Question for people who have assembled the Ultimate Arcade 2 kit - stability ?

[TxGlenn]

I am really undecided on which way to go with my cabinet (buy the ready-to-assemble kit from mameroom or build my own from scratch).  I read the review wbassett posted in the reviews forum and the review on retroblast, both of which praised the cabinet.

My main concern is the stability of the cabinet.  Most of the furniture I have assembled with these locking cam-type systems have been meant to assemble and leave where it is.  I don't want to rock the top of this cabinet and the entire thing shake.  The Retroblast review does not mention the stability issue that wbassett discusses and I wanted to get others' opinions on this.

I got my copy of Project Arcade yesterday and would love to build my own from scratch, but I have no jigsaw, router, or even a decent workbench (I have two plastic sawhorses).  I would also need to enlist the help of someone to get the MDF boards home from Lowes and probably help maneuvering them around.  Add this to the time it would take and the effort to get it upstairs to the gameroom once it was finished and it just seems like a daunting task.  (Plus I'm really anxious to get this up and running!  )

[wbassett]

It's not flimsy by no means, but I definitely can shake the whole cabinet if I try.  Under normal usage it should be fine, but I can see if someone is a bit aggressive that there could be some stress points.

The top itself isn't attached by cams, it uses pretty good wood screws that go through the bottom unit into the top piece.  That's pretty solid. 

What I was pointing out only as something to be aware of is like you just said, typically Sauder style furniture isn't made to be shaken or moved around and the cams can be a weak point, stressing and even pulling out of particle board.

I haven't had any issues at all with mine.  I will probably be taking it apart soon to put some extra bracing on the bottom because I have wheels on mine and right now all the weight of the cab is being supported by the bottom panel and eight cams.  I'll report back on how well it goes back together.  That to me is the real test of good quality manufactured furniture... whether it can survive being taken apart and put back together!

I'd say if you're interested in the UAII, download the assembly manual and take a look at how it is put together.  Everything fits perfectly and there are plenty of cams, but it is just a shell style cab with no internal 'skeleton'.  I personally don't expect to have any problems with it over the long run, but I do want to brace up the bottom where the wheels are.  Keep in mind that if you don't use wheels then you don't have to worry about this at all.  Without wheels the weight now is on the two main side panels for the bottom unit and not being supported by the bottom panel and cams.

Also if it is at all possible, I'd assemble it in your game room or as close to where it is going to end up as possible.  Since it is two pieces, it would be easier to take up stairs and move around, but I still wouldn't like doing that because it is pretty bulky and heavy.  Fully assembled it is pretty big and heavy.  If you look at my shots and room, that's a 55" HDTV next to the cab and on the wall is a 106" projection screen, so that should give you some size perspective.  Oh, I also have 9' high ceilings.  This could easily dominate a smaller room.

My son was up on vacation for two weeks and we had planned on doing this project while he was here.  Also I blew my knee out and was in a leg brace from my hip to my ankle... and we still put the whole thing together in two evenings even with me being 'crippled'.  Final fit and trim items like the marquee and plexi was done the next night, and we were playing games by the third night, it was that fast and easy!  If we tried building it from scratch, I know we wouldn't have been done by the time he had to go home.

[ahofle]

A friend of mine has the ready to assemble UAII cabinet.  It's actually more stable than my UAII that I built and put together from plans. 

[isucamper]

Not sure what the UAII assembly process is like, but Project Arcade suggest that in addition to the screws used to assemble your cabinet, wood glue can (and probably should) be used to increase stability.  You could probably glue the UAII in the same general places that Project Arcade describes if you're worried about it.  Of course, that means you can't take it apart in the future.

All that being said, 2 months ago, I was in the exact same boat as you.  I owned no tools, had never worked with wood in my life (what's a router?), and had an intense desire to obtain a cabinet to house my mame computer.  None of that has stopped me from attempting to build my own from scratch.

I finished my cuts Sunday morning and am almost ready for assembly (just need to route the t-molding groove) and I have to say things have gone extremely well.  Granted, I have taken things VERY slow and researched a ton before moving ahead with each step, but it has all been a lot of fun and I've learned a lot.  The "Search" function on this forum is actually the most useful tool you can find.  It seems like any problem or question you will run in to has been dealt with on here before.  Sometimes, the hardest part is finding the answer buried within all the info on here. 

As for not owning tools, I was suprised at how willing people are to let you borrow.  I am a huge gamer, and rarely have common "man stuff" to talk about with my peirs, but it turns out that woodworking is a pretty common hobby for a lot of guys.  A lot of times, you simply have to ask them "Do you do any woodworking?" and you've opened a door to all kinds of advice and tools they can provide you.  I've got a saw, router, and jigsaw from 3 different people.  I didn't have to ask to borrow any of them (they offered them all before I could ask) and they told me I can keep them as long as I want (or until they need them for something).

As for getting the wood home, I found out that Menards and Home Depot both sell the sheets you need, and at both places you can rent a truck for 19 bucks to bring it home.  They will even help you load it onto the truck.  You just need to go bug you're neighbor to help you unload it.  As for moving it to you're gameroom after it's assembled, yeah, that's something I'm worried about too.  I'm considering assembling it in my basement where it's going to live, but I'm wary of the dust that occurs during sanding in between coats of paint.  Oh well, when the time comes to make that decision, you can bet I'll be on here to see how other people have dealt with it. 

All in all, I too was considering a UAII cabinet and am glad (so far) that I decided to build.  I've save a lot of money and am learning a new craft, so it's really a win/win. 

[billpa]

With any type of furniture I put together at home ie Ikea, Sauder, etc., I always use wood glue and sometimes a few L brackets (or something similar) to make it more structurally sound. You are already putting it together so a couple of extra steps wont take much longer and you will have the piece of mind that it is substantially stronger.

[vindes]

I bought a UA2 kit and assembled it and feel it's very sturdy.  But I built it in place and haven't had to move it around at all.

Mine feels a whole lot sturdier than any of that assemble-it-yourself furniture I've seen and owned.  More because of the design than because of better cams or wood.

I don't think you have to worry about the top part getting loose just from smacking it around with your hands or fists if that's what you're worried about.  I tend to slap my cabinet a bit in frustration after a few beers.  I think I'd break my hands well before loosening the cabinet up.

That said, it's pretty easy to add some structural 2x4's and agle brackets if you really want to sturdy the thing up.  I'm using a Betson arcade monitor in mine, and to mount it I used 2 horizontal 2x4's, one under the bottom front of the screen, one above the top front of the screen.  The 2x4s are fastened to the two sides of the top cabinet with angle brackets.  That helps the rigidity of the top part of teh cabinet quite a bit.  I'm pretty sure I could run full speed into it with my shoulder and not loosen it up at all.

If the bottom part ever feels like its getting loose it's pretty easy to do the same thing to beef that up.  A couple 2x4s internally in an X across the back of the bottom cabinet should make the thing like a rock.

I considered building the whole thing myself, and I have most of the tools I'd need to do it, but I thought the UA2 kit was well worth the price for the amount of time it would save me.  And mameroom was great to deal with.  A couple of the panels on mine were damaged in the initial shipment and they replaced them quickly and at no additional cost.

I couple other things I did to my UA2 I find useful - I bought a basic 18" flourecent light from Lowes and mounted it to the top panel to light the marquee.  (Pretty standard)  I also drilled two holes in the angled top/back panel and mounted toggle power switches for the monitor and marquee lamp.  That way I can control power to lights, CPU and monitor independently.  (I have the PC set to power up when a button combo on the control panel is pressed.)  I think the toggle power switches add a bit to the arcade feel as well.

[wbassett]

I whole heartedly agree that over all it is sturdy, but if you want to put wheels on it, then you definitely need to brace the bottom.  I spoke to Scott on the phone and he agreed with this as well.

As far as the top, it is on solid.  Under normal play it doesn't move at all but you can shake it if you really try or are rough with it.  To be fair, that type of abuse wouldn't be good for any cab.

Where the cams could be a stress issue is in moving it, especially once it's fully assembled.

I definitely had a good experience putting it together and it is a nice looking design.  Like I said, I was even laid up with a blown knee and my son and I still had no problem putting it together.

I want another cab, as well as plan on building my son a mame system.  If the price was just a bit cheaper I'd definitely pick up a couple more kits.  As is my next cab I'll attempt to make from scratch, but I already know it won't be as easy as the kit.

[TxGlenn]

Thanks for all the suggestions/input.  I ordered my UA2 cabinet last week and it's evidently supposed to ship on Monday (I modified the CP a bit which is the reason for the delay).  I like the idea of the switches on top. 

As far as moving it around, I don't plan on moving it at all.  But if I wanted to I did not want to have to disassemble it in order to maintain it's structural integrity.  I may look at putting something on the bottom edges to make it kind of  "ski" across the carpet in case I did want to move it.  Something slick that won't show (maybe some t-molding or something).  I'll have to see what it looks like when I get it.

wbasset - I'm also considering going ahead and starting to build one.  Perhaps a two-player dedicated 4-way set-up for certain types of games.  If this is as cool as I think it's going to be, there will be a line for this at my next party!

[wbassett]

Thanks for all the suggestions/input.  I ordered my UA2 cabinet last week and it's evidently supposed to ship on Monday (I modified the CP a bit which is the reason for the delay).  I like the idea of the switches on top. 

As far as moving it around, I don't plan on moving it at all.  But if I wanted to I did not want to have to disassemble it in order to maintain it's structural integrity.  I may look at putting something on the bottom edges to make it kind of  "ski" across the carpet in case I did want to move it.  Something slick that won't show (maybe some t-molding or something).  I'll have to see what it looks like when I get it.

wbasset - I'm also considering going ahead and starting to build one.  Perhaps a two-player dedicated 4-way set-up for certain types of games.  If this is as cool as I think it's going to be, there will be a line for this at my next party!

Actually on the bottom piece the T-Molding already does run along the bottom if the sides.

Trust me, you'll definitely have a line, and it definitely looks nice.

[TalkingBull]

I have a UAII that I got as a kit and it has proven quite sturdy.  I am in the Army and have moved it three times since I built it and it holds together.  The only problem I have found is the bottom of the unit.  The CAMS did a piss-poor job of holding the bottom piece in so I reinforced it with L-Brackets.  Now, I have no problems.  I can play on it for hours and there is no concern.

[jlfreund]

My main concern is the stability of the cabinet.  Most of the furniture I have assembled with these locking cam-type systems have been meant to assemble and leave where it is.  I don't want to rock the top of this cabinet and the entire thing shake.  The Retroblast review does not mention the stability issue that wbassett discusses and I wanted to get others' opinions on this.

Very stable.  BTW, I have a blog about assembling my UAII here:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=57847.0

[TxGlenn]

I received my kit a couple of days ago.  I haven't unpacked it yet except for the control panel. 

I had a question about the trackball.  The standard cut-out ("standard" meaning I didn't customize it..it is the standard cut-out mameroom does), is kind of a square with one corner left in it.  I want my trackball to be flush with the CP..only the ball itself sticking out.  Do I need to order any special trackball for this?  I was looking at the lighted blue 3" trackball at ultimarc but I do not want a mounting plate visible. 

Thanks

[scrapple]

I just put the kit together... it was rather easy, except the plexi they sent me for my marquee was a tad to big...
i would definitely recommend enforcing the bottom section with some wood glue as you go.... i didnt do this, and went to push it forward on carpet and they popped out of the cams..... not good..
so im gonna reinforce mine with some wood screws instead... but yea, its easy to assemble. You need two people to put the top part on though.  Also, im putting a 26" lcd in mine, so i havent did the monitor mount yet.