What inside access do you have to your cab?

[crocklobster]

I've cut my side panels, and I'm about to cut dados in the sides so that my connecting panels will actually recess into them (i.e. through dado joints).  Before I do that, I have to decide where I want doors (because I won't cut dados where the door panels are).  I was originally thinking the bottom front should open, but also want access to the back to be able to remove the TV.  

I want great stability, and access.  I've considered splitting the back panel, so the bottom half is fixed and the top half is a door (so I can get the TV out).  I've also considered axing the door on the front and making the whole back piece be a door.

How have you done it?

[Brax]

Umm, none of the above.
My top opens up!

 

The cocktail people are second class citizens I tell you!! No respect!  

[Brad Lee]

Let's see.. the marquee plexi pops out of the channel easy, thats good for the light & speakers
The coin door.. THat gives me access to my wiring blocks and ipac/optipac
The back panel is fully removable, to get at the mobo& back of the tv
And the control panel is removable so nothing is really "tight" access

[paigeoliver]

I voted lower front panel, but actually the entire front of the thing opens up on both of my cabs.

[SirPoonga]

For me all.  I have a back door, I access the cd drive through the coin door, the cp comes off with one flick of the wrist, and the bezel slides out with the removal of one screw.

[OSCAR]

I voted for front & back panels, but mine are slightly different because of my 2-piece cabinet.  I used white plastic access hatches, like you would install in drywall for access to plumbing or such.

I have one 8" x 8" hatch installed on the bottom of my overhanging control panel for access to the panel clamps.  Another 14" x 14" hatch is in the rear of the base unit for access to the motherboard, amp, and power supplies.

Control panel hatch from top

Control panel hatch from bottom

Rear access hatch shown through case mod window in front

[Craig Pilecky]

I made my cabinet to be very easy access. I have a small door on the back to get at the back of the 27" TV. The entire front panel is a door. The control panel is bolted on so that its easy to remove, and the frame panel for the TV is fitted in so that it slides up over the TV and rests snugly on a 2/2 up behind the marque on the inside, on the bottom it rests on a board below the control panel, and is held in place by a small flap board thats screwed in out of sight.

This way I could get the TV in and out of the cabinet in a matter of 2 or 3 minutes if I needed to. Not that I think I will, but still it'll make it easier if I need to transport the thing sometime.

[marcoval]

Not much at all since I installled the Keg fridge and all the taps for it. I can dream can't I?

[Sasquatch!]

Coin door and back panel.  Getting full access to the inside of the cab isn't something that I need to do that often at all, so I didn't feel the need to make it super-easy to do.  Possible, of course, but I didn't design the cabinet to just be a huge series of doors.

[BobA]

Full access front and back on my bartop cabs.  Full size cab has a coindoor in front and backpanel is removeable along with CP that flips up when latches released.  The more compact the cab the more important access becomes because some parts of the cab become inaccessable once everything is mounted.  In a full size cab you can usually get at everything through the back except the CP that can be made accessable with latches, slides or clips.

BobA

[crocklobster]

In terms of cabinet rigidity, does anyone think having two doors will be a detriment?  If I put doors on both the lower front (coin door panel) and whole back panel, the side panels will be secured along the bottom, at the monitor shelf, in the control panel base area, the angled back panel, and the small top panel.  (Not really secured in the bezel area, not along the back, and not in the lower front).

I'll be putting laminate on, so if I allow access through a panel, it has to be through a door, no screwing and unscrewing panels.

Thanks to all for your responses so far and in advance for any further comments.

Chris

[Jakobud]

All I have is the back that opens up (and of course the control panel opens up) but I really REALLY wish I would have made the front open.

[rampy]

In terms of cabinet rigidity, does anyone think having two doors will be a detriment?  If I put doors on both the lower front (coin door panel) and whole back panel, the side panels will be secured along the bottom, at the monitor shelf, in the control panel base area, the angled back panel, and the small top panel.  (Not really secured in the bezel area, not along the back, and not in the lower front).

I'll be putting laminate on, so if I allow access through a panel, it has to be through a door, no screwing and unscrewing panels.

Thanks to all for your responses so far and in advance for any further comments.

Chris

Well isn't this how "real" arcade cabinets are built?  There should be some crossbracing somewhere...  and the back door doesn't take 100% of the back...  

*shrug* Just a thought anyways... unless it was designed poorly/implemented poorly it shuld be fine =P

good luck!

rampy

[DeathMonk]

I have a hole for my girlfriends head to fit through in the bottom front, so she can uhh...

[Craig Pilecky]

Well my cabinets ridgidity is fine even though I have a small door on the back, and a larger one on the front. I braced it with 3 2/4s across the back of the frame, and a 2/4 and a 2/6 accross the front below the control panel, as well as a 1/8 and 1/6 which also serve as the TV shelf.

I wish I had a wireframe of it to illustrate how I did it. Its not a series of doors and someone quiped at me, its just designed to be very practicle.

I see no advantage to bolting the TV frame down, or bolting the door in place. It wont add any real structural stability over what I have now.

Anyway its up to the gamer to design there cabinet however they want, I was just trying to help.

[1UP]

FWIW, I have a large front access door, and a back door that takes almost the whole back side, plus two hinged CPs (and one fixed) on my rotating CP assembly.

The image above shows the basic frame, all that's missing is doors, panels, and bezels.  The whole thing is braced by two 2x4s across the top (visible in the pic, one where the back dolly handles are, one above/behind the marquee light.)  There are two more 2x4s across the base, underneath the floor of the cabinet.  The cabinet floor, the front and rear kickplates, and another plywood board on the very underside of the cab (under the bottom set of 2x4s) form a strong wooden box that provides most of the cab's strength.  The monitor shelf (cross-braced by two 1x2s) and the speaker plate and top panel also add rigidity.

There might be better/more professional ways to do this sort of thing, but this design has proven to be quite sturdy, despite the relative lack of front and back bracing.  The whole thing feels very solid while being moved on the built- in casters, and does not shift or wobble at all during game play.  If it really worries you, you can always split the back 60/40, and have a smaller rear door for just the monitor, and a larger fixed panel across the bottom half, but I find my configuration allows more convenient access to the PC thru the larger rear door.  YMMV.

[paigeoliver]

Here is the access door on the Artic Mini Mame. It is basically the whole front.

My other cabinet is a Cherry Master type and it has two front doors (which comprise the entire front), and one back door. Very accessable.

[Odonadon]

Coin Door, Control Panel, and back panel.

Odonadon