Honerbrink MAME cabinet (DONE with video)

[emb]

Nice job on the CP box. Glad that veneer worked out!

Thanks! I'm really excited to see the control panel and box glisten once it has it's coats of poly.

Oh, and regarding your our PM conversation from earlier; I have some black and red Happ's competition (convex) pushbuttons with red bat style joysticks from a failed attempt a couple years ago when trying to do a cab restoration. I placed them on the cp and it appears that the stain will match the color scheme pretty well.

[javeryh]

Looking good.  I'm about to get some veneer for the sides of a CP box I've been working on (paper backed from Rockler) and the only thing worrying me is the look on the edges - the veneer has to have some thickness, right?  Yours appears to be a completely flush corner - did you bevel the edges where the veneer meets at the corners?  That would seem insane to me but I can't see the edge of the veneer!   

[emb]

Looking good.  I'm about to get some veneer for the sides of a CP box I've been working on (paper backed from Rockler) and the only thing worrying me is the look on the edges - the veneer has to have some thickness, right?  Yours appears to be a completely flush corner - did you bevel the edges where the veneer meets at the corners?  That would seem insane to me but I can't see the edge of the veneer!  

Actually I just used a box cutter. It was very easy. The veneer cuts like butter. I cut the veneer so it is about a quarter inch larger on all sides than the side I was gluing to. Afterwards, I used the boxcutter and go right down the edge.

[emb]

Little update today. Second coat of stain was applied to the control panel and box. I also applied the second coat of polyurethane on the panels. The wood is starting to glisten.

[newmanfamilyvlogs]

The poly makes all the difference in the world. Almost makes me wish I had done mine in a darker stain!

[emb]

The poly makes all the difference in the world. Almost makes me wish I had done mine in a darker stain!

Thanks. BTW I must say, I like your armoircade. It's quite a unique idea.
 I like the lighter colored stain on your cab. As long as the stain matches the rest of the room; your golden.

I'm very thankful that I bought oak. The color was pretty spot on with what I wanted.

[emb]

The cabinet is finally coming together! I still can't get over how the camera really messes with the color of the cab. It is much darker in person.

The next step is to figure out how to make a hinge for the front panel (which is not yet glued, just placed on the cabnet for show). Any ideas?





I almost forgot, my marquee. I Made it in illustrator with the help of my wife. It's nice being married to a graphic designer. She recognized the font and made this in 10 minutes.

[emb]

I made some more progress today, and have a couple questions...I'm pretty stumped.

T-Molding was added and the control panel box was added.

After mounting the control panel box, I found that the front panel is very difficult to remove. It is latched from the inside. To unlatch it, you have to reach through the control panel box. Since the front panel fits so snugly, it is very difficult to insert and remove the front panel. I have no idea what to do about this yet. I am very weary of routing the panel down since it is already stained and the polyurethane has been applied.

I had a second oh crap moment today and realized "oh  .... I forgot to route out the speaker holes!". Afterwords realizing, "hmm...I have no speakers..."

The pics below are with the control panel top resting on the box. I also threw in some old plexi, a backlight, and marquee just to have a better idea of what it will look like when it is completed. Too bad the pic did not turn out well. The marquee looks really sweet with the backlight. Once this beast is finished I'll take a pic with a nice camera.

I am now stumped on the following questions. If anyone has any suggestions, please chime in:

1) How can I make the front panel easier to remove?  It is really tight in thereShould I route it down and throw tmolding on the sides? If I do that, will I have some unstained areas show up because of minor wood chipping.

2) Any way to make the control panel easily removable and not wiggle when resting on the control panel box?

3) How should I create the speaker holes since the cabinet is already glued together? Should I drill a bunch of holes with a bit and cover it with some kind of speaker cover? If so, where could I find a metallic speaker cover?

4) Does anyone have any good recommendations on a good cheap pair of speakers?

[emb]

I made some more progress today, and have a couple questions...I'm pretty stumped.

T-Molding was added and the control panel box was added.

After mounting the control panel box, I found that the front panel is very difficult to remove. It is latched from the inside. To unlatch it, you have to reach through the control panel box. Since the front panel fits so snugly (mostly snug on the sides), it is very difficult to insert and remove the front panel. I have no idea what to do about this yet. I am very weary of routing the panel down since it is already stained and the polyurethane has been applied.

I had a second oh crap moment today and realized "oh  .... I forgot to route out the speaker holes!". Afterwords realizing, "hmm...I have no speakers..."

The pics below are with the control panel top resting on the box. I also threw in some old plexi, a backlight, and marquee just to have a better idea of what it will look like when it is completed. Too bad the pic did not turn out well. The marquee looks really sweet with the backlight. Once this beast is finished I'll take a pic with a nice camera.

I am now stumped on the following questions. If anyone has any suggestions, please chime in:

1) How can I make the front panel easier to remove?  It is really tight in thereShould I route it down and throw tmolding on the sides? If I do that, will I have some unstained areas show up because of minor wood chipping.

2) Any way to make the control panel easily removable and not wiggle when resting on the control panel box?

3) How should I create the speaker holes since the cabinet is already glued together? Should I drill a bunch of holes with a bit and cover it with some kind of speaker cover? If so, where could I find a metallic speaker cover?

4) Does anyone have any good recommendations on a good cheap pair of speakers?

[Donkbaca]

Why do you need to remove the cp?  A good sturdy at to do it is velcro.
Any cheap 2.1 computer speakers will be just fine

[emb]

Why do you need to remove the cp?  A good sturdy at to do it is velcro.
Any cheap 2.1 computer speakers will be just fine

I put a quick video up on youtube explaining my issue on the front panel.  

[Woodshop Flunky]

This may show my ignorance... but do you need speaker holes?  I mean, if you mount speakers in your cab behind the marquee light, will the sound not be sufficient for an arcade game?

I don't know if the sounds will be muffled.

Just curious.

[Donkbaca]

Ok, I see now.  Why do you need to open up that front panel?  I say if you are going to access it much, just get a coin door.

[newmanfamilyvlogs]

mount speakers in your cab behind the marquee light

That's a novel idea. I bet the plexi really wouldn't muffle it very much at all. The only thing I'd be cautious of is the bass causing the plexi to rattle in the retainer, but even that might be averted with some internal vent holes to the interior of the cabinet itself.

[Donkbaca]

As for speaker holes.  I say just drill holes in a speaker pattern.  Get sharp bits and drill from the outside in, so that if it breaks through on the other side and splinters, it will be on the hidden side of the wood.

[emb]

Thanks for your help guys.

I will test to see how it sounds without drilling the holes when I get the speakers..

My only thing is that if I drill holes, you will see the unstained plywood from the drilled out holes. In that case, it might be best to place some kind of speaker cover over it. I could stain the exposed holes, but that sounds like it would be a pretty tedious task.

Regarding the front panel: I did consider adding a coin door to the front, but the wife thinks it will really lose the furniture look. Maybe I will just cautiously take a belt or orbital sander to the side of the front panel to bring it down a couple millimeters. I think I will also add a 1x1 support brace going along the inside of the cabinet (under the control panel) to help ease the pressure on the front panel.

[Donkbaca]

regarding fear of unstained holes:

1) nobody will probably notice, people will be looking at the screen, not at the cab.

2) get a 1-tip, rub the inside of the holes = stain.

3) get some hobby paint, you know the little jars of arcrylic.  paint the inside of the holes black.

You are talking about a 5 minute deal to clean it all up, not a big deal at all.

My wife thinks my cab looks plenty furniture enough and I have a coin door.  Look at my build in my signature.  Coin doors are cool, especially when you wire them up, because nobody expects them to work.  I modified mine to take quarters and .984 tokens,  Its a blast, and it gives me quick access to the front of my cab.  The back of my cab has the bottom half hinged for access to the big parts.

[Woodshop Flunky]

regarding fear of unstained holes:

1) nobody will probably notice, people will be looking at the screen, not at the cab.

2) get a 1-tip, rub the inside of the holes = stain.

3) get some hobby paint, you know the little jars of arcrylic.  paint the inside of the holes black.

You are talking about a 5 minute deal to clean it all up, not a big deal at all.

My wife thinks my cab looks plenty furniture enough and I have a coin door.  Look at my build in my signature.  Coin doors are cool, especially when you wire them up, because nobody expects them to work.  I modified mine to take quarters and .984 tokens,  Its a blast, and it gives me quick access to the front of my cab.  The back of my cab has the bottom half hinged for access to the big parts.

If you do end up drilling holes, I agree with Donkbaca's comments; use a sharp drill bit and then use a Q-Tip swab to paint the insides of the holes black.  I think that would look good.

[emb]

Some minor updates:

- The removable front panel issue was fixed by sanding the edge down with a belt sander.
- The control panel top will be mounted with velcro.
- Still need to buy pc speakers
- Still need to buy 24" LCD widescreen monitor and plexi. Not sure what kind of monitor to buy yet.
- The control panel still needs to be wired up.
- Still need to find a nice way to hide the bolts for the joysticks.
-Plexi needs to be cut out for the control panel and marquee.

[emb]

Some more progress today. I added the plexiglass. Gives it a nice reflection

(The admin panel is not mounted, just resting there for now).

[emb]

Just bought some Logitech speakers for 20 bucks at target.

..Still not sure how I am going to mount them... I could drill holes, but that volume knob is going to get in my way. Any ideas?

Also, I am thinking of splicing the end of the 3.5mm jack and throw a potentiometer on there so I can adjust the volume from my admin panel.

[emb]

Well...It's finally done!

[Louis Tully]

.

[newmanfamilyvlogs]

Psssst: http://www.vreveal.com/ (:


Looks very nice. Have you considered having your powerbutton put the computer into 'sleep' mode instead of fully shutting it down?

[emb]

Psssst: http://www.vreveal.com/ (:


Looks very nice. Have you considered having your powerbutton put the computer into 'sleep' mode instead of fully shutting it down?

Yea...I considered using photo editing software but I figured it was so easy to upload it with my iPhone.

I did consider that but decided not to since it doesn't really take that long to start up.

[Donkbaca]

Nice job!   

[Woodshop Flunky]

I like how this turned out!  Great job! 

[stefano]

Beautiful veneer.
Keep the images flowing...