The NEW Build Your Own Arcade Controls
Main => Project Announcements => Topic started by: rdowdy95 on July 14, 2006, 04:22:37 pm
-
Hey there everyone. I first got the idea of Mame from a guy who told me that he played Street Fighter 2 Hyper Fighting with it. I have an Xbox 360, and have been waiting for SF2 Hyper Fighting to come out for a long time. The guy was like, "Yeah I have been practicing on Mame with my Xbox 360 USB controller."
After he told me that I started to do some digging on the subject. At first I couldn't get the games I wanted to work. Then I found out some games needed a parent ROM to work. Ahh playing my first game of Puckman those were the days. Anyways I plugged in my Xbox 360 USB controller, and I was hooked. I also found a good frontend, MAMEWAH to easily select the games I wanted to play from a list.
So all of this was in the month of May 2006. Then in June I was on the net and I found out folks were building there very own arcade cabinets. I thought this would be so cool to have an arcade cabinet in my office room here at home. I ordered the Project Arcade book of Amazon, and started reading it. With the help of that book, and the help of friendly people on these message boards I have now got the courage to build my own arcade cabinet, known as Dowdy's Mame Arcade.
-
The cabniet plans I am using is from LuSiD's Arcade Flashback, the same plans used in the Project Arcade book. This project is mainly going to be a weekend project due to my wife and little 2 year old son that keep me busy. I am using Birch Plywood for my whole project. Many people use MDF, but I wanted the nice wood look to my cabniet. I am going to also stain the cabniet when done with the cabniet building.
Some of my computer parts came in today also for this cabniet I am building. I will post the specs of those when I am done with the cabniet. I also have a 27" Sharp TV that will be my monitor for the cab. It is going to be a tight fit. I am kind of buying the supplies for the cabniet in spurts. Buying when I need them.
Yesterday me, my son, and my Dad went to get the wood. Last night I penciled some of the plans on one of the sheets of plywood. It is so hard to work on the project cause my garage is a mess. So during the project my wife and I are going to be cleaning the garage as well. All I have done so far is draw out one of the sides of the cabniet. Once I do that I am going to draw out all the square pieces on another sheet of plywood. Then I will start some cutting with my circular saw. That way I can take one of the side cabniet pieces and clamp it down on another sheet of plywood and trace the cabniet piece on there. Like a stencil. I tell you last night I made some little mistakes in my measuring. I read a 6" as a 9". Got to hate those numbers cause if you look at the plans upside down you are SOL! LOL! Anyways today is Friday. Tonight I will do more penciling and double checking of my measurements. I work on Saturday and Sunday, but I am hoping on Sunday that I can start some cutting with the circle saw.
I also forgot to mention that I have no expertise in woodwork. But I have made some cuts for practice to get to know my tools. I am hoping to get this full project done by the month of October. One more thing to add. Texas garage heat sucks!
-
Good luck with the build. Take lots of pictures and post them here!
-
I will post a bunch. All I have now to show for anything is just plywood on the garage floor. LOL! I will take some pics on Sunday though for sure. If I have no cutting done yet I will post pics of some of the computer hardware I got. I am still waiting for my motherboard to come in the mail.
-
take pics of the wood on the floor and the messy garage! We wanna see it all!
-
LOL! Okay let me go get my camera!
-
take pics of the wood on the floor and the messy garage! We wanna see it all!
I'm not sure, but that sounds just a little creepy to me. :o ;)
-
Here are some pics of the garage and some stuff I will be putting in the cabniet.
-
Ah yes! The beginning of yet another creation! Awesome.
suggestion!
Cut out your sides first. I'm assuming you bought 3 sheets of birch and if you really butcher up a side, you have another sheet of Birch available. If you had to buy another sheet of cheaper plywood, it could be for the base and internal shelves since people don't see those.
Oh, and that garage. Thats messy as hell. You'll need more room! Clean by fire.
-
Cut out your sides first. I'm assuming you bought 3 sheets of birch and if you really butcher up a side, you have another sheet of Birch available. If you had to buy another sheet of cheaper plywood, it could be for the base and internal shelves since people don't see those.
Great idea Leapinlew! I will do the sides first! Thanks for the good info!
-
You've got tons of room in your garage. At least you have found enough floor room to lay down pieces of wood. I should be so lucky. I typically work on my back porch. This way the wind takes care of the dust. It also helps to have a friend with a shop.
Welcome to the hobby and good luck with the build.
-
Do you have a router? Specifically, what do you plan on doing about the t-molding?
-
I do have a router. It is a nice Ryobi one. I am going to order the T-molding from www.t-molding.com. They also have a router bit to make the cut into the wood. I am going to use just your normal black color T-molding. I am going to be using Minwax Polyshades the honey pine one. I think the black will look good with that since my two main joysticks are going to be Supers from Happ. I will probally use another Super for the 4-way joystick as well.
-
If you have a Lowe's near you, buy your slot cutting bit from them. 1/2 the price of t-molding.com
-
I do have a router. It is a nice Ryobi one. I am going to order the T-molding from www.t-molding.com. They also have a router bit to make the cut into the wood. I am going to use just your normal black color T-molding. I am going to be using Minwax Polyshades the honey pine one. I think the black will look good with that since my two main joysticks are going to be Supers from Happ. I will probally use another Super for the 4-way joystick as well.
Go to MLCS for a good price on router bits. The reason I ask was you may be interested in the Flush Trim router bit. You can use it to trace around one of your completed sides to get an exact match. Here is a picture of me using my flush trim bit to give you an idea of how it works.
(http://tkfiles.storage.msn.com/x1pmAkndzHuOfe3aJNq1Usv0wnXUeG5Z2lZC9S-WJ2e0oefsju0eVBYeayCUVk3XklqJk87kKHPSVJC0dUYLQxou41m7jCbBBdOGsdy2jOdzGSGMYRjTiZhpIPRD6MJ89xR)
Not only is it good for trimming out exact copys. it cuts through plexiglass like butta!
Go to http://www.mlcswoodworking.com/ (http://www.mlcswoodworking.com/) for the bits. I've ordered from there and have had good luck. Both with price and quality.
Heres a link to the slot cutters - make sure you get the proper shank size (to match your router) and you'll probably want the Arbor & Bearing. The size slot you want is 1/16" and is the 3 wing slot cutter. The whole thing should cost you about $16. 1 last thing... make sure you don't install the slot cutter upside down in the router. I did that!
http://www.mlcswoodworking.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/smarthtml/pages/bt_slot.html#Anchor%20slotct3w (http://www.mlcswoodworking.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/smarthtml/pages/bt_slot.html#Anchor%20slotct3w)
Here are the flush trim bits
http://www.mlcswoodworking.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/smarthtml/pages/bt_flush.html (http://www.mlcswoodworking.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/smarthtml/pages/bt_flush.html)
You should be able to get both the router bit and flush trim bit for cheaper than the lowes bit.
-
Hey Leapin,
In your picture of the flush router...Is the side already cut on the bottom of the new sheet of plywood. Or is it on top. Like would I put the new sheet of the plywood on the bottom then the already cut piece on top? That sure would make cutting another side piece out very easy.
-
Hey Leapin,
In your picture of the flush router...Is the side already cut on the bottom of the new sheet of plywood. Or is it on top. Like would I put the new sheet of the plywood on the bottom then the already cut piece on top? That sure would make cutting another side piece out very easy.
In that picture, the cut peice is on the bottom. What your seeing is the guide on the bottom of the flush trim bit. What I did was screwed the 2 peices together, but since your concerned with the condition of the sides (seeing as how your staining, and I filled the holes and painted) you would probably want a flush trim bit with the guide on the top. I only have the 1 flush trim bit and the guide is on the bottom, so I do what I have to and make it work! :)
Here is a link to the flush trim router bits.
http://www.mlcswoodworking.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/smarthtml/pages/bt_flush.html#top_and_bottom_anchor (http://www.mlcswoodworking.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/smarthtml/pages/bt_flush.html#top_and_bottom_anchor)
-
Dude that is awesome. I will probally go with the top bearing one since my already cut side I will have clamped on the top.. Hey one more thing. How did the bit work around the front curved piece? One other thing what size diameter of bit did you go with? I was thinking of getting a smaller diameter, but I guess it wouldn't matter if I cut the other pieces out first. I just don't want a large diameter bit going into the other pieces. I will go 1" on the length since the wood is 3/4".
-
The bit goes around curves just fine. Just do 1 side exactly how you want, and the other side will be a perfect match.
I went with a 1/2" diameter and I wish I got a smaller one, but it works - I just lose more material than I would like.
As far as the length - 1" will work but you might as well get the 2" if the price is fine. That will allow you to put the guide exactly where you want. I use the 2" and although I haven't cut material thicker than 3/4", it's nice to know I can if I need to. I think they are the same price.
Anyhow - keep the pics coming!
P.S. when you route - dust goes everywhere. It's best to do it outside if you can.
-
Ok Mr Dowdy - It's sunday! lets see it or lets hear an excuse! :)
-
Hey guys I have to work today from 1-5pm. I did finish measuring one sheet last night. It was the sheet. That has the monitor shelf, the base boards, control panel, and one of the cabinet sides. I have some pictures of this. Also when I got home yesterday about 65% of my garage was all clean. My wife and her brother were cleaning it yesterday. I will post pictures in a little bit.
Also this morning I used my circular saw to cut two of the base boards out. Only problem was my 48" straight edge ruler. The circular saw already has a rectangular shape around it, and then I put it up against my straight edge which is clamped down. It takes forever to get everything lined up. Then I was sawing, and I was like the saw was not moving correctly. Part of the top/plastic part was hanging on one of my clamps. Finally I just moved the straight edge and did it freestyle. Problem is I am going in the direction of the 8 ft. So I can clamp near the bottom of the ruler, but if I rely on the straight edge all the way it will accidentally move. So that is why I switched freehand. I am using a 48" straight edged metal ruler and a "L" Ruler that is about 26" in height it looks like a right angle. Can't remember the name. So what I did to get my measurements was use it on the very bottom to make sure my lines were level. Then I put the long 48" ruler up against it and clamp near the bottom of both of the rulers, but since there is no way to clamp them on the other side the straight edge moves during the sawing. Any ideas on a way to stop that? My pics above in the messy garage show the rulers I am using.
My saw ran out of juice though(18v Rechargeable Batteries), and it was getting close to time to get ready for work. So I stopped with the two 26" 2 3/8" front/back base pieces plates. Only problem was one of the boards came out to be about 2 4/8" give or take a few mm. Last night I know that one was thicker when I was measuring I just couldn't get it to match up even. The other base boards that I haven't cut out are measured fine. So what I will need to do is just sand it down to match the other one. I need to go ahead and also order that router bit tonight.
When I get off work I am going to try to get the other base boards/lower supports cut then the monitor shelf, arcade control panel, then try to get the first cabinet side cut out.
Then I can start tracing out the next sheet of wood that has cabinet back pieces and cabinet top and bottom. After that piece is cut and done hopefully the drill bit will come in the mail. Folks are right though. This project may take a while.
Like I said more pics will be coming tonight. Also what do you guys think about sanding. Should I sand the pieces now or wait till everything is cut. I know I am going to sand the cabinet side piece really nice so I can lay it on the other sheet to get an exact copy of it with my router bit that I am ordering.
Sorry for such a long post. I didn't have time to post last night. Coming out of a 106 degree garage I decided to get in the shower. LOL!
-
Check the directions to make a sawboard at the top of this forum if you need help cutting straight lines.
-
Thanks! I just checked on how to make those saw boards from the thread you told me about. I also did some better research on how to use the straight edge as well. I am going to try some other things with my straight edge, and if I don't get the results I like I will go to Home Depot and get some wood to make some saw boards. Thanks again!
-
Okay I finally have some time for some updates! First let me show you how clean my garage is!!! My wood is up against the wall. My Dad may give me his workbench when he moves. If he does I will put it up against the wall where the wood is.
-
Didn't tell you, but the above pics of the clean garage were taken last night. After those pics I finished taking measurements for the one sheet of birch plywood. Here are those pics from last night!
-
Today, before work I sawed my front and back base plates. With my sucky sawing ability one of them is perfect and the other one is just a tad bit taller. So I will have to sand that one down or router it down with a flush trim bit. What do you guys recommend when I run into that problem on the opposite side pieces, like the base pieces? Here are some pics of both base plates together. As you can see one is like an 8th of an inch higher.
-
When I got back to work I decided to get the monitor shelf cut out. I also wanted to saw the control panel out as well. What I did was I got the straight edge lined up how I wanted it and sawed all the way across the 4x8 sheet. I went from the left of the arcade control panel top across getting the side of the monitor shelf. What this did was shave off some of the 4x8. I didn't finish sawing the monitor shelf. I actually need to split that wood in the pic below in two at the line. That will leave me with a monitor shelf. For this I am going to clamp the monitor shelf side down to the wood and saw off that extra square. See the pic below for the unsawed monitor shelf.
Then after that I sawed out the control panel. Being extra careful on the angled parts. Now when I sawed this out it looks good as far as diameter around the whole control panel top. Only problem is on the edges there is some minor splints. I used light sand paper to sand down, but you can still barely see the grooves. Now how do I get rid of this little imperfection. Once I stain it will it be noticeable. Another thing I noticed was I sander a little on the top layer of the birch and it left some scratches on the finish. I think it was because I had sanded some white crown molding earlier with the same sandpaper for a different project. Now I wet it tad with water on the finger tip and it cleaned it up, but the light scratches are still there. I don't think it will be that noticeable after some prestain wood conditioner and then the actual stain itself. Thing is this. Is it bad to sand paper the top layer of birch plywood or should I just sand the sides. Cause I was just trying to get rid of the splints on the edges. I would use the bottom layer, but the wood has some minor scuffs on it. Like a couple of hair line splits on the first sheet of the plywood. That is why I am going to use the side you see in the picture below.
Here are the pics of the uncut monitor shelf and the control panel top.
-
That is about all I had any me tonight. My battery gave out on me just as I was about to get one of the lower support boards cut. It also looks like I am going to have to sand those down to match as well. I need to see about getting some extra wood to make some sawboards for this project. Would help me out when I cut out my first cabinet side. I will probally order the top flush trim router bit to get an exact copy of the other side. This week I would definitely like to get the two lower supports sawed off, and then the weekend coming up get the first cabinet side done. Also during the week make some of those saw boards to make things easier. Post some replies and give me some input. I respect all the comments and they are very helpful!
-
For the little splints after sawing, make sure you are using a fine enough of a saw blade. The ones that come with circ saws are fine for rough cutting and construction, but you really want a high tooth count blade for fine work like you're doing on this project.
And if you've never done staining before, I would definately practice on some of your scrap wood before you get to the actual project, there's a bit of an art to it that can really only be learned through practice.s
-
How many teeth do you think would do the job. Will it tell me on the package if it is a high teeth count? Or will it say something like makes smoother cuts? Also when I cut slower it produces less splints. Do you think the control panel piece I have is okay? There are only maybe like 1 or 2 splints. How do you suppose I can get rid of them?
-
Just went to Home Depot's website. I have a 5 1/2" circular saw. I did see a 100 and 110 teeth saw blade. Man that's a lot of teeth. Is that the kind of blade you are talking about? Does it make sawing slower having all those teeth. Not that I care about speed. I really did some slow saw action today!
-
Yeah, I used a 100 tooth blade when cutting my MDF and could really notice the difference compared to cutting with the 40 tooth my saw came with. Speed wise it's about the same (used the 40 tooth for some rough cutting of interior braces and the like at the start), just alot cleaner of a cut.
As for getting rid of the splints, I don't know enough about woodworking to give a definative answer, but my first instinct is to say to lightly sand them to smooth out the edges so they aren't as noticable and leave it at that, though I would wait for someone more experienced or maybe even hit up a woodworking forum to get a answer before you actually do anything.
-
I think you may be making the same mistake just about every birch cab I've seen has. Bad choice of wood......
When I build a birch cab I always go though the whole pile of wood in the home store to find the best wood and wood that matches. Your wood seems to have a really dark areas on it.
If you are staining it really dark you should be OK but if you varnish it and leave it light it will really stand out.
Gary
-
I think you may be making the same mistake just about every birch cab I've seen has. Bad choice of wood......
When I build a birch cab I always go though the whole pile of wood in the home store to find the best wood and wood that matches. Your wood seems to have a really dark areas on it.
If you are staining it really dark you should be OK but if you varnish it and leave it light it will really stand out.
Gary
I agree...
It's an agressive project for someone just starting out. Paint is much more forgiving till you can get used to using your tools. Whatever you do - don't get frustrated and quit.
-
The only machines I've ever built are Birch, I got lucky on the first one and the wood I bought matched up.
But when I cut some parts out of another sheet it did not look right. On my next cab I matched all the wood in the store and cut whole panels out of the same sheet that way the grain runs though the whole cab. Two sheets of Birch plywood quite often don't look anything like each other!
Gary
-
I stained birch plywood for my cab (blue stain!) and it came out a lot better than I thought it would - friends and family think it looks perfect but I can see a few flaws). I did practice on a small piece though to get the "feel" of it.
Also, I highly highly highly recommend you staining and finishing every single piece BEFORE assembly unless you are really skilled. I had a hard time getting in all of the corners and smoothing out the stain - it came out fine but the one panel that wasn't attached came out PERFECT because it was laying flat on my work table and it was easy to contorol/manipulate the stain. Good luck!
-
I don't mind having real dark areas on parts of the cab, and some lighter. I don't mind that the wood grain and color is not going to be perfect. I am going to be using Minwax Polyshades either the Honey Pine or the Classic Oak. Which one do you guys think will look better. Then I am going to have Black T-Molding around the edges. Also some of the pics the wood does look lighter because there is some dust on there. If I damp a sponge and wipe it looks nice and clean. That is why I am hoping the staining will atleast make it a nicer color than what it is right now. I will be using spare wood to test the staining. If all else fails I can always paint it black later on down the road. Thanks for the concern guys. The link below has the colors of the Honey Pine and the Classic Oak.
http://minwax.com/products/onestep/polyshades-color.cfm
-
Hey javeryh can you show me a pic of your cab. Also nice idea on staining all the individual pieces first then assemble.
-
I tried a lot of stains out on a scrap piece of wood myself and ended out just using gloss varnish.
I would try a number out if I were you and see what you like the best.
Gary
-
Hey javeryh can you show me a pic of your cab. Also nice idea on staining all the individual pieces first then assemble.
;D I'm always happy to post a pic or two (or 4) of my cabinet! Here it is (these aren't recent but you get the idea):
(http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/8718/cabinetcp2andcp3installed0jo.th.jpg) (http://img24.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cabinetcp2andcp3installed0jo.jpg) (http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/3483/cp3frontshot05aw.th.jpg) (http://img24.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cp3frontshot05aw.jpg)
And here's what it looked like prior to staining:
(http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/3829/p10100921kx1.th.jpg) (http://img165.imageshack.us/my.php?image=p10100921kx1.jpg) (http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/2588/p1010096ky0.th.jpg) (http://img165.imageshack.us/my.php?image=p1010096ky0.jpg)
-
javeryh nice looking cab it looks clean! You know what though. You said you can see some flaws. If you think about it those machines in the 80's I played on had a bunch of flaws too. That is what made them so good. Kind of authentic you know. The next thing I will be doing on the cabniet is cut those other boards out on Wednesday, and also sometime this week make a 4 ft, 2 ft, and 1 ft saw board. Still need to find out how much wood to buy to make them. Thanks for all the info guys. I still need to order that router bit. Going to do that right now.
-
javeryh nice looking cab it looks clean! You know what though. You said you can see some flaws. If you think about it those machines in the 80's I played on had a bunch of flaws too. That is what made them so good. Kind of authentic you know. The next thing I will be doing on the cabniet is cut those other boards out on Wednesday, and also sometime this week make a 4 ft, 2 ft, and 1 ft saw board. Still need to find out how much wood to buy to make them. Thanks for all the info guys. I still need to order that router bit. Going to do that right now.
Thanks for the compliments. The flaws that I notice are me just being super anal about how perfect I want it to look. There really are no noticable flaws unless you get about an inch away from it and even then it's just in places like where the control panel meets the carcass.
Also, for some reason anytime I take a picture you can't tell that I stained it - it just looks like blue paint. I can assure you that the wood grain comes through rather nicely and it definitely give it a "legitimate piece of furniture" feel... even though it's totally not.
-
I did see a little bit of the wood grain from one of the pictures you took. Very cool. I didn't even know there was blue stain available. Too sweet!
-
Didn't do much yesterday. No cutting went on. I need to cut those other lower supports out. Going to do it tommorow. Yesterday I went to Home Depot and got one 2'x4' of 1/4 " plywood and one 2'x4' of 3/4" MDF. This is going to be for my saw boards that I am going to attempt to make. I want to make sure when I cut out my first cabniet side it looks good. I also bought some Gorilla Glue for the saw board project.
Then I bought some stainable wood filler and a putty knife. I am going to try to work on some splinter messups on the edge of my control panel. I also didn't know this but I sanded some sections on my control panel cause I thought that was good to do, but it left some scratches on the Birch finish. So I think I shouldn't of done that. So I have the perfect size I can trace it out and cut it again on another sheet if need be. What do you guys think I ought to do about the control panel? I found out I should of used a saw with more teeth like 100 or 110 for finer jobs, or even one that is made to cut birch plywood. I could use the flush trim router bit to make a carbon copy of the control top I have cut? I just don't know what to do. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Other things I bought was a countersink, and a #8 countersink bit for the drill to pre-drill the holes for the #8 wood screws.
Wednesday I only work 5-9 PM at the job so during the day I am going to be doing my sawboards, and try to make my control panel look nicer.
-
Whats your finished CP gonna look like? Stained wood or are you putting art/plexi on it? It sounds like your thinking about staining the wood on the cp. That right?
If so... I might suggest building a practice CP.
-
Hey leapinlew you are exactly right. It is not going to have art or plexi. It will just have the stained look. After I clean up these splinters on the one sheet I will stain it and see what it looks like. I still have more wood for the other control panel if the practice one looks bad, and if I decide to do it over. The shape and all look great, just some minor cosmetic problems. I think staining the practice one will look good. Should I cut holes in it too like my layout I am going have or just leave it as is, and stain it without the holes cut. Is it better to stain before the holes are cut or after the holes are cut?
-
If it's practice - do the whole thing. It would be easy to use a flush trim bit to create another one (unless I'm wrong - someone correct me).
Are you going to use a trackball? If so, I assume you pretty much have to have a trackball plate.
-
I am going to be using a USB Trackball 2 and 1/2" from Happ Controls also getting the square mounting plate as well. Only problem is I have not ordered any of the joysticks, buttons, or any of that stuff yet.
-
Also I haven't even designed my control panel yet. I have an idea of what it is going to look like. There is a design of this other guy I saw on the net. Let me get a pic of what it will look like, and I will show you what I want it to look like.
-
Here is a picture. His 4-way stick has 6 buttons as well. Is there any 4 way stick games with 6 buttons though?
-
Hey I finished cutting those other lower supports. Man they I think are a little off! Do these things have to be exact? I am using 3 inch caster wheels on the thing! I will check into sanding them down or cutting some more after I finish making these sawboards. I am going to try to make all three of the sawboards tommorow. That way I can get some nice straight lines on these boards and such. I definately need to get some sawboard action for whe i cut the cabniet side. Also tonight I ordered the two bits I need off of MLCS. I ordered a 1/16 T-Molding slot bit, and a Top bearing flush trim bit to make an exact copy of my cabniet side once I get it cut out! Also need to sand paper my top piece of the control panel with some high 200+ sandpaper. Things are coming along slowy but surely!
-
do the cuts need to be exact?
Yes! Almost all of them do. Since you plan on staining, being precise is important.
As for your order from MLCS.... did you get the arbor/bearing too?
-
Yeah I will recut the base boards to make sure they are exact. I don't want any wobble cabniet. I did get the arbor bearing for the slot cutter yes. Thanks for the good website! I am making the sawboards tommorow if my wife has no other dumb chores for me to do. :hissy:
-
Cool!
I'm saying this cause it seems that your new to this building business, but preparation/planning takes up like 90% of the time. Preparing wood, multiple measuring, etc. The actual cutting of the material ends up being only a small amount of time spent overall.
-
Here is a picture. His 4-way stick has 6 buttons as well. Is there any 4 way stick games with 6 buttons though?
You should check out Knievil's Woody - he is building a stained CP but is using 1/8" maple ply over 5/8" MDF (and then adding 1/8" plexi on the top to protect it). I would definitely want to hide the trackball mounting plate and this is the only way to do it without using vinyl or artwork (I think).
-
hey rdowdy95, i like the way your build is coming around. looks really good, keep up the work. man, seeing your project makes me want to get back to working on my cabinet. i noticed you got an A64 to power your mame rig, i picked up a cpu mobo combo last week at fry's. my friends were giving me a hard time for getting something so overkill for mame. :)
-
Hey Javeryh,
I know what you mean, but I kind of liked the black mounting plate on top. I think it looks pretty cool. I know what you mean though. I have seen the one that hide the plate using some artwork/plexi on top. I think Woody's design looks cool though. Call me weird, but I like the black mounting plate.
Dudebozo,
To answer your question. Don't listen to friends. The computer stuff is pretty cheap these days. I have never ever built an Intel system. Only AMD! I have been building computers for about 10 years now. Started after highschool. I usually order everything from newegg.com. However, when my closest Fry's in Plano, TX has a sale I am usually there to pick some things up. Also they have a good website with weekly specials too. The reason I got the AMD 64 3500+ Socket939 was it was only like $10 more that the 3200+ at the time. I also got two sticks of ram equaling out 2GB! I know sounds like overkill, but with 2GB I will never need to upgrade. My Radeon X1300 Pro has the component connector so I can go with components for a better picture. Depending on the heat here in Texas I may just stay insdie the house, and build the computer this weekend. I need to build it soon to make sure I do not have to send any of the hardware back. You know what is sad though. It takes me longer to install Windows, and get it ready to go than take long to build the hardware side of the computer. That takes like 45 minutes.
-
Hey guys I just made a 4 foot sawboard before it got to hot today. I looked at Drew's info about it on how to make one. This will help me make those straight line cuts. I am not cutting anymore pieces out until I get a 1 foot and 2 foot sawboard made. I need to get some more plywood though. The piece leftover I have is too small. I used 3/4" MDF for the rip guide and 1/4 plywood for the base. I would like to get 1/2" of some wood for the base next time. That thin ply was hard to get screwed in cause it was kind of bendy. Here are two pics of the 4' one I made today before it got in the 115 temp in the garage.
-
AMD! AMD! AMD!
:applaud: :applaud: :applaud:
haha, yeah, i'm in the same boat. i stick with my boys over at AMD. gotta root for the lil guy. but yeah, i'm definitely drooling on that A64. i wanted to go with at least with the socket 939, but this other deal with a 3200+ socket 754 suited me better. the really awesome thing about your rig, you can do some pc gaming up on that thing too. i guess what they say is true about texas, even the mame rigs are bigger and badder in texas. just playing. it should be nice to see some pics of your mame rig when you are done. are you going with a case or place all the computer stuff on a piece of board?
-
I feel safer if I put all the stuff in a case. The case I am using is a basic Antec case with a 350 watt PSU. It will suffice. I won't be needing a lot of electrical power for this system. My brother has the same case I built for his new system, and it has done well for him. This is my first socket 939 AMD 64. I have built about five of the socket 754 systems. I might also leave my bottom back panel off just for better cooling. That or have it slide in/out for easy removal if things do get a little warm in there. I could mount a motherboard tray inside there, but it would be easier to put it all in a good ole ATX case. So dudebozo have you started on your cabniet yet. For the first month I was just playing all the games on my other computer, which actually has an ATI Radeon X800 XT card in there. $500 Video Card right when it came out. Now that is the system I use for PC gaming.
-
man, this guy doesn't mess around when it comes to building rigs. good stuff. my mame rig is all built, threw in 2 300 gig hdds (fry's special). just loading all sorts of stuff, getting it ready. but yeah, i built my first cabinet last summer. i took it apart so i could fit a 27" tv, but a winter flood we had ruined all my pieces. now that school is done with, i finally have the time to build another one. i've learned a lot since my beta cabinet, and learned a lot from people here in the forums. i'm just barely cutting out wood and stuff. hopefully soon i can sit down and create a thread of my cabinet. i think this weekend i can get some of my friends over to help throw in a hand or two and try to bust it all out this weekend. maybe bbq it up or something. but yeah, keep up the great work rdowdy95
-
I am going to cut out and sand/stain all my pieces before I start screwing stuff together. I have my Dad, Brother-n-Law, and my best friend to help me when I need them. Can't wait to read about your new project. I am going to Home Depot for lunch today to get me another 2x4 piece of a 1/2" of something for two more sawboards. 2' and a 1'. Then I will start cutting out one full size of an arcade cabniet side. Also I need to stain my control panel top and sand it to see what the color will look like. Things are coming together.
-
Man I have been slacking lately. Well my control panel top looks like a POS. So I am going to redo that one with the other sheet of wood I have. I originally cut that one freestyle. The same with the base boards those suck as well. Tonight is the wife's BDAY. So the only thing I am doing tonight after the Bday will be to finish test staining the sucky control panel top. Then finish up my 1' and 2' sawboards. I started those yesterday. Hopefully I have some one inch #8 wood screws on hand. I still need to buy some screws in bulk at Home Depot. The sawboards should help me make those straight cutting lines that have for so long evaded me. Also I have bought 100 teeth saw blade for the circular saw for smoother cuts to reduce those splinters. Saturday/Sunday I want to finish cutting out the monitor shelf, and cut out the first side of the arcade cabniet. Wish this rookie well. I won't post anything else till Monday night. Then I can tell you all if I made progress or if I was just a slacker.
-
yeah, it's been a rough weekend so far. we had our bathroom remodeled, and everything is done, so now it's time to clean up. yuck. but yeah, i haven't had any time to touch my cabinet this weekend. i think i just need to get jumpstarted back on my cabinet again. good luck with yours rdowdy95
-
Well I know I said my next post would be Monday night, but I got all the stuff I wanted to do done. I don't know if I told you all this, but I did finally get the monitor shelf all cut out, and it looks good. Also I cut out one of my side pieces today. Check out the pics below. I am pretty proud of myself. It came out pretty good. There is a couple of places I will put some wood putty, but overall very good for a rookie like myself. The hardest part was that curve. Man that was hard. I used the jigsaw and it took me about 15-20 minutes. Next thing I need to do is recut my control panel and recut the base boards. They all had some cutting issues. I now have a 4', 2', and 1' table saws to get those nice straight lines. Also doing the control panel back, front, and bottom. So I have drawing and measuring to do there. For the second cabniet piece I am going to lay the side I have finished and use a router flush trim bit, and hopefully it will make me a nice carbon copy side piece.
-
Wow it has been six days about! Well I have been in the woodworking forum most of the time this week. See I never used a router before. I highly recommend you read the directions, and maybe even some good books at your local library on how to use one of these puppies. Anyways I finished routing my second cabniet side piece. See the pic below. What I need to do know is to do some minor sanding. Also I have a ton of sawdust I need to sweep up. I should of done the routing outside. Also when using a router wear your goggles and a breathing mask. If you use MDF definately don't skimp out on the mask part. I am using plywood and it is supposed to not be as bad, but I had tons of dust everywhere.
-
Hey everyone. I haven't posted in a while. Well I am almost done cutting out all my pieces of wood. I am making sure all the pieces that should be 26" are that exactly. So I have been flush trimming them with my router using my base as the template for the proper width of the other pieces. I have one more 26"X18" piece to cut out which I am going to cut it then make it flush with another 26"X18" piece. Then I will have the two control panel box sides to cut out. After that is done I am going to start sanding with my sander and staining each piece before I start to build. I work most of the weekend so I am atleast hoping I can finish cutting the pieces and start sanding them this weekend. I will post pics when I have all pieces sanded and ready to go.
-
Doesn't that flush trim bit rule?! ;) That router turned out to be a surprise awesome tool for me. I didn't realize I'd use it as much as I did.
Anyhow - keep up the good work and keep posting pics. You never know who will take a tip away from what your doing. Check out my thread on the showcase cabinet I built when you get to the CP (and plexi cutting for the CP) if you like. I did a semi-decent job of detailing what I was doing.
-
rock on dowdy!!!
-
Here is my base that I finished today. Me and my brother-n-law worked on it, and it came out real good. I wanted to use swivel casters in the front, but they were jus too damn big and would of hit the outside of the cabniet side. Oh well can't rain all the time. Here are some pics of the base. This weekend I will try fitting the sides on the base! WOOHOO!
-
Damn can't upload very good. Here is the base bottom!
-
Today in the mail I also got my Marquee. I kept it rolled up till I am ready to use, but here is what it is going to look like. Had my buddies over at emdkay.net to make it for me. I think it is pretty cool. I picked for my mini marquee Galaga which is my Dad's first favorite arcade game he played at the arcade and I picked my older brother's favorite game which was Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. He passed away in the summer of 1996 due to a car wreck. So I am kind of honoring my Dad and brother with the marquee.
-
Okay last night I attached one side, but it wasn't coming out level. Two more screws was all it needed though to get level. Today though I got lots of work done. I had a fit getting the other side on though. I came up with a great way to get the second cabniet side proped up. I stacked 4 bricks up and sandwiched the bricks between two pieces of wood. I used the two back pieces since they were the same size and clamped it all together.
The only strife I had, was I didn't countersink deep enough and two of my screw heads got stripped. So I had to use a flathead screwdriver and a hammer to chisel around them. I had to eventually take pliers to them and turn them loose that way. It took some time, but I got it done and didn't scuff the side too much. Nothing a little woodfiller can't fix. Anyways here are three pics from the first part of the day!
-
Okay and here is the money shot. When I was taking the leveler to everything I amazed myself cause everything was somewhat level. I am going to put on all the L brackets tommorow. Checkout the pic!
-
looking good dowdy. its always a nice feeling when you get those sides on cause your piles of cut wood actually are starting to form up. good times. just be aware though, when you get to a point like this, it gets really hard to stop from going and going and going. it's like, oh, i'll just put this one piece on, and then i'll be done. and then it's like...nah, just one more here. hahaha
-
It will go a little faster now, but I suck at staining so that is going to take a while, and my control panel box isn't perfect. I am going to have to sand that thing like crazy. Wiriing and all that. I also need to get around to build the MAME computer for this thing. Still so much to do. I am waiting for ponyboy to get an audio amplifier enclosure kit which hopefully he will get by Wednesday, then I can order all the parts through him.
-
Looking great Dowdy. What is it? TV Stand?
Ha! Keep up the good work.
-
i'll have to deduct one point from leapinlew, for a low blow to rdowdy95.
keep it clean boys, now come back out fighting.
you getting any mame cabinet building done this labor day rdowdy?
-
Sorry it took me a couple of days to reply. On Monday, September 4th I did put all the L-brackets on inside the cabniet. I also put 4 on the bottom of the base. That is all I have done so far. I am trying to decide if I want to stain it now or wait till I am done building it. My thing is I am going to be drilling from the outisde in for the monitor shelf. So if I wait to get the monitor shelf in there then I can woodfiller the outside and then sand/stain the cabniet.
-
Well guys I put up two sets of mounting strips today, and I haven't screwed the panels in yet, cause I am going to sand and stain the inside of the cabniet first before I screw those in. I also need to get my wife to push one side of the cabniet side in just a tad that way I won't have any gaps in between the shelves inside the cabniet.
Second pic shows the top panel level!
-
Haven't posted in a while. I have been doing some sanding and staining lately though. The inside of the cabniet sides are now stained. Also the top panel and the back bottom panel are stained as well.
Today I test fitted the speaker shelf inside the cabniet. Now I need to mount the strips. I am using 2x2s as my mounting strips, but need to cut the strips length wise to 18". Then I need to cut the speaker holes before screwing it into place. Once I get all panel pieces and shelf pieces inside I need to lay cabniet down on it's side to rout the groove for T-Molding. I am going to order the T-Molding first though so I can test it out on some scrap 3/4" wood. Here are some pics. Also put up a 100watt bul in the garage. Makes things easier to see!
-
Once I get all panel pieces and shelf pieces inside I need to lay cabniet down on it's side to rout the groove for T-Molding.
Also put up a 100watt bul in the garage. Makes things easier to see!
LoL. Thanks for the light bulb pic! You may want to consider getting a worklight. They are good and bright and if I remember right, they aren't that expensive. Like $15 for a big double halogen light.
As for the t-molding, I know that you don't do a lot of woodworking. This next step could be very dangerous. Many people route thier cabinets before they assemble them. The reason being is it's easier, but also because there won't be any screws in the way of the slot cutter. If the slot cutter hits a screw the router could easily fly out of the track and into your face.
...
Hmm, that needs more emphasis - the router can hit you right in your FACE!.
Much better.
Make sure there aren't any screws in the way of your slot cutter bit. Route carefully.
-
Hey Leapin,
I know what you mean. I have made sure that all of my panel pieces are put in at a 3/4" depth. I also have used the slot cutting on a scrap piece of wood, and stuck a thin ruler in the wood to see how far the depth the slot cut went, and as long as I keep putting the panel pieces in deep like that plus my screws going into the strips are no where near the outskirts of the cabniet to be a problem. Definately something to look for. Before I do the cutting I will also double check and triple check from all sides. Thanks buddy for watching my back.
-
This is just a couple of pics of the monitor shelf inside. I had to recut another piece cause the prior monitor shelf wasn't wide enough. So today I am going to finish sanding and staining just the top of the monitor shelf. Then I will fasten it in the cab with the screws and shelf brackets.
-
Here is a pic I took tonight. I finally figured out the perfect way to stain. I am using the T-Shirt rags from Home Depot. Wiping stain on thin and making sure there is no standing thick stain on the pieces. I am wiping off the excess very good. Also using 500 grit sanding discs. Very smooth finish! I do need to redo the back panel piece because I didn't know the staining secrets. I am not going to redo the top cab piece no one will put there hand up there and rub that piece.
This Friday I should get the T-Molding in the mail as long as UPS is good to me. Then I can cut the slot sometime this weekend. Then I can bring the thing in the house and finish the big piece up inside. Once that is all done I will work on the control panel box.
-
Yesterday I cut my slot for T-molding. I did pretty much all around the cab except for the bottom. What I need to do tonight is sand both sides then blow out all the saw dust stuff. I am wanting to bring it into the house. I need to get two more panels screwed in. I also need to get the coin door installed. It is just getting too cold in the garage, and I don't want my wood to get warped.
-
PS: Hey Leapin my face is intact. I played it safe as normal with the router. Took a long time though. I had to up my Ryobi to the B Speed cause A speed wasn't cutting it. No Pun intended. I am going to get the whole big part of the cab done.
I am going to redo my control panel box since the wood pieces I cut were sucky and warped. Then my control panel top the wood had a big void in it. I have a 2x4 piece of the birch ply in my bed room that I checked real good for screwups. I hope it stays nice and flat I have it propped up agasinst my bedroom wall, but the climate is good so it should be okay untill I am read to do my control panel. I still have my other control panel top that I will use as a router template so that will make that part go quickly. I want to get this done by Thanksgiving, but it is looking to be more like Christmas. I just think the Control Panel Box is going to be tough. No so much drilling the holes in the top as it is just getting the CP box to fit real nice.
-
Looking great man. This is the fun part.. go slow and enjoy it. Just make sure you plan the next step well ahead of doing it. When you go to sleep and all you can think of is the cab you are on the right path :).
D-
-
I have it propped up agasinst my bedroom wall
Ahh yes! I remember this... You start in the garage, then move a few peices in the living room and kitchen. Next thing you know you have crap all over the house.
Your in deep now!
-
We moved the cab inside the house tonight. Wasn't that bad I chipped a lil 1 inch piece on the bottom but nothing a little wood filler won't fix. My son is pumped. He keeps saying, "Daddy lets play games"! I say what kind. He says, "Basketball, Soccer, Football....etc. All sports stuff. LOL! So I am going to have to get some NBA Jam on there!
-
I am in the process right now of staining the back angled piece of my cab. I have put the TV Power Button, and the Computer Power Button on this angled section. Last night I hacked up a cheap $7 RCA Universal Remote! Did the stuff that one user did. Extended the IR and wired a pushbutton. I am not totally done yet. I soldered the IR. Total Ghetto job, but hell I haven't used a solder iron since 1996. I am hoping it will stay. I need to electrical tape a +and- wire to the power button area on the circuit board, and then I will be done with it. Won't complete it till I put the back angled section on there. Thing that makes it hard is that the back of it is the batteries. Sometimes the board wants to pop up when I move it loosening the batteries. So I need to secure it down with electrical tape nothing is on the top of it. I guess I will lay the top of the remote on top loosely. So dust won't get i there. But my computer is sometimes dusty I think it will be okay.
-
Put T-molding on the cab last night. I will update with pics this weekend. I want to get more work done on it though. I have been lazy in the cab building. I still need to get a 2nd coat on the back angled section, and need to work on the main power button to the cab.
-
Looking good! These things really are a blast to build, aren't they?
-
Hey guys. Lately I have just been doing some wiring here and there. I have got things ready for a dedicated TV Power button (AKA Hacked remote) and main power button w/ the Smartstrip.
Anyways here is a picture of my marquee, TV, and son. My son won't be in the final build, but he may play some sports games on here with me.
The second pic is the Happ Bezel. It doesn't lay perfectly flat against the TV so I have it pulled away and centered a bit more. The TV casing permits me from laying it all the way down on the glass. No worries though once I get some velcro strips on the bezel it will look nice. The other thing I have to do is trim the bottom of the bezel.
The TV has this circular base that barely fits in the cab so I will have to cut out a bottom notch for it when I trim up the bottom part of the monitor bezel. No one will see it though due to the control panel in the way. I also have to attach my front panel and get the coin door attached to it.
The coin door panel is cut out and ready to go. I just have to drill for the carriage bolts and what not.
So this weeks job is to get the bezel finished cut. Get some velcro for it, and possibly get the front door on there.
Later on I will work on building the computer, and last but not least get the control panel box started.
-
My main thing I am going to be working on this weekend hopefully is the control panel box. I did manage to get the audio amp and computer all wired up. I guess computer is not fully wired since I have not wired the main power button for the computer and the smartstrip.
Anyways here is some pictures of NBA Jam, my son's favorite game, Ms. Pac-Man, and my MameWah layout.
Enjoy.
-
It has been a while since I posted. Fellow byoac member LeapinLew thought I had routered my face off so I thought I would give you an update.
I currently have the coin door on my system. Also I need to still wire the coin door lights to the PSU and I need to wire my powerbutton to the outside of the cabinet.
I am currently working on the design of the control panel box. It is the Lucid/Project Arcade style. Thanks to LeapinLew to pointing me in the right direction I have the template I wanted for the joystick and the six button layout. I also have the trackball template. I just need to lay them on the control panel top, and then tape them on and cut the holes and trackball stuff. I now have laid butcher paper on top of the control panel top and have it taped to draw lines on it as I see fit to go along with the paper templates.
I also need to order my T-Molding for the control panel top and stuff like that. Also need to order the IPAC2 and the Tornado Spinner.
-
Hello everyone,
Sorry it has been awhile since I last updated you on my progress. Right now here is where I am in my progress. I still haven't wired the power button to the computer nor have I wired the coin door lights. This can be done on a free afternoon. My main thing I am doing is I am setting up some ahk scripts for my House of the Dead PC games. These scripts start the game, and esc the game by pressing the esc button on my control panel.
I have started cutting holes with the forstner bit. The bit is slow, but the circles are very nice. Trackball cutout is done as well. I need to get in gear I have about 18 more button holes to cut. When i get that done I will cut the little hole for the slik stick tornado spinner which I also have.
I did make my mind up on a keyboard encoder and am now the proud owner of a KeyWiz Max 1.5 by Groovygamegear.com. So that is where I am on the project. LeapinLew has been wanting me to update more.
I still need to order about 10 more feet of T-molding to go around the control panel top. I also need to get some little scrap pieces of wood to go around the underside of the control panel top to keep it in place, and use some velcro to hold it down as well. Before all that though I need to cut the rest of the holes, and sand/stain the control panel box. I will get some pictures tonight or atleast I will try.
I need to quit playing my Xbox 360 and that Gears of War game.
-
Well still I haven't posted any new pics. I know that sucks. I also had my PSU go out on me. It was one of those cheapos that came with the case, so I can't play any of my games till I get the new one. This will get me going on other things though. I need to cut my slot for T-molding, and I need to sand and stain my control panel. Then I need to work on getting the velcro attached to the underside of the top portion and so forth. Like the enegizer bunny still going still going....
-
As usual it has been awhile since I have last updated. I did get my new power supply in. It works like a charm. I have scraped away the carbon on my universal remote, and the taped + & - wire works way better. All software and games are installed and it all works perfectly. I recently picked up the Xbox 360 Wireless Gaming Receiver for Windows XP/Vista. It works like a charm. It allows me to use wireless Xbox 360 devices with the arcade. Since I have a two player cab whoever comes over to play 3 player or 4 player games....Well the 3rd and 4th player can use the Xbox 360 remotes. See pic below.
-
oops. No pic. I hate when that happens.
-
Back in January 27th of 2006 I took the following picture of my control panel template. I used some butcher paper, and some templates from the Project Arcade book. So here is a picture of that. I used tape to keep the template attached to the actual control panel top. Can someone say BRILLIANT! Just Kidding!
-
Here is some pics of my control panel box and control panel top. I just finished assembling these this past week. I attached the little mounting strips to the underside of the control panel top with wood glue and a screw. i drilled the screw through the black velcro as well.
The control panel box is all assembled and I just attached those mounting strips to the control panel box with wood glue. I didn't use any screws for those. I didn't want to splinter the wood in between the ply of the mounting strips.
Both of these need to be sanded and stained sometime this week. So I can start installing buttons and joysticks. Then comes the fun part.....WIRING!!!
Here are some pics.
-
Now as of right now the Arcade of mine looks something like this.....Oh also I haven' taken a pic yet, but I have some red superbright LEDS behind the coin labels. They glow a nice red...
-
rdowdy95
If you get a chance I would love to see a picture of the Red LED's behind your coin mechs.
-
You bet man. I will take a picture of my current setup tonight. Still in the wiring phase. I also need to stain the back of the control panel box. I am adding some more microswitches at the moment. Then I will do some wiring to the setup.
-
Okay sorry it has taken so long to get some more pics online. As we stand now, I have to wait till tommorow to go back to Radio Shack since today is Easter Sunday. I bought the wrong black wire and I got solid core instead of the stranded stuff. BAH!!! Anyway here is some pics of my coindoor and lights. Also some pics of my custom layout in Mamewah!
-
Here are some shots of my control panel. The ground wires are not hooked up yet, but this is it. Haven't tested nothing out yet, but once I get all the ground wires done I can't wait to try this thing out on my arcade cab!
-
Looks great Dowdy! Like everyone say's try to take your time and enjoy the build. I know when I was building mine the problems were always caused because I couldn't wait to finish! Reading through your project brought back memories from last year for me. All I could think about was my Cab. Now one year later I only think about my cab 95% of the time :).
-
Yeah once I get it moved to my computer office room it will be all finished. Then I am going to go through all 475 games and make sure they are all setup to where I can play them. Also need to make some instruction cards and what not. Prolly put instructions close to it on the wall.
-
Well I should of posted this on Saturday the 14th of April, but I was too busy playing my finished Arcade. Let me tell you this was monumental for me. My last bit of wiring I was saying to my self OMG it is almost finished.
So on Saturday I put my Happ Control Panel Clamps on. I didn't test, but what I did I lined them up and went about 2mm below the bottom parts original hole markings, and at 2mm they are a nice snug fit.
On the wiring I hooked up a power button to lead into the computer's motherboard. I had to retape some electrical tape to my hacked up TV Remote to get it working again since the wires got jiggled off the contact.
I fired it up and started to test all the buttons (using keywiz max 1.5). Everything worked except the coin buttons. I had the coin buttons from my blue pushbuttons located by the P1 Start and P2 Start. Anyways so I flipped the control panel over and tested just the blue buttons they worked, then I put the wires in from the coin mech, and they constantly press 5s or 6s. So I found out they were in the Normally Open position, so once I set the switches to normally closed everything worked. I also looped the grounds to play it safe on my daisy chain.
The first game I tested was Street Fighter 2, then I played some Pac-Man, tested my spinner on some Arkanoid, and tried Golden Tee Golf with my trackball for the first time ever. I am currently setting up some of my buttons in MAME and tweaking sound in some of the Midway games, but all I got to say is I love my creation.
I just want to say thanks for my family for being patient with me while I bought and built all this stuff, and a special thanks to all of you fellow BYOAC guys out there! Thanks alot. I will get my pics up soon of the finished product. I haven't uploaded them yet because I am still taking some pics and having fun playing my Arcade. My Dad is coming over tonight to play, and my wife actually played alot yesterday. We ran through the X-Men beatem up game and won that game. It was fun. The cool thing about Building Your Own Arcade is it is hard work, but once it is built the whole family can enjoy it and there are games for all ages on there.
Thanks again I will get some pics up soon.
-
Congrats! Let's see those finished pictures!!!
-
Damn. I had a bet that you wouldn't survive this build. ;)
Congratulations. Now that your a veteran stay around and help out the new noobs.
-
A long time coming. :pics please :cheers:
-
Okay guys sorry it took so long. Here are some of the pics of the finished product. These were taken on Saturday, April 14th 2007. Here they are. Enjoy! I will also be staying on the boards to help some of the noobs. If I can build one of these things anyone can.
-
Here are some pics of my dad and my son, John playing some NBA Hangtime. The last pic is of my dad playing one of his oldschool favorites Galaga.
The funny thing about the NBA Showtime game was my son actually won by one point. He was using Chicago with Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman and my dad was using Houston with Olajuwon and Drexler. Another thing that is neat is that my son is almost 3 years old and my dad is almost 63 years old. Pretty cool old and young gamers unite!
-
Here are some pics of my dad and my son, John playing ...
Just goes to show that you are never too young or too old to enjoy video games. :cheers:
-
:applaud: Beautiful job! Everything really came together nicely - it's so cool to see people enjoying it too. I think that's the best feeling when you're done building. Definitely stick around to help the noobs - plus, I'm betting you'lll be starting another cabinet sooner or later!
:cheers:
-
I sent out an e-mail last night around 7pm, and one of my friends came by at about 8:30 to play Ms. Pacman, and he loved it. It is cool to see your friends and family play the machine.
-
I sent out an e-mail last night around 7pm, and one of my friends came by at about 8:30 to play Ms. Pacman, and he loved it. It is cool to see your friends and family play the machine.
That is a for sure. Even though my test cab is a piece of junk everyone that spends some time on it has a blast. This is the best argument that I have against my wife. Especially now that my son has friends come over from time to time. I actually had a tournament on it when he had his birthday party. The boys couldn't get enough. One of them even had to be dragged away by his mother.
-
Excellent work, love the Marquee!
Chapel