2 Player portable Arcade Controller

[bobfrankly]

Long time lurker, first time poster. Love all the builds I've seen on here, finally taking on my own. Building a 2 player arcade control panel, standalone. Will be plugging into laptop, and laptop into TV. My aims are portability, expandability, and success. Did a test build on a slagcoin layout and loved the feel.

[Slippyblade]

For something like what you are building, a lot of folks just implant the laptop directly into the panel and just wire up ports for power and video.  Good luck either way!

[bobfrankly]

The uncut main panel. I'm planning to mount the JLFs on the top, just routing so the stick mounts sit flush with the panel. Then I'm intending to stack thin plywood, and then acrylic on top of that, but the plan is still evolving. Probably depends on how the thin ply takes routing.



The rough concept. Defining as I go. Planning to order blue t-moulding and the slot-cutter bit as soon as I determine how thick the entire stack will be. I'm also throwing around ideas for the artwork, still debating between hand-painted and approaching a guy on deviantart to use one of his works, maybe this: http://robaato.deviantart.com/art/Mana-Guardians-331596898

[Slippyblade]

I like that DA image, LOTS of awesome panels have scavenged from DA.  Cosmic Frostbite is a real popular one as well.

With as much real estate as you have on that CP I'd toss a trackball and spinner in the mix as well.  At the very least a dedicated 4-way stick.

[yotsuya]

If your aim is to make it portable, may I suggest cutting it down some? 36 inches wide is wider than a standard arcade cabinet.

[bobfrankly]

I like that DA image, LOTS of awesome panels have scavenged from DA.  Cosmic Frostbite is a real popular one as well.

With as much real estate as you have on that CP I'd toss a trackball and spinner in the mix as well.  At the very least a dedicated 4-way stick.

A dedicated 4-way isn't a bad idea. Not too many games that would make me crave a trackball. Arknoid used a spinner IIRC, might consider that as a later addon. This is my first panel so I'm aiming for the KISS method. Wouldn't be the first project I've fouled up by adding too much to it

If your aim is to make it portable, may I suggest cutting it down some? 36 inches wide is wider than a standard arcade cabinet.

I do want room to build a small form factor PC (mini ITX perhaps) into it later. Also, I want it heavy enough to take the abuse that will likely be heaped on it by my niece and nephew (ok, ok, me too)

[Slippyblade]

Yeah - Arkanoid is a spinner game.  KISS is a good idea, feature creep has killed more than one project.   As far as overall size goes, I agree with Yots, it's gi-normous.  I understand that you want mass and space, but keep in mind that there are a LOT of bartops that include 2 players, the whole computer, AND the monitor that have far less space and real estate.  It's your project though, so listen to the advice, and if it doesn't work for you, ignore it. 

[bobfrankly]

Freshly cut! Used a jigsaw to cut the straight edges, and a surform and sanding block to round the corners. Straightened the long edges with a hand planer.  Only my second time using a router, Joystick mounts would have came out better if I had made a jig, but I'll learn how later. Still have to figure out where I'm putting the p1, p2, coin 1, and coin 2 buttons, but the wife approves so far, so that's always a good thing!



Also, if you give advice and I don't take it, don't worry. It was probably good advice that I was too stubborn to take! 

[Slippyblade]

When I'm doing the joystick mounts, I just go super slow and lean in so I can see the pencil line.  Oh yeah, safety glasses - and a dust mask.

I have to say though - wife approval in the early stages - you've either got a great woman there or you're one hell of a ---That which is odiferous and causeth plants to grow--- artist.  Either way, congrats!   

[bobfrankly]

So during the week, I got the end boards of the base box defined and cut. After a few foul-ups, and the resolution to never use the jig-saw for long straight cuts again (blade went in it's own direction even though the saw base was on a guide), I got the rest of the box boards cut. Having had less then success with nails and screws, I decided to try 1/4 inch dowels.


Found the dowel guides on amazon, and they made this soooooooooo easy. I even used the guides to transfer the peg holes to the opposite end.

Many measurements, and a few mistakes later, I got the box together for a test fit, and to figure out the rest of the buttons, and to counter-sink the JLF mounting plate (saw that somewhere on here, who-ever you are, thanks!)


The box glued up, with the end boards ready for t-moulding:


I did saw a video about "shadow cuts"on youtube, so I decided to do this with the coin buttons on the front of the panel, starting the hole with the 30mm forstner, and then dropping down to the 24mm for the actual size of the buttons. I think it will look better once painted. Mounting the hardware created another issue, naturally. The screws were peeking out the front. Good thing I had a scrap of mdf in that size left over. I was going to get crazy with a front strip design, but after cutting the first part of the design out, KISS returned to mind.

So I routed a gap and drilled a few holes with the idea of adding lighting later.


Finished off the day with some black spray paint/primer on the outside of the box. 

[bobfrankly]

The face with the cover-strip hiding the ruptured screws.

[danny_galaga]

Wow, you don't muck around!

Good job (",)

[bobfrankly]

Routed the thin ply and the acrylic, and got a few coats of spray on the box. Actually really liking the look of the ply on the top, but finding out that the 3/4" t-moulding I ordered isn't going to cover both the ply and acrylic if I carve a slot in the MDF. Toying with options, including putting a bevel on the edge of the acrylic and putting 4 bolts through the whole top panel to hold it together. Another one I'm considering is lacquering the ply and leaving the acrylic off. Anyone have experience with either route wanting to chime in?

[Drnick]

If you haven't slot cut yet then do the slot cut off centre so that the tmolding will cover the edge of the plexi. Then chamfer the bottom edge of the board and voila issue sorted.
Really really really bad diagram below

----plex ----------------|
------------------------ -| T-Mold
            mdf middle   |
--------------------------|
                              / |
--mdf bottom------/

See The following thread message which shows you what I mean http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,134038.msg1386553.html#msg1386553