Rob's new MAME cabinet : UPDATED : Completed pics.

[robC]

I have just started my new MAME cabinet, so I thought I would post a thread here to document the process.
This has been a backburner idea I have wanted to do for a long time, ever since I played on a friend's machine a few years ago. I had played MAME a little on the PC, but never saw a full MAME cabinet build til then.

First of all, thanks to everyone on this board for all the great info and documentation which makes something like this possible for a hack like me. Special thanks to Knievel and Stoli, who were so kind as to send me multiple detailed email replies to a bunch of my questions.

The design, (just like everyone else), is inspired by the Neon MAME project. The cabinet is somewhere between this and the Woody design. A little slimmer than the standard depth, but not as slimline as the Woody.

Specs and goals will be roughly this:
- LCD screen
- 2.1 Computer speakers with decent sound. Went with the Logitech X-2300, as they sound great and also have the wired pod with the volume, subwoofer level, and headphone jack. This will make life a lot easier than having to hack in these functions manually.
- 2 player control panel with 6 Buttons per player in standard fighter layout.
- 3" trackball in the center.
- Spinner and 2 button layout at the top.
- Dedicated 4-way stick at the top.
- Pinball flipper/nudge buttons on the sides.

The controls and hardware I am using are:
- 3 Happs Super joysticks. One set up to a 4-way with restrictor.
- Electric Ice pushbuttons. They will all have the RGB LEDs so I can make them any color.
- Electric Ice trackball. Same light functionality as the buttons.
- TurboTwist 2 spinner.
- KeyWiz and LEDWiz.

So this weekend I kicked off the project and got some good progress going.

Finalized my dimensions and cut the cabinet sides :


Got the control panel and plexi overlay done. Hinged the top for access, painted, and installed the controls. I printed a temporary graphic on multiple sheets to use for now. Once I get my trackball (see that lonely circle in the center?), I will get the final print and drop it on. My wife and I picked some cool 3-d abstract art we found on the web. I also ordered some chrome T-mold which will finish the cabinet and control panel nicely.

[pie taster]

- Electric Ice pushbuttons. They will all have the RGB LEDs so I can make them any color.
- Electric Ice trackball. Same light functionality as the buttons.
- TurboTwist 2 spinner.
- KeyWiz and LEDWiz.

How many LEDWizs are planning on having? it looks like you are only saying one.

But since each button takes 3 inputs you are going to need more than 1. 

[robC]

I just have one LEDWiz for now, so a some buttons will be grouped together on the same channel. After playing around with it, I may add a second one to have full discrete control of each button. Thanks for the input.

[robC]

Spent a couple hours tonight fastening everything together to get a freestanding cabinet. I used pocket holes to connect all my cabinet pieces, and it went together very quickly and easily. The Kreg jig is one of the best tools of all time. The cabinet is very strong, and I don't think I will need to add the extra support blocks I was expecting to use.



I put the monitor in to see how everything is sizing up. The monitor is a 27.5"er. Since all the LCDs are widescreen these days, I wanted to get a monitor that would have enough vertical space to play vertically oriented games nicely. The larger screen will also be great for games like Guitar Hero where you are standing back a ways from the screen. It should also double for a nice rec room TV.

[Neilyboy]

Going to be beautiful man!!! two thumbs up. I love that monitor and I have to agree the Kreg pocket hole jig is friggin amazing!!

Anyway keep up the great work and keep the pictures rolling!!

Neil

[Namco]

I'm watching the Kreg video on their website. Looks pretty cool to me. Might get one if the price is right.
http://www.kregtool.com/psj/index.html

[VictorGrande]

The gaming cabinet looks great.  I used the Kreg's jig as well to build my wife some bedroom furniture.  She really appreciates not keeping her clothes in paper bags on the floor any longer.  What are you going to do with the sides of the cabinet?  Keep on trucking DB 

[robC]

Spent lots of time this weekend working on the cabinet, and it's nearly complete. Everything is painted, trimmed, and installed. The computer is in, speakers and monitor are mounted and hooked up, door and keyboard drawer finished, and control panel is fastened down.
Last night I wired up the player 1 side of the control panel, fired it up and the KeyWiz worked great. Didn't have to re-map anything. Played a couple games and everything works!
 
Next up is to build some sort of marquee retainer and wire the other half of the panel. Then it's on to the fun stuff, Lighting up all those Electric Ice buttons and configuring MaLa.

These pics are a bit on the dark side, but here's what it looks like after this weekend:

[Daniel B.]

love the chrome t-molding! The cp looks like glass!

 

[CheffoJeffo]

 
 

[Knievel]

Looks great Rob!

[Portnoy]

Great cab! I had a quick question about the pocket screws.  Did the screws in any way hinder cutting the slot for the T-molding? I am planning on using the same method and just realized this could be a potential issue. 

Thanks

P

[javeryh]

Wow great job - especially on the CP.  It looks very clean and well made.  Get that P2 joy in there so you can really enjoy some KI!!!   

[robC]

Great cab! I had a quick question about the pocket screws.  Did the screws in any way hinder cutting the slot for the T-molding? I am planning on using the same method and just realized this could be a potential issue. 

Thanks

P

Thanks! I haven't posted any updates in a while because it got to the playable state and I am too busy playing all the time! I just dropped in the trackball and once I get the final marquee I will post some final pics.

In answer to the Q about pocket screws and t-mold slots:
No, the pocket screws do not interfere with the t-molding at all.

However, I had a problem though, because I could not find the 1/16" cutter locally, so I had to wait for it to arrive. In the meantime I put the cabinet together with the pocket screws. Then when the cutter got here, I went to rout the slots in the assembled cab and had a nice sparky-sparky wake up call when the cutter hit the first pocket screw! Ouch. There goes a little carbide off my bit. The slot cutter goes quite a bit deeper than the molding actually sits in. So if you cut your slots before assembling with the screws, you don't have to worry about this.

Also, pocket screws make for a super simple LCD monitor mount. I just attached a piece of MDF to the back of the monitor, cut some pocket holes in the piece, then screwed it into the side of the cabinet.

Also interesting to note about the convenience of using the pockets : Since initial assembly, I have been able to take parts of the cabinet off to get better access to the inside. You can just back out the screws and pull the piece out. In the initial assembly I would just use the four corner screws and then when I was mostly done I drove the rest of the screws in to tighen everything up.

[Chapel]

Nice Cab, like the CP art and T-Molding. The LCD looks good in there. once my wells gardner dies, im switching over to LCD.

[Portnoy]

Thanks for the info Rob.  That was exactly my concern.  I have all weekend to get some work done on my cab ( a rarity for me ) and I am with out a slot cutter but with pocket screw device. I guess I could always disassemble the sides once the cutter gets here. 

P

[robC]

Thanks for the info Rob.  That was exactly my concern.  I have all weekend to get some work done on my cab ( a rarity for me ) and I am with out a slot cutter but with pocket screw device. I guess I could always disassemble the sides once the cutter gets here. 

P

Once I realized that the slot cutter was hitting the screws, I just would go ahead a bit, back out a row of screws, rout the slot, then redrive the screws back in and continue. Only took an extra few minutes to do it this way and I didn't have to disassemble the cabinet to do it. Just be very careful to hold the router still and wait for the bit to stop before removing it from the slot...otherwise you may widen the slot at that point. Slow and steady and you'll have no problems.

R

[golfboyusa]

Good work! (patiently waiting for more pictures) 

[robC]

Well, this thing is finally done, so I have some pics to share:

First off, thanks to Randy at GroovyGameGear for his great service. All 3 of my orders arrived at least a day earlier than I would have hoped, and he is very responsive and helpful for support through email. 

Also, thanks to Pongo for the great button labels. They really give the admin buttons a nice finished look.

And thanks Scott at MameMarquees for the quick shipping and great quality of the marquee.

First the control panel.  Found this image at deviantArt.com. I like the red/blue split, which looks good with the buttons lit to match.



And the underbelly:
2 LEDWiz's
1 KeyWiz Max 1.5
Electric Ice trackball
TT2 spinner



Control panel installed:




Close up showing the marquee. It really pops when lit up and ties everything together nicely.



With the control panel hood open:



Here is my MaLa layout. Same image from the CP overlay. Pretty basic, but looks nice with the gamelist scrolling around the curved side of the planet. Also the video snapshots from emumovies are great. I love getting the gameplay clip as I scroll through the games.



And the full cabinet. I got the nice matching chrome/black barstools at Barstoolsandchairs.com. (Take a guess what they sell..) Great quality and low price. He has an ebay store with prices lower than you see on his website. Highly recommended.




And here we are with the lights off. This is when all that GGG bling starts to look so worthwhile.



All done, so now it's time to go play!

-Rob.com/index.php?topic=77702.0

[bfauska]

That looks great. Very clean and profesional look. Good job.

 

[WaRpEd]

Love the space theme and chrome t-molding.
looks great!

[RikaKazak]

WOW! that looks baller...very nice

[Chapel]

Very nice, Makes me wanna build another!

[Paul Olson]

Nice cab!
What screws did you use on the pocket holes? I have had a really hard time with MDF splitting when I use my Kreg jig. Thanks for the info on the barstools, I really need to get a couple of those.

[robC]

Nice cab!
What screws did you use on the pocket holes? I have had a really hard time with MDF splitting when I use my Kreg jig. Thanks for the info on the barstools, I really need to get a couple of those.

Thanks!
I didn't have any problems with splitting using the Kreg. Make sure you use the 1 1/4" COARSE thread Kreg pocket screws. They seem to be pretty available all the time at Menards. The fine threaded ones will strip out the hole. And be careful to not overdrive the screws.

[ids]

  Found this image at deviantArt.com.

could you please provide the URL?

[robC]

Here ya go!

http://dinyctis.deviantart.com/art/Cosmic-Daylight-1695061

[Tronix]

Love what you did with this cabinet. I'm seriously considering going with an LCD for my first build. What brand and model LCD did you pick?

[JohnnyD]

Awesome set up!


I was wondering on where or how you those cool t-moldings?