100% wood rectangular box

[The cranky hermit]

Is there anything wrong with making a CP box out of nothing but wood and wood glue, and making it a perfect rectangle? If not, what's a good kind of wood to use? I'm not interested in asthetics. I just want it to be inexpensive and practical.

[IceCold]

Is there anything wrong with making a CP box out of nothing but wood and wood glue, and making it a perfect rectangle? If not, what's a good kind of wood to use? I'm not interested in asthetics. I just want it to be inexpensive and practical.

The thing about gluing it is, what if a wire comes loose, or a switch on a button breaks, or anything that you need to get inside the box for?  I would at least make one panel of the box be screwed on, so you could take it off and repair anything that breaks.  But that's just my opinion.

[unclet]

Seems that most arcade control panel tops are tilted to allow for the resting of the wrists (in a natural position) while gripping the joystick or using the buttons.

Basically, I would think if the control panel top was parallel to the floor (assuming the floor was flat   ) then the player's wrists would be uncomfortable when playing with the joysticks after a period of time.

[The cranky hermit]

Right. Screws also. So now I have three questions:

Is it OK for the box itself to be 100% wood? No lexan, no plexi, just complete wood?

What's a nice, comfortable angle to mount the top at?

What's a decent, not too expensive type of wood to use?

[rhoelsch]

Well, if looks don't matter, I'd suggest MDF, or ply... melamine would be a nice touch...head out to your local lumber supply store and have yourself a look around.  I've seen some shelving kits that'd look good for cp's by themselves...

[unclet]

My control panel box is 100% MDF.  Of course I painted the the box black.  Once I painted it I realized that if I rested by wrists on the top (whichwas now painted black) the black paint would wear off over time (ie: my wrists and hand movements using the joysticks would result in the rubbing of the black paint, thus making it lose it's shine and show wear).  As a result, I plexi-ed the top.    

I would go to the local arcade and check out which type of top you feel comfortable with and then simply note the dimensions.  My personal control panel top slopes from a back height of 8-1/4" to a front height 7" and covers 17" deep.... hope that helps.   Note, the slope is gradual.    

You can also hold a separate pencil in each hand at the same time and pretend they are joysticks.  If you hold them comfortably (as if they were joystifcks) you will notice the slope of your forearms from your elbow to your wrists.....this is the slope I would recommend using.  After all, it is your forearm and wrists which will be resting on the control panel top most of the time while you play.

Oh yeah, a sheet of 4'x8'x3/4" MDF board is about $15.....pretty cheap if you ask me and gives much better looking results if you do plan on simply leaving the "wood" look.

[skirge66]

just a thought, my skin tends to be very dry, and messing around with bare mdf just sucks the moisture out of my hands, not sure if anyone else has this problem, but it can be painful, not sure how well painting would work, but i wouldn't use mdf unless i had a decent coating of paint, lexan, or laminate on it

[armad1ll0]

I use a difference of 1" for a 10" width box section for the grade on my top surface.

[unclet]

I guess the MDF did not bother me atall, although you sparked my memory......I seem to remember someone saying they some people might have a reaction to MDF due to the type of glue they use in making it.   I mean when you cut the MDF, the extremely fine dust which is created gets all over and some people have a skin reaction.  

I believe this is what I read somewhere....oh well.  I would you a mask, goggles and gloves then...  

PS:  Love these face things -->        

[skirge66]

i wouldn't play around with it any other way...besides i'm a super safety freak. like to keep all the body pieces where they belong insides on the insides etc.  

[ErikRuud]

My control panel is all wood, glued and nailed.  The top piece is removable.



The top is a combination of 1/2 inch birch ply, 1/4 inch Cherry ply, and solid Cherry 1x2.  The box is 3/4 inch Oak ply.

[u_rebelscum]

Is it OK for the box itself to be 100% wood? No lexan, no plexi, just complete wood?

If you paint it with a decent paint, yes, you don't need lexan or plexi.  You could go clear if you want, but I suggest at least a couple coats.

What's a nice, comfortable angle to mount the top at?

(assuming you're sitting at a desk) depends on how tall your torso is, how tall your chair is, how tall the table top is, and how tall the CP is.  Ideally, 15-20 degrees and your froearms and hands are also at 15 degrees.  But if you need to hold you forearms at a higher angle to reach the controls, you might want to go up to 30-40 degrees.

What's a decent, not too expensive type of wood to use?

If you aren't picky and will paint it, there's always partical board.  MDF is great, but costs more and needs to be painted.  I don't suggest pine plywood ("soft" wood dents too easily).  Don't know enough about hard woods to help you, but plywood is usually cheaper than plain wood.

[DeathMonk]

My control panel is all wood, glued and nailed.  The top piece is removable.

The top is a combination of 1/2 inch birch ply, 1/4 inch Cherry ply, and solid Cherry 1x2.  The box is 3/4 inch Oak ply.

Why are your controls bass-ackwards?

[HeadRusch]

Yeesh, the local home depot just sold me 3 sheets of 4x8x3/4 MDF for $6.80 a sheet...!?!? $15??
Are you using that hard-cored stuff?  The stuff thats like 60 pounds a sheet???

i was going to just cover my panel with Con-Tact paper....well the top part anyhow, but then realized that would probably wear through....so I think I have to go with some type of Lexan top no matter how I slice it...

[ErikRuud]

Why are your controls bass-ackwards?

Because I like them that way!

I've answered this many times already.

The "sort of standard" stick on the left, buttons on the right arrangement did not become common, until long after I stopped going to arcades. My arcade days were from 1978 to about 1982. Games had many different layouts then.  Also the Atari 2600 and Odyssey2 console systems had the button on the left.

So far only one person out of twenty had a problem using my control panel, and I showed him that he could use the player 2 buttons with the player 1 joystick for one player games.

[Chris]

For the top, you can use particle-board shelving material; these are often pre-laminated in white, black, or woodgrain.

--Chris