Main > Project Announcements

[Project Announcment] SiMame / War Of The Worlds (Slot Cut for T-Molding)

(1/11) > >>

ratzz:
Ok, time to take the plunge and make my project announcement!

Big gulp, here goes!

// Overview
The cab will be a 1 player mini style Galaga / Pacman MDF cab, with trackball and admin buttons. Monitor: Un-decided. Computer: Basic desktop computer already running MAME.

// Dimensions
These dimensions were kindly supplied by Nannuu, but I’m unsure where they originally came from.

// Cabinet Name
SiMame : my name being Simon!
War Of The Worlds - Based on the Jeff Wayne musical album artwork

// Other information
To follow!

// Inspiration
Nannuu – Fantastic cabinet. http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=50575.msg493986#msg493986
Javeryh – Bella’s Arcade. http://bellasarcade.blogspot.com/

** This post to be edited as the project progresses **

ratzz:
The story so far ...

After studying plans until the came out of my ears, and having also decided that a MiniMame cab is my only option due to space restrictions, I took my drawings to the local wood and grumpy bastard suppliers Savoy.

Ok, so it may have been a bank holiday, and they were pretty busy, but believe me when I say that every time I go to this place the staff are the rudest and generally un-humorous people on the planet. They are the type of people who go out of their way to be unhelpful, and you are always left with a feeling that you have somehow put them out by spending your hard earned cash their.

“So why did you go?” I hear you ask. Well, they do offer a cutting service, and I really didn’t want to make a dozen or so cuts that needed to be make accurately and squarely with a jigsaw. So, if you can put up with their bad mood, and your not the type of person that is easily pushed over the edge, AND live in the north west of England, then great! If not, give it a miss and see if Focus, or some other DIY store that has a table saw can help you out. The only drawback is that they may only offer a few cuts so you can get big pieces of timber into your car — and nothing more.

EDIT: Knowing what I do now, after making some cuts with a straight edge and a jigsaw, it would be possible to use this method, although a lot of hard work!

ratzz:
I’ve been marking out, rubbing out and remarking for nearly a week now and I think I’m finally there with one side — that is, I’ve marked out one side that I’m happy with, and will trace the other side when I have cut out the ‘template’ side.

The plans and dimensions have gone through a few changes to get things right, and it’s a good job pencils have rubbers on the top! The hardest part was that the plans dimensions were kind of hard to follow and the had some weird decimal fractions that didn’t make much sense in inches. I had tried to convert them to the metric system, but this left me even more confused, so I decided that I would round up and down where applicable to the nearest 1/4 inch.

The original plans I had were great, but they were pretty difficult to follow as they had been down-sized from original Galaga plans.

ratzz:
Time to cut some wood.

This project is going to be built with only the tools I have in my shed.

I have no access to a circular saw, and it's not in the budget to get one just to make a couple of cuts. If I decide to make a couple more cabs in the future (depending on how this goes), I may treat myself to one. But for now, it's the trusty old jigsaw and some straight edges!

I measured in from the edge of the guide plate of my jigsaw to the edge of the blade and set the straight edge guide away from my cut line to that distance. I also made sure that I kept the pencil line in for fine tuning after cutting. I especially made sure of this on the rounded sections so I could sand down to the line for a smooth finish.

I clamped my first side piece to my work bench, and started to carefully plan my first cuts.

ratzz:
In the spare time I've had between planning etc., I've also been creating a marquee for the cab, bearing in mind a theme to run throughout the cab.

I plan to have some side art (of some kind) and also want the theme to run through the CP.

Anyway, here is my first draft -- not sure how many more revisions there will be!

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page