First Cab JankityCade (Working Title)

[edge10]

Well, I thought it was way overdue that I share pictures of my humble attempt at cabinet making.

I started back in November 09 with the idea of making an over-sized Asteroids MAME cabinet.

Here are some pics of the initial cutting spree.  I borrowed my neighbors table saw and circular saw to
get the big cuts done.

[edge10]

This is what happens when you route going against the spin of the router and don't have enough weight to
keep the wood from lifting off the saw horses.

[edge10]

Moved from the garage to the basement.

Starting putting her together, she starts to take shape.

[edge10]

Finished up the marquee area and speaker board (thingy).  I have 2 4" mid ranges from my old Boston Acoustics I am going to use.

Do you prefer the 'A' hole or the 'B' hole?

[edge10]

Here are the latest photos.

In the last one, the coin door piece of wood is just laying up in place.  I have since
replaced it with a better fitting piece.  The control panel is also just held in by gravity (and
friction).

In case anyone is reading this, do yourself a favor and get a router and a flush cut bit.  If
I had earlier, I think my results would have been much better.

[Silas (son of Silas)]

Coming along nicely.

What are your plans for paint/laminate/graphics etc?

[HanoiBoi]

Looking good edge!  How 'oversized' are you looking to make it?

Also, do you have your control panel drawn up yet?

[edge10]

Thanks for the kind words.

Definitely going to paint it black, more than likely a space theme.

It is 26" (counting the sides 27 1/2")  wide a couple of inches deeper than
a regular Asteroids cab and the same height (if you take away the added wheels).

Here is the basic layout that I am planning to use (the gray circle on the upper right
is the spinner).

[BurgerKingDiamond]

The cab's profile is pretty interesting, the way that it projects out so much. Is the monitor going to be recessed alot?

[edge10]

The idea is to have the glass sit right about on the red line.
The screen will hopefully sit right behind that.

For reference is an Asteroids cab picture scoured from somewhere on the web.

[HanoiBoi]

Hey edge....any progress?

[edge10]

Yes, I have made some progress, thanks for asking.

As you can see in the 1st picture I finally was able to call the main cabinet woodworking 'done' and primed the cabinet!

However, in the 2nd picture you may be able to see in the upper right hand corner, I had bubbling of the top layer of laminate after applying the 1st coat of primer. 

[edge10]

After the primer had dried, I got up my courage and took my X-acto knife and cut in to the 1st of the two bubble spots...

It turns out, there had been a knot hole in at least one layer of laminate but the knot had been removed leaving only a hole. The kind fellows who made my plywood covered this hole with only the thin outer layer of wood!  There was one in the front of my control panel box and one in the piece where the coin door goes.

I was able to remove the top layer and filled both holes with single part Bondo (the red stuff in a tube).  I then continued priming.

[edge10]

Since my priming fun, I moved the cab up to the garage and painted it black.  Just today I moved it inside the house but damaged the finish getting it in the house. 

I also received most of my controls today from divemaster127.

[edge10]

A quick update:

Here she is with a rough version of the control panel (minus trackball).

The monitor is going to go up another 1 1/2 inches. I am also going to raise the buttons and joysticks up an inch or so so your hands can rest on the panel.

Still to do:
1)Touch-up black paint
2)Add T-molding
3)Refinish and install coin door
4)Marquee and artwork

[edge10]

I'm going to do a bunch of quick updates to bring the project up to it's current state:

Used Citristrip to strip down the coin doors and repainted. Also routed out a new control panel with trackball flush mount.
Mounted speakers as well.

[edge10]

I then decided that the shelf mount of the monitor just wasn't going to cut it, so I bit the bullet and decased the monitor and mounted it to a spare piece of 3/4" plywood.

I then made myself a $2 bezel: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=17175.0;all

[edge10]

After about 2 months of back and forth, trying to get the correct replacement handles for my U360s, they finally arrived and I was able to install the control panel and glass on a more permanent basis.

That brings it up to date.  I just need money and artwork now, so I can add the marquee, sideart and replace the CPO vinyl.

Thanks to everyone here for all the help.  This forum has been priceless, during the process of the build so far...