Bartop Arcade....

[WhereEaglesDare]

If I was to build this design from the http://bartoparcade.katorlegaz.com/ website, where does the PC components go?  Doesnt look like any room.  Anyone with experience with these designs?

[BobA]

The MB could be hung on the rear panel or a mini itx might fit under the shelf which is not really needed for the LCD if you use the vesa mount points.  If you get rid of the shelf you will have to work on it but you should be able to fit you PC parts in.   See other bartops to see how the LCD is usually mounted.

[HaRuMaN]

That's a 2 player bartop, so it's gonna be fairly big.

You should have plenty of room in there, the scale is probably what's throwing you off.

edit: yeah that back board is 25.5" X 20" to give you some idea.  Plenty o' space.

[ark_ader]

That's a 2 player bartop, so it's gonna be fairly big.

You should have plenty of room in there, the scale is probably what's throwing you off.

edit: yeah that back board is 25.5" X 20" to give you some idea.  Plenty o' space.

You could stick a de-cased Xbox in there - plenty of room for a micro-ATX  or a laptop - as long as you have adequate air cooling you are good to go.

[mwong168]

I based my bartop off this exact plan and made minor changes along the way.  Here is what the insides of my bartop look like and I could easily fit a ITX or a mATX motherboard in there with tons of space to spare.



For my 17" LCD monitor I used a wall mount like this:




Check out my sig for my bartop build.

[WhereEaglesDare]

sorry double post

[WhereEaglesDare]

Indeed, thanks.


[/quote]

You could stick a de-cased Xbox in there - plenty of room for a micro-ATX  or a laptop - as long as you have adequate air cooling you are good to go.
[/quote]

I havnt thought of using an old XBOX, that would work great, wouldn't it....  First Ive heard of it, is it common to use an old XBOX?  If I remember right they are a Pentium III on the high end...

[WhereEaglesDare]

I decided to start cutting wood for this model.  I got it all cut except for the sides.  I used 1/2 in, cuz they didn't have the 5/8 inch.

My problem with the sides is that there aren't good measurement for the sides.  Could someone give me some idea of how long the sides have to be on the side pieces.  Thanks, hopefully if I can get this solved tonight I can start building.

[Comtek]

21" deep
29.5 high

[WhereEaglesDare]

21" deep
29.5 high

No, I get that, but how long is the top suppose to be?  be long is the control panel part suppose to be?.  How tall is the recessed area over the marque suppose to be?

[Comtek]

the top panel is 10.25" deep and sits flush in the back with like 1/2 to 3/4" out front so i would say the top is 11" long roughly
the cp is also 10.25" and sits quite close to the front  but goes past the bezel edge a bit so i would say like 9 1/2" that will give you a little room to work

i also built one of these (not this exact one) but one from the same site i just made both my sides roughtly to there shape then measured all the other pieces and cut and added them one at a time semmed to go along quite nicely

but i definetly would not cut all the pieces at once

and as stated above the monitor shelf is not needed

[JohnEDollar]

Comtek:

Which one of the designs from the website did you use for your bartop?  Are you happy with the results?

(Just curious - looking to build a bartop in the near future.  Just gathering info.  )

Thanks.

- John

[Comtek]

but i made it a 1 player
yeah the are a nice machine not to heavy
plenty of room for mounting stuff inside

[WhereEaglesDare]

ComTek did you make it so the back and top opened back to get inside it? I dunno if I should make it where the back opens or if I should make it like the guy further up did with just a door.  Also, how did you mount the monitor?

[Comtek]

yeah i just made a door mine hinges at the bottom
i cut a square so my whole monitor would recess in to the wood and it fit so tight i didn't need to brace it but i might put a piece of wood across the back so it doesn't fall out over time and break anything inside

[WhereEaglesDare]

Okay, spent all yesterday afternoon and this afternoon building and here is what I got so far...






I already cut all the wood according to the design above, but it aint matching up the way I thought it would...  I'm gonna have to cut some new pieces, next time I'm gonna take ComTek's advice and cut pieces AS I GO and cut the sides first...

Anyways...  I guess the next step will be to get the Control Panel put together so I can put the Bezel Piece in, then It can all fall together...  Any Suggestions to help me out?

[BobA]

You might want to use thinner wood for your supports at the top and bottom of your marquee area.   The pieces you have now will cast shadows on the marquee due to their thickness.   You could even use L brackets to replace a couple of pieces of wood on each side.

[Epyx]

He could get away with using a nova matrix or other brand LED strip and foiling the area in front of 'piece 5' into a curve and meeting the bottom retainer lip.  Then mount the nova matrix in front of 'piece 5'. That will diffuse the light and keep it shining on the marquee without a shadow.

[WhereEaglesDare]

If I used L-Brackets that the guy above did, how sturdy will it be?  Should I use #8 wood screws x .25 in? 

I screwed up carving the inside of the bezel out last night so I got to go get more wood anyways, I may start over and do a better job this time.

Is it a good idea to clamp two pieces of wood together and cut the sides at the same time?  I had a tough time getting them to match exactly...  Any suggestions on that?

[saleem]

i never work to specific dimensions or plans/scale.i just make it up as i go along.i just measure and cut,try it and if it fits its fixed in place.i just spirit level stuff to get level and as long as its near enough that is acceptable for me.but,when working with laminate i found its better to laminate the pieces before fixing in place.

i only used screws for the bottom batons and the top batons with some glue just for added strength,everything else is just glued in place.just a slow process with glue as you got to clamp and wait for it to dry with screws you can do that next piece and the one after if you get my meaning.

[Epyx]

I would start with screws or L Brackets for your first time...make sure everything aligns...only use glue once you are happy with it...or for your first build just stay with screws and brackets.

As for your bezel. I wouldn't waste time using a jigsaw...go with a router.

Here is how I would recommend cutting your inner bezel.  

1) Get the dimensions from your screen...place the screen in rough position and measure from inner side of cab to screen...top/bottom and side/side.  Pencil those dimensions on to the MDF bezel (1/2" is good).

2) Use a router flush trim bit with top bearing and clamp MDF along the pencil lines like so:



Working from the top left to the right in a clockwise motion to keep your feed direction proper (outer edge you would go counter clockwise).

3) Use 3 pieces of MDF as per the picture...starting at top left go to the line i indicate on the picture and then reclamp and go to the next line.  

Once you have done this you will have nice straight lined inner bezel. You can then use a 45 degree angle bit and mold the bezel at an angle so it creates the illusion of touching the screen etc.

Same applies to your sides...only the top side becomes your template that you run the router along...going counter clockwise this time. You clamp them both together...always leave a bit of over hang on the 2nd piece (bottom piece) so the flush trim can trim it.  End result is that both pieces will be identical and line up properly.

[WhereEaglesDare]

great walk through there on the Bezel, so I guess Im gonna have to wait til payday and get down to the pawn shop to get a router...

How about on the sides of the box?  Do you normally clamp two peices of MDF together and cut at the same time or do both separately?

[Epyx]

How about on the sides of the box?  Do you normally clamp two peices of MDF together and cut at the same time or do both separately?

Personally...I do all my lines on the MDF first...then cut with a circular saw/jigsaw/tablesaw. Then I sand/fix imperfections on the first piece...the 2nd piece is then cut quickly with jigsaw, well outside the lines (1/8" etc)...then I clamp that piece on bottom or top (if you have bottom or top bearing flush trim bit).

The first one becomes the guide and trims the rougher one into an exact copy.  

The more material your jigsaw has to go through (ie stacking them like you suggested) the more wonky your lines are going to be as the jigsaw blade will almost certainly do things you didn't expect...a line may look straight but halfway down the blade bent a bit and the side is no longer flush.

Definitely scour Craisglist or pawn shops etc for a router...you will see many common posts on these forums...they mostly all agree that a router is the single most important/flexible tool for a cabinet.

Each time you throw away wood is money you could have put towards a 2nd hand router 

[WhereEaglesDare]

okay,  gettng router today and some new wood to start over.  What bits should I need?

Are there large differences in durablity and quality between the expensive ones at the Lowes and the cheap child labor ones at Harbor Freight?

[Epyx]

I would just make sure you can get ones with carbide tips.  The main thing with router bits though is that even the cheaper ones are durable enough to see you through a few projects if you use them properly...IE the Winged slot cutter will scorch and die quickly when inserted backwards etc.  

I would get a sale set to start. For example this set at our Canadian Tire was just on sale for $59 (Down from $229)...that is the price of roughly 2 router bits but included 36! And 4 of them were flush template bits which would be your most important.

36 Bit Canadian Tire Router Set

Barring that...get the most critical bits first...flush trim. I would get one with a top bearing and one with a bottom bearing of medium length blade.

[WhereEaglesDare]

Got it.

[Epyx]

Got it.

 

[WhereEaglesDare]

Ahh hell, I got to go out to Texas for work all next week, I wont be able to work on this for two weeks.     

Oh well....