the desired height at the back of the box for your woofer board. I put in the ability to adjust the depth dimension at the base of the cabinet on the off-shoot that you have a little bit of room to move it forward - even an inch or two is going to give you quite a bit additional volume.

Keep in mind that your ported frequency is going to be the 'sweet spot' of your enclosure and where your woofers are most efficient. I'd shoot for a tuned frequency somewhere around 50-60 Hz, but you may even want to go as high as 80 Hz. Tuning the box down to 25-30 Hz is too low since the wavelength of frequencies in that range is 35-50 ft, which is well outside the confines of your driving cabinet and proximity to the speakers. People in the other room might benefit from this added frequency boost, but the effect inside the cabinet would be nil.
« Last Edit: November 16, 2006, 04:53:45 pm by fiscap »

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #107 on: November 17, 2006, 10:53:32 am »
I have a few "keyless" locks that you could use to build a simple circuit. It fits the form factor of a barrel lock, but instead of having a key hole, it has a flat knob that you turn in place. (Does that make any sense at all?) If you're interested, you're welcome to have one.
Given that this is a car theme cab, I really want to go with an ignition switch with a key.  Thanks for the offer anyway.

I put together a little spreadsheet to help you determine your optimal enclosure size given the space you have to work with inside your cabinet. ...  Keep in mind that your ported frequency is going to be the 'sweet spot' of your enclosure and where your woofers are most efficient. I'd shoot for a tuned frequency somewhere around 50-60 Hz, but you may even want to go as high as 80 Hz. Tuning the box down to 25-30 Hz is too low ...
Thanks a lot for the spreadsheet.  I did not get the notion of a sweet spot from my other research.  I took some more measurements last night and determined I can go 13 inches on the base & 27 inches on the height of the speaker enclosure.  That will give me a tad more than 1.4 cf and a much shorter port hole.  I will re-do the enclosure on my next build day.

Last night I snuck away to get in a few hours of build time.  Instead of cutting wood, I spent the time with my friend discussing speaker mounting options, flooring, etc., etc.   

I am thinking of adding rosewood "center consoles" on the left and right of the seat.  A beverage holder and a few buttons on the left side, and a hard mounted flight stick on the right.  I had originally planned on cutting pockets in the dash to hold various buttons.  The wood is beautiful, so I hate to cut it away.  I subscribe to the less-is-more way of thinking.  Most of the buttons I was considering already exist on the steering wheel.  The few others needed (CPU reset and software reset) will go on the left console. 

We also discussed paint options.  I am still thinking of hunter green on the exterior.  But instead of the bright green t-molding I was originally planning, we discussed going with black t-molding.  I will be doing side art as well and will try to tie the colors together.

I was planning to cover the floor with aluminum diamond plate.  It would sure look cool.  Unfortunately it will be very cold in the winter, will really complicate mounting the seat and consoles, and add about $75 to the build.  I am now thinking of going with a very short ply industrial carpet.

I have abandoned the idea of putting in a fan.  Yes, cars have them in the dash, but I really dont need it and it will complicate things unnecessarily.

I was a little disappointed that I made no visible progress last night, but the brainstorming was good.  Any comments or recommendations?

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #108 on: November 17, 2006, 02:29:48 pm »
I have a recommendation for you that is purely aesthetic.  The picture says it all.  Very easy to make.  I bought a marine fire extinguisher, dispensed the contents, removed the top and fitted it with plumbing coupler.  I bought the sticker off eBay, I believe it is for a 10lb bottle.  This addition was one of my surprises on my two seater driving cab, but you are making progress at a faster pace than I.  Hope you can use it!

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #109 on: November 25, 2006, 12:19:53 am »
Speaker Enclosure Rebuild
Based on feedback and additional research, I decided to re-make the speaker enclosure, basically tripling the volume.  Each speaker now has about 1.5 cubic feet of volume.  I also made port holes with tubes to tune the enclosure.  Based on the volume of the enclosure and length of tube, they are tuned for around 55 Hz.  The speakers will be bolted in place with t-bolt inserts.  The 1 inch thick batting on the back, sides, and bottom should deepen the base tones, and generally do good things as recommended by fiscap and numerous websites.

A couple of other odds-n-ends taken care of today include creating the wood strip for the bottom of the Plexiglas, mounting the half rounds for the Plexiglas, rounding off the front edge of the dash wood, and cutting it to size.

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #110 on: November 25, 2006, 12:49:10 am »
I am thinking of adding rosewood "center consoles" on the left and right of the seat.  A beverage holder and a few buttons on the left side, and a hard mounted flight stick on the right.  I had originally planned on cutting pockets in the dash to hold various buttons.  The wood is beautiful, so I hate to cut it away.  I subscribe to the less-is-more way of thinking.  Most of the buttons I was considering already exist on the steering wheel.  The few others needed (CPU reset and software reset) will go on the left console. 

Less is more. I agree totally in this case. The cab will be pretty intimidating to the uninitiated already. K.I.S.S.

We also discussed paint options.  I am still thinking of hunter green on the exterior.  But instead of the bright green t-molding I was originally planning, we discussed going with black t-molding.  I will be doing side art as well and will try to tie the colors together.
Love it. You may want to consider the colors of the xbox - the glowing matrix style green is pretty cool. I like the black t-molding - it seems like it'll be plain but it'll really outline all the color. I used it on my red cabinet and it's probably my favorite.

I was planning to cover the floor with aluminum diamond plate.  It would sure look cool.  Unfortunately it will be very cold in the winter, will really complicate mounting the seat and consoles, and add about $75 to the build.  I am now thinking of going with a very short ply industrial carpet.
Carpet is a good choice. Some dark color?

I have abandoned the idea of putting in a fan.  Yes, cars have them in the dash, but I really dont need it and it will complicate things unnecessarily.
It sounds like this project is being scaled back in a good way - dropping off the complicated low impact items. No harm there - don't worry about it.

I was a little disappointed that I made no visible progress last night, but the brainstorming was good.  Any comments or recommendations?
I think with a project this size, brainstorming is not only a good idea, but absolutely necessary. A cabinet of this complexity has a lot of things that could go wrong, it would only seem natural that it would take longer than a smaller cabinet.

Your making great progress theCoder - move at a pace thats comfortable for you(unless your trying to get it done by christmas and if thats the case you need to hurry your ass up). This is going to be one killer machine.

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #111 on: November 26, 2006, 01:09:48 am »
Thanks for the compliments/comments. 

There is no way I will be done with this project by Christmas.  It could be done, but getting finished is not my primary objective.  This project is just too fun to try to finish it up.  I do need to hurry up with the major wood working pieces however.  This thing is taking up a lot of room in my friends shop.  The shop is about 5 miles from my house, and getting in small blocks of time is very difficult.  I will be able to put in much more time on it once I get it out of the shop and in my basement.

It is about time to start thinking about paint and its associated prep.  Painting is going to be a pain.  I live in the Pacific Northwest (Oregon USA) and it is now the rainy season (for the next 6 months or so).  This is going to be interesting.

Regarding colors, I want to keep it relatively dark.  My wife does not like big flashy stuff.  For example, I love GameCreatures recent cab, but it would not go with our decor.  The primary color will be hunter green.  I picked up a yard of fabric for the speaker covers that matches the green of the steering wheel.  I will get paint to match.  The dark wood looks very regal next to the dark green.  The second color will be black;  black at the bottom, on interior cross members, t-molding, and other accent pieces.  I am also thinking of black for the carpet.  I plan on going with the bright Xbox green in selective artwork such as the cab name and button labels.  Any comments or recommendations?

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #112 on: November 26, 2006, 01:59:59 am »
Coder, I just got up to date on your project. Man, now I understand where your PM was coming from bro. First off, really great job on it all. I really love the looks of it. You might even think about some lightguns on the sides for this project.

There is some special wall prep I was told to use, but it was kinda late when I was told to use it, so I have some normal tintable primer on my cab (that I had tinted grey, becuase initially I was going to paint the sides black). Maybe someone can chime in on what that special stuff was again. The reason for the special stuff is becuase it does not let out a gas and could possibly bubble up artwork. Another idea for you, is once you have it in the game room and you are working on the final touches, you might want to set up a de-humidfier, that will help the paint dry and cure faster. Also, unless you have full artwork to be added to the sides already made up, you might consider using formica rather than going through all of the sanding and painting on the outside and then laying down some smaller artwork over that. It will save ya some big bucks I bet.

If this cab was mine I would have to add some El Wire or something like it to bring out the lines inside the seated area at least. To really trick it out I would put in the sound module so it will flash and dim with the music and game play.

Good luck on it buddy, I'll keep and eye out on your project, and PM any time.
Tom
« Last Edit: November 26, 2006, 08:57:31 pm by TeamTEOR »

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #113 on: November 28, 2006, 12:28:04 am »
Mounting the Dash
Mounting the dash went much easier than I expected.  It will be held in place with six 10-24 button-head machine screws.  The screws go through the rosewood dash and into threaded brass inserts.  This piece of wood cost $18 and I really did not want to screw it up.  I put masking tape down to keep from scoring it with a deep pencil mark. All measurements were double and triple checked.  I center punched the marks, and adjusted the drill press to a high rpm.  Then came the white knuckle moment…drilling the first hole.  It went fine.  The chips look really cool, like fresh ground coffee.  I then held the dash in place, and drilled one hole through to the supporting plywood.  I then drilled it out to the diameter required for the insert.  With the first insert in place, I put the dash in place and put in one screw.  I then drill for and put in another insert on the opposite side.  Then with two inserts in place, I tightened the screws down and drilled and installed all remaining inserts.  Tomorrow I will pick up the screws to hold it in place.

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #114 on: December 01, 2006, 11:00:51 pm »
I put in a couple of hours today after work. 

I fabricated a couple of strips to support the top Plexiglas and temporarily mounted them.  This enabled me to drill the holes for and mount the Plexiglas.  I measured off marks at 3 inch intervals and pre-drilled the holes at 1/2 from the edge.  I made the holes about 10 thousands over size to accommodate the Plexiglas bending.  I assume the holes will get slightly smaller at the bottom and slightly bigger at the top.  The holes were drilled in mass on a drill press.  With my friend helping, I mounted the Plexiglas.  The primary objective was to see where the end of the Plexiglas met up with the top wood piece so I could cut a ledge in the wood so the Plexiglas would be flush.  Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of this process.  Off it came, and it is safely stored until after paint.

I made and temporarily mounted the remaining strips to mount the Plexiglas to.  I did not put them on permanently because I need to place them after the ledge is cut in the top piece to ensure a nice flush fit for the Plexiglas.

The dashboard screws went in without a hitch.  They are low profile socket head button screws. 

I priced glass today.  I can get a piece of 3/16 tempered glass for about $39.  I really dont want to use Plexiglas for the monitor because I am afraid it will scratch with cleaning.  Also, it is only an additional $9 to get the glass tempered, making it approximately 7 times stronger.  It should be worth the few extra bucks.

Not a whole lot of progress, but it is coming.  Fabricating the front glass retainer and mounting the pedals are the last bits of work remaining in the shop.  Then this puppy comes home.

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #115 on: December 02, 2006, 01:16:13 am »
With this kind of project I guess you don't wanna do everything in one day if you could... to much fun ;D That way you can stand back, watch and admire it and have some time to think things out.

Why did you leave those button-head machine screws in sight? Do you still wanna have access to the compartment or is it for the looks? People always seem to get rid of them.

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #116 on: December 02, 2006, 07:35:13 am »
Progress!!!  It's looking really really god so far.  What else are you going to put on the dashboard or is that just for looks?  Keep on going!!!

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #117 on: December 02, 2006, 11:51:11 am »
Why did you leave those button-head machine screws in sight? Do you still wanna have access to the compartment or is it for the looks?
I really pondered this for a long time.  I need to get access to the backside of the dash for maintenance.  I thought about putting a hinge on the top of the foot well to swing down to get at the dash.  Working in this posture would really kill my back & shoulders.  So it needs to be removable.  I though about screwing it in from the back side, but the reach through the front of the cab would be too long.  I also thought of quick release stuff, magnets, etc.  My friend recommended making them a feature rather than trying to hide them.  The top Plexiglas will already have long lines of screw heads (unless I did something really fancy), so this will tie in.  Kinda like rivets on an airplane or Formula 1 car.  I saw this done on a cab somewhere in this forum and it looked pretty cool.  It was a compromise for sure, but in the end I think it will look good.  Regardless, I am committed at this point.

Progress!!!  It's looking really really good so far.  What else are you going to put on the dashboard or is that just for looks?  Keep on going!!!
Originally I was thinking about tons of stuff on the dash;  All buttons on the controller (A, B, X, Y, Start, Back, Left Trigger & Right Trigger), soft reset button, ignition switch (powering the power strip), air vent, and volume knob.  My thinking now is to ditch the air vent, and only have the ignition switch, volume knob and soft reset on the dash.  All of the controller buttons already exist on the steering wheel anyway.  This will keep the dash clean and show off the wood.  Any recommendations?


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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #118 on: December 04, 2006, 01:03:18 pm »
This will keep the dash clean and show off the wood.  Any recommendations?
Show off the wood!  If not, what was the point is spending all that $$ on rosewood?

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #119 on: December 05, 2006, 02:00:59 am »
Thinking about all those extras brings to mind two things: when I was a kid, playing cars, I used to stop some times and imagine I was in the car, hanging out playing video games in the windshield; also, when I was in cub scouts, this one kid got first place for design in our pinewood derby, that year....by hand, and it looked a bit like a jag.   All of which brings me round to the the idea of why not actually make it look like a car?  (Of course, the windshield thing would be tough....)