Author Topic: YAAM - Yet Another Arcade Machine, is now Xmas Arcade (Read 29853 times)

jeef · « **Reply #40 on:** July 11, 2009, 08:40:42 pm »

@Malenko Some very good points there too. Goes to show how varied button layouts and peoples opinions on them can be.

jeef · « **Reply #41 on:** July 11, 2009, 11:57:04 pm »

Okay, some minor updates. I've finished the TV bracket. But I'm too hungover to try and position it today so hopefully will do that next weekend.

I originally made the bracket out of a single large piece of 18mm MDF and cut out a hole for the TV. I ended up making this a little too small in that there was no way of mounting this bracket to anything. I then realised that I was starting to run out of large pieces of MDF for things like panels, so I've gone the route of a two piece frame. Because once mounted it won't make a difference.
I also did not trust the TV to stay in place only by 12 screws, threaded into MDF. So I've gone with the tee-nut approach and two 18mm MDF pieces to make a single 36mm piece.

So I cut out the two pieces (earlier photos) and glued them together and have now proceeded to mount them to the TV. The TV has four corner brackets with 3 holes each, suitable for maybe an M4 bolt/screw. So the first thing I did was drill them a bit bigger to fit my M5 bolts.

Next, I noticed I would need to dig out some space for the TV brackets bolt head.

And on the reverse side I drilled a recess for the tee-nuts

Tee-nuts in place

Then bolt the piece in place

Voila!

jeef · « **Reply #42 on:** July 18, 2009, 06:45:54 pm »

Small update:

Time to mount the TV! I laid the cabinet on it's side and placed the TV near it.

And then I placed the TV in position. I was able to prop it up with a spare piece of MDF... that was actually a lot easier than I thought it was going to be. I rotated the photo so's I can see what it might start to look like

So now with where the TV is going to go, all marked on the cabinet, I needed a way of mounting the frame. I spent a bit of time redesigning how exactly I was to do this. I wanted the TV to be removable so I couldn't just glue it in place. And because the TV takes up the internal width of the cabinet, there's no way to put anything down the sides. It will only be held in place above and below. So I need as much surface area as I can get, with not much room to get it from. I ended up deciding on some sort of frame. I've only made the top part for now, and thinking back I should have rebated both pieces, but this should hold. I will rebate both pieces for the lower frame, and have some vertical struts to take the weight straight to the bottom of the cabinet. This should help take some stress off where the lower baton is glued to the side panel. Almost like a mini internal frame as I see some people build.

jeef · « **Reply #43 on:** July 26, 2009, 06:38:23 pm »

So I got a few basics done this weekend. Finally got the wheels on, sooo much easier to maneuver the cabinet now!

I also finished the frame that will hold the TV in place. The TV has small steel brackets. I've bolted it to a small MDF frame to make it easier to secure to the cabinet. And then built a frame inside the cabinet, that my makeshift frame can be bolted to. This makes the TV completely removeable in the event that I wire it back up wrong and need to replace it...

The frame should be strong enough as it can currently take my weight. The vertical struts are to take the weight to the bottom batons, without that, all the weight of the cabinet and TV will stress on those two batons, this will help distribute the load.

So hopefully next weekend I will have some photos of it upright with the TV in it. I also bought the hinges for the control box, so will try and cut out the control panel and attach that.

jeef · « **Reply #44 on:** July 28, 2009, 01:46:02 am »

Really quick update, I had a spare half hour after work so put the TV in and stood the cabinet up... it holds!

It's a pretty good fit, both width ways and depth. The motherboard should tuck in real good.

bobdanoob · « **Reply #45 on:** July 29, 2009, 02:47:42 am »

Awesome Updates. This projects moving along nicely. I like you monitor setup. Slick and simple. The screen looks like its going to have a nice size to it with a bezel in. I can't wait to see it finished.

jeef · « **Reply #46 on:** July 29, 2009, 04:57:00 pm »

@bobanoob thanks! Yeah, I'm not sure how I'm going to do the bezel yet. I mean, I'll have an MDF top on it, but not sure how to close the gap between that and the curved screen. Those ones from Happ are out of the question due to shipping, I've seen some people use card...

Hippie459MN · « **Reply #47 on:** August 05, 2009, 08:38:03 am »

Looking good. Cant wait to see more.

jeef · « **Reply #48 on:** August 05, 2009, 04:58:09 pm »

@Hippie459MN thanks!

I didn't get much time on it last weekend, and don't forsee a lot of time on it this weekend either. I'm in the process of saving up to buy the buttons, joysticks and encoder etc, probably another few weeks before I can afford them. Tight budget at the mo - down to one income - had to buy the Castor's one at a time each fortnight

but it's getting there

But I do have the top of the CP cut out, just needs some shaping. With a bit of luck I'll get it attached to the box part. So if that gets done I'll post some more update pics then.

mahalos · « **Reply #49 on:** August 06, 2009, 06:37:12 am »

Hey man, looking great. I don't know what you've decided to roll with in terms of buttons'n'joys, but if you wanna have a look/play with some of the MCA stuff let me know and i'll send some down. I have quite a few joysticks and buttons kickin' around, some new and some old. They're the same ones they used in all the streeties and mortals back in the day...in fact i think Coin Cascade still uses them on their new machines. Anyways let me know, i'm more than happy to send them down on works account

jeef · « **Reply #50 on:** August 06, 2009, 06:03:34 pm »

Hwow thanks, that might actually be quite useful.

At the moment I'm leaning towards going directly Ultimarc for joystick and IPAC. Am looking at one of their sticks too, something that has reasonable 4/8 way switching without tools. I don't mind lifting the lid to do it, but would be handy. I stumbled (literally) into a bar and they had an arcade machine in the corner set to free play, had about 10-20 games on it. It was an 8-way stick and it actually made donkey-kong and pac-man a little tricky... or that might've been the drinks.

But yeah, some buttons to test with would be awesome. I'm still deciding on layouts, so would be handy!

jeef · « **Reply #51 on:** August 09, 2009, 05:11:09 pm »

Alrighty, some small updates. Despite mild hangover I was able to squeeze some work in Sunday.

So I've started working on the Speaker Panel. I'm going to use the small speakers that came with the TV. They have little separate tweeters even.
So the first thing I did was put the panel into position so I could scribe where my channel will go to hold the bezel and glass in place. Here's a shot with the channel routed and the panel back in place:

Then I started on routing the spots for the speakers. I didn't get a lot done, but here's the space for the right most tweeter:

And here's the tweeter in place:

Notice how close the tweeter is so that (nailboard/support beam)... that was a fluke, I forgot to allow room for that, lucky I measured it far enough away.

And another shot of the speaker panel in place, but with both holes drilled for the tweeters:

I also cut out and glued in place the shelf for the TV motherboard. Then put the motherboard in place to make sure it fits:

Yikes that's a tight fit. I didn't measure that...

Left side:

And right side:

jeef · « **Reply #52 on:** August 11, 2009, 03:22:02 am »

Sweet! A couple of joysticks and some buttons arrived today, courtesy of Mahalos. Cheers!

This weekend I plan to finish that speaker panel and then work on some button layouts

jeef · « **Reply #53 on:** August 16, 2009, 02:03:00 am »

Updates. I got the speaker panel finished today and have started drilling out a test button layout for the control panel but my hole saw bit is a tad blunt so it's slow going. Might have to invest in a new one.

Here's the holes I've cut (right side)

The speakers fit in thusly

The close call with the support

And here's how it looks from the outside

jeef · « **Reply #54 on:** August 23, 2009, 06:18:19 am »

Okay, things are slowing down a bit due to having almost finished the woodwork side of things and having not yet ordered electronics. But that's okay, I've almost got enough money together to place that order.

Left to do:

Cut the round corners on the CP
Trim up the back-middle of the CP so that it can sit flush against the Admin Panel
Find a way of mounting the Admin Panel
Make bezel

And that's about it for the woodworking (bar drilling holes etc for the CP).

Here's a pic with the Admin Panel fitting snugly in place and one of my test CP layouts. I've decided to drop the 7th button.

And here's a close up of the CP with the slots cut for wrap around effect.

Bender · « **Reply #55 on:** August 23, 2009, 10:14:15 am »

lookin' good

nice router work on the speaker insets

jeef · « **Reply #56 on:** August 23, 2009, 05:27:32 pm »

@bender cheers

always use guides when routing!

Hippie459MN · « **Reply #57 on:** August 25, 2009, 10:48:04 am »

Looking great. Giving me plenty of ideas when it comes time to build mine.

Ryglore · « **Reply #58 on:** August 25, 2009, 12:31:21 pm »

Nice work Jeef! Checking out your build so far is really helping me figure things out for sure.

jeef · « **Reply #59 on:** August 25, 2009, 05:08:48 pm »

@Hippie459MN & Ryglore Cheers guys! Glad to hear it is helping! I'm obviously a complete noob at woodwork, and have pinched a lot of my construction ideas from this amazing project: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=84649.0l

So for further ideas etc check it out

@Ryglore Yeah, I just need to knuckle down and complete the graphics side of things now...

Ryglore · « **Reply #60 on:** August 25, 2009, 11:19:48 pm »

Quote from: jeef on August 25, 2009, 05:08:48 pm

@Hippie459MN & Ryglore Cheers guys! Glad to hear it is helping! I'm obviously a complete noob at woodwork, and have pinched a lot of my construction ideas from this amazing project: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=84649.0l

So for further ideas etc check it out

@Ryglore Yeah, I just need to knuckle down and complete the graphics side of things now...

haha, Ya my thing was I started designing both roughly at the same time. But the graphics were completed first and then I modified the Lucid plans around them. Mostly because when I am at my apartment I can't tinker on the cab itself and ideas are spilling out.

What's really funny though is now I am totally winging it and the only thing left from the Lucid plan is the design of the CP box... except the dimensions are different. Looking at your build though is totally helping me wrap my head around things, especially the monitor.

jeef · « **Reply #61 on:** August 25, 2009, 11:31:12 pm »

@Ryglore Yeah, I started from some basic dimensions of an MK cabinet. Did a bit of modifying and then in the end let the TV decide the width, which as you can see, is quite a tight fit.

Mounting the monitor was one of the hardest parts to design I think. Again, a lot of ideas on how to do that were drawn from Martinj's SF cab at the provided link. Left to do is the bezel, which is made tricky with a curved screen. But yeah, as you say, we start with reasonably detailed drawings but then realise you have to wing most of it

jeef · « **Reply #62 on:** August 30, 2009, 03:55:38 am »

Alrighty, progress has been slow lately due to not getting much time to spend on it, but this weekend I was allowed the whole Sunday

Rounded CP corners and completed Bezel.

Notched back of the Admin Panel so that it can hide the bottom of the glass and bezel:

Here's the Admin Panel (not fixed) in place. The gap is where the glass will go. Not sure how thick my glass is so hopefully it fits.

To fix the Admin Panel in place I've drilled holes through it. Inserted some M5's into the holes and added some t-nuts to help fix them in place. I will then putty up the front. This means the bolts will be fixed in place. I will then have a little mounting block stuck to the inside of the side of the cabinet. The bolts will slip into that and be held in place by their nuts.

And these are the mounting blocks that will hold the Admin Panel and the Control Panel in place. Will be interesting to see if they will hold. I think they will be I will give them some field testing before I commit.

I'm still not sure what to do with the gap between my bezel and the (curved) TV. I almost think that it won't be no ticable and might just leave it. Any thoughts?

DaOld Man · « **Reply #63 on:** August 30, 2009, 08:33:06 am »

Man, this baby is starting to shape up!
Great work Jeef, I especially like the detail you put into the monitor mount.
I tend to get in a hurry around that area and cut corners.

Epyx · « **Reply #64 on:** August 30, 2009, 03:56:28 pm »

Agreed, the monitor bezel/mount looks fantastic.

jeef · « **Reply #65 on:** August 30, 2009, 05:45:07 pm »

@DaOld Man & @Epyx Man Cheers! This is a 29" monitor and it's heavy. I really did not want it falling. Especially with my reputation with my old man and brother at stake!

Reckon that corner will be visible? Or matter if it is? I'm kinda hoping that by the time I get the glass on and the monitor is lit up it wont be. But I've just though of how I can get the right curves... I've still got the TV's shroud that I can map off!

mahalos · « **Reply #66 on:** August 30, 2009, 09:05:19 pm »

That's some pretty fine craftsmanship going on there man......well done

jeef · « **Reply #67 on:** August 30, 2009, 11:35:30 pm »

@mahalos Cheers, nothing too fancy yet. Cheers for those buttons by the way, they've helped a lot in the deciding of button placement/numbers etc. I've decided to drop the 7th button and just go for a slightly angled 3x2 array. Also been interesting playing with the 4/8 way restrictors on those joys. I'm hopping to order my parts this friday

DaOld Man · « **Reply #68 on:** August 31, 2009, 09:01:43 am »

Quote from: jeef on August 30, 2009, 05:45:07 pm

....
Reckon that corner will be visible? Or matter if it is? I'm kinda hoping that by the time I get the glass on and the monitor is lit up it wont be. But I've just though of how I can get the right curves... I've still got the TV's shroud that I can map off!

I am sure you plan to paint the inside of the corners black, so I dont think it will be that noticeable, but you could always cut out some corners out of black poster board to cover the edge between the wood and the monitor viewable area, and place them between the wood bezel and the wood you attached the monitor to.
Or maybe some black weather stripping foam stuff in the corners?

jeef · « **Reply #69 on:** August 31, 2009, 05:14:59 pm »

@DaOld Man Yeah, cheers. Hopefully painting the mounts black will be enough.

jeef · « **Reply #70 on:** September 11, 2009, 06:07:48 pm »

Just a quick update so that you don't think I've abandoned this project!

As you can see from the pics, most of the woodworking is done. I've begun plastering in prep for painting, but there's not much interesting to take photos of. Just imagine the current pics with white blobs

I'm also trying to figure out how to make a tricky cut on the CP. I've got an idea that I'm going to try tomorrow. As well as that I'm going to cut my glass for the front and marquee. I'm using glass because it was free.

I've also just now ordered all my buttons/jotsticks etc. I'm not sure how long they will take to get here, probably like 3 weeks or something? So once they arrive it will be all on. Maybe, just maybe I might have it mostly painted by then.

I still need to get a piece of polycarbonate to go over the CP. Will need to thin down the CP - my old man has a thicknesser, so shouldn't be an issue there. I'm choosing polycarbonate because from what I've read, it's a bit softer and easier to work with. I will be using the router on it to match the shape of the CP, and assume it's easier to router polycarbonate than acrylic? I don't want to get into a debate about which is more scratch resistant, strong, better etc. The bottom line for my choice is that I can put a router to it with relative ease.

So yeah, things are still humming along, just no pics to prove it.

jeef · « **Reply #71 on:** September 13, 2009, 04:54:43 pm »

stuffed up the glass cutting

Not a huge problem, just there goes my free option.

Notes for glass cutting: Scoring the glass is the single most important and hardest part. If you get a good score, breaking it is easy. If you stuff up the score then it's all over folks.

On the plus side, my controls are apparently already in the country!

@mahalos I can probably soon send your stuff back. They've been very helpful in helping me decide on button layouts etc!

mahalos · « **Reply #72 on:** September 14, 2009, 08:04:43 pm »

Quote from: jeef on September 13, 2009, 04:54:43 pm

stuffed up the glass cutting

On the plus side, my controls are apparently already in the country!

@mahalos I can probably soon send your stuff back. They've been very helpful in helping me decide on button layouts etc!

Damn shame about your glass. I follow one simple rule when it comes to glass cutting.......don't do it

oohhh....you must be excited that your controls are in the country.......hell, even i'm excited your controls are in the country.

Glad the ones I lent you helped out a bit.

Keep up the great work man

jeef · « **Reply #73 on:** September 14, 2009, 08:55:15 pm »

Quote

I follow one simple rule when it comes to glass cutting.......don't do it

@mahalos haha, yeah

if it wasn't a free sheet I would've just got it cut to size.

aaaand, controls arrived this morning! oly cow that was quick! I ordered them on Thursday local time. Got an email on Friday local time that the order had been proccessed and got a tracking number. today (Tuesday) morning the DHL girl arrives! So will be playing with them tonight methinks.

Ryglore · « **Reply #74 on:** September 15, 2009, 08:39:50 pm »

Quote from: jeef on September 13, 2009, 04:54:43 pm

stuffed up the glass cutting

Not a huge problem, just there goes my free option.

Notes for glass cutting: Scoring the glass is the single most important and hardest part. If you get a good score, breaking it is easy. If you stuff up the score then it's all over folks.

On the plus side, my controls are apparently already in the country!

@mahalos I can probably soon send your stuff back. They've been very helpful in helping me decide on button layouts etc!

I didn't notice, but what kind of glass are you using? plain old clear or smoked? I'm unsure if I want to go with real glass or plexi/lexan...

jeef · « **Reply #75 on:** September 15, 2009, 09:13:24 pm »

I don't think I ever posted a photo of it. It was just glass from a window of a house; my brother is a builder, pinched it from a house that was having an extension built

So it was just plain clear window glass. About 4mm thick. If you go with real glass, just get it cut to size

Unless I can get another sheet, I'm just going to go with polycarbonate - lexan and plexiglass are brand names. Lexan = polycarbonate, plexiglass = acrylic.

jeef · « **Reply #76 on:** September 20, 2009, 01:19:42 am »

As per usual progress has slowed, but I am happy with the progress I'm making. It's at the point where I need to save money to progress much further, but that's okay. I have regular payments into an "Arcade Savings"

So I will get there eventually.

But this update I have some pictures to show.

Today I shaped up the back of the control panel where it will meet the "Admin Panel". I was originally going to make an angle cut so that it would be parallel with that panel, but it was proving quite tricky to cut such an angle. so instead I've done some routing that can't be explain in words, so here's some pics. Hopefully you can decipher what I'm doing here.

First, this is the top of my control panel.

And this is the back with a notch taken out. To simulate the angle cut.

This is the cut I was going to try and make.

This is it moving into place.

And finally, neatly in place. I will have a sheet of polycarbonate on top. When I do that, I will reduce the thickness of this panel.

And here's an up-to-date shot of the whole thing. With button layouts attached. Haven't started drilling those holes yet. Also note the plaster work is still in progress. Oh, and of course the bezel and admin panel both have one coat of primer on them... I ran out. Another expense to save for.

And close up of the control panel layout.

Ryglore · « **Reply #77 on:** September 21, 2009, 03:34:17 pm »

Coming along nicely! I also had a pain trying to cut angles, but eventually I got them (for the most part).

jeef · « **Reply #78 on:** September 21, 2009, 07:08:55 pm »

@Ryglore Yeah, some aren't too bad, like the smaller angles. My jigsaw can cut at an angle etc. But too big an angle like that and the jigsaw struggles. Also, because it was only part of it that needed the angle, I couldn't run it through the rip-saw.

But yeah, I'm pleased with the progress, cheers

Ryglore · « **Reply #79 on:** September 21, 2009, 09:00:19 pm »

What thickness of wood are you using for the bezel? I was going to do Matte board, but after seeing how yours looks with that piece on the front of it, I'm tempted to do the same.


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