Things you would do differently ?

[Nacimroc]

I'm half way through my build and made a few small blunders along the way. Figured a thread listing peoples mistakes (things they would do differently) might help for the next half of my build. My list so far:

1. Didn't order enough T-molding. 2x20ft wasn't enought for whole cab (around the back aswell) + CP.

2. Should have painted the edges black under the t-molding as they can be seen between laminate and molding

3. Made my control panel to slanted. Pitch too high. Had to make 2 awkward peices to fix. Not as sturdy as it should be now.

4. My router flush trim bit went blunt after 1 run trimming laminate. (cheap lidl $hit) Ended up chipping the second side. Should have adjusted height.

Hopefully I'l get a few things to look out for the rest of the cab.

[crashwg]

1. I went overboard with controls. 

2. If you're going design a cabinet after an existing one you should be able to play it as it was on the original cab.  In my case that means a Galaga cabinet should have a vertical monitor.

As soon as I have some more reliable income those are the first two things that I will have to take care of on my cab.

[Gamester]

Mistakes I made:

1) Sprayed on my last layer of clear coat after the temperature outside had dropped too much, causing the spray to cool the surface to the dew point, resulting in instant condensation, resulting in foggy patches all over (called "blushing").  Had to sand it down and nearly start over...

2) Installed my rotating wheels too close to the cabinet sides causing them to rub when the cabinet was turned.

3) Bought a coin door before I had actually chosen a design for the cab.  The original door ended up being too big and I had to buy a different one.

4) Should have bought a table saw...  would have saved me a TON of time.

5) Underestimated how powerful of a computer I would need to run everything I want to.

6) Tried to use too coarse of a circular saw blade when cutting my plywood, causing lots of splintering on the edges.

7) Ran my router the wrong direction at first, causing it to nearly get away from me.

[Ed_McCarron]

Finish the damn thing.  I blew the "Don't make it playable before its cosmetically done" rule.

[TOK]

Buy a house with a basement. I now have games in my computer room, living room, Florida room and garage.

[Aceldamor]

Actually put a full back on my cab vs. an open half back, so my cat couldn't use it as a toilet.

Sealed the wood better, so the MDF wouldn't blister because of the sweat from my palms resting on the CP.

Been a little more adventurous with the creation process, instead of playing it safe with a generic cab design.

Done dual monitors, so I could use J5 while a game was up so I wouldn't get hammered with the "which buttons do what" questions constantly.

LED buttons...see reason above.

[doctorhifi]

-Painted the cabinet before routering the slot for the t-moulding and messed up the paint as a result
-Bought a cheap t-moulding bit which went dull after just one edge (blame the MDF)
-Used MDF instead of lighter alternative
-Didn't plan on a keyboard drawer from the get go and had to add one

[drventure]

Actually put a full back on my cab vs. an open half back, so my cat couldn't use it as a toilet.

Hmm, lessee. Where to start?
1) Not hinging my dang CP top (Originally, i'd intended for it to be a "all in one semi portable cp" but that plan morphed into something completely different
2) Spraying clear enamel on formica to protect hand stamped cp art. it lifted like a mofo. Had to scrape it all off and start over.
3) thinking onboard video would work. Actually it's fine for mame, but as soon as I fired up Future Pinball, yikes.
4) not hinging my dang CP (oh wait....)
5) Should have used heavier reinforcements on my CP sliding/lifting mechanism. It all works and it's reasonably solid, but it "gives", not much but it's noticeable, which can be a tad disconcerting.
6) building the CP before I figured out what I was going to put it in.
7) putting a flight stick on, sigh, oh well, if you're gonna do frankenpanel, better do it up real good!
not putting at least 2 spinners (i really wanted to put 4 for Warlords, but that would have been even trickier, not to mention even more frankenpanelish, as if that's possible with my rig )
9) not hinging my....


How bout what's worked...
1) spray painting the buttons, then using 3 coats of Future to protect them. So far, even with heavy 5yo abuse, they still look great, no wear at all.
2) Using a Dell 2405WFP. Excellent screen, great angled viewing characteristics for an LCD.
3) Altec lansing computer speakers and sub. Turned out way better than I thought they would.
4) ELWIRE. This stuff is just too cool.
5) Stealth mode. Fold it up, put a vase on it and no one batted an eye at the arcade cabinet sitting right there in my formal dining room 

[Thenasty]

Find a wife thats into Arcade Stuff.... 

[KapnKerfuffle]

1)  Should have made a less generic design.  Little less bulky.
3)  Would have checked for the little direction arrow on the router telling me how not to put it on backwards!
4)  Put 2 linear and 2 swivel instead of 4 linear because I was afraid it would move around.  An MDF cab will NOT walk around, on carpet especially.
5)  Put the CP panel locks on the inside of the CP box before putting the back panel of the CP box on.
6)  Made the CP box about an 1" taller to fit the long and complex assemblies for my rotary joysticks.  Had to cut holes in the bottom.  Need to redo.
7)  Probably going with the rotary controllers.  I think I will go with some U360s for a new panel.  (Really wanted to play Victory Road to the end though.  )

Things I'm glad I did.

1) Building the cab.  Great father-son project with my dad. 
1) Used a fly-cutter for cutting the trackball hole.  They don't make a hole saw in the exact size you need so I used a fly-cutter.  Trim bezel fits perfectly.
2) Went with bright red t-molding.  Paid a bit more for it, but looks great.
3) Used a good quality oil enamel paint.

[CCM]

My biggest mistake was building several machines for friends or friends-of-friends, that know nothing about computers, arcades, electronics, wiring, etc...  Anytime anything goes wrong with anything I get a call to fix it.

Latest case, my friends brother who I built one for decided he wanted to give it to some one, so he loaded the cab in a truck like an ape... didn't disconnect anything, or remove the computer, monitor, glass...  Oddly enough it doesn't work at the moment.

[bkenobi]

My biggest mistake was building several machines for friends or friends-of-friends, that know nothing about computers, arcades, electronics, wiring, etc...  Anytime anything goes wrong with anything I get a call to fix it.

Latest case, my friends brother who I built one for decided he wanted to give it to some one, so he loaded the cab in a truck like an ape... didn't disconnect anything, or remove the computer, monitor, glass...  Oddly enough it doesn't work at the moment.

My first cab would go crunch and wouldn't work anymore if I did that.  My second cab only has one component that would be an issue (I set a CD drive behind the coin door for temporary use).

[BamBam]

CP Layout:

Trackball placed between both joysticks - Should be closer to the front of the cabinet so my right hand does not hit the Player 2 joystick during rounds of Centipede

Should have hinged the top rather than using Velcro.

Cabinet

Should have wheels on it

Monitor

Bigger is better

Harddrive

Bigger is better

Computer

Install the DVD drive where you can actually access it

[Franco B]

From my 1st build:

1) Not made a 4p CP

2) Not used Happ buttons

3) Not used T-Sticks & Happ Rotaries

4) Used a larger 4:3 arcade monitor rather than a 21" PC CRT

5) Not made a CP draw, a wireless keyboard/mouse would been much better.

6) Laminated rather than painted. The paint job was ok but laminate would have been much nicer.

7) Used my router other than just cutting the t-slots

Primed the CP properly before applying the CPO so that the graphics didn't bubble over time.

There is probably some more but that's all I can think of for now.

[opt2not]

Oh god...when I bought my Minipac, I should have spent the extra few dollars on the wiring harness. It would have saved a lot of wiring time and effort. Hacking up a IDE cable just plain sucks.

[HaRuMaN]

Buying the GGG RGB-Drive lighting module without the wires installed (to save a little $)...  after wiring 36 of them up (X 4 wires each)...   

[LLUncoolJ]

As I am currently in the process of switching out my Magic Sticks for U360's, that's probably the biggie.

When building my CP, I should've made a wider curve on the corners. The t-molding never really set in there right, even after notching it. But I was afraid to cut a wider curve on the plexiglass.

I'm still not satisfied with my monitor, kinda wish I'd went with an LCD...even though it would've added considerable expense to the project.

Back to the first wish, the new sticks I am putting in have a taller base, and since the setup is countersunk on the bottom of the cp, I have to route some more out. So I spent saturday labeling all of the wires, removing the old sticks, trackball, spinner, and about half the buttons (which are illuminated, so twice the wiring). I can't wait to get this one behind me.

[meany]

A better set up to play Tron.  Maybe add a joystick with a button on top.  No room for a flight stick.

[ivwshane]

Not going with laminate:( The paint job is the only thing that really disappoints me about my cab.

If I build another one I think I will design the artwork or plan for it before actually building it. My current cab is naked and a little depressing:(

[Mickelonis]

Mistakes I made:

1. Went through Jack Thompson to have a four player panel built. I don't care how many people here are fans of his work, I had a horrible experience and would never suggest him to anyone. $850 bucks for a panel that took over 18 weeks to deliver.... I could go on and on, but I will save face. Building a panel is NOT HARD, don't spend $850 bucks to have someone else do it. I would NEVER do that again, build it yourself and take pride in your work.

2. Forgot to put wheels on my cab.

3. Wifi enabled cab would be nice.

[opt2not]

1. Went through Jack Thompson to have a four player panel built. I don't care how many people here are fans of his work, I had a horrible experience and would never suggest him to anyone.

I'm definitely not a fan of his work, glad he was permanently disbarred by the Florida Supreme Court. tee hee!

[clok]

Tried to make it like everybody else wanted it. No offence, but I read to much here and decided my ideas where crap (many where) and I should listen to others. Now I know that sounds bad, its not ment to be. Basicly I'm just saying, if you want something, dont let anybody talk you out of it if you really want it. I didnt use this site for advice, I used it as a manual. I kept reading "franken panel" and i believed it. I regret not adding more controls. I built my machine to play, plain and simple, didnt build it to look perfect, or be a replica, I wanted it play all the games.. Now I want to build a new panel. There is so much info here and great advice, i just got lost in the fact we are all not the of the same opinion. I know many do noty like cluttered panels, and I think Im in the minorty on the "do all" panel love.

basicly just saying really think your designs through, take all advice with a grain of salt. I cant say that almost all of its good, just remeber its "YOUR" machine and your building it for you.

other then that:

Wish i had spent more time on finishing.
Wheels- while i move it maybe 3X every 10 years (wow i thinki have had mine for that long) it would have been nice.
TO BIG- 10 years ago when I built it , was pretty nice, but nowdays with LCD's, etc.. I would have went for a much thinner (Kenevils style) machine with a LCD.. and a franken panel 
keyboard tray- wanted to get away from keyboards.. but you just cant if you want a do all machine
Neo-geo 4 style button layout with 7 buttons, went StreetFighter layout (6)and wish i could change it.

[Paul Olson]

I chose MDF for my modular panels so I could build them myself. I really wanted metal panels, but the cost was too high...or so I thought. If I count the money I have spent on woodworking tools over the years, I think it might have been cheaper to have metal panels made. The MDF panels have held up pretty well though. I have only dropped one and dinged a corner.

When you are new to this, you read about all of the games that are hard to play in mame because of special controls. That led a lot of us to try to make these games playable. I have ls-30 joysticks that have been sitting in a box for yeas now. I have everything I need to play ikari Warriors, accept for the desire to play it enough to actually make the panels.

Good decisions I made:
I started with a simple 2 player plus trackball and spinner setup, and I am glad I did. I think it is good to find out what you are missing before taking on a huge project like a frankenpanel, modular, ar swappable panel that you may not want. If you design it so it is easy to swap panels, you will be that much ahead of the game if you want to add more later. Get a feel for what changes YOU will need before you follow all of the advise here.

I have a bunch of panels with all kinds of cool controls, and I have the controls to make about 30 more. The best thing is that I am not required to use them all of the time, or even to finish the rest of them. I have choices, and I like that.

95% of the time, My panel has a wico 4-way and 2 buttons installed.  A lot of the games I like can be played with that, and I wouldn't want to play them with an 8-way or even a 4-way in a bad position on the panel.

Knowing that I am about a minute away from playing Tron or Centipede, or Gyruss, or whatever, with the correct controls is really a nice feeling. I only want to play Tron a few times a year. I would hate to have to try to play around that joystick the rest of the year.

Suggestion:
A lot of people worry about designing their cabs so everyone can walk up to it and play it using everything it has to offer. Why? Think of how many hours we have put into this; we still have a hard time taking advantage of everything these cabs can do. Your friends that don't know or care about this stuff will not know what to do with it. You are simply giving them too many options to deal with. They will not actually play the games, they will just demo and move on to the next game. Remember back to when you were working with your complete gamelist - there are just too many choices to settle down and play a game. That is what they will feel every time.

In the years I have had my modular panel, only 2 people have ever wanted to change them. Others may want me to change them, but are not interested enough to learn the easy steps to do it. I think this is probably the reason most of may panels are still in great shape.   If there are people over, I will do 1 or 2 changes per night max. Non arcade enthusiasts just don't like these games like we do, and no amount of choices will change that, so I prefer to spend the time playing games. I have the wii and 360 to keep people occupied. At one point I had 14 games, the mame cab, and a pinball machine going. After a couple of  hours, only me and maybe 1 or 2 people are still playing. It would be different if a  group of us got together, but that is rare at best. And if it did happen, the guests would have an idea what to do, or want to learn.


Build it for you and no one else. IF you build it for someone else, they will lose interest. Then you will be stuck with something you don't want. If you build it for you, and family or friends care enough to want something different, help them build their own.

[hypernova]

Made players 3&4 angled.

Damn it.  Worst decision ever.  Fixing it would require that I remove ALL the wiring, including the LEDs for all the buttons.  Not a fun task.  I'll either never fix it, or it'll be a complete rebuild of at least the CP.  I don't play enough to warrant spending any more money on it, other than upkeep.

[DillonFoulds]

Well, I'm still mid way through my first build...

I broke the "don't make it playable" rule early on, and kind of put off painting the thing until last. I figure if I get it all roughed up and nasty looking while I'm working on it, or I decide to make changes to the cab, it's better to do so before I get it all purrrrdy.

I originally was going to have my modular panels swappable between buttons and encoder, but I'm starting to think i should just mount the encoder in each panel and have less cables to swap. Instead of 2x DB25s and who knows what else I'll use later on, I could probably make-do with a USB cable, and one db9 for the coin door controls.

Made players 3&4 angled.

Damn it.  Worst decision ever.  Fixing it would require that I remove ALL the wiring, including the LEDs for all the buttons.  Not a fun task.  I'll either never fix it, or it'll be a complete rebuild of at least the CP.  I don't play enough to warrant spending any more money on it, other than upkeep.

I'm not sure i understand this one. Why wouldn't you want them angled?

[gothroughthegate]

1)I wish that I had spent more money on graphics for my cab.
2)Should have built it about 2 inches shorter so I could play games more comfortable playing from a stool.

[Gamester]

2)Should have built it about 2 inches shorter so I could play games more comfortable playing from a stool.

Can't you find some stools that are 2 inches taller, or just sit on a pillow?  2 inches doesn't seem like much, and I would think it could be easily compensated for somewhere besides in your cabinet design...