Mini Cabinet for the kids

[fatfecker]

ok, nearly finished this cabinet now but I will post pics anyways for some constructive criticism.  I wanted a small cabinet to teach the kids pacman so I decided to build one, after getting controls together from ultimarc I decided to start building it.

Using 12mm Chipboard I cut out the cabinet to fit around a 14" monitor I had laying around doing nothing.

However, once I start putting the bits in I found that there wasn't enough room for the subwoofer which will not do as the only way my wife will let it stay in the living room is to have it double up as a jukebox, luckily my work was upgrading all the screens to 17" TfT so I managed to snag a 15" TfT that fitted perfectly.

You can see that I added 4 fluorescent tubes (available for about

[javeryh]

That looks fantastic!  I am in the planning stages of doing the exact same thing.  My daughter will be 2 in the fall and I've been dying to play some Pac-man with her even though she's never even seen a video game.  How did you size the cab?  Did you just scale down an original or just use your best guess?

[fatfecker]

I used the mini-mame website as a guide for the dimensions of the sides but adapted them slightly to fit the monitor I was going to use http://www.minimame.com/downloads.asp

That reminds me, I must send that guy his $7 as his plans definitely made my job a lot easier.

the easiest way of doing it (if you just want pacman) is to buy one of these http://www.jakkstvgames.com/

Then just take it apart and wire up the arcade joystick and buttons to the switches in the unit, you can then just put a 14" TV in it.

[javeryh]

I think I'm going to build a vertical mini-cab that has an old computer inside so she can play a bunch of different games like Frogger, Donkey Kong, Mr. Do!, etc.  I'm going to be painting it pink with pink t-molding and a marquee with her name on it and flowers and crap in the background.  We are redoing her new "big girl" room in a few weeks and I want to put her cabinet in there eventually...

[gamecreature]

What are you going to use for speaker covers? From here it looks like an 80mm fan cover should cover that nicely.

[AtomSmasher]

Excellent job.  My next project is going to be a similar thing as a christmas present to my neice and nephew, although I think I'm going to make mine a bit taller then yours. 

[fatfecker]

What are you going to use for speaker covers? From here it looks like an 80mm fan cover should cover that nicely.

yeah good idea, not sure what to use yet, someone at work said they had some old speaker covers that might fit so I will say what they come up with, gonna measure the marquee bit tonight then see if my A3 colour laser copier at work will print on transparencies, I'm eager to get it finished so I can start on my coffee table cabinet.  I was pricing up tempered electrochromic glass today but I think that might be overdoing it slightly

[johnperkins21]

a marquee with her name on it and flowers and crap in the background. 

If you had a boy, it would be "a marquee with his name on it and explosions and cool stuff like that."

That made me laugh. Thank you sir.