LeapinLew: 2 player bartop

[leapinlew]

Some assembly shots after applying the formica -

[psychotech]

Oh!

Coming along quite nicely 

That formica looks (a bit too) promising.. Hmmm. Maybe if (when?) I'll build another one..

[theCoder]

Very nice.  This thing is going to be smoooooooth.

[Timoe]

Hey guy, did you start a new thread for a new phase of a previously posted project?

[leapinlew]

Hey guy, did you start a new thread for a new phase of a previously posted project?

what?

[leapinlew]

Still unsure of what Timoe was talking about, but I just finished the artwork portion of this cabinet. Nothing too flashy, but I like it. Here is the CPO:



It's on it's way to Mamemarquees now. I'm anxious to see how their work is. I've used CAG in the past and they sucked. Laminate is going on the cabinet now - I had an issue with one of the sides and need to clean up the glue before I can attempt it again.

I've also been working on the computer and getting it all setup.

I'll post some pics of the cab soon.

[NiteWalker]

Lookin good lew.

I'm a lover of formica too. A fraction of the time it takes to paint and much more durable. Great stuff.

About the rubber feet you posted a while back, I get all my rubber feet from here. The feet this guy sells are absolutely fantastic. Extremely slip resistant.

Can't wait to see this finished.

[leapinlew]

Lookin good lew.

I'm a lover of formica too. A fraction of the time it takes to paint and much more durable. Great stuff.

About the rubber feet you posted a while back, I get all my rubber feet from here. The feet this guy sells are absolutely fantastic. Extremely slip resistant.

Can't wait to see this finished.

Thanks Nite - I ordered some!

[leapinlew]

I had an issue with the formica and had to remove it, remove the glue and try it again. What a job! I used some bix stripper to soften it up and lots of elbow grease to with some old towels and eventually got it up.



Here is how it looked with all the glue on it still. It didn't look like the formica would sit level on all those glue chunks. I put some masking tape on the edges before I applied the stripper because I didn't want to get any on the other side somehow and cause the formica to unattach. I'm not sure if it was a necessary step but it only took me a few seconds to apply (took me longer to find the tape).


And heres the bondo repair. I sanded this down and reapplied formica.

[leapinlew]

I purchased a hole cutter bit for my drill from ebay. I've never used one of these before - but they actually work pretty good. I cut a practice hole:


I did some measuring and cut my holes:


Next I readjusted the hole cutting bit to 120mm (it's max size) and cut a hole for the fan:


I cut marquee retainers. I am going to pick up a few more of these retainers at home depot and install them as mini-kick plates on the sides of the cabinet too.


Set in place:


BobA pointed me in the right direction for a template for the NovaGem CDR's. (thanks):

I ordered a real simple kickplate from Mamemarquees for this section - thats why it doesn't have formica.

Yes! The last pieces that need formica:

The hole is for the fan, and the square is for USB. I'll be installing a power entry module in this section as well.

All trimmed up:


I'm hoping tomorrow I can install the marquee light, cut the angle iron for the bottom of the cab, install the rubber feet, install the backdoor and possibly get to the computer. The computer will be difficult since it still needs formatting and everything. We'll see. It's coming along - it should be done in 2 weeks.

[NiteWalker]

Good update.
I like all the progress pics you posted.

Yeah I noticed the rubber feet in your arcade parts thread. They're really good quality.

About the circle cutter, I didn't think they could be used safely with a hand drill. Any hiccups there? The holes you drilled looked great.

What was you issue with the laminate? I'm wondering because I'm about to switch to water based. I do know it requires strict temperature and humidity ratings. It also takes longer to dry than solvent based.

 

[theCoder]

I've got one of those hole cutters; haven't used it since, what, day before yesterday.  It works really well in a drill press.  By hand, it moves around a bunch, and can really mess up your wrist if/when it snags.  

Sorry to hear about your laminate mess up.  It must have been pretty bad to warrent you removing it.

Look'n good.

[NiteWalker]

I thought that too but the one lew used looks like it has a counter weight so it won't wobble as much. I thought about getting one but my circle cutters for my router have been doing great.

[superbigjay]

I purchased a hole cutter bit for my drill from ebay. I've never used one of these before - but they actually work pretty good. I cut a practice hole:

I want one of these 
Jay

[leapinlew]

Heading towards the finish line now... into the details.

Here you can see the back of the cabinet. The hole over to the right is where the USB plugs are going. Also, underneath you can see the 2.5" rubber feet. They work very well and I'm glad I ordered them off the ebay link that nitewalker sent me.


The latch that holds down the CP is external. When I planned out this bartop, I wasn't sure how I was going to access the clamps. Initially, I thought I might be able to put them inside, but after the computer and monitor go inside there won't be much room to get to the latch. The solution was to mount them outside.


Hinged CP:


Here is the kickplate:


I'm ready to install the CPO and controls.

[Knievel]

Looking very professional.  Can't wait to see the t-mold and artwork installed.

So is this the first bartop with a CP this size?

[leapinlew]

Installed the CP tonight - will do the wiring later.

Here is how I decided how to cut the holes in the CP. I laid the CPO on the CP and taped on my templates. I then used a very small drill bit to drill the center holes for the buttons. After I hit them all, I drilled out the small holes with a 1.125" bit.


Finished the marquee:


Installed a volume knob. This is something I didn't do on my previous mame cabinets, but I'm finding it to be more necessary since games in mame handle volume differently and a game of defender at 2am with the wife sleeping seems much louder than a game at noon. 




ok, back to the CP:






I don't think I'll be working on it much this tomorrow. I'll finish up the wiring sometime next week as well as install the computer and monitor.

[patrickl]

Looks very good. Some very good ideas too.

[KenToad]

Wow, I'm waiting anxiously to see the finished product.  Good work so far.

 

[Xam]

Looks good Lew...I love the name of it.

Xam

[Chris G]

Great work and thanks for documenting.  I'm getting inspired to go laminate.

 
Chris

[theCoder]

Your artwork turned out really well.  Look'n good.

[Donkey_Kong]

Nice!

I really like the volume knob. I want one too. Do you have more pics of that operation or possibly links to others doing similar work?

Nice job on the artwork. You've exceeded my expectations of you...AGAIN. 

[leapinlew]

Status update:

Installed T-molding, monitor, speaker grills, and set the computer components in:


Monitor mount - backside:

[NiteWalker]

Awesome job.
I like the way the art wraps around to the front side.
Do you have any plans to paint the aluminum angle?

[Havok]

Wow - look at the size of that control panel...

You should put a WG9200 in there!

 

[barnes]

I'm going to looking into that laminate stuff. I hate painting, and that looks like it could avoid the hassle. Should I try this, or just paint?

[NiteWalker]

Definitely laminate. No type of finish that you can brush or spray on will ever be as durable as laminate. They use this stuff on counter tops for a reason.

[Kaytrim]

Looking Good Lew   All you need is a bezel and plexi and you are good to go.

Kaytrim

[javeryh]

Wow Lew - amazing job!  I really like the proportions on this thing which is tough to pull off on something that is supposed to be small (because it's a bartop) and supposed to be big (because it's 2 players) all at the same time.  The little touches are great too like the volume knob, the fans on the front, the coin buttons, etc.  Very nice job!   

[KenToad]

I love that you mixed retro controls with a modern LCD and speaker covers, and wrapped it with an artwork theme that successfully blends all the parts together. 

Lookin' good.   

[acevedor2]

Awesome job Lew!  You have inspired me to get off my dead butt and finally start working on my cab again.

[lroy12]

what is the monitor size? it looks nice

[polaris]

good stuff.
i just commented how great kaytrims and your bartops were in kaytrims thread so i figured i should say it here too.

[theCoder]

The second time's a charm.  Looks fantastic, especially considering it is being done in a rental, away from home.  Very nice.

A couple of questons...

1)  Any plans on putting in side pinball buttons?

2)  How much does it weigh?

3)  Do you think you'll get your security deposit back on the rental?

[leapinlew]

what is the monitor size? it looks nice

It's a 17" LCD.

[leapinlew]

The second time's a charm.  Looks fantastic, especially considering it is being done in a rental, away from home.  Very nice.

A couple of questons...

1)  Any plans on putting in side pinball buttons?

2)  How much does it weigh?

3)  Do you think you'll get your security deposit back on the rental?

Ha! I know the deal on those security deposits. It was as good as gone when I moved in.  I hate this place - I'm ready to get out of the whole apartment scene.

No pinball buttons for me. Maybe my next one.

It weighs about 60lbs.

[leapinlew]

Ok! Putting some finishing touches on it. I'm very happy with the artwork and overall theme on the cabinet. The work from Mamemarquees is very good indeed.





I made a total bonehead move and forgot to add player 1 and player 2 buttons before applying the artwork. I wasn't sure what the best way would be to get some button holes when the artwork was already applied. I was able to drill through the kickplate portion without much problem using a spade style bit.



Next I installed the computer and monitor:



Time to wire up the CP

[leapinlew]

Ugh. I don't like wiring up cp's. It's my least favorite portion. I got all my crap ready:


I used a network cable for all the wiring. I didn't take any shots during. I think we've all seen solder before and I'm not particularly good at it.

Here it is all done(?). It's not super clean, but it's not bad.

Once I hooked everything up - one of the cherry switches was bad and needed to be replaced.  Swapped it out and all is well. 

These 4 buttons had some wire soldered onto them to mount into the ipac.


You can see the monitor mount solution seems to be working pretty good:

[leapinlew]

Next I completed the back of the cabinet. I installed the power entry module, the t-molding in the fan slot, the fan guard and the data port:

It turned out pretty nice.

I installed angle iron on the bottom of the cabinet to tie it in with the marquee retainers.

I suspect it'll be finished sometime next week. Here is some shots of where I'm at:




It pretty much turned out like I thought it would. I know the size is odd, but to build a "bartop" for a street fighter lover - your options are limited. Once I'm done configuring the system and taking care of a few odds and ends, I'll take some pics of the finished product.