I agree with this whole entire thing, especially if someone has a good method and a lot of personal knowledge related to byoac, they absolutely should right a book about it. as far as i know theirs only one really and thats Project Arcade.
for all of the reccomendations ive seen for cabinet building almost everyone reccomends MDF or particleboard.
If youve ever attempted to buy a cheaply priced original cabinet that just seems too good to be true, i am certain that you have seen the result of even small bits of water damage to these materials without realizing it.
Im the Son of a man who made his living for 20 years in his younger days as a carpenter.
one thing that always bothered him was when the homebuilders got cheap and started using particleboard and OSB for Roofing material in south florida. he always went on and on to me about how neither one was even suitable to roof a doghouse with.
Then hurricane andrew hit and every single home built with this ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- did in fact lose the roof and got demolished. also in the aftermath of it, almost every single one of the home builders that had used these materials went bankrupt, and the ones who did not are now some of the largest builders there, because their homes still stood after andrew, and their homebuyers lifelong possessions were also safe.
anyway the point is i know that most people here will use Mdf or particleboard because of the smoothness of it, and cost. Their is not a better material to build a cabinet out of besides 3/4 BC or better plywood because it is all but water proof as a material, as well as ultra smooth.
Since i built my cab 6 years ago, its had many big gulps spilled on it as well as a busted water pipe 15 feet away that flooded the area around the base of it.
This water in the 30 minutes until we got it turned off by the city (we found out very quickly that our house did not have a main shutoff valve somewhere) This water absolutely destroyed the base of my original strikers 1945 Dynamo cabinet made out of particleboard.
The one i built from scratch out of bc plywood and 2x2s and painted with oil based paint, Didnt even swell one bit. All i had to do was put one new coat on to get rid of the water marks.
One more thing. Dont ever paint your control panel or the lower front of your cabinet around the coin door.
first thing kids are going to do is beat it and kick it when they get mad.
Best thing to do is get some black or if you cant find black, get some clear plexiglass for the front of your cabinet and paint the back of it solid black so the color cant be scratched off, and then get some 90 degree trim to go around it and finish it up.
Black plexiglass on the front of your cabinet will hide a whole world of nicks and scrapes that paint will succumb to. Especially if you lightly buff it with a good clean rag and a clear or a black tinted cleaner, when it looks a bit ugly. Dont ever use something harsh like car polish that will kill your glasses shine, and make sure whatever polish you use is either clear or has a black tint to it.
those are just a couple of my tips. otherwise i am curious to buy this book and am glad to see yet one more out there on the market.
One thing thats really needed for me, anyway, is a book that dives right into depth on setting up software.
Id love to see a new linux "embedded" build for arcade builders that i could sink my teeth into.
Truth is that i dont know ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- about linux except that its not windows. and i also know two things about it.
I surf the net as well as conduct most of my daily business with red hat. I also am slowly learning about it from my real dad, who Ive finally got old enough to want to ask him these things.
He got a job for Eastern airlines right out of high school in 1964, and by the time they went broke because of corporate embezzlement in 1989, he was cheif It administrator in Miami. It meant Unix.
when i got my first computer though, he never encouraged me to learn it. Always said that Pc's were the future and pushed me to learn dos at the time.
But hes told me since then that he never anticipated an X86 version of Unix rolling out.
Ive been picking his brains since.
is anyone here familiar with any graphical Mame for linux? or even a complete cabinet ready distrubition?
Note: Saint gave me permission to post about this - Jim
Hi, All. I wanted to share a bit of good news with my fellow arcade builders here - I've got a book I've co-authored titled "Build Your Own CNC Machine" and it's coming out at the end of November 2009. Not sure if this will be of interest to many here, but I've had fun writing it, building the machine, and using it...
I'll attach the cover and some pictures for you. Some more details:
* It has a 2' x 4' tabletop workspace with about 1.5" of non-usable surface around the perimeter. So, you can realistically work on wood, aluminum, or plastic that fits within the 2'x4' boundary.
* Depending on the router you choose to use (we use a laminate/hand router but it will support a full sized router), you can work on material up to about 7" tall, but the depth the router can cut down (on the z-axis) is dependent upon the surrounding area not impeding the up/down movement, so the depth of cut into super-thick material will really be limited to your bit depth/length as well as any material blocking the further downward movement.
* The entire thing can be built for less than $800.00. Yes, $800.00US. While most 2'x4' comparable CNC machines are running $7000 and higher, this is a completely reliable and fully functional 3-axis CNC machine. The book provides plans for cutting, drilling, etc... all the parts from MDF (very rigid and strong) and my co-author (Patrick) and I provide parts #s and locations to get all the electronics. Chapters show you how to wire up everything as well as where to get the free software used to control the stepper motors.
During the writing of this book, three separate machines were built - I built one, my dad built one, and my tech editor built one. All three are identical, working right now, and are very impressive to watch.
One of the reasons Patrick and I did this book was to make CNC technology available to a larger group of users - traditionally, these machines have been (and are) expensive to own and complicated to operate and repair. Well, when you build your own arcade cabinet you know every part, how it all comes together, and you'll know how to fix it... same with a CNC machine. And the best part is how easy it is to cut and drill replacement parts if you need them.
It does require a router, but most of you cabinet builders are already super familiar with that tool! The book provides a website, discussion forum, videos, full color photos for downloading, etc... all to support readers of the book who want to build their own machine. We're hoping to hear from students, shop teachers, parents, and after-school groups who take on building their own CNC machine(s) and we'd love to see photos and videos of your machine and your designs.
Again, the book is out in late November... if you have any other questions, let me know.
BTW, in the pics, those non-CNC-machine items are:
* A set of plate stands
* carving of a cartoon dog
* Sign for a small business
* various circular stands for hot dishes
* carving of some hand tools
Jim
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Topic: A new book that BYOAC cabinet builders might enjoy... (Read 15032 times)
