Working on Mini-Multi-Williams hybrid

[Nannuu]

Well after thinking about making a mini cab with rotating control panel for months now I finally get to build one.  Inspired by recent cabinets by Tbombaci, TrickyFishy and Oscar I will try to make a 70% mini MultiWilliams cab that can rotate to a spinner and trackball panel.

Too bad it's not for me....

I've been yapping it up so much at work lately that I have two guys that are willing to pay for materials for me to make a couple.  The first will have artwork from a Multi Williams but replaced with Mini Williams  The second will have other artwork, not yet decided.

The wife is away for 2 weeks next month so I have lots of planning and artwork to get ready.  Once she's back I'm SOL for time so if you don't see some finished pics on Dec 18 you may not see any till winter 2004.  

Anyway on to the idea.  I've taken a Defender cab dimensions and shrunk them to 70% which will make the cab about 49" tall.  In order to fit all of the MW controls in there to play Defender/Stargate correctly I had to stretch the depth of the panel to about 6 3/4".  This pushes the panel toward the player so now instead of a vertical front I will have an angle.  Doesn't look too bad?  Even though a 70% cab should have a 15" monitor they have insisted on a 17" so I may end up stretching the depth of the cabinet or cutting a hole in the back to allow the corner to set out.  I'm not firm on the mechanism to hold the panel from rotating but I think a drawer that presses in against the bottom and sides will do the trick.  Or maybe a horizontal hinged door.  Either way a keyboard can be pulled out this way and hidden.  I'll be putting on a fake coin door using rectangular lighted pushbuttons and cutting square holes below as fake coin returns which can also act as finger handles to pull the drawer or door out.

Hopefully it will be great practice for when I finally get all of the controls/materials to make my own 4 player cab based on 1hookedspacecadets design!

[SirPoonga]

Are you really planning on making it rotate on that axis?  That will not be possible except with a major gap between the side wall of the cp and the cabinet.

[Nannuu]

Are you really planning on making it rotate on that axis?  That will not be possible except with a major gap between the side wall of the cp and the cabinet.

It's all taken care of with no gap....  

EDIT:  Actually it was designed that way originally to place sticks on both sides (MW opp SF), but since it will only be a spinner and trackball opposite now rotating horizontally sounds much easier.....might just do that.

[HagHore]

Howdy all!  I'm the guy responsible for Nannuu's building of this miniWilliams cabinet...sort of the inspiration you might say.  I've been wanting a cab for a long time but a full size is just out of the question at the moment due to cost (I would just HAVE to have a rotating panel with 3 or 4 panels and a rotating monitor - at least a 19", preferably a 24" TV if it looked good enough, otherwise a way too expensive WG 27"), so when Nannuu mentioned he wanted to build a miniPac for his daughter that got me thinking.  Then we saw that great MultiWilliams Oscar is building and that did it (I am a HUGE Defender/Stargate fan - if you've been to Nannuu's website and viewed the D/SG Panel link, well, I'm the guy he is talking about there), I wanted a minicab with the multiwilliams control panel...but something was missing, if I was going to get a mini then I wanted it do a little bit more, and that's where the rotating panel idea of Nannuu's came in...just enough room on the minipanel to put a trackball, spinner and some buttons for playing asteroids!  I mocked it up first on a sheet of 11x17 paper using the dimensions from happs and Oscar for a 2-1/4" tball, mod3 spinner and horizontal buttons.  I also mocked up the multiWilliams layout on another sheet of 11x17 using the dimensions for a competition joystick (I would really like to use the leaf sticks from quarterarcade but they don't list dimensions and I kind of think they will be too big...then I didn't want bat handles and saw the STC sticks from Wico with nice red ball tops, cool!).  The layouts showed it could be done, although tight, so that got the ball rolling for Nannuu to use his awesome talents to design the miniWilliams cabinet.  I was so jazzed on this that I was talking about it to another friend of ours and he thought the mini would make a great Christmas present for the grandkids (especially after I indicated that the mini could also be used as an entertainment center for the kids if you install a TV card and DVD Reader - perfect for the playroom he is making for the little tykes), and Nannuu figured he would have the time to go ahead and construct two cabs at the same time, thus the 2nd cabinet was born which we have dubbed the miniGeekenstein.  If any of you are Q3A players then you may have played on this other guy's server, he goes by Geekenstein on Q3A.  For the miniGeek I was thinking that a more versatile control panel would be better for it than a multiWilliams layout so I did another mock-up to see if a Street Fighter type setup would fit...and it did amazingly enough!  It will be awfully tight for a couple of adults to go at it, but for 2 kids it should work out great.

To give you an idea of what the final control panels will look like I am going to post the 3 panels, each is 17"x7".  The miniWilliams panel artwork will have to be adjusted some as the right side and P1/P2 are not in the correct positions when you scale down the artwork...also I added a separate Reverse button (multiWilliams uses the P1 Flap button as Reverse) to put it closer to where it actually should be for Defender/SG.  Not too bad but now we will have to build some cardboard mock-ups to make sure they will work.

[HagHore]

miniCabinet panel layout for trackball, spinner and asteroids

[HagHore]

miniGeekenstein control panel layout

[HagHore]

miniWilliams control panel

[RetroJames]

I have been working on the rotoquad, (see my www), and thought of another use for the "axle down the middle" layout.  If you made the cp a triangle, you would not need wings at all and would get the three cps while having fixed cabinet sides

Getting 3dsmax on Monday, will supply som pics.

[Nannuu]

I have been working on the rotoquad, (see my www), and thought of another use for the "axle down the middle" layout.  If you made the cp a triangle, you would not need wings at all and would get the three cps while having fixed cabinet sides

Getting 3dsmax on Monday, will supply som pics.

Yep, that would actually work very well.  The only down side is that if you have a 17" control panel triangle when rotated you need about 20" of width to rotate in.  And you could probably route out 3/8"-1/2" to cheat it some to make a 19"+-.  Since the panel is already quite full you can't really shrink the panel size and still fit in all of the stuff.  You could increase the width of the cabinet but then that kind of takes away from the "mini" style so to speak.

This may be a viable option for the minigeekenstein though as I don't think he is too picky about looks/proportion....

Must make up mind.....build time closing fast!!!!

[jcoleman]

If you're not too concerned about having a coin door, try this.

Hinge the front panel of the cabinet on the left hand side.  Now instead of a front panel you have a front door.  Mount your 17" wide CP triangle to the front door with a lazy susan.  Now you can open the front of the cabinet and rotate the panels without having to build the cabinet wider than the cp.  You will actually need to make it just *slightly* wider than the panels to accomodate the door, but only on the non-hinged side.

To hold the panels in place securely while playing, use bolt latches, kind of like the kind you might see on a light-duty door or cabinet.  See the attached picture.

John

[jcoleman]

If you can mount the hinge on the bottom, you can get away with having your internal cabinet width the same as your cp width.  Unfortunately this adds the issue of securing the door closed.  I supposes you could use some sort of locking mechanism on either side, and build the cp so that it mounts about an inch from the inside of the door, actually....

Dammit, I just got the last cabinet built, and now you guys are making me start another one.  Argh...well, the wife will just have to get over it.  

John

[Nannuu]

The wife took off and I'm finally started!!!  I was off to a good start yesterday when my brand new drill press broke...deoh!  Had to spend most of this second night taking it back for a new one then setting it all up but all is good now.

Must get two cabs done by the end of next week.....blah.

The final design is a little different than the original post but not much.  I'll try to throw some pics in tomorrow.

[Nannuu]

Ech, work is going very slow here.  Even though it is two small cabs they are different and have different parts/sizes/monitors so I can't just cookie cutter them and most of the parts I just got the day before.  And I think I had too much of the I'llfigureitoutwhenIgettoit-itis.  Plus I am still missing parts from the guys that are getting the cabs (ie speakers etc).

Anyway, nuff of the excuses.  Here are a couple picks of what I have so far.

[Nannuu]

Did I mention that I haven't been to bed before 4 am yet this week?  (note ridiculously late post time).

This is the Mini Geekenstein holding it's Mini Frankenpanel.  Ironic eh?

[HagHore]

Plus I am still missing parts from the guys that are getting the cabs (ie speakers etc).

Do I still owe you parts for the Williams MiniGame?  I know we still need parts for the Geekenstein but I was pretty sure I handed over everything for my cab...hmm, only thing I can think of is the Sears power strip.  I'll go over to Steve's today and grab his parts for you.

[eightbit]

Ech, work is going very slow here.  Even though it is two small cabs they are different and have different parts/sizes/monitors so I can't just cookie cutter them and most of the parts I just got the day before.  And I think I had too much of the I'llfigureitoutwhenIgettoit-itis.  Plus I am still missing parts from the guys that are getting the cabs (ie speakers etc).

Anyway, nuff of the excuses.  Here are a couple picks of what I have so far.

Unless I misunderstand how your attaching things, your t-nuts are on the wrong side of the board in that pic.

[RetroJames]

Ech, work is going very slow here.  Even though it is two small cabs they are different and have different parts/sizes/monitors so I can't just cookie cutter them and most of the parts I just got the day before.  And I think I had too much of the I'llfigureitoutwhenIgettoit-itis.  Plus I am still missing parts from the guys that are getting the cabs (ie speakers etc).

Anyway, nuff of the excuses.  Here are a couple picks of what I have so far.

Unless I misunderstand how your attaching things, your t-nuts are on the wrong side of the board in that pic.

He's right, what's up with that?

[Nannuu]

Ech, work is going very slow here.  Even though it is two small cabs they are different and have different parts/sizes/monitors so I can't just cookie cutter them and most of the parts I just got the day before.  And I think I had too much of the I'llfigureitoutwhenIgettoit-itis.  Plus I am still missing parts from the guys that are getting the cabs (ie speakers etc).

Anyway, nuff of the excuses.  Here are a couple picks of what I have so far.

Unless I misunderstand how your attaching things, your t-nuts are on the wrong side of the board in that pic.

They are on the right side, the screws will come from the bottom to hold the joysticks on.  They didn't want to see or feel screw heads on top of the panel when they are playing.  When the panel is done the only heads that will show are the ones holding down the lexan.

[Nannuu]

Plus I am still missing parts from the guys that are getting the cabs (ie speakers etc).

Do I still owe you parts for the Williams MiniGame?  I know we still need parts for the Geekenstein but I was pretty sure I handed over everything for my cab...hmm, only thing I can think of is the Sears power strip.  I'll go over to Steve's today and grab his parts for you.

I don't think you do except for the power strip.  Geek still owes computer, power supply, speakers, fans.  The only one I really need soon is speakers so I know where I can mount them.

[eightbit]

They are on the right side, the screws will come from the bottom to hold the joysticks on.  They didn't want to see or feel screw heads on top of the panel when they are playing.  When the panel is done the only heads that will show are the ones holding down the lexan.

Your absolutely right, I don't know why I couldn't visualize that. That is the proper way to do it.

[RetroJames]

They are on the right side, the screws will come from the bottom to hold the joysticks on.  They didn't want to see or feel screw heads on top of the panel when they are playing.  When the panel is done the only heads that will show are the ones holding down the lexan.

Your absolutely right, I don't know why I couldn't visualize that. That is the proper way to do it.

I have seen that done before and I looked for the holes on the underside of the cp but could not see any.  Also, it appears the cp will rotate forward / backwards, how are you going to manage the cables to the PC?

[Nannuu]

They are on the right side, the screws will come from the bottom to hold the joysticks on.  They didn't want to see or feel screw heads on top of the panel when they are playing.  When the panel is done the only heads that will show are the ones holding down the lexan.

Your absolutely right, I don't know why I couldn't visualize that. That is the proper way to do it.

I have seen that done before and I looked for the holes on the underside of the cp but could not see any.  Also, it appears the cp will rotate forward / backwards, how are you going to manage the cables to the PC?

Yep it will rotate from the stick side to the spinner/trackball side.  The wires will run out of the side through a slot in the side panel the same as all of the other rotating cabs.

[HagHore]

The miniGeekenstein is using a MacAlly iBall trackball on the spinner/trackball/asteroids panel and the way nannuu mounted the sucker is pure genious.  Came up with a really nice way to access the sucker for cleaning of the ball and rollers, hopefully he took good pictures of it and will post them later when he's done.  For those interested, the iBall is great for the precision control games like centipede & missile command.  However it is not so great, bad in fact, for the games that need a more free rolling ball like Football and Golden Tee.

[Nannuu]

Wood!  I have major wood.....left to cut.  Can a mini-cab get any cooler?  I submit it can not!  Mini Multi Williams is coming right along now.

[HagHore]

Please make Reverse a white button.  Thanks.  Other than that it is very cool!  Can't wait for delivery!  Or actually pick-up  

[hyiu]

VERY NICE graphics !!!!.... can't wait to see when the cab is done !!!....

[Nannuu]

Couple more pics before vacation.  Didn't get the cabs done obviously  

This is the spinner/trackball side of the Mini Geekenstein.  Similar to what the marquee will be but I've shrunk down where the moon was and it is replaced with the lighted blue trackball and moved the castle over where it isn't covered by buttons.

[Nannuu]

This is the mini Williams decased monitor and the graphics for the two panels.  The top graphic is what will be the spinner/trackball side.  I've kept some of the multi Williams bits from the other side to keep with the theme but replaced the other parts with similar color themed art from a spinner game (Tempest) and trackball (Missle Command).  Also changed the button labels to coincide with Asteroids/Missle Command.  I know they aren't Williams games but they are classics and they match well.

[HagHore]

OK, Nannuu is off to the Great Northwest for the holidays, but before he left he dropped off the control panels for the 2 minis so that I can get them ready for installation into the cabs.  On the miniGeekenstein he had already installed all the controls, I just have to do the wiring and mount the keywiz max on that one.  The miniWilliams is going to require just a bit more work as the artwork, lexan and controls (minus the mounting of the Ultimarc trackball, Oscar's model 3 spinner and the bases of the two joysticks...Nannuu had the time to mount those) still need to be installed.

I worked for a couple of hours on the mG panel last night and finished up the ground loop, player 1 joystick, player 1 start and player 1 buttons 1-3.  Of course at that point I felt it entirely necessary   to test out what I had done to make sure it was all going according to plan (because of the limited space on these panels I am doing all wiring outside of the panel and then just hooking up the terminals...the ground loop was a mess but it worked out great).  I am pleased to report that much joy was had playing Ms Pacman and Moon Patrol!  My hands and wrists are killing me today because Nannuu acquired crimp connectors made for 14-16 ga wire and we are using 22 ga...so I was crimping the bejeezus out of those terminals to get them to hold securely.  Needless to say, today I went out and bought a bunch of 18-22 ga terminals.  The larger terminals did come in handy on the ground loop though as I am using 18 ga solid wire, so the larger terminals came in handy as many of the ground terminals have 2 wires and a few have 3.  Anyway, if I can keep myself from spending too much time testing the panels then I should have all 4 panels (2 per cab) wired up by Christmas.

[HagHore]

Here is the trackball/spinner side of the miniWilliams.  Nannuu & I were having a tough time deciding on how to lay out this side of the panel.  Then I was looking at the missile command graphic for the trackball and that's when it hit me, the colors were identical to the bars used around the left side of the multiWilliams and that the robotron grey bars were in about the right place for the spinner and the fire/thrust/smart bomb would work out perfectly for the layout I came up with for the buttons on the left.  So I asked Nannuu if he could basically mirror image the multiWilliams, insert the missile command graphic, and then label the buttons for asteroids with an added "omega" for the 3rd button on the left side.  He did so and also added in some tempest graphics.  I must say, it came out even better than I imagined it would and should fit in perfectly with the mutiWilliams theme.

[HagHore]

At first I didn't care that the labels for thrust/fire were reversed on the tb/spinner panel, but since some of the graphics are printed right where the carriage bolts attach, well, think this one is going to have to be redone.

[Wienerdog]

Couple more pics before vacation.  Didn't get the cabs done obviously  

This is the spinner/trackball side of the Mini Geekenstein.  Similar to what the marquee will be but I've shrunk down where the moon was and it is replaced with the lighted blue trackball and moved the castle over where it isn't covered by buttons.

That trackball and graphics looks great, WELL DONE!  I love seeing stuff like that...  

[Lumpy]

Everything looks great.  I'd love to know how you mounted the iBall.  Something I've been struggling with...

[HagHore]

Everything looks great.  I'd love to know how you mounted the iBall.  Something I've been struggling with...

With Nannuu on vacation I will try to answer this.  The top cover of the iBall was removed, kept the base for installation into the panel.  By removing the top of the iBall no routing out of the control panel is necessary, just a hole the size of the iBall (2" exactly) is required.  Now, we wanted to be able to access the rollers for cleaning purposes so Nannuu mounted the base of the iBall to a block of wood with a hinge (block of wood is same height as the tallest part of the iBall base and glued to the bottom of the control panel).  We couldn't locate thumb screws long enough so instead a screw with lock washer is used to secure the other end of the base, this way hand tightening is possible.  I will try and get a decent picture of the base of the iBall tonight and post it.

[HagHore]

OK, following are 4 pictures showing the installation of the MacAlly iBall into the miniGeekenstein control panel.  The last picture shows the base in the open position to access the rollers/trackball for cleaning purposes.

[HagHore]

2 of 4

[HagHore]

3 of 4

[HagHore]

4 of 4

You can also see in this picture the mounting hole drilled into the case for the LED that will be used to light up the trackball...after all, these iBalls just beg for backlighting  

[TrickyFishy]

Holy cow this thing looks GREAT!  Can't wait to see it complete... I'm a sucker for minis  

[Lumpy]

HagHore,

Thanks for all the pictures.  Could you show what the ball looks like on top of the control panel?  With the mock ups I make I was afraid people would get splinters from the edge of the wood.