A few newbie questions...

[jvendryes]

So, I am about to start the endeavor of creating my arcade. I wanted to hear some advice from the experienced people out there.

I know I want an upright cabinet, but the question is do I make one from scratch or do I find an existing cabinet and make it happen? What do I need to look for in an existing one if I want to go that route?

Thanks!
Jason

[romshark]

The answer depends. Are you good, or at least have, power tools, like circular saws and drills? Do you have an area you can work in, like a garage? Do you have the time to build one? A cabinet isn't usually something you can build in a weekend or two.

On the other hand, do you have any place you can get a used cabinet from? An arcade, or an amusment machine auction? Or maybe something on eBay or Craigslist that's local? And if you go this route, try to get a generic cabinet. Don't turn a good classic gaming cabinet into a MAME computer.

Read up on various peoples projects to get an idea of what you're getting into (and maybe any features you'd like to have), and I suggest getting the book.

[jvendryes]

As far as the tools, I don't have them but I do have access to them. I also have access to someone who know's how to use them

What does a generic cabinet look like? I have been going onto Craigslist and have found some classic game cabinets, like galaga but it's form factor didn't look like what I was looking for.

[romshark]

Well, I went with the "built it yourself" method (my cabinet), so my ideas of a cabinet to MAME may differ from others.  But the way I see it:
A generic cabinet has little or no artwork on it, other than the marquee and maybe the control panel. According to some, ones with heavily damaged (unsalvagable) artwork may be good candidates too.
These I think would be ideal (except maybe for the price, but these are just examples)
example 1
example 2

Again, conversions aren't my area, but I'm sure others will be glad to offer advice.
The main site probably explains it better...
http://arcadecontrols.com/arcade_cabinets.shtml#finding