LeapinLew: 2 player bartop

[leapinlew]

I'm building a 2 player bartop. The CP will be 24" wide by 10" deep and have 2 street fighter layouts and a spinner. I have room for a trackball, but I think the best trackball games are the games that require a wild swing and this bartop just won't have the room needed to play properly.

As for materials - I'm going to try this Sandeply. I'm concerned the wood grain is going to be difficult to remove, but after feeling it, I'm thinking a few primer coats and sands should be enough. It's not super expensive, but it's not cheap. I picked up a 2' by 4' section of sandeply for $14.99. I estimate it'll take 2 pieces to build this cabinet.

I started work on this yesterday and I'm basing it off my previous bartop design. I kept this template and modified it for this new design:


I made the 2 player cabinet a bit deeper and I had to change the profile since I'm expanding the "CP box" on this cabinet. The base is 24" at the CP area and 16" where the monitor will be:


You can see in this picture what I'm talking about with it being thicker than the original design and being cut off on the front to allow for the expanded CP. You can also see the T shaped base I cut from cheap plywood. 

Thats pretty much all I could do yesterday.

[leapinlew]

Today I got a fortunate break in the weather to walk the dog (we are both getting fat) and to work on the cabinet. I only had about an hour, but I was able to make a little progress.

The sides have the T-molding slot cut


I used the red piece of t-molding to get a good fit. I'm not sure if this Sandeply is really 3/4" as my 3/4" T-mold stuck out just a bit on both sides (maybe 1/64").

I attached the sides to the base and starting building the box:



I'm still playing around with how the CP box will be built but I think I have a good idea. The slope is 1.5" drop over 10". Once I build this side how I like I'll flush trim out the matching side. These cut needs to be fairly precise since I plan on having a piano hinge on the front of the CP.

A word about the top marquee piece. Thats in now temporarily just to  give the cabinet the proper spacing of 16". If it's not it, the two sides aren't square and it's near impossible to get the measurements I need to build the box.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to recut the top portion where the marquee is and scale it back. My last cabinet has a couple of viewing angles that I want to resolve with this one. TheCoder suggested it to me on my last project, but I didn't have the time. This time I should be able to vastly improve the viewing angle by removing even more marquee area.

[Kaytrim]

Lew,

I'd be a little concerned about the stability of a fighter style bartop.  Some people get rather aggressive.  You are using and LCD right?  If you were using a CRT it wouldn't be as much of an issue.  The base is a good size and that might compensate for the lower weight.  I'll defiantly be watching this build.  Keep us up on the progress.

Kaytrim

[Jeff AMN]

Looking great!

I would get some of that anti-slip rubber and line the bottom of your bartop with it.

[Crafty]

Looks like another good project in the making...

[bfauska]

I'm not sure if this Sandeply is really 3/4" as my 3/4" T-mold stuck out just a bit on both sides (maybe 1/64").

Most plywood, unlike MDF is actually undersized by about 1/32, so 1/64 on each side seems right.  Sometimes you'll notice at Home Depot that it is actually quite hard to find plywood labeled by the quarter inch, usually you'll see 15/32, 19/32, and 23/32.

[KenToad]

Can't wait to see how this one turns out.  Thanks for sharing and good work so far.

[javeryh]

Woah, pretty awesome stuff Lew.  I'm very curious to see how this turns out and to read impressions on playing something like Street Fighter on a bartop.  I love the other bartop you made so this should turn out great.  You made so much progress for the first day too...

[psychotech]

Yesh!

The 1st one came out great, so.., I'll be spying on this too 

Yes, for Street Fighter on a bartop ..You'll need mass/weight/whatever..

Hey, what are the dimensions? Depth / height?

Good luck!

Psycho.

[leapinlew]

Lew,

I'd be a little concerned about the stability of a fighter style bartop.  Some people get rather aggressive.  You are using and LCD right?  If you were using a CRT it wouldn't be as much of an issue.  The base is a good size and that might compensate for the lower weight.  I'll defiantly be watching this build.  Keep us up on the progress.

Kaytrim

True... this is a valid concern. The way I figure, if I want it to get heavier - I'll marry it.


You guys have to promise me if you ever meet my wife you'll never repeat that. It's not going to be as cramped as my last one. I should be able to add some weight after the fact in the form of lead weights or something. I am figuring a street fighter cabinet needs to be in the 70-80lbs before it's safe and even then it could get a little wobbly. I am expecting this thing to weigh around 45-50ish which means I may have to add a few dumbbells. 

This Sandeply isn't heavy at all, I'd guess about 1/4 the weight of MDF. Makes it a joy to work with.

[leapinlew]

I'm not sure if this Sandeply is really 3/4" as my 3/4" T-mold stuck out just a bit on both sides (maybe 1/64").

Most plywood, unlike MDF is actually undersized by about 1/32, so 1/64 on each side seems right.  Sometimes you'll notice at Home Depot that it is actually quite hard to find plywood labeled by the quarter inch, usually you'll see 15/32, 19/32, and 23/32.

This worked out good.... I decided to use black formica. I have no idea how it'll get here, it's a 4x8 sheet. I imagine it'll be rolled up or something. This should take up any overlap - now I just have to learn how to apply it. 

[leapinlew]

Yesh!

The 1st one came out great, so.., I'll be spying on this too 

Yes, for Street Fighter on a bartop ..You'll need mass/weight/whatever..

Hey, what are the dimensions? Depth / height?

Good luck!

Psycho.

Thanks Mr. Tech... It's 24" high at it's highest. Here some quick dimensions:

[leapinlew]

I made some progress today and mostly finished the box. What a pain in the butt. Usually the CP area on a bartop is easy because it fits within the walls, but because this one needs a large CP and I didn't want to build a huge monitor area...





You'll notice I trimmed back the marquee area even further. This suggestion was first given to me on my last arcade by TheCoder. I used his advice this time and I'm sure it'll provide an unobstructed view of the monitor from nearly any angle. Thanks Coder!

The front kick plate is being a bit problematic. Apparently I didn't cut it straight enough and there is a 1/16" gap that I won't be happy with unless I fix. So, I'll recut that piece. My tools are limited here, and getting a straight cut with a jigsaw isn't easy. If I were painting this - I'd probably caulk it and be done.

More updates this weekend hopefully.

[btp2k2]

True... this is a valid concern. The way I figure, if I want it to get heavier - I'll marry it.

 

that was too funny

[psychotech]

 

Looking good!

Like the shape and the dimensions. And you're FAST ..Well, finishing / detailing this will surely slow you down 

Good luck.

Still Psycho.

[leapinlew]

Potential artwork - I'm looking for some feedback. The marquee is 16" x 2.5".



I usually prefer the more simple stated marquees, but this one seems a bit too simple for me. The problem is, since there is very little room on the marquee - I can't really think of what else to do. I could outline it or something - just unsure.

Fine as is or.... ?

[btp2k2]

Well, if the wife ever finds out about your little joke above it would be aptly named.....

[leapinlew]

Well, if the wife ever finds out about your little joke above it would be aptly named.....

Ha, no doubt. Heres a quick update to the marquee. I changed the D and added in a masked area behind the text in an attempt to give it more depth. It's still a little weak. I tried adding some gears or a background image. It seems that all it does is make it more cluttered. I'll keep tinkering with it.

[javeryh]

It looks good - my one comment was going to be the "d" being very tough to read but you cleaned that up already.  With such a dark background do you think it will light up well? 

[leapinlew]

It looks good - my one comment was going to be the "d" being very tough to read but you cleaned that up already.  With such a dark background do you think it will light up well? 

I think it would be fine - my last 2 marquees were mostly black and they look ok.

[leapinlew]

Made a bit of progress today. I finished all the major construction. I'm currently working on a monitor mount and I have a pretty good idea in the works.

The cabinet needs some feet to help keep it from sliding around. Since I don't see many old folks falling down with those walkers - I assume those little rubber feet or tennis balls do a pretty good job of gripping. I figured I'd try the rubber feet first and they seem to work - which is good because good tennis balls are expensive! 


I bought a dowel rod to fit in the feet and cut it to size


Here it is all cut and fitted. They may be a bit too tall, but these were pretty inexpensive. I'll pickup some smaller ones if these don't work.

Here is the cabinet thus far -


Once I mount the monitor I'll be ready to apply the formica. I bought a J-roller, some water based adhesive and formica snips to cut it down to size. All together it was near $60.  Hopefully it's worth it.

I need to finish the artwork and get that to the printers. Everything else is either already here, or on order.

[leapinlew]

Ok... I think I have a marquee I can live with. Here it is before it gets tweaked for the last time. I need to fix the D again and I need to decide what I want to do about the flares on the W and R.



Anyone have any thoughts? Good/Bad/Other?

[btp2k2]

I've always liked the whole bartop thing. This one looks pretty cool.

It's cool that you are doing a fighter cab. I like the idea of doing a cab with a specific genre in mind, like a fighter, or sports, driving, etc. The whole frankenpanel thing to try and accomodate every game out there is just too ugly in my opinion.

The house I just bought has a finished basement and my wife promised I could do it up as a gameroom on the condition we can get a pool table. I intend on doing a few cabinets like that, one for fighters, one with a vertical screen, etc.

I like your marquee too. Subtle, yet still cool looking. The font looks really cool....kinda sinister

[leapinlew]

OK - finally got something I'm happy with. It's simple and effective. Has a bit of a creepy vibe to match the name I think. I'm working on the CP Artwork now - not sure what to do here - it's a big CP on this guy.

[leapinlew]

Potential CP artwork:



A few things I'm going to change already

• The joysticks need to move up the CP - so I'll probably put the text on the bottom part of the CP
• The lens flares are a little too much - I'm going to keep them, but reduce the amount of flare
• Fix the D again and clean everything up - make sure everything matches the marquee

In the middle where it's nearly perfectly white - thats where a turbotwist2 is going.

[leapinlew]

Monitor Mount -

I have a Dell 17" LCD I am using on this project. I didn't want to mount the stand inside the bartop so I took the stand off. The stand had the proper spacing on the mounting holes so I used it as a pattern to drill out the correct hole dimensions. The piece of wood it's mounted on is 16"- which is how big the inside of the cabinet is. This should serve several purposes. I should be able to easily mount the monitor at the desired angle, it should provide support for when it's moved, and it'll save space.



You can see in these pictures what I've done. I didn't have any washers to use under the machine bolts - but they seem ok. Those machine bolts were a pain to find at Home Depot and the ones they did have were about 1/4" too short. Thats why I had to recess them a bit. The mounting strips are connected to the 16" piece of wood by 6 drywall screws and are predrilled to be mounted inside the cabinet.

I've test fitted it in the cab and it'll work great. I'll mount it after the formica goes on.

[bfauska]

It's looking good.  That monitor mount solution seems nice and clean.  Do you have the CP layout designed yet, I am trying to picture the buttons and joystick in the ovals and it seems like the shape may be odd, but I could be picturing a totally wrong button configuration, have you done a view with the joys and buttons indicated in the ovals?  It may be worth looking at.

[leapinlew]

It's looking good.  That monitor mount solution seems nice and clean.  Do you have the CP layout designed yet, I am trying to picture the buttons and joystick in the ovals and it seems like the shape may be odd, but I could be picturing a totally wrong button configuration, have you done a view with the joys and buttons indicated in the ovals?  It may be worth looking at.

Thanks bfauska (what does that mean?) regarding the CP layout. I put that together last night in a low res version to see how I liked it. I'll definitely need to make sure the buttons fit in the ovals. I'll also put a texture or something to even further distinguish those areas.

When I print it - I'll print both - 1 black and white with the proper drill locations and the real one.

I guess I estimated pretty good because the buttons seem to fit ok.

[bfauska]

Thanks bfauska (what does that mean?)

I assume you are asking about my name?  Brian Fauska (I guess I have nothing to hide now, people know my name)  Of course after seeing your CP text "The Waterman Widowmaker"  I could venture a fairly solid guess at your name too I think.

I wonder what it would look like if the ovals were flatter?  Same width but shorter.  It may look more like it is framing the buttons.  That's a good idea with the shading or pattern inside the ovals.  The lens flare is looking better too.  What spinner knob are you using?  it should look nice with the gradient coming out from it.  You should find a red knob.  Are you using colored buttons and joys?  I would think red or black would be the best bet, actually this could be one of the coolest uses for the ElectricIce buttons, it would tie in with the white when they weren't lit up.

[leapinlew]

I had to spend the second half of the day cleaning up. I'm not very organized once I get working - I'll leave drill bits, tools, etc. all over the place. I haven't mounted the monitor yet. Heres a pic of the machines next to each other - you can see how similar the profile is.

[leapinlew]

redid the CP art:



This setup should work better. It moves the controls higher up on the CP - more room to rest your arm.

The area inside the joysticks is filled in with a pattern - this helps define the joystick area

I may change the 2 lower lens flares to match the color of the middle flare - the middle flare will be where a spinner is.

Thanks for all the feedback

[theCoder]

Sorry to jump in late, but I was taking a class in NY, NY  last week.  Cool city to visit, I'd hate to live there.

I'm glad you're scaling the marquee back.  This one should be much better.

For the laminate... I've never done it before, but based on what I've read on this forum, I suspect you want to put it on BEFORE assembly.  Anyone else have any recommendations on this?  Based on the painting fun I'm finishing up on my current project,  I'll probably try a laminate on my next project.

Have you sent the marquee off for print yet?  What does it look like if you scale down the texture on the font just a bit?  As is, you get about 1.5 highs/lows per letter.  It might (??) look better if it were a little finer.  But maybe not.  Besides that, I like it.  Sometimes less is more.

On the Partybox project I did last time around, the monitor started to rattle a bit.  To fix it I pulled out the mounting board, and laid down a thin layer of silicon where the monitor touches the wood.  I also squirted some into the screw holes just for good measure.  You might want to consider doing something similar.

As for weight, I'd go with something removable.  Perhaps a 1/4" or 1/2" thick piece of scrap steel mounted to the bottom plate.  This would be thin, and not take up too much space.  You could go with weight lifting weights, but they might take up a lot of space.

So are you back home now, or still on assignment?

[leapinlew]

Still on assignment...

when I want to do some work - I have to drag sawhorses, tools, extension cords, etc. onto the patio area. Sucks.

The laminate is going on in stages - I'll remove, install it, trim it and put it back on. The added width of the laminate shouldn't cause me any issues.

As for the marquee/CPO - I've removed all the texture with the font - I agree with ya there.

We'll see where the weight lands - I figure I can easily add weights after the fact - there should be plenty of room to drop in some dumbbells if needed. This thing has a lot of space in it.

Thanks Coder!

[leapinlew]

Had a bit of time to do some work today. First thing on the list is laminate. I did a bit of reading online to find out what all was involved with this process. It's not too bad. I bought the water based laminate as suggested by Knievel.

The first thing I had to do was cut the laminate using the special laminate cutting tool.

The chunk you see thats missing is actually how big of a chunk the laminate cutter takes out of the laminate. I see now, why you can't use scissors. The laminate would just crack. I used this tool to get the laminate to a more manageable size.

Next I lined up the pieces.


Then the waiting game. It goes on white, and it turns clear once it's ready to be applied. Put an even coat on between the 2 products, I put 2 coats on the wood because it's so porous.

The tool is called a J-roller and I would suggest saving the money and using a rolling pin.

Next I installed a flush trim bit on my router and trimmed off the excess. Here are the results.


I am very happy with the results and wish I started using laminate sooner. These are the inside pieces that needed the laminate. I cut all the other pieces and they are ready to go


Look at the mess this stuff makes!


I'm going fishing tomorrow, but I may have time to finish the laminate and do some assembly. If not, I'll get to it during the week. I'm also configuring a 2.4ghz machine to use as the guts for this thing.

[psychotech]

Looks kewl 

Mod. Even though not politically correct, the dedication on the CP ..well, works -> 

Still, where did you buy the laminate, how much/m² and what is the stuff actually called - what brand etc. Can't seem to find the stuff anywhere here.. (As if I was building another cab )

And, you know ..pix of the assembly! No, not enough, more pix of the assembly 

PsychoT.

[Timoe]

The laminate is often called Formica and a big manufacturer is Wilsonart.  They have many colors and styles available at your local, larger hardware store.  Lowes or Home Depot.

I need to get one of those laminate cutters.  It looks like it works well.

Just a note on my style:  I like to laminate the interior pieces prior to assembly, like the speaker panel or the kickplate.  I then screw the thing together.  Screw through the sides into the speaker panel or whatever and then I laminate the outsides effectively covering up the screws.

The stuff is so solid, you can spill anything on it and still clean in off.  Good choice.

[theCoder]

Very nice.  It looks like you're going to get a fantastic finish with very little (easy for me to say) effort.  Lots simpler/quicker anyway relative to paint.  I think I'll use this stuff on my next project.

[leapinlew]

Very nice.  It looks like you're going to get a fantastic finish with very little (easy for me to say) effort.  Lots simpler/quicker anyway relative to paint.  I think I'll use this stuff on my next project.

You were right, it is easy effort. So far, I love it. It's a little more pricey and tougher to work with but well worth it so far.

[leapinlew]

Looks kewl 

Mod. Even though not politically correct, the dedication on the CP ..well, works -> 

Still, where did you buy the laminate, how much/m² and what is the stuff actually called - what brand etc. Can't seem to find the stuff anywhere here.. (As if I was building another cab )

And, you know ..pix of the assembly! No, not enough, more pix of the assembly 

PsychoT.

I'm still working on the CP - I need to measure a bit more... but I think I'm going with it with how it is with a few minor revisions.

The laminate was about $45 at a specialty store. It's the vertical grade formica 1/32" in a black matte finish. I had to purchase a 4x8 sheet.

I used a router to trim it up, but I'm sure you'd find a way to do it with some duct tape, paperclip and ball point pen. 

[psychotech]

Oh, Lew..

That's way too technical

I was rather thinking about a butter knife and a nail file ..

So, where are the pics?

---------------

Anyway, thanks! Found actually three local hardware stores selling at least some kind of Formica..

PT.