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Author Topic: First Cabinet - Suspended Animation - Completion Pics!!!  (Read 20074 times)

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Dmod

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First Cabinet - Suspended Animation - Completion Pics!!!
« on: January 09, 2007, 03:04:22 am »
I've got the bug... I admit it.

Two months ago I thought I was attending a routine kiddy birthday party at the local... er... whatever you call those places with inflatable jumpy thingys. 

How could I have known then that
(1)  The jumpy place would be going out of business the next day
(2)  I'd be leaving with their 7' air hockey table, or
(3)  That I'd begin a frenetic search for a friend for the table so it wouldn't get lonely at nights in our empty spare would-be gameroom

I had been aware of MAME for at least the last 4-5 years.  Some guys I work with have been hooked on gaming and added a Hanaho upright to our break room.  It had been a casual interest for me, having grown up playing most of what we consider now "classic" arcade games.

But the last thing I expected was that my garage would now look like this and that I haven't been able to get rid of that MDF taste in my mouth for the last week.

As you can see from the pictures (assuming I've attached them correctly) the design is based on LuSid's plans.  I've made some cosmetic alterations (some on purpose... a few by accident) which I'll describe, lest someone is interested in following (or more likely, avoiding) my steps along the way.

Thanks in advance for your interest and any helpful advice you might be able to offer!
« Last Edit: March 29, 2007, 03:37:20 am by Dmod »
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Dmod

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Re: First Cabinet - Modified LuSid Design
« Reply #1 on: January 09, 2007, 03:37:45 am »
When I started this project, I wasn't sure if I wanted to build the whole cabinet from scratch... and I'm pretty sure my wife didn't want me to build the whole cabinet from scratch.  I was strongly considering purchasing the UAII kit from www.mameroom.com.

I knew I wanted to tackle the control panel on my own, since this seemed like a doable project (albeit one in which I would need to borrow/buy tools I did not currently own).  It also seemed like the most personal and customizable part of the cabinet.

I decided to use the LuSid design for my control panel, since I had seen it work with the UAII in the Doughcade design, and still left me the option to build the cabinet from scratch using the LuSid plans.

I wasn't sure what height the control panel needed to be to interface with the UAII so I did a survey of some commercially available control panels and decided that 5.5" seemed to be about right.   To achieve this overall height, I reduced the rear of the LuSid control panel box by 5/8".  This reduces the slope a bit from the standard design.  I've since learned from the maker of the Doughcade that the standard height works just fine too.

Ooops... Also, I accidentally cut the width of the panel 1" short (33" rather than 34").  Not sure how I did this... I measured it at least three times.  Luckily, this doesn't affect anything.  It's strictly cosmetic and I decided I liked the look of the narrower overhang on the sides anyway.

In the next post, I'll show the control panel layout I've converged upon, and poll for suggestions.
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Dmod

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Re: First Cabinet - Modified LuSid Design
« Reply #2 on: January 09, 2007, 03:53:27 am »
Now I could use the benefit of other's experience.  Please review this control panel layout and let me know if you see any issues.

I've already purchased a Happ 3" USB trackball and two Ultimarc bat-handle Ultrastik 360s with wire harnesses.  Using this setup, I was able to lose the dedicated 4-way joystick on top.  It's important to me to simplify the control panel as much as possible to make it intuitive for my kids and guests to use.  Also, with the wire harnesses I'm able to support all the buttons shown (plus two coin buttons which I'll mount to the front panel).

At the top of the CP, I've got the P1/P2 buttons at the ends, and three mouse/admin buttons (Exit/Back,Select,Pause/Forward) for game and frontend control.

I tried to move the admin buttons out of the field of play for trackball games but still close enough for intuitive control of the frontend for game selection.  Also I tried to move the admin buttons away from the P1/P2 controls to avoid someone accidentally hitting them.  I also tried to get the trackball as low as I could on the panel to give enough space for games like Golden Tee.

The player buttons and trackball are blue.  The three admin buttons are black.  P1/P2 buttons are the normal white ones.  The coin buttons on the front of the CP box will be red.

So what do you guys think?  Any potential problems?  Any suggestions for improvement?  I'd appreciate any comments.

Thanks!

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Re: First Cabinet - Modified LuSid Design
« Reply #3 on: January 09, 2007, 12:14:34 pm »
I see a couple of things on your CP design that you may want to look into. The first would be to put the admin buttons in a row to clear up space directly in front of the trackball. The only other thing I can see, is maybe trying to squeeze in a 7th button for Neo Geo style layouts, but that's really up to the types of games you like to play.

Other than that, great job so far. Looking forward to seeing the rest of your progress.
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Re: First Cabinet - Modified LuSid Design
« Reply #4 on: January 09, 2007, 01:44:58 pm »
I see a couple of things on your CP design that you may want to look into. The first would be to put the admin buttons in a row to clear up space directly in front of the trackball. The only other thing I can see, is maybe trying to squeeze in a 7th button for Neo Geo style layouts, but that's really up to the types of games you like to play.

Other than that, great job so far. Looking forward to seeing the rest of your progress.

I like the layout - except for the admin buttons. If you play golden tee or world class bowling - those buttons will get hit in their current position.

As for Neo Geo - I'd say take it or leave it. Your call.

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Re: First Cabinet - Modified LuSid Design
« Reply #5 on: January 09, 2007, 02:16:01 pm »
I just posted a project announcement yesterday and I think you're in the same boat I'm in. First build. I'm also leaning towards a cpanel layout just like yours. I bought a 3" trackball + 2 ultimarc 360's, using NeoGeo button layout. I like my panels simple too.

It will be interesting to see how our cabs turn out since we're starting at the same time and we're starting with almost identical layout and parts.

Good luck with the build - I'll be watching.

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Re: First Cabinet - Modified LuSid Design
« Reply #6 on: January 09, 2007, 03:03:24 pm »
I see a couple of things on your CP design that you may want to look into. The first would be to put the admin buttons in a row to clear up space directly in front of the trackball.

Thanks for the feedback John.  I'll give that a try.  I was thinking if the Select button were set off, it might be more intuitive but I guess it's too close where it is.  Back to the drawing board...

Quote
The only other thing I can see, is maybe trying to squeeze in a 7th button for Neo Geo style layouts, but that's really up to the types of games you like to play.

I debated this one for a while because I had seen a lot of 7-button (and even 8-button) commercial controllers.  Ultimately, I decided that 6 buttons was probably already more confusion than I wanted for most games but seemed to be a necessary evil.  I decided the offset 7-th button would just be overkill for my kids and the casual visitor to my home.

Along these lines... I had been thinking of using Howard Casto's Johnny 5 to create button maps that I could integrate into my Mamewah start panel.  Has anyone had any experience doing this?

Thanks for all the comments... keep em coming!  :)
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Re: First Cabinet - Modified LuSid Design
« Reply #7 on: January 09, 2007, 03:11:11 pm »
I just posted a project announcement yesterday and I think you're in the same boat I'm in. First build. I'm also leaning towards a cpanel layout just like yours. I bought a 3" trackball + 2 ultimarc 360's, using NeoGeo button layout. I like my panels simple too.

It will be interesting to see how our cabs turn out since we're starting at the same time and we're starting with almost identical layout and parts.

Good luck with the build - I'll be watching.
Thanks for the encouragement.  It looks like you've got a pretty good head start on me, but I'm trying to catch up!

I just finished cutting everything out.  I ran into a couple of mishaps... mostly minor (although I'm no longer on speaking terms with my jigsaw) and one kind of big one which I'm hoping Gorilla Glue can help me out of.

I'll try to get some pics up tonight to show the goofs and what I'm trying to do to rectify them!


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Re: First Cabinet - Modified LuSid Design
« Reply #8 on: January 09, 2007, 03:17:21 pm »
If you're worried about confusion, I would look into adding a LEDWiz to light up the controls used for a specific game. That may be a later project, but something to keep in mind. If you're using MaLa, then you're in luck because apparently they just released some tools to make this easier:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=61779.0

If you aren't a huge fan of the Neo Geo games, then there's no reason for that 7th button, but if, like me, you enjoy yourself some good Samurai Showdown or Metal Slug, then you'll want it there. As leap said, it's really up to personal preference, but you really should look into the LEDWiz stuff as that's probably going to be the easiest way to let guests know which buttons to use.  

I've never used Johnny5, but I think McCoy's project is using a second monitor to display J5 info for game controls (an idea love and will definitely steal). You may want to ask him how he did it and how it's working out. I haven't checked his thread in a while (probably lots of crying in there from last night's bowl game), so I can't remember the particulars, but he's a really nice guy and always willing to help a fellow BYOAC'er.
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Re: First Cabinet - Modified LuSid Design
« Reply #9 on: January 10, 2007, 02:58:18 am »
Here's the pics of my progress for today.  As I mentioned earlier, my jigsaw and I didn't exactly agree on where the cutlines for the cabinet should be.

The first pic shows some errant saw lines around the curved part of the monitor area.  There's just no way I could find to cut this without freehanding the jigsaw... and as you can see, I'm not all that skilled at controlling the jigsaw.  Sometimes it cooperates... most of the time not so much.

I resisted the urge to finish the cuts and figured I'd try filling them in with putty later.  The second pic shows the same bad cutline filled with Bondo and sanded.  I'd never worked with this stuff before today.  I kind of just globbed it on there... waited for it to dry and sanded, sanded, sanded.  Overall... not so bad.  I may need to touch it up again later but I'll wait until the T-molding slot is routed.

I didn't discover my big gaffe until I sandwiched the two cut cabinet sides together and realized I was off by 1/2" on the angled back of the cabinet on the second side I cut.  Somehow, I misaligned the guide before I cut the line and didn't realize it.

I really didn't relish the thought of recutting the cabinet side so I've tried to fix it by cutting a 1/2" strip from scrap and Gorilla Glue-ing it to back of the cabinet side.  I let that dry for a few hours but wasn't convinced it would survive routing and the lateral pressure that the T-molding spline would assert.

To try to provide some additional support, I've attempted to drive some finish nails  along the edges of the cabinet side to hold the strip in place.  I don't have a lot of room here, because I have to keep the nails away from the T-molding slot.  I predrilled a hole and then pushed the finish nail in with my finger.  After a few taps with the hammer it was in, and then I countersunk it just a bit using a punch so I'd be able to sand it without hitting the nails.

I think it should hold, but I'm a wary of the slot cutter bumping any nails.  I've tried my best to keep the nails away from the router slot.  It's not the best situation, but it should work out OK.   :dunno

I've finished cutting, and tonight I clamped both sides together and sanded everything down to match.  Next steps are to cut the T-molding slots, and build the base.

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Dmod

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Re: First Cabinet - Modified LuSid Design
« Reply #10 on: January 13, 2007, 02:52:20 am »
Just a quick update to mark my progress...

I moved construction to the gameroom.

The cabinet's starting to take shape.  Since last time, I've built the base, mounted the two sides and put the back bottom and top on.  Here's some photos with the control panel laying in position.

Construction has followed the Project Arcade flow for the most part.  I put the cabinet up on 3" inch casters to avoid needing extra scrap to get the height.

I've found that despite the size it's been fairly easy to get lay down and upright by myself.  The casters help a lot with this because you basically just have to tip it and roll in order to change position.

Earlier I mentioned that I couldn't make up my mind between UAII and the LuSid design.  You can see the compromise I made in the pics.  I altered the Lusid design to retain the outer protrusion in the front, making the front appear similar to the UAII.  The protrusion was formed by cutting a 45 degree angle and slimming the front of the cabinet by 4".  The angle starts 6" below the control panel, allowing room for a keyboard drawer.

I had considered some cosmetic changes in the back, but where I'm positioning it in the room, they wouldn't be seen anyway so I kept it simple and followed LuSid.
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Re: First Cabinet - Modified LuSid Design
« Reply #11 on: January 13, 2007, 08:51:43 am »
Looking good, Dmod. I'm hoping to start working on my own this weekend. Going tool shopping today. :)
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Re: First Cabinet - Modified LuSid Design
« Reply #12 on: January 13, 2007, 11:39:58 am »
Thanks Bremil!  Good luck on your project.

If it helps any...
I've been pretty happy with the B&D circular saw that I bought from Lowe's, but my old B&D jigsaw has been problematic. 

I'd recommend investing a little extra to get a good jigsaw.  I've read good things about Bosch on the board, and I might go buy one today to finish the inside cuts I need to do on the speaker/coin door/control panels.

I also recommend taking a look at the sawboard thread on the woodworking site.  I didn't find this until I was almost done but I wish I had.  It would have made the cutting go a lot faster and probably saved me on a couple of bad cuts.


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Re: First Cabinet - Modified LuSid Design
« Reply #13 on: January 13, 2007, 06:22:53 pm »
Thanks for pointing out the sawboard thread. Great suggestion. I ended up getting a Ryobi jigsaw. I went fairly cheap for my first tools and will upgrade after I've gained some experience.

So what are you planning for finishing? Paint, laminate, graphics, etc.
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Re: First Cabinet - Modified LuSid Design
« Reply #14 on: January 13, 2007, 09:35:39 pm »
It's looking great! Good work. Keep it up.

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Re: First Cabinet - Modified LuSid Design
« Reply #15 on: January 14, 2007, 03:35:17 am »
Thanks Lew!  I'm thinking I might actually pull this thing off.   :)

Here's another couple of pics with a test fit of the cabinet back and speaker panel.  I cut the front of the speaker panel at a 25 degree angle which lines up just about flush with the cabinet top.  Otherwise, just following along with the Project Arcade design.

I'm going to remove the speaker panel again to cut the speaker holes.  I can't make up my mind whether to use the Klipsch or a set of car speakers driven by a Creative sub/amp.  Any suggestions?

 
So what are you planning for finishing? Paint, laminate, graphics, etc.

I already ordered/received my blue T-molding from T-molding.com.  The blue is pretty dark... actually a navy.  I'm going to paint the cabinet sides in navy and the front and back panels in black.  On the sides I'm considering using an orange peel texture.  If I do that, though, it would create a problem for any side art I might decide to do later.

As far as a theme I think it's got to have something to do with Pengo.  My 7-year old daughter was looking over my shoulder while I was looking through the character art at localarcade.com and fell in love with the Pengo character.  (Oh, he's so cute!  Can we have him? Can we have him? Dad?  Huh?  Can we? Can we?)  So now I'm stuck with him.

I think I might try some kind of "Happy Feet" theme on the Marquee with Pengo on a DDR pad... and then bring in some other character art on the control panel.  I keep switching ideas for this as I get a bit intimidated with my novice art skills. 

My latest idea for the CP is wallpapering it with lots of Pengos pushing ice cubes... and having some of the other arcade characters frozen inside some of the ice cubes.  This idea's a little less ambitious than some of my earlier ideas and one that I might possibly be able to pull off in Photoshop.

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Re: First Cabinet - Modified LuSid Design
« Reply #16 on: January 14, 2007, 08:18:39 am »
(Oh, he's so cute!  Can we have him? Can we have him? Dad?  Huh?  Can we? Can we?)  So now I'm stuck with him.

That's precious.  ;D

Sounds like a neat design, though. I like the idea of the Pengos pushing ice cubes.

Newest pics looks nice. This things really coming along.
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Re: First Cabinet - Modified LuSid Design
« Reply #17 on: January 14, 2007, 11:55:42 am »
Thanks Lew!  I'm thinking I might actually pull this thing off.   :)

Here's another couple of pics with a test fit of the cabinet back and speaker panel.  I cut the front of the speaker panel at a 25 degree angle which lines up just about flush with the cabinet top.  Otherwise, just following along with the Project Arcade design.

I'm going to remove the speaker panel again to cut the speaker holes.  I can't make up my mind whether to use the Klipsch or a set of car speakers driven by a Creative sub/amp.  Any suggestions?

 
So what are you planning for finishing? Paint, laminate, graphics, etc.

I already ordered/received my blue T-molding from T-molding.com.  The blue is pretty dark... actually a navy.  I'm going to paint the cabinet sides in navy and the front and back panels in black.  On the sides I'm considering using an orange peel texture.  If I do that, though, it would create a problem for any side art I might decide to do later.

As far as a theme I think it's got to have something to do with Pengo.  My 7-year old daughter was looking over my shoulder while I was looking through the character art at localarcade.com and fell in love with the Pengo character.  (Oh, he's so cute!  Can we have him? Can we have him? Dad?  Huh?  Can we? Can we?)  So now I'm stuck with him.

I think I might try some kind of "Happy Feet" theme on the Marquee with Pengo on a DDR pad... and then bring in some other character art on the control panel.  I keep switching ideas for this as I get a bit intimidated with my novice art skills. 

My latest idea for the CP is wallpapering it with lots of Pengos pushing ice cubes... and having some of the other arcade characters frozen inside some of the ice cubes.  This idea's a little less ambitious than some of my earlier ideas and one that I might possibly be able to pull off in Photoshop.



If the Klipsh are computer speakers - go with them. I'm assuming those are computer speakers and I'm all about taking the easy way out.

Pengo's a stud - thats a good choice! Be glad she didn't fall in love with Bald Bull.

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Re: First Cabinet - Modified LuSid Design
« Reply #18 on: January 14, 2007, 01:48:32 pm »
Quote
If the Klipsh are computer speakers - go with them. I'm assuming those are computer speakers and I'm all about taking the easy way out.

Well I took a chance with Best Buy and picked up a pair of 4" car speakers  (Infinity 4012i Reference).  Brought them home, held them next to my 27" Sony TV and... rainbow swirls like crazy. 

I could try messing around with bucking magnets but I think I'm just going to take them back again and get the Klipsch Pro Media 2.1 (the same ones as in the Project Arcade book).

Not sure what to do about the speaker grills though.  Does anyone have dimensions for the Midway 6x9 covers?  Are they really 6x9?
« Last Edit: January 14, 2007, 01:50:50 pm by Dmod »
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Re: First Cabinet - Modified LuSid Design
« Reply #19 on: January 18, 2007, 02:55:38 am »
Here's another construction update with pics.

I spent two full nights this week on the monitor shelf.  I wasn't happy with my first attempt.  I tried eyeballing the proper angle and height but I felt that the monitor was too low and the angle wasn't quite flush with the front of the cabinet.

I'm using an old 27" Sony TV that we had in our guest room.  The TV is big.  It's 26" across which required that I widen Lusid's design by another 1/2 inch.  I was able to do this and still fit everything on 3 sheets of MDF.

My concern were the 2x1's holding up the speaker shelf.  In hindsight, this is overkill for the shelf since it's not holding much weight.

Since the TV fills the total width of the cabinet, it required that I place the top of the TV below the 2x1's.  Everything came together nicely but when I placed the TV in the cabinet, it just looked too low and I felt like I would be hunching over in order to line up with the TV when playing.

Propping the TV up with another sheet of MDF underneath resulted in the TV being flush with the front but it was still too low.

Rather than constructing an entire new shelf, I decided to burn the day and rip it all apart.  Luckily the glued on supports came off easily (although ripping a little bit of the MDF off with it).  In order to reuse the supports I flipped them over.

One thing I should mention about the monitor supports...  I couldn't find inexpensive 2x2's at Lowes, so I joined two 2x1's by first gluing them together and then bolting them with machine screws and nuts.  I recessed the heads of the machine screws so that the support could sit flush against the side of the cabinet.  Then I reinforced the bottom of the shelf with 12x10 inch steel shelf supports.

The resulting shelf was very solid... too bad I had to rip it all apart.

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Re: First Cabinet - Modified LuSid Design
« Reply #20 on: January 18, 2007, 03:02:24 am »
After an additional night and a half, I had the shelf corrected.  I raised the front of the shelf by about 2 inches and the back of the shelf by about a 1/2 inch in order to get the correct angle.

When I reconnected everything, the top of the TV was hitting the speaker shelf supports (surprise, surprise) and couldn't slide back into position.

I decides the best solution would be to remove the center of the shelf supports so that the TV would fit.  I did this by removing the angled back and then the speaker shelf.  Then, with the supports in place I used a hand saw to cut supports.  Prying the center section off with a hammer was fairly straight forward and... voila... TV fit.

Here's a couple of pictures showing the new TV height.

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Re: First Cabinet - Modified LuSid Design
« Reply #21 on: January 18, 2007, 03:10:07 am »
A little more sanding and gluing for the supports, and the front panel is in.

Woot!

Major construction complete.  Next job is to cut the holes in the panels for the speakers, and coin door.

Still waiting on my Ultrastiks from Ultimarc before I cut the CP... and I need to move those admin buttons over.
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Re: First Cabinet - Modified LuSid Design
« Reply #22 on: January 18, 2007, 09:55:59 am »
I don't think that you needed to have the speaker support shelf go all the way to the back of the cabinet.  You could have had it much shorter and then had even more room to raise the TV.  It may be the pics or just the viewing angle but it seems the TV is still low to me.

Otherwise, good progress on the build.  Keep it up. :cheers:

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Re: First Cabinet - Modified LuSid Design
« Reply #23 on: January 18, 2007, 10:57:23 am »
Looking great, Dmod. Do you have the monitor shelf at an angle or horizontal? It looks like your monitor is tilted.
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Re: First Cabinet - Modified LuSid Design
« Reply #24 on: January 18, 2007, 11:17:02 am »
Looks great! Congrats.

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Re: First Cabinet - Modified LuSid Design
« Reply #25 on: January 18, 2007, 04:52:26 pm »
I don't think that you needed to have the speaker support shelf go all the way to the back of the cabinet.

Thanks for the feedback, Kaytrim.

In my case, it was actually the center part of the support that got in the way but point taken.  Those long 1x2's are just complete overkill for the cabinet top.  The TV steps down and slopes in the back so the back was OK.

Quote
You could have had it much shorter and then had even more room to raise the TV.  It may be the pics or just the viewing angle but it seems the TV is still low to me.

You might be right.  The correction seemed more dramatic to me when I was working on it.  But in the pictures, it looks like less of a change.  Part of the reason for this is that the first set of pics had the TV raised with additional MDF, while the current pics do not.

But it might still be a tad low.  I'll check it again and re-evaluate.

When raising the shelf, I was a bit cautious about overcompensating.  I still wanted to keep the monitor shelf lower than the control panel so that any gap between the shelf and the control panel box wouldn't be visible.  It's set about 1.5" below the top of the control panel.  I suppose I could have brought it a bit higher, but probably not more than another inch.

Another reason I was cautious was that I figured it would be easier to raise the TV afterward than set the shelf too high and be stuck.

I think I have still have room to raise the TV by stacking some MDF on top of the shelf.  If those front supports gets in the way,  I'll probably just remove them and use a couple of L brackets instead.
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Re: First Cabinet - Modified LuSid Design
« Reply #26 on: January 18, 2007, 05:02:12 pm »
Looking great, Dmod. Do you have the monitor shelf at an angle or horizontal? It looks like your monitor is tilted.

The shelf is angled from front to back to make it (roughly) perpendicular to the angled front section in LuSid's plans. With the TV resting flat on the shelf, the front of the screen is parallel with the angled front of the cabinet.

Also the shelf is mounted flush with the front edge of the cabinet.  I beveled the front edge by 15 degrees (with a circular saw) so that it's front edge is close to vertical when mounted.

For what it's worth... the front of the shelf is mounted 4 inches above the control panel supports and the angle is formed by drawing a triangle that is 26" long and 5-3/4" high.  So... the back is roughly 1-3/4" BELOW the control panel supports.

With this angle, the TV slides to the back of the cabinet.  I'll need to put a couple of blocks in to hold the TV in the right position to mate with the bezel.  I plan on ordering a Happs 27" Monitor Bezel.

 
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Re: First Cabinet - Modified LuSid Design
« Reply #27 on: January 18, 2007, 05:44:46 pm »
Nice info, D. I had posted a question on this in another thread, because the pictures and plans in Project Arcade have the monitor shelf flat. Your measurements will help me out. Thanks!
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Re: First Cabinet - Modified LuSid Design
« Reply #28 on: January 24, 2007, 02:14:39 am »
Here's another few pics of the cut panels.

(1)  I'm using the Klipsch Promedia speakers from Project Arcade.

(2)  I've ordered a Happ coin door.

(3)  I cut the CP and decided to leave the admin buttons off.  I'm going make ESC and PAUSE map to P1 start + player buttons.  I'm toying with mixing up some black and blue buttons for the player/admin controls (see pic).  I still need to add the free-credit buttons to the front of the control panel box.  The trackball plate is recessed.  This will be covered with bondo and sanded smooth prior to painting.

(4)  My Ultrastik 360s appear to be too short to bottom mount without routing the CP or ordering longer shafts.  I've asked for advice on this on another thread on the MAIN board.

Thanks for watching.



« Last Edit: January 24, 2007, 02:18:39 am by Dmod »
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Re: First Cabinet - Modified LuSid Design
« Reply #29 on: January 24, 2007, 02:37:52 pm »
Nice looking, D. You're really making me anxious to start mine. I haven't yet because I have no way to get the boards to my place, and I don't want to pay Home Depot to deliver them, if they even would. Argh! First time I haven't been able to transport stuff in my own vehicle and first time I've not had any friends or relatives around who have a truck.  :banghead:
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Re: First Cabinet - Modified LuSid Design
« Reply #30 on: January 24, 2007, 04:35:24 pm »
Nice looking, D. You're really making me anxious to start mine. I haven't yet because I have no way to get the boards to my place, and I don't want to pay Home Depot to deliver them, if they even would. Argh! First time I haven't been able to transport stuff in my own vehicle and first time I've not had any friends or relatives around who have a truck.  :banghead:

Sorry to threadjack, but Home Depot rents trucks for a fairly reasonable rate. Can't remember how much, but I do recall thinking it was a good deal for those without a truck, or something so big that your truck wouldn't hold it, they have flatbeds available as well.
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Re: First Cabinet - Modified LuSid Design
« Reply #31 on: January 24, 2007, 04:56:38 pm »
I think you can usually rent a truck from Home Depot and Lowe's for around $20 or so.
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Re: First Cabinet - Modified LuSid Design
« Reply #32 on: February 05, 2007, 03:07:13 am »
I haven't posted in a while.  Been busy with work the past couple of weeks.  Been getting some work done on the cabinet when I can.  I finished quite a bit.  The cabinet's almost playable.

I installed the controls in my CP and Bondo'ed in the trackball plate.  I also added a hinge to the CP to hold it together.

I finished the keyboard drawer.  I'm pretty happy with how it came out.  The way I cut the front door, you can't see any seam.  So with the drawer closed, you can't tell its there.  To open the drawer, you just need to pull on the bottom edge and it slides foward.

I started to wire up the controls, partly to make sure I know where all the wires go, and partly cos I feel like taking a bit of a break before painting and finishing it.  I want to play a bit before I lock down the monitor position and cut the bezel.

The Happ coin door is just resting in the hole right now.  I still have to lock that in and screw down the front panel.

Enjoy the pics...
« Last Edit: February 05, 2007, 03:13:02 am by Dmod »
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Re: First Cabinet - Modified LuSid Design
« Reply #33 on: February 05, 2007, 08:22:35 am »
Nice work. I like the keyboard drawer. It looks very smooth. Won't the front stick up too high? Seems like you'll have to bend your wrists quite a bit to reach the keyboard. Also, are those regular keyboard sliders?
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Re: First Cabinet - Modified LuSid Design
« Reply #34 on: February 05, 2007, 10:13:56 am »
If you're standing, the drawer shelf is probably too low to use comfortably.  In this case, the drawer front doesn't really get in your way.  I think I set the shelf about 3 inches below the edge of the drawer.  You could probably raise it up about 1-1.5 inches if you think you're going to use it a lot.  You could also hinge the drawer front but I didn't want the hinge to be visible.

I was debating whether or not to put the drawer in at all.  It's never going to be all that comfortable because the correct height for it would be at CP level.  I decided if I ever need to do a lot of maintenance, it's probably going to be easier to use VNC from another computer.  I put the drawer in just to enable some quick admin stuff so the drawer height isn't really an issue.

The rails are 16" heavy duty sliders from Lowe's.
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Re: First Cabinet - Artwork
« Reply #35 on: February 16, 2007, 12:48:56 pm »
With the build almost complete (I'm actually able to play on the cabinet now), I've turned my attention to the artwork for the CP and marquee.

Here's a first cut at the CP.  This is the first time I've done anything with Photoshop, so let me know what you guys think.



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Re: First Cabinet - Suspended Animation
« Reply #36 on: February 26, 2007, 02:10:33 am »
I got some time to finish up my bevel and do a test print of my marquee.  Thought I would post an update to document where I am at this point.

Basically, the build is complete except for paint, final art, and a glass cover for the monitor.  After searching old threads, I think I'm going to go for something like 0.25 inch smoked or tinted glass.  Let me know if you think that's a wrong choice.

Here are some pics of the current status.  I finally settled on a name... "Suspended Animation" which I had to explain to my daughter but I think it fits.  I've got what I think is very close to the final marquee printed out and mounted on cardboard for now.  I'll send out the final to Mamemarquees along with the CP overlay.

Time's running out on me along with my 30 day trial for Photoshop.   :o

Planning on ripping it all apart next week to start painting.  I might have some questions along those lines before then.

« Last Edit: February 26, 2007, 02:19:46 am by Dmod »
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Re: First Cabinet - Suspended Animation
« Reply #37 on: February 26, 2007, 01:03:58 pm »
I have the same sony tv in my cabinet.  What did you use for your bezel?  Did you make it or buy one?  It looks like a perfect fit.

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Re: First Cabinet - Suspended Animation
« Reply #38 on: February 26, 2007, 01:34:14 pm »
It's the Happ 27" Bezel.

It's a close fit but not perfect... there's a gap of maybe 1/4" on the side edges near the center where the curvature doesn't exactly match the screen.

It's not very noticable, and I think if I put some tinted glass over it, you probably won't see it at all.
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Re: First Cabinet - Suspended Animation
« Reply #39 on: March 11, 2007, 03:38:14 am »
Back with a vengeance....

I spent the last two weeks finishing up my artwork and painting the cabinet.

The artwork was sent off to Scott at MameMarquees on Wednesday.  The painting took all of last week.  Here are a bunch of pics starting with...

Paint Prep... Happy Happy Joy Joy
Since I had everything built up and functional in the cabinet, this basically involved a complete tear down.  Reverse progress... gotta love it.  I caulked most of the joints.  Then I  filled and refilled and then gave up on woodfiller and bondo'd the visible screws on the side of the cabinet.  And then sanded some more.

What a mess.

EDIT:  Also, if you were following the thread, you can see that I modified the support for the angled shelf above the monitor.  I moved the supports up top and screwed in from below.  I needed to do this in order to raise the TV another 5/8" by slapping down a scrap piece of MDF.  This was just hot-glued on top of the existing shelf.

 
« Last Edit: March 11, 2007, 03:41:19 am by Dmod »
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