A Mame machine in an antique buffet - USB probs solved (I think!)

[drventure]

@GadgetGeek

Wow! talk about some ideas! I wonder how long that guys been collecting stuff that have that big an assortment of bits to put together.

Very cool! Thanks for that link!

[drventure]

Well, I've had basically no time to work on my project lately <sigh>

I did a little on a couple gauges, but that's about it.

I did however, just snag a pretty sweet deal on an AMBX system.



I got the full set, 2 lights, a wallwasher, 2 fans (not sure how or even if I'll use em), a wrist rumbler (I'm thinking that might be cool screwed to the underside of my CP), and even a dang subwoofer (this is the full multimedia system, which includes speakers and a sub, not just the lights.)

I don't really need the speakers and sub (my cab already has all that), but for the price, I couldn't pass it up. They may just have to be sacrificed to the arcade gods 

The thing works a treat. What's better, my test app I put together using the ambx hardware simulator works perfectly with it too, Under win7 64bit, no less.

As a side note, I happened across one of these at bestbuy recently



http://store.phantomdynamics.com/amdjmebar50r.html

BestBuy was wanting 150$ for the thing too. Um... No.

But I could really see that used to color wash the floor around a cab or the wall behind a cab. Surely there's cheaper alternatives (actually, the AMBX stuff looks to be a pretty decent cheaper alternative).

[drventure]

I posted this over in the pinball forum as well, not sure which is more appropriate, but I thought I'd post the gist of the question here too, just in case anyone that's following my thread proper might have any ideas.

My cab has a pinball plunger for use with virtual pinball. Picked it up a while back on ebay.
Thing is it was all chrome, which didn't work right with my cab at all.

So I found a local guy that does brass plating. Well, long story short, that as more than 5 +months+ ago (when he told me the slowest he'd have it done by was 6 weeks!). Yeah, I was pretty much thinking I'd never see my parts again.

I finally resorted to pestering the hell out of the guy till he relented and finished them up, and I got them back.

Well, in all those 5 months, the guy NEVER thought to call me and tell me he couldn't plate the damn aluminum knob on the end of the plunger! Jeez, talk about great customer service!<sheesh>

Anyway, so now I have a nicely brass plated pinball plunger with an aluminum knob on the end!<urg>



So, here's want I +want+ to do.

I found a nice victorian style cabinet knob, standard screw mount.



So I'd like to take the aluminum knob off and put this on.

BUT, it looks like the aluminum knob has been hydraulically pressed on.

I could pull out an angle grinder and get it off, but then, given that the plunger rod looks like stainless steel, i'm not sure even IF I could drill and thread a hole in the end for a screw to mount the new knob.

Anyone have any suggestions?

[Yvan256]

It looks like the aluminum knob has been hydraulically pressed on.

If you look at it, it seems to have pressed indentations to keep it in place. The good thing is, aluminium should be relatively easy to cut, but if you do there's a chance you'll cut the stainless steel rod too... My advice would be to go slowly while cutting, since you probably don't know how deep the rod goes inside the aluminium knob. Or you could just cut the whole thing where the aluminium ends and drill a hole for a bolt in the rod itself... but since I have no experience with such things, please take my advices with a grain of salt.

[Benevolance]

I guess living with the little bit of silver as an accent colour is out of the question?

[drventure]

I guess living with the little bit of silver as an accent colour is out of the question?

 

I suppose that's a possibility too

I posted to the pinball forum as well, and qbert247 pointed me to a site that sells these.



I'm going to try grafting a knob on, if that fails, I'll be picking up one of those plated shooters.

[gryhnd]

Mother's Day bouquet?

[drventure]

Mother's Day bouquet?

 

I'm not sure she'd appreciate it, but +I+ think that'd be awesome!

[drventure]

Got a little time over last week to finish out the pinball shooter.

I took a page from OND's light up shooter, and added a little LED bling in the form of two amethyst mother of pearl insets, plus I ground off the top of the shooter knob and added a little victorian flare. It's all polished brass, but the picture doesn't really do that justice (the flash has a way of doing that it seems).



Next up, I've put down a first round redoing the CP "artwork" as it were. I'll post some pics to get general feedback before I seal it down. I think it turned out pretty decent, but I'd love some feedback from the more graphically minded of you guys out there.

I'll try to get those up tomorrow.

[Epyx]

Looks great! Although you skipped a step! 

BUT, it looks like the aluminum knob has been hydraulically pressed on.

I could pull out an angle grinder and get it off, but then, given that the plunger rod looks like stainless steel, i'm not sure even IF I could drill and thread a hole in the end for a screw to mount the new knob.

Anyone have any suggestions?

All of a sudden it's on...what did you end up doing?

[drventure]

Hehe. I totally cheated 

First, I grabbed my angle grinder and ground off the bump on the aluminum part of the shooter knob.



Then, I had several extra of these fancy filigree "beads" I picked up at Micheals a while back.



They originally had a small loop sticking out to thread ribbon through (for putting them on jewelry and what not).

I cut that off, filed and smoothed it out.

Sprayed the aluminum part of the knob with brass spray paint, washed it in india ink to "age" it a bit.

Then JBWelded the bead to the face of the knob.

Then, so that it'd be all sealed up, I grabbed some extra clear casting epoxy that I had lying around, mixed a small amount up and just poured it over the knob portion (not the rod).

Let it set and presto! victorian pinball shooter!

[Epyx]

Awesome solution to your dilemna drventure! 

Thanks for taking the time to post what you ended up doing...I find these workarounds you come up with among the most fascinating of your updates!

[drventure]

Thanks Epyx

I think it turned out fairly nice. Maybe not quite as nice as those completely plated shooters, but I would have probably ground the bump off one of those and epoxied that bead on it too, just because it looks so much more "old-old school" 

[drventure]

Ok, I need a little feedback on the new CP artwork I'm contemplating.

For reference, so that you don't have to go scrolling back through this voluminous thread 

Here's what my CP started out life looking like.




And after the first stab at gold stamping artwork, here's what I had.




Since the clear coat flaked off, I basically had to redo all the stamp work i'd done, and I thought the button areas just looked too dang plain, so I dressed em up  a little.

Here's the new look (forgive the lack of buttons and sticks, they're all out right now pending the final clear coat:




I think it works much nicer. There's still "dark space" but there's not near as much of it, which seems to gel with the rest of the cab design.

If it's bogus, i can strip it at this point with some alcohol and take another round, but I kinda like this look.

Any thoughts? Too much? 

[Epyx]

I think it works much nicer. There's still "dark space" but there's not near as much of it, which seems to gel with the rest of the cab design.

Agreed and not bogus at all. I think it looks great and the motif's surrounding the buttons definitely brings the CP together! 

[Ond]

I think it works much nicer. There's still "dark space" but there's not near as much of it, which seems to gel with the rest of the cab design.

Agreed and not bogus at all. I think it looks great and the motif's surrounding the buttons definitely brings the CP together! 

+1, hell of a thing to have to redo but definitely worth the effort.  With your cab it's all about enjoying the fine detail, taking it in and appreciating the effect you've achieved.  In some parallel universe HG Wells is drooling over the  No. 18 Arqadium Engine.  Nice work on the plunger it's been doct'rd just right.

[drventure]

Thanks, guys!

I appreciate the feedback.

I think i'll be sealing it up the weekend then! Yay! Finally able to get back to some of the other bits (like those ELWire nixie tubes I've had stashed for a year now)

[Bender]

Looking great Dr.

[thatpurplestuff]

Fantastic job on that plunger, and the CP (again)!  Seal that baby up and get working with those tubes!

[R0UNDEYEZ]

I've just found this thread for the first time tonight and read the whole thing.. amazing!
I love steampunk as a style and had considered it when building mine, but decided against it because I couldn't think of anything for the joysticks and buttons..and well, to really make it look great like you have it takes attention to those sort of details. You said its going on 3 years somewhere in the thread.. do the buttons still have good finish? I wrote off painting as an option figuring they would wear off and get "gummy" with use.
I am also curious about the pinball plunger rod, is it hooked up to a button? I seem to have missed how it interfaces.

great project though, A+ on all the details man.

[drventure]

@Roundeyez

Thanks! Actually, I posted about the shooter on the very first page

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=88515.msg950177#msg950177

Here's a pick



The buttons have actually held up fantastically. I think the key is the scuffing and the primer. But the future is equally important to seal everything up. That stuff is amazing.

That page above details the steps I used to finish out the buttons.

@Bender and thatpurplestuff

Thanks guys! Sometimes, you get so close to something, it becomes tough to tell whether you're still on track or not. Thanks for the feedback!

[rablack97]

 

Greatness sent me into delirium....Awesome man, just awesome

[Benevolance]

I really dig the extra detailing on the control panel. Good choices!

[drventure]

Thanks for the comments! Yeah, the extra artwork/patterns I think really improve things.


The pinball shooter got me thinking, so I decided to dress up my spintrack similiarly. That spinner knob had always bugged me a bit.

I started with the normal spinner plus a big brass "necklace bead" that I found at michaels. Notice the little wire hanger bit at the top.


I cut the wire hanger off, then polished it up a bit to smooth it out.



Here's a test fit



And from the top




And the final result in place (Haven't put the buttons back on yet)



I think it turned out nice, for using a standard spinner knob. My original idea was to replace it with an old victorian style cabinet knob or doorknob, but I think this works pretty good. Much better than before, and it's easy enough to pop it off and redo with something else if I feel like it later...

[Benevolance]

Wow! That turned out brilliant. It's like a pocket watch.

[emphatic]

 

[drventure]

Thanks, I actually have a pile of old watch and clock gears that I'd tried to come up with a way to fit in or on that spinner, but in the end, it's still gotta be aspinner, if there's gear spikes or sharp things poking out, it might look cool, but you'd never want to actually use it.

I think this option is a nice blend of nice-looking-for-this-cab while still completely playable.

Besides I was envious of all the cabs I've seen around here that use those BYOAC token inserts on their spinners.


Those are great! I had looked a LONG time ago for something like a fake doubloon  to use in a similar fashion but never did find anything available that was the right size and all.

[Benevolance]

Now everyone else can be envious of your golden knob.

I showed the cabinet to my wife. She's a bigger steampunk geek than I am. She was very impressed with the build and wanted me to pass along her compliments. I sincerely hope I am not soon asked to duplicate your efforts.

[drventure]

I sincerely hope I am not soon asked to duplicate your efforts

 

If I'd known what I was getting myself into, I might not have even started. But it's been a ton of fun coming up with all this stuff.

You definitely wouldn't want to duplicate my efforts, though Pretty much everything I've done has been "Don't bother measuring, cut 4 or 5 times" 

However, if I had to do it over, it could be done a lot cheaper and quicker now!

[Ond]

On the wife score-o-meter topic, I showed this cab to mine, her first word on seeing it was "beautiful".  You must be getting it right doc.     She said to pass on her compliments.

[drventure]

Wow. Thanks Ond!

I was talking with mine last night. She's getting a tad annoyed that we haven't been able to actually play it in a while cause it's all in pieces again.

But I explained that, really, at this point, for me anyways, it's kind of becoming more an operational work of art than just a gaming console. And art takes patience 

BTW, when's that radar dish of your's gonna get mounted. I can't wait to see that!

[Ond]

Welcome,    "operational work of art"  I'm going to use that term too. The radar dish is happening in about a week, I'm obsessing about (and working on) the CP it's mounted in place on new hinges but more work is needed.

[drventure]

Ok. A little more work and more request for feedback  

I know several cabs that have including light up buttons. Ond's buttons, with the glowing rings are probably the slickest in my mind, but, as I stared at things this morning, I just could not come up with any way to do that particular trick that wouldn't look utterly out of place.

So then I started thinking about putting the lights "beside" the buttons. My first thought was to use some little gold findings that I originally used as insets in some of my buttons...



But that just looks too busy to me. Plus those findings raise up from the cp surface, which would make restamping very difficult (and if history has taught me anything, it's that I'll likely be restamping again before this is done   )

But then I thought, why not just ditch the findings and just have a little hole beside the button.

Pull out the drill and the scrap sample I made to try out inlaying, and viola!

From an angle


From head on


When it's dark


another angle


The varying glossiness is me testing how future would look and hold up on that formica (It seems to work very nicely, so far anyway).

Those last two images, if you look, there's actually 4 holes there of varying dia.

The very smallest is toward the middle in the last image.

That's what I'm tending towards right now. To cap it, I "commandeered" some citrine beads from my wife's bead collection.

They're small, yellowish, and fit perfectly. I drill a very small hole through the front, then CAREFULLY drill a bigger hole through the back, big enough to jam the bead into and snug it up to the underside of the formica top.

In the end, the bead is clearish, but doesn't show up as a brightish yellow spot when the LED is off, as a yellow LED would if I just snugged the LED up right to the underside of the formica.

In fact, as you can see from the bottom photo the bead almost makes the hole completely disappear when the LED is off.

But yet it's VERY visible, even with the lights on, when the LED is on.

I +really+ like the idea of lighting up which buttons are active when a game is selected. That's the whole point of this.

I also like the notion that I can insert and wire up these LEDs and they'll stay in place, I won't have to mess with them If I ever do need to take the buttons out again. That's a big plus.

They're VERY unobtrusive when everything's off, which is cool, but with em on and yellow, that seems to go very well with the overall black and gold artwork theme.

Anyway, that's my thoughts on it

Anybody think of any other ideas? I'm open to all sorts of wackiness!

[Ond]

I agree, my lit ring buttons wouldn't suit your cab IMO.  (ironically I may not use them myself ) It looks like the small bead solution you've come up with does suit well.  Unobtrusive when off but  nice effect when on.  You are only going with gold/yellow lighting yeah?  (no multi colors I hope  ).  

[Benevolance]

It's a 4 player cab, right? I think that having a light by each button could get too busy looking, but busy in the distracting way, not in the usual intricate and complicated awesome Victorian way. What about instead of having a light by each button, you just had a single spot that had the lights laid out in the same pattern as the buttons. Then, that single light display could be lit up to indicate which buttons were funtional for a game, but for all four players at once? Sort of like a HUD display. But, you know, all brassy and metal and awesome instead of just transparent.

Dammit. There are too many pages. I can't locate a picture of the whole buffet assembled to suggest a spot you might put it.

[drventure]

Hmmm. Interesting idea. I suppose if I could come up with a good design to frame it with, it might work.

Truth be told though, those holes I'm talking about are just about 1/16th inch in dia. In other words, quite small.

When I stand back from the sample piece it put together, I literally can't see the hole if it's not lit. Esp with the bead in place.

Putting all the lamps together in one spot would draw more attention to that one spot. Could work, or that in itself could be a distraction.

I dunno, I could see it both ways. I'll have to sleep on that one!

Thanks for the ideas!

[Benevolance]

Hmmm. A physical frame is an interesting idea.

You know those victorian sitting rooms always had portraits of family members, friends, people they only sorta new, things they'd shot...pictures everywhere, on everything. What about building something that is free standing, done up like a picture frame? It could simply be a grainy, off-black and white picture of game controller, with six/seven button setup, and those buttons in the photograph can be lit for the game. It wouldn't be physically attached to the CP, just something that you could sit on top in case people needed reference? And then you could just unplug it and put it away when you didn't want it out.

[drventure]

Hmmm. A physical frame is an interesting idea.

Actually that's kinda what I had in mind...

Imagine something like this...



Stripped of the frame parts and framed by the CP top, or placed in some VERY small victorianesque wallet photoframe.

That screen is 1" to 1.5", so very small and easy to "hide away" or even embed in the CP or next to the monitor somehow.

It could have a single USB cable running to it, which could theoretically update the image shown at will (I've found several "Hack" projects that detail how to actually make that happen).

I'm toying with that idea for later, going to pick on one of those digital keychains off ebay to experiment with.

But, for now, I decided to throw caution to the wind and start drilling holes again in my CP 

Went to fry's, picked up a pile of yellow leds, resisters, more wire, and a new video card (Visual Pinball and virtual pinball just killed my onboard video <sigh> .  Got all the holes drilled (only had one accident that a little black furniture putty fixed), got the citrine beads in place and glued up, and got one harness of LED's in place and wired.

I don't have any pics yet, because I still need to get another LEDWiz to drive all the new LEDs.

But, I did hook power to them one at a time to make sure they work. I think it's going to turn out fantastic.

The Citrine is dark enough that the holes just completely disappear on the CP, If I stand an normal playing playing height, and with normal lights in the room, I literally can't see them until I light em up.

The holes are 1/16th inch, so they're so small they really look more like pinpricks of light when they light, but the citrine beads have their sharp points set right at the surface of the cp, so they scatter the LED light really nicely when on.

I was pushing those beads into place, thinking "I've now got an arcade cab upholstered in red pintuck taffeta and set with actual semi precious stones" 

My weekend is officially complete 

[drventure]

Didn't have much to show last time, and I still don't have the CP back in the buffet so I can't really show much of the button lighting proper, so I figured I show a little wiring pron 

First, the citrine beads I used, this is a closeup, these guys are +tiny+


The CP with the stamping done


The holes for the lights. They're more visible at this angle than just about any other. When you actually stand in front of it, you can't see the holes at all.


A "guts" shot of the wiring for one player. What a pain in the ass! The eyeballs belong to my daughter 


Another behind the scenes shot, with the leds out so you can see the beads jammed up inside and glued in place with elmers (it's clear, so it doesn't affect the led light transmission)


Another below decks shot, you can better see the led wiring. I wired the resistors inline right at the led, then wrapped them in heatshrink. Not sure if this is the best way to do it or not, but it keeps the resistors nice and tidy (and keeps the wiring at the LEDWiz neat as well).
No comments on my suboptimal wiring skills, Ond! 



And finally, a sad shot of a u360 shaft. Note the corrosion. Gack. I've only actually used the thing for, what, maybe an hour total!?


Anyway, a little brasso, some polish, and some silicone lube and it looks good as new. Hopefully, all that'll help resist more corrosion as well.

[drventure]

One more post for the night.

I'd gotten the top clear coated, got all the buttons and sticks back on, but then I couldn't leave well enough alone.

I had some extra filigree beads lying around, and decided I needed a little more bling 

So I decided to try my hand at another round of carving, nothing complex or anything, but nerve wracking none-the-less.

First, the tools involved, You can see the beads I used scattered about. Drill, forstner bits (several sizes), regular bit (for the LED hole), a Japanese Carving Chisel, stain, several of those LED "flicker" candles, some plastic cut from the top of said candles, Pencil, etc


Outline the area to be carved...


Drill the started hole with the large forstner, it's just slightly smaller than the beads...


Use the chisel to carve out the bead outline, for a nice tight seamless fit.


Use the second size forstner to drill another hole, centered and a little deeper.


Now, use the last size forstner to drill a "light well", a space to allow light from the LED to spread out a little

Then, use the regular bit and punch through for a hole to mount the LED in.
Then mount the led. You can see the multiple "steps" clearly here, Top step to hole the outer bead, next step to hold a white plastic disk to help diffuse the LED light, and the last step to server as the light well (might not be completely necessary, but, then, is there anything about this cab that's necessary


Finally, restain the area, glue a round piece of translucent white plastic sized to just fit the second step down, and then JBWeld the bead in place on top.
Presto!

Boiler pressure relief vents! 


I shot a short movie of one in place with the light on. It took about an hour to work through it all, and I've got 6 total to do, so there's only one in the movie right now.

I did it once, but I can't for the life of me remember how I embedded a youtube video now. So, here's the link. Sorry about that. saint's note - embedded now


I'll probably link them all up to one control line on the LEDWiz, so I can turn em off if necessary. However, they should be relatively inconspicuous when you're playing because they're on the side of the bottom level of the CP (not like that glowing plasma orb on the top level 

I've just had a fire lit under me to get this thing back together so, I can't spend too much more time on the distractions, but what the hell!