Silly Newb mistake (some advice for other newbs)

[protokatie]

Buttons: Yes Buttons. And I made a simple but "tragic" mistake (ok, not tragic, but still rather silly).

So, What mistake did I make?

Did I buy the wrong brand of buttons?   NO.

Did I buy the wrong style of buttons?  NO.

Did I buy the buttons/etc from some shady back alley company in Wimbledon, UK with the offer to also buy a kidney for an extra 5 dollars?    Wimbledon,UK: yes   The rest of it: NO (I hope Andy isnt selling kidneys anyways... )

Did I buy all of the buttons I had planned on using in my CP?  Yes

So what is the problem, you may ask? Its with the word "planned". I had my CP all planned out, ordered the buttons. When I got them I started playing around with them (as well as that cardboard test thingy I made) and of course... As I should have imagined, I came up with all sorts of new ideas... Ideas that require a few extra buttons...

Advice to other Newb's in this: Buttons (atleast the el-cheapo ones I bought) cost about 2 dollars a piece.. Buy 2 extra of each color you plan to use! There are so many advantages to this, and am just now realising it.

1. Your plan can be flexible (What if the colors for some of your buttons just ended up not looking 'right')

2. In the rare event one of the buttons or switches doesnt work upon arrival, you will have backups. (I know all of the reputable companies out there will send out a new one in such a case, but it seems a bit much for something worth 2 bucks)

3. When your drunk buddies come over to play (and they probably will, esp after hearing you have a cabinet that has SF 2 on it) and decide to become "Tommy Testosterone (Inebriated edition)" and end up spilling beer on a button or otherwise destroying it, you will also have a backup.

4. With a little bit of work, Happ buttons would make a really nice keychain (OK, not a serious one, but they WOULD!)

Anyways, I know all of this seems like common sense, but as a newb this is a simple easy mistake to make. For all of you who would say "Just order the 2 more buttons you 'need'"; I would reply "The shipping starts out at 12 bucks, so I should have thought ahead, or wait until I need more stuff as well". Well, other newb's before placing yoru first order, think about what I have said: And if any of you want to start making Happ button Keychains, Ill prolly buy one

[Dazz]

Very good advice. 

Thankfully I did not manage to make this mistake while ordering/building my cabinet.  I actually ordered 3 extras of all my buttons at the same time as my main order.  Shipping costs from Happs is killer on the budget, so I made sure that I was 100% sure what I needed when I placed my order.

Also, another tip would be to measure the door ways to the location where your cabinet will be located at.  Would suck building out in a garage or basement only to find out that you can't get the cabinet into your game room.

I managed to make my cabinet larger then the doors in my house, just by an inch.  Nothing that unhinging the doors and removing them wouldn't handle though.  But thankfully my cabinet is a UAII design and I built it in 3 separate pieces (base, top, and control panel).   Everything can be easily removed and packed into a minivan for moving if need be.  This comes in hand if I want to move it to a different room in the house.

[protokatie]

I built it in 3 separate pieces (base, top, and control panel).

   That is EXACTLY how I planned my design! (I dont own property, so I will need to move it easily). Also, for my first one, I will be going a different route and making a frame for the base and top out of 2x4 and then using 1/4 inch plywood. This is cheaper and hopefully lighter than the standard method.

 

[LeedsFan]

Very good advice. I bought leaf buttons from BobRoberts in the States and deliberately ordered two extra of them. I usually do it in case a button is scratched or something like that. They were all perfect but I ended up making a last minute change to my panel. The spinner was originally sitting right above the trackball, and I decided to move it due to "hand hitting spinner syndrome" in games like Golden Tee.

Moving the spinner to one side made the panel look lopsided and a bit odd... so I added two extra buttons for the spinner to the right just to balance things up aesthetically.

I don't have any spares now though. 

[Jdurg]

I built it in 3 separate pieces (base, top, and control panel).

   That is EXACTLY how I planned my design! (I dont own property, so I will need to move it easily). Also, for my first one, I will be going a different route and making a frame for the base and top out of 2x4 and then using 1/4 inch plywood. This is cheaper and hopefully lighter than the standard method.

 

That's how I've designed my cab.  It's three parts; The Base, The CP, and the Top.  I have VERY tight tolerances of the cab not being more than 29" wide, or 35" deep if I want to get it out of my basement and into my gameroom.  Any wider in either dimension and it won't fit.  So my Base is just up to the where the top of the CP will sit, the CP is built first and built separately, and the top will rest on the base.  So I'll be able to assemble it all in my gameroom and also move it wherever I need to.

[Orclord]

A little bit of advice if your buying a cab rather than buillding...Make sure it is what it says it is....I did not..

Bought a Virtua Striker 2 cab...Looked up the dimensions....Fine...

Picked cab up.....Noticed ickle sticker on back said Virtua fighter 3...

It was a conversion....

Needless to say it was bigger and would not fit through my doorways....

Had to *completely* strip the bloody thing down.....

Oh how I laughed.....

 

[DeLuSioNal29]

I built it in 3 separate pieces (base, top, and control panel).

   That is EXACTLY how I planned my design! (I dont own property, so I will need to move it easily). Also, for my first one, I will be going a different route and making a frame for the base and top out of 2x4 and then using 1/4 inch plywood. This is cheaper and hopefully lighter than the standard method.

 

That's how I've designed my cab.  It's three parts; The Base, The CP, and the Top.  I have VERY tight tolerances of the cab not being more than 29" wide, or 35" deep if I want to get it out of my basement and into my gameroom.  Any wider in either dimension and it won't fit.  So my Base is just up to the where the top of the CP will sit, the CP is built first and built separately, and the top will rest on the base.  So I'll be able to assemble it all in my gameroom and also move it wherever I need to.

You may want to consider using Control Panel Clamps.  That way you can make the CP wider and then when you need to move it you can simply unlatch the clamps.

http://www.twistedquarter.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=7&products_id=40

~ D