Mountain's MAME project COMPLETED WITH PICTURES 8-16-07

[Kaytrim]

I see that I am gona have to get me some bondo.  That stuff makes your corners perfect.  I could have used it on my CP at various points.  This project is looking real good can't wait to see more progress.  Nice job on the documentation too.   

TTFN 
Kaytrim

[mountain]

Thanks for all of the compliments everyone. I could have just mounted the old base the way it was. I just know it would have bugged the crap out of me in the future. A little patience and unwillingness to compromise can go a long way on this type of project.

I got the hinges lined up and installed. I had to alter the front edge as you can see in the picture below. The hinge that I am using lifts the top then slides out in front of the base. The track ball assembly was catching so I routed out the front a little to help it clear. The good part is that it will never be seen because of the overhang.



I also routed out two slots for the wires, one on each side.



While I was waiting on the primer and Bondo to dry this weekend, I ripped out the old casters and replaced them along with some new plates. While it was down I decided to go ahead and knock out the t-molding.





I know, nothing fancy for the art work  I like the image and this is not a themed cabinet any way. I couldn’t decide on a name or theme other than black and blue. Besides, I spent so much time in Photoshop trying to design something without any luck. 

Here is the coin door after a new paint job.



Well, hopefully this week I will find some time to load the CP with all of the gear and artwork. I can’t wait!

[Kaytrim]

That is looking like one very slick cab mountain.    I like the front where the coin door is and the box for the CP looks like there was a lot of thought put into it.

Keep it up. 
Kaytrim

[NiteWalker]

Awesome work! I'm watching this with interest.

[mountain]

It's been awhile since I have updated this project thread. I have spent a lot of time on the cab, mainly little odds and ends not worthy of pictures. I did finally get the base for the control panel done. Earlier in this thread I mounted the pinball plunger in the first base. Well.... this time around was a bit more tricky to say the least. The optimal placement just so happened to be where the curve begins to wrap around the side, but I wanted it to pull straight out. 

I ended up cutting some nylon spacers at the correct angles to make it work:





Since I shrunk the sides and front of the CP base to 1/2", I wanted to make sure that the plunger had a solid base. I took a steel plate and recessed it into the front panel, and bolted it in place with 10/32 nylon lock nuts.



I then filled it in with bondo.



The only thing left to do now is wrap it in laminate. I will try and post those pictures soon.

[somunny]

I really dig the look of the curved surface on the fron of the cab.   

[Kaytrim]

Now that is what I call a major cover up.  Are you sure you haven't worked in an auto body shop at sometime in your life?  That is one sweet little mounting job. 

TTFN
Kaytrim

[SavannahLion]

A little late now, but it wouldn't hurt to ask I guess.

Did you consider using the same technqiue for the rounded corners on your CP to achieve the look you wanted on the front end, instead of bending the wood?

[mountain]

A little late now, but it wouldn't hurt to ask I guess.

Did you consider using the same technqiue for the rounded corners on your CP to achieve the look you wanted on the front end, instead of bending the wood?

Yeah, as the front panel sits right now, I may have been able to do it that way. I originally wanted it to curve in two directions so that may have been hard to do with PVC. Since I had invested so much time on the panel already, I stood in my garage debating the fastest way to re-make the base. I saw the pipe sitting there and it hit me.

[mountain]

I finished my Admin panel this weekend. I decided to incorporate the system volume control, power switch, and headphone jack in it as well.



Here is a shot showing how the smoke plexiglass for the monitor is going to mount. I cut a 1/8th inch slot for the plexi to to sit. This should give a nice clean edge when finished.



On the back side, I had to router out some material to make the volume pot, headphone jack, and power switch work. To get a clean hole for the headphone jack and a solid mount for the volume control, I decided to use the same technic as I did on the pinball plunger mount. I recessed a piece of aluminum in the face flush with the surface.

Here is a shot of the volume control mount from the back.



The headphone jack



Even the power switch needed some material removed for the nut to clear.



This panel is completed. I finished up all of the wiring last night. I will post pictures of it tonight.

[Knievel]

Nice work. Did you spray the front of that piece?
Really nice finish on there. I usually just wrap mine in that black Happ vinyl.

[mountain]

Nice work. Did you spray the front of that piece?
Really nice finish on there. I usually just wrap mine in that black Happ vinyl.

Yeah, it is a rattle can job. Turned out well though. I painted the inside edges of the cabinet as well as the marquee brackets with the same stuff for a consistent look.

[theCoder]

What are your plans for the plunger?  With a little lever and/or leaf switch at the end of the throw, you could use it as input.

Nice work on the rounded surfaces.

[mountain]

What are your plans for the plunger?  With a little lever and/or leaf switch at the end of the throw, you could use it as input.

Nice work on the rounded surfaces.

Thanks Coder! I built a circuit for the plunger I found online.

http://www.johnsretroarcade.com/hardware_pinball.asp

It's a pretty easy build and should work out well. I will know soon enough. 

[Timoe]

Freagin nice cabinet mang!  I need to get rid of mine so I can build another!

I like the way your admin panel holds your monitor glass/plexi.  Thats cool.

[shorthair]

I like those curves, man.  Was thinking along remotely similar lines, but would like all the corners to be curve - or, even more, make an oval sort of cab or something. Initially, I was thinking of making a frame out of PVC or ABS, then covering it with some kind of thin poly or something. What did you cut the PVC with?

[psychotech]

 

Looks really Great!

And the monitor plexiglass mount ..works! (100% positive on that detail,  )

 

[mountain]

I like those curves, man.  Was thinking along remotely similar lines, but would like all the corners to be curve - or, even more, make an oval sort of cab or something. Initially, I was thinking of making a frame out of PVC or ABS, then covering it with some kind of thin poly or something. What did you cut the PVC with?

Thanks!
I have used fiberglass in the past and would like to build a cabinet out of it some day. The possibilities would be endless!

I used a table saw very carefully. I probably could have used a jig saw with a metal blade too.

Looks really Great!

And the monitor plexiglass mount ..works! (100% positive on that detail,  )

 

Ahh, you did this too? I test fit the mount tonight and love the look. It looks really clean! Do you have a link to your project?

[mountain]

OK, I finally got around to taking some pictures of the Admin panel that I finished this past weekend. The vinyl labels came from BYOAC member Pongo over in BST. I highly recommend his services. Fast turnaround and quality work. 



Headphone jack on the left side.



Yes indeed, that is a Vacuum Flourecent Display above the power switch. It comes from a Media Center PC. It was a freebie so what the hell. More on this dude later.




The black volume knob comes from an old Onkyo receiver I had laying around with a bad channel. I had to trim the inside to make it look right because it was sitting out too far.




The back with all of the wiring done. I put disconnects on everything to make it easy to tear down for any upgrades 



I am using speaker grill snaps to secure it to the cabinet which will also will make teardowns easy.




The speaker amp was pulled from a set of computer speakers. I used 4 nickel sized 'drops' of hot glue on each corner of the board to secure it to the panel.



Thats all for now. I am almost done with the control panel so pictures of it will be up soon.

[Knievel]

Cripes that looks sharp! Nice power switch too.

Good to see Pongo got those button labels figured out.

to you both.

[superbigjay]

Wow Mountain!  very impressive.

I love the curves on the front of the cab.
An that admin panel to hold the plexi, power button, volume knobs and some admin buttons.  Lots of good ideas 

And the most important thing  I've learned from this thread :
- every one needs some Bondo in their life 

Cheers 
Jay

[shardian]

This thing is looking very slick. I  your skills.

[psychotech]

That looks really great!

And, yes, did a similar plexi mount on my bartop ..not enough room for the admin buttons though so they're under the CP along with a USB connector etc.

A couple links: ( ..picture quality )

W.I.P. http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=61679.msg623080#msg623080

Almost done.. http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=61679.msg663360#msg663360

Good luck with your build 

Psychotech

[mountain]

Cripes that looks sharp! Nice power switch too.

Good to see Pongo got those button labels figured out.

to you both.

Thanks Knievel! Credit to you for introducing us to the Slicker font. I think it fits perfectly.

Wow Mountain!  very impressive.

I love the curves on the front of the cab.
An that admin panel to hold the plexi, power button, volume knobs and some admin buttons.  Lots of good ideas 

And the most important thing  I've learned from this thread :
- every one needs some Bondo in their life 

Cheers 
Jay

Thank you Superbigjay, I agree. I just wish it were a little cheaper.

This thing is looking very slick. I  your skills.

Hey shardian, thanks for the Wico 8-way. I have brought it back to life with a new grommet, stick, and custon Plexiglass dustcovers. Now I just need to locate some NOS leafs for the three Wicos I have. The ones I have are worn but work OK.

That looks really great!

And, yes, did a similar plexi mount on my bartop ..not enough room for the admin buttons though so they're under the CP along with a USB connector etc.

A couple links: ( ..picture quality )

W.I.P. http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=61679.msg623080#msg623080

Almost done.. http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=61679.msg663360#msg663360

Good luck with your build 

Psychotech

Thanks for the links psychotech. Your mod skills are very impressive! Modifying components is probably my favorite part of this build so far. My next update will have plenty of pictures of some of these mods.

[mountain]

I put the final touches on the control panel base last night and took some pictures. I put disconnects on everything so I can tear it down easily.



Painted, laminated, and wired 





Here is a shot of the pinball plunger optical switch.



Here is the circuit built for the pinball plunger



This is the adjustment board and switches from the Mitsubishi Diamond Pro 21" monitor. Since it will be behind Plexiglass, I wanted the ability to adjust it with out removing the glass.



This is a circuit board pulled from an old Code Alarm shock sensor originally designed for a car alarm. It's new purpose in life is to pick up bumps to the control panel and report it to Visual Pinball as a center nudge input.



I hope to have the control panel totally wired tonight and mounted to the cabinet. I will post more pictures very soon.

[Jeff AMN]

Wow, this is turning out to be one of the more impressive projects I've seen in a while. Lot's of innovative stuff going on there...

[bfauska]

This is a circuit board pulled from an old Code Alarm shock sensor originally designed for a car alarm. It's new purpose in life is to pick up bumps to the control panel and report it to Visual Pinball as a center nudge input.

Very clever.  I've never played much pinball and don't know if I will put any pinball controls in my cabinet but just the novelty of this setup makes me consider it.  How does the plunger work with the strength of pull?  Is it a time based circuit, so that the longer you hold the plunger out before letting it go the harder the hit?  I was wondering if there was a way to use an optical encoder (hacked mouse) with a linear strip instead of a disk for input, the strength would actually be based on the distance of the pull, not the time.  Like I said I'm not much of a pinball guy, so I don't even know if there is a way to select mouse input for the plunger or if you would have to create a seperate circuit board that would convert the information into a key press of different lengths.

[mountain]

This is a circuit board pulled from an old Code Alarm shock sensor originally designed for a car alarm. It's new purpose in life is to pick up bumps to the control panel and report it to Visual Pinball as a center nudge input.

Very clever.  I've never played much pinball and don't know if I will put any pinball controls in my cabinet but just the novelty of this setup makes me consider it.  How does the plunger work with the strength of pull?  Is it a time based circuit, so that the longer you hold the plunger out before letting it go the harder the hit?  I was wondering if there was a way to use an optical encoder (hacked mouse) with a linear strip instead of a disk for input, the strength would actually be based on the distance of the pull, not the time.  Like I said I'm not much of a pinball guy, so I don't even know if there is a way to select mouse input for the plunger or if you would have to create a seperate circuit board that would convert the information into a key press of different lengths.

http://www.johnsretroarcade.com/hardware_pinball.asp

Yeah, the longer the hold (ground input) the harder the hit. You can read up on the pinball plunger circuit at the above link. I am anxious to test it out this weekend when I put it all together.

[theCoder]

Great job on the plunger. 

Do you have a copy of the Pro Pinball series?  It is by far the best pinball simulation software out there.  The physics are much better than Visual Pinball.  All keys are programmable, and includes nudge forward, left, and right.  You can pick up a copy for around $10 delivered on eBay.  If you are into video pinball (as I am), you will not be disappointed.

[AMDman13]

All I have to say is damn! Looking sweet!

[javeryh]

   I cannot tell you enough how much I LOVE this cabinet and all of your innovations.  The curved CP and coin door panel, the power button, volume knob, headphone jack, etc.  It's all simply perfect.  This is definitely something to aspire to.

    

[psychotech]

Cool!

Just the way I like it 

Great ideas & real tidy ..what can I say ..Awesome 

Keep up the good work 

Psycho

[mountain]

Great job on the plunger. 

Do you have a copy of the Pro Pinball series?  It is by far the best pinball simulation software out there.  The physics are much better than Visual Pinball.  All keys are programmable, and includes nudge forward, left, and right.  You can pick up a copy for around $10 delivered on eBay.  If you are into video pinball (as I am), you will not be disappointed.

Thanks Coder, I will have to check that out. I am excited about playing pinball on this cabinet more than anything else.

Cool!

Just the way I like it 

Great ideas & real tidy ..what can I say ..Awesome 

Keep up the good work 

Psycho

Thanks psychotech
I went through your tomatocade thread this morning, that thing is great. I definately like things tidy when it comes to wiring too.

[shorthair]

Sick, dude. Sick.

[Trebeck]

 

Fantastic!  Where did you get that power switch from?  Thats awesome!

Beck

[mountain]

The switch came form my work. We use them in some of our products. The outer ring illuminates blue and the power logo is custom engraved to our specs. I was able to use the sample switch they gave us when we inquired about using it. They aren't cheap but boy do they look nice. You would have to find a distributor if you wanted to buy one locally. The company, Bulgin, is llocated in the UK. See the link below for the specifications.

http://www.bulgin.co.uk/Products/Switches/Illuminated.html

EDIT: typo correction

[bfauska]

That's a $20 switch from Mouser here in the states, and that's without the cool power logo.  Really cool looking though.  I think that your admin panel is the nicest I've seen.  There is something to be said for keeping a cabinet looking like it belongs in an arcade, but I really think that if we are going to have them in our homes we might as well work in a few details that make them more home friendly, the games still PLAY like we're in the arcades, but now we can use headphones, or easily go from game to game, just by adding a few nice features to the cabinet.  You have done an excellent job so far and I think that this cabinet is definitely on it's way to becoming one of the outstanding examples of what people in this hobby can create if they really shoot for a quality product.  I look forward to each of your updates and plan on trying to use some of your great ideas in my cabinet one day.  Keep up the great work.

[mountain]

That's a $20 switch from Mouser here in the states, and that's without the cool power logo.  Really cool looking though.  I think that your admin panel is the nicest I've seen.  There is something to be said for keeping a cabinet looking like it belongs in an arcade, but I really think that if we are going to have them in our homes we might as well work in a few details that make them more home friendly, the games still PLAY like we're in the arcades, but now we can use headphones, or easily go from game to game, just by adding a few nice features to the cabinet.  You have done an excellent job so far and I think that this cabinet is definitely on it's way to becoming one of the outstanding examples of what people in this hobby can create if they really shoot for a quality product.  I look forward to each of your updates and plan on trying to use some of your great ideas in my cabinet one day.  Keep up the great work.

I feel the same way. My cabinet is going to be used by my 2 kids as well as their friends. My wife has a few favorites that she will want to play from time to time as well. It HAS to be user friendly. Having headphones is essential because the machine is in the same room as our home theater setup and we all hang out down there a lot.
I am not interested in owning an original game any time soon (except maybe Galaga) because of the limited room we have here. I respect what a lot of members here do restoring these classics to their original glory and preserving the history. I would love to take on a project like that one day.

Bfauska, thanks a lot for the nice words. My wife says that I am way too particular  I just want something that looks nice and will last a long time 

[mountain]

The control panel is finished. Here are some shots of the wiring. I had a very tough time getting good pictures of the top. I will try to get some this weekend when I am home during the day.











Pinball buttons on the side.

[NiteWalker]

Slick.