Bullfrog Arcade - updated 7/9/2006

[jbullfrog]

It seems as though there have been a lot of project announcements the past few days...  Thought I might as well add my own 

I've been lurking these forums for about two years now, gathering information and admiring all the work everyone has done.  I finally started building my own cab so I thought I'd post some info.  Here's a sketch of my plans so far:



for a bigger version of the above pic, I'll be keeping all my pics for this project at this address:

http://www.jbullfrog.net/MAMEPics

So far there really isn't a whole lot you guys probably haven't seen before...  mostly pics of all the components I'll be using.  I'm hoping to get a lot of work done this weekend. 

Thanks so much for the help you've all given me.  It's proven extremely valuable already.

[leapinlew]

go man go!

[Crafty]

Welcome to this contagious expensive time consuming

Welcome.

Keep the pictures and details coming

[jbullfrog]

I was able to do some work on the cabinet this weekend so I thought I'd post an update.  Most of these pics are probably boring to most of you, but I thought I'd post them anyway   also, please let me know if the pics are too big...

Here's a pic of my work area:



I've pretty much taken over a section of the garage... not the cleanest of work areas, but it will do.  Mostly I'm cutting all the wood in the garage and building the cab in the basement where the cab will eventually be.

I forgot how long woodworking can take...  It's funny how you can spend so much time planning your cab, and then when you start building you feel like it shold be going much quicker.  It's pretty relaxing work, though the power tools still give me the creeps sometimes.  I'm always trying to remind myself how quickly a situation can get out of hand if safety precautions are not followed;this post acts as a pretty good reminder...

Here's a pic of the base of the monitor shelf:



I got it square!!!

here's a pic of the completed monitor (TV) shelf:



The TV sits on the shelf with its back sticking out between the two back braces and the input/output plugs beneath the bottom brace. This is a very "snug" fit. The back braces are needed because the TV will not be on a flat surface, but at an angle of a little over 20 degrees. Most of the weight will still be on the flat surface of the shelf. The back brace is not "securely" attached to the shelf base (see below); it is connected (by the triangles shown) but the connection provides no structural support. For support there will be two 2x4s for each side of the back brace attached to the cabinet's side panels. This is probably overkill in terms of support, but I wanted to be sure that the cabinet could withstand a lot of punishment...

here's a pic of the completed monitor shelf with the TV on it:



As said before, it is a very snug fit. The TV is forward enough so that the bottom of the monitor bezel is flat with the front of the shelf.

here's a pic of the back of the shelf with the TV on it (showing access to the input/output plugs):



The bottom back brace rests flat against the back of the TV.

One last pic:



I wanted this picture to show how the TV sat on the shelf with respect to the top brace, but instead got a nice picture of how my back brace is not secured well to the base... this pic serves as a (classic) reminder: measure twice, cut once. The sides of the back braces are each a quarter inch too short while the flat top of the shelf is not deep enough by about a half inch... ahh well, the connection between the shelf and the back brace wasn't going to provide much structural support anyway

For a few more pictures of the shelf, go here.

[DigDreams]

Looks good so far.  I really like the cabinet profile you came up with.

Are those component inputs I see on the back of the TV?  If so, be sure to use them - it will make a noticable difference in the picture quality.  Also, what video card are you using?

By the way, I love the 3d Happs Bezel - I had no idea they had one that came with a tail!  Won't the orange clash with your color scheme though? 

- DigDreams

[jbullfrog]

Looks good so far.  I really like the cabinet profile you came up with.

Are those component inputs I see on the back of the TV?  If so, be sure to use them - it will make a noticable difference in the picture quality.  Also, what video card are you using?

By the way, I love the 3d Happs Bezel - I had no idea they had one that came with a tail!  Won't the orange clash with your color scheme though? 

- DigDreams

thanks!  

The video card I'll be using is a Geforce MX4000 64MB which has S-Video out (specs here).  I'll be using the S-Video out for now...  possibly upgrading later.   I've played around with it a bit using S-Video and it looked "good enough" for me... we'll have to see though

[jbullfrog]

I've been doing a lot of work on the cabinet lately, but haven't had time to post anything...  this is a bit of a long post so here goes...

First, I finished the stand for the monitor shelf:



The side panels, back panel, and kick panel will all attach to this (the kick panel with some furring strip support). This stand provides the structural stability for the rest of the cabinet.

As you can see, the TV will be at a slight angle (about 22 degrees). The top of the monitor shelf is a little over 37" off the ground; the control panel will rest against the front of the top of the stand and the computer will sit under the monitor shelf. You can also see the casters on the bottom of the monitor stand. I'm using two fixed casters in the back, and two swivel casters in the front. I decided to go with 2.25" casters that were rated to support 175 pounds each. I really don't think the entire cab should be more than 700 pounds...



Even though my degree is in mathematics, I never thought I'd say this: thank god for trigonometry.

In this picture you can see the angles that I cut in the boards supporting the monitor shelf. How did I know what angle to cut and where the angles should be cut? Trigonometry. I knew that the monitor shelf was 29" square. I also knew that I wanted the monitor shelf to drop by 11" from front to back. Using some basic trig, this would put the TV at an angle of about ASIN(11/29) or about 22.3 degrees. Using all sorts of triangle similarity rules, you can figure out what angle to cut into your support boards and how far apart your support boards should be. Mess up these measurements and your support boards won't be square (i.e. no support and your TV could come tumbling down).

Whenever my (future) kid asks why they need to learn trig, I now have a reply... building arcade cabinets

The next picture shows a completed side panel cut out:



The panels are a little over 5'9" tall and are about 3'9" wide. As you can see, I changed the profile of the cabinet a bit from my initial plans. The initial plans had some "feet" (for lack of a better word) at the bottom of each side panel. After thinking about this for awhile, I realized that these feet would be prone to getting kicked and lacked any support. To me this was an accident waiting to happen. After getting rid of the feet from the initial plans, I altered the top of the panel to match.

To transfer the new side panel profile to the large (4' by 8') piece of MDF, I first created a sketch of the new profile, but I drew it using a scale of one square on the graph paper equals one 3" by 3" square actual size. I made this sketch using the actual measurements of the monitor stand and the planned length of the control panel and marquee/speaker box. I then drew a grid of 1' by 1' squares on my piece of MDF. The grid on the MDF combined with my new sketch provided a guide for transfering the profile on the MDF. If you enlarge the picture (on my site, click the pic) you can faintly make out the grid on the MDF.

I was then able to cut out the first side panel using a jigsaw. I didn't use any special jigs to do this, I was just very slow with the saw. I was also always careful to stay outside the line if not on the line. I did this with the knowledge that I could always sand down the edge later...



This is a picture of the two side panels; each is near identical to the other.

Cutting the second side panel was very easy. To cut it, I took the first panel and clamped (very securely) another piece of MDF on top of it. Then, all you need to do is take a router with an edge trimming bit to the top MDF panel. The already cut panel on the bottom acts as a guide for the edge trimming bit and you are left with two MDF panels of almost exactly the same size. While the two panels were still clamped together, I used an electric sander with some 60 grit paper along the edges. I did this to be sure that the sides were even and take out any rough edges the router may have left.

A reminder here... respect your power tools.  Just because something is "easier" to do, it probably isn't any safer.

Here's a pic of the two side panels with their first coat of primer (no sanding done yet):



I used the regular Kilz oil based primer in a spray paint can. I was really surprised at how far a can of primer didn't go. What you see in this picture took two cans of spray paint... maybe this is because primer is so thick, I have no idea...

This brings me to tonight.  Tomorrow I'll be going out to buy a bunch of paint, some more cans of primer, and some painting supplies...

[leapinlew]

hey! an update! Good for you... it's looking good! Keep the pics coming.

You make any other decisions yet? Frontend? Speakers? Controls? etc.

[jbullfrog]

hey! an update! Good for you... it's looking good! Keep the pics coming.

You make any other decisions yet? Frontend? Speakers? Controls? etc.

For a frontend I'll be using WAH!Cade, a linux port of MAMEWAH.  I plan on using two desktops on the machine, one dedicated to MAME and the other dedicated to a jukebox frontend.  Before I mess with the jukebox software, I'll probably focus on getting the cabinet up and running so I can play   

For speakers I'll be using pretty much standard computer speakers.

Here's a few pictures of the controls I'll be using...

My order from Ultimarc:



Two of the 4-8 Way Mag-Stick Plus joysticks, twenty buttons with microswitches (red, green, blue, and black with two player start buttons), and an I-PAC2 with wiring and mounting. Each player will have six buttons each: two red, two green, and two blue similar to the Street Fighter layout.  After buying all of this, I started reading up about all the LED tech going around...  I might need to upgrade to LEDs at a later date.  Again though, right now I just really want to get the cab up and running   

Here's my order from DreamArcades:



2 rolls of 3/4" t-molding, a 3" Imperial trackball, two 3" trackball mounting plates for wood control panels, a mounting plate for metal control panels, 3 buttons with microswitchs, and two sets of mounting hardware. I must not have realized that the trackball came with a mounting plate for wood panels when I made my order... my bad...

[jbullfrog]

I've decided to name the cab...  Bullfrog Arcade.

My RL name is Jeremiah.  I have been sung the Three Dog Night song "Joy to The World" (think "Jeremiah was a bullfrog...") too many times to count.  Going with this, and because my name is a bit longer, I've had the nicks "j" and "bullfrog" for awhile now... 

I wanted the name of the cab to have a frog theme... I've thought about using Frogger art on the side panels and marquee, but I'm not a huge fan.  I might go that route later, but for now the plan is to have a light green gloss on the side panels, control panel, and marquee (everything else black).  I would really like to have a "frog" theme but couldn't think of a name more creative than "Bullfrog Arcade"...  I'm really open to suggestions here:  if anyone has any, they would really be appreciated.

[Crafty]

Frog Gone Arcade???