Looking for BYOACers in Eastern Iowa

[Kaytrim]

Looking to get a group of arcade enthusiasts started in Eastern Iowa.  I am in the Cedar Rapids - Iowa City area.

TTFN 
Kaytrim

[Kaytrim]

Is there nobody here in the heartland?

[horseboy]

At least it will be easy to find a good time for everybody to meet up.

[Chris G]

Looking to get a group of arcade enthusiasts started in Eastern Iowa.

Bummer, KT - looks like you might have to mean this literally!  How's your recruiting budget look this year?  

[fixedpigs]

iowa city represent...!
 

[MazzMn]

Looking to get a group of arcade enthusiasts started in Eastern Iowa. 

Hey, we had mame get together for my pc club http://www.k-lug.org recently (Rochester Minnesota) and we may be having a more formal session coming up...Sorry I didn't know about this forum earlier...but if you want to travel north I'll try to remember to give you a hollar.

A friend and I are going hunting for gutted arcades in the Twin Cities soon, just found a possible contact...but if you know of a source for arcade carcasses, we could head south too. (Thinking of starting a restoration project next)

[nickbuol]

Reviving an old thread.  I would have started a new one, but then there would just be two identical threads.

Anyway, fast forward 5 years from the original post.

I wonder how many people are in Iowa at all, not just Eastern Iowa.

I was in the Dubuque area with my first cabinet.  I moved to Des Moines about 8 years ago, sold that cabinet and built my current one.  I then moved a year ago to Marion (next to Cedar Rapids) and am currently fixing my cabinet (computer failure) and hope to be back in operation in a few days.

I also have 3 pachinkos, and a Theatre of Magic pinball.  Not the biggest game room, but it is fun. 

When I am not enjoying these games, I can often be found sitting in my home theater.

[wp34]

I'm located in Pleasant Hill Iowa.  There are a few guys in Iowa over on the KLOV forum.

Theater of Magic.  Very nice.   

[nickbuol]

Pleasant Hill? Really?  When I said "Des Moines"  I really lived in Pleasant Hill.  On Greenwood Avenue...

[bjhille]

I live in West Des Moines, but I haven't even built my first cab yet.  I'm been reading for years and was just getting ready to order some parts and my townhouse caught fire (neighbor house started it and it migrated to my house).  I would love to get together and see what other have done and perhaps get some help/guidance as I build my cabinet.

[nickbuol]

AF Johnson Millwork in Des Moines has a full Autocad file that I paid to convert to their CNC machine format to precisely cut out a full size cabinet with both a 2 player and 4 player control panel.  Precise down to 0.0001 of an inch.

They charged a friend of mine $400 for a melamine cabinet cut out in whatever color he wanted.  This was a few years back, but it might be worth a call to them.  I would NOT recommend melamine.  It it hard to get it to glue to itself since the inside and outside are slick, and any screws/nails used will damage the finish.  But it could get the hard cuts done, then you could laminate it yourself for pretty cheap.

Anyway, I KNOW that the plans are good, and it is probably under my name, just ask for a price without the melamine, and see what options for wood they give you.

There will still be lots to do:
cover/paint it
cut t-slot for t-molding
assemble
put in the guts
mount bezel
mount marquee
put caster wheels on
etc.

Might be an option for when you do want to do it.

I live near Cedar Rapids now, so I am rarely in Des Moines anymore.

[werdna]

I'm in Ames.  1 complete MAME cabinet and another one in the works.  Also have a 1966 "Hot Line" pin. 

Two friends are in the process of restoring a cab and scratch building a cab.  We'd be up for getting together somewhere in central Iowa.

-Andrew