Bartop/Weecade Clone - COMPLETE (6/8/12)

[mazterlee]

Awesome build.  I love the artwork.  I'm currently working on mine and making it 20" wide to accommodate for the 12 buttons setup.  Like you I also have to buy everything except for a left over hard drive and a monitor. 

Danny.
 

[EvilGreenDevil]

Awesome build.  I love the artwork.  I'm currently working on mine and making it 20" wide to accommodate for the 12 buttons setup.  Like you I also have to buy everything except for a left over hard drive and a monitor. 

Danny.
 

Thank you

What size monitor? I thought about this myself but after fitting a 17" 4:3 LCD, I didn't like the way it looked. I felt that the space created on either side of the screen was a little disproportionate. I say go with 20" width if you are using a bigger monitor or one that is widescreen

[ark_ader]

I snagged a cheapo 15" today so I am going to start my delayed Weecade project today.

Love your project.  You did a great job! 

[mazterlee]

I'm going to use my gf's 19" monitor and get her another 23" for her dual monitor setup (she has a 23" and 19" dual monitor setup right now).  I haven't mock anything up yet.  I just barely cut the two side pieces and sanded the rough edges yesterday.  I figured I can cover up any empty spaces with plexiglass.  Where did you get your buttons?  Also do you mine sharing your artwork?  You can email me if you like. danny@ziff.net  Thanks.  

Danny.

[rablack97]

FYI,

I know bartop speaker covers are hard to find, I found this guy....Super Cheap and the covers looks sweet.

http://www.8linesupply.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Session_ID=b61337688c9092db57f99aa8aee070cd&Screen=SRCH

[retrofuture]

Really nice build  Looks really comfy to play on.

[EvilGreenDevil]

I'm going to use my gf's 19" monitor and get her another 23" for her dual monitor setup (she has a 23" and 19" dual monitor setup right now).  I haven't mock anything up yet.  I just barely cut the two side pieces and sanded the rough edges yesterday.  I figured I can cover up any empty spaces with plexiglass.  Where did you get your buttons?  Also do you mine sharing your artwork?  You can email me if you like. danny@ziff.net  Thanks.  

Danny.

I used a router round the edges of my side panels, I figured sanding would take forever and I didn't trust myself to keep it even. I would suggest making a cardboard cutout of your monitor, just trace it and cut it out. Then cut a few of your center pieces (top panel and bottom panel) at the width you are interested in. Take the cardboard mock-up of your monitor and place it in between your two side panels to see if you like the dimensions. I did this when I first wanted a 19 or 20" width and realized it just didn't look right. I ended up settling with 18" which made cutting the Lexan easier since I was buying pieces that were 18"x24".

Go with what works best but try to think a few steps ahead so you don't have a middle finger moment like me.

I got the translucent smoke buttons from focusattack.com My first choice was paradisearcadeshop.com. They are Semitsu PK14s I believe (I can't remember offhand). The front LED buttons were from Paradise Arcade and the side and power buttons were extras I had lying around from some of the fightstick builds I did for Street Fighter IV.

PM me for the artwork if you're interested.

[mazterlee]

I used a router round the edges of my side panels, I figured sanding would take forever and I didn't trust myself to keep it even. I would suggest making a cardboard cutout of your monitor, just trace it and cut it out. Then cut a few of your center pieces (top panel and bottom panel) at the width you are interested in. Take the cardboard mock-up of your monitor and place it in between your two side panels to see if you like the dimensions. I did this when I first wanted a 19 or 20" width and realized it just didn't look right. I ended up settling with 18" which made cutting the Lexan easier since I was buying pieces that were 18"x24".

Go with what works best but try to think a few steps ahead so you don't have a middle finger moment like me.

I got the translucent smoke buttons from focusattack.com My first choice was paradisearcadeshop.com. They are Semitsu PK14s I believe (I can't remember offhand). The front LED buttons were from Paradise Arcade and the side and power buttons were extras I had lying around from some of the fightstick builds I did for Street Fighter IV.

PM me for the artwork if you're interested.

I used a friend's belt sander for the straight edges and hand sanded the rest.  I had some pretty straight cuts, so it's mainly for clean up.  Thanks for the site.  What size are the buttons?  I see 24mm and 30mm?  Thanks for the cardboard mock up idea.  I'm try to do that today.  Thanks again. 

[EvilGreenDevil]

Standard push buttons should be 30mm. Problem with this size is that the closest US drill bit is 1 1/8" which is slightly smaller than 30mm. Happ buttons should fit into a 1 1/8 hole no problem but the Japanese buttons will require a little sanding to make them fit. I was not really up for sanding 14  buttons (6 per player + 2 side buttons) so I just bought a 30mm forstner bit like this:

http://www.amazon.com/CMT-537-300-31-30mm-Forstner-Bit/dp/B000P4LLFY/ref=pd_cp_hi_0

I used a smaller bit size for the joystick holes I wanna say 1" or 1 1/8" I can't remember. You should have plenty of spare scrap to test what works best.

[Fang Doctor]

I am in love with your art. Your CP looks amazing. I am jelly.

[EvilGreenDevil]

having this topic resurfacing, reminded me that I really never posted any videos or other pictures. I should take a quick one with my iPhone just walking through how I had the internal parts set up and my Hyperspin configuration.

In the meantime, here's a link to a livestream I did playing it for one of the first times. SO rewarding.

www.twitch.tv/evilgreendevil

Apologies for the poor quality, again it was a stream and from a webcam.

[mazterlee]

I used a router round the edges of my side panels, I figured sanding would take forever and I didn't trust myself to keep it even. I would suggest making a cardboard cutout of your monitor, just trace it and cut it out. Then cut a few of your center pieces (top panel and bottom panel) at the width you are interested in. Take the cardboard mock-up of your monitor and place it in between your two side panels to see if you like the dimensions. I did this when I first wanted a 19 or 20" width and realized it just didn't look right. I ended up settling with 18" which made cutting the Lexan easier since I was buying pieces that were 18"x24".

I just measure my monitors here at work (which are similar to the monitor i'm going to use).  It's 19" 4:3 and 20" wide and it's no more than 18.5" in width.  I might have to make it 18" wide.  Guess I better get some cardboard/paper and make some templates.  Thanks for all the info.  The site on where to get the parts really help.   

[jdbailey1206]

Hey Devil. 

Beautiful graphics.   Just wondering if we could get an internal shot of how you wired your monitor power to the psu.  This has been my biggest hurdle and I would appreciate the help.

[EvilGreenDevil]

Hey Devil. 

Beautiful graphics.   Just wondering if we could get an internal shot of how you wired your monitor power to the psu.  This has been my biggest hurdle and I would appreciate the help.

Thank you for the kind words. The artwork took me a while in Photoshop but once I got the hang of it, the work wasn't so bad. I really suggest that people make the artwork their own because its the first thing people notice.

On the PSU, I had the EXACT same problem and it drove me nuts. I ended up getting a Y-split power cable and had a separate power cord go into the monitor and PSU. I found something cheap like this.

I'm at work but can try to remember a picture if I get around to it. The way I used was very simple and worked out well for me.

[Eldritch1969]

This is a particularly nice variation on the weecade clone.
The artwork is especially good, looks like abstarct painting ! 

[StrikeOne33]

Your project came out awesome!... Do you have any more pictures or video, the video you posted wont play for me for some reason.

[EvilGreenDevil]

I've been meaning to update with pictures and video. This post was the reminder I needed. I may do that this weekend

EDIT: In the meantime I did stream live from twitch a week or so ago about an hour of me playing. The archived video is available at twitch.com/evilgreendevil

[StrikeOne33]

That link doesn't work for me but the other one does... Do you have any completed pics to post?  I'm thinking of starting my a bartop build soon and I love how yours came out.

[e78990]

EvilGreenDevil

Love the 6 buttons, 2 player setup.
did you use the standard weecade plans/dimensions?

I m possibly looking to do this on a Control panel which dimensions are: 17.72" X 6.19"
They say that two players six buttons is crammed. What do you think?