Post by: DenOrionsen on March 26, 2020, 05:05:08 pm
I am new to the forum and in fact, new to building.
Because of my inexperience, some scouring of the internet in search of information has led me to this place, which seems to be where the experts and enthousiasts reside and share knowledge.
A short introduction then: My name is Dennis, born in '85, and I'm from Holland. Hallo allemaal!
I' ve always loved the arcade, its atmosphere and most of all its games.
After the arcades died out (at least in my region), I discovered MAME and played a metric ton of Mugen in my teens, always dreaming of one day having my own sort of Mame cabinet, ever since it seemed neigh impossible.
So at this point, aged 34, i have my own place with a retro game room set up (consoles, mostly), and I'm ready for a build.
Point is though, the entire endeavour seems incredibly daunting..
And that's where I would love yall's help.
Just to be clear, I'm not planning on building a full on cabinet, I sort of want to build my own tabletop-ish thingamajiggum. Sort of like a side table with an arcade console built in. I'm mildy adequate with a saw and power tools, I've wired up a couple of PC's and Im planning on doing my own artwork for inlays (because thats sort of what I do).
The current plan is: (probably blasphemous)
I own a B&O mx4000. Lovely crt screen which Im not planning in taking apart. I figured I'd get myself a Pandora's Box 6 (as it supports 4:3), includding a Jamma harness and obviously a power adapter, the whole joystick encoutrements etcetera. Then I would need some sort of Jamma to Scart adapter I reckon. All of this will be built into a little table, which can then be connected to my MX4000, which is already built into its nice, snug cabinet.
So, some if you might be rolling your eyes at the lack of purism here, and I understand that conpletely. However, any guidance would be greatly appreciated. I don't want to build a monstrisity or anything, I would just love to buuld my very own custom arcade machine.
Thanks for having me, and if you need any information or sketches, or if you guys can help me out, lemme know.
Kind regards,
Dennis
Post by: Arroyo on March 27, 2020, 05:26:38 pm
Post by: jennifer on March 28, 2020, 12:11:11 am
Post by: arfink on March 28, 2020, 07:09:04 am
Once you're becoming sure of how you want to design it, start looking at what tools you want to use. Some folks use CNC, and if you have it, use it, but if not there's plenty of lower-tech options. Simple tools like a jigsaw, drill, hole drilling bits, a router, and a homemade sawboard will get you in the door quickly and cheaply. I don't know what is the equivalent of Harbor Freight in Holland, but you needn't get the most costly tools for this project, and in fact if you can borrow them, all the better. But might be a good idea to get your own, since once you've built one, you might want to build more!
Post by: ger on March 28, 2020, 07:09:39 am
Also from the Netherlands;-)
I don’t understand what you need?
You talk about a tabletop. But also talk about the mx4000 (a real big screen).
Where I can help, I will help.
I build Bartops, tabletops, full cabinets from scratch.
And love original old stuff
Greets Ger
Post by: lomoverde on March 28, 2020, 12:07:18 pm
As your tv is probably quite low,and used for your console gaming,im guessing a nice pedestal build is out.
If i was you,id build a tank stick sort of CP that had the controls i wanted.connected to a pc under your tv which was running groovymame.Place it on a table when in use,then stow away when the tv and table is needed for consoles.Maybe you run console builds from the pc? add some controllers to the tank stick.