Project Blank Canvas

[n3wt0n]

Hi Everyone. First off I would like to say that I really appreciate a spot like this to document the progress of a project. Looking at completed projects is incredibly motivating.

Like most people I have unfinished projects that seem to disappear for years on end. This arcade machine was one of them but I am now taking a run at finishing it up nicely. It may even find a spot on the main floor of the house if it turns out well.

goals So my goal with the project when I first started was to build a mame machine on a budget. I traded for most of the parts and had very little into it. Fast forward 8ish years and a lot has changed including my goals for the machine. I now want to be able to play most games and have a great addition to my family room that will entertain myself as well as guests. I still want to play most mame games but I plan on using Hyperspin as my frontend. I am hoping that this is a first step project that allows me to learn about the inner workings of these emulation cabinets and gives me the base knowledge to build a virtual pinball table to compliment it in a year or so.

the first makeover (8ish years ago) The cab was a converted Street Fighter 2 cab that was missing all its artwork and was beat up really bad. I can't remember what game it was converted from. I went with the street fighter button combo (layout copied from the games control panel) because I had the buttons and the joystick and I did love throwing quarters at this game as a kid. I also came across a 3" happ trackball and incorporated it into the replacement control panel.

So here it is in it's as I pulled it from the depths of project hell. I may have dusted it off a bit for the pics 

It needs a lot of work as it looks like the first round of paint and such don't meet my standards now but it is a start.  Thanks for reading along.

[EMDB]

The CP looks way too angled   

[n3wt0n]

It is on AN angle but is it on too much of an angle? I'm not sure. I know that originally I didn't want it flat. I do think it looks more severe in the picture than it actually is but will test it out. What is the "preferred" angle of a control panel?

[Le Chuck]

What is the "preferred" angle of a control panel?

7^o.

[Louis Tully]

.

[Le Chuck]

I've got one that's 10° and one that's 12°. Control panel height also plays a factor.

Both of these numbers are close to 7, but neither is 7.  7's the key number here. Think about it. 7-Elevens. 7 dwarves. 7, man, that's the number. 7 chipmunks twirlin' on a branch, eatin' lots of sunflowers on my uncle's ranch. You know that old children's tale from the sea. It's like you're dreamin' about Gorgonzola cheese when it's clearly Brie time, baby.

[Sshado]

I've got one that's 10° and one that's 12°. Control panel height also plays a factor.

Both of these numbers are close to 7, but neither is 7.  7's the key number here. Think about it. 7-Elevens. 7 dwarves. 7, man, that's the number. 7 chipmunks twirlin' on a branch, eatin' lots of sunflowers on my uncle's ranch. You know that old children's tale from the sea. It's like you're dreamin' about Gorgonzola cheese when it's clearly Brie time, baby.

Step into my office, because you are ---smurfing--- fired

[Louis Tully]

.

[nitrogen_widget]

I've got one that's 10° and one that's 12°. Control panel height also plays a factor.

Both of these numbers are close to 7, but neither is 7.  7's the key number here. Think about it. 7-Elevens. 7 dwarves. 7, man, that's the number. 7 chipmunks twirlin' on a branch, eatin' lots of sunflowers on my uncle's ranch. You know that old children's tale from the sea. It's like you're dreamin' about Gorgonzola cheese when it's clearly Brie time, baby.

Have you seen my baseball?

[n3wt0n]

wow, I never thought this thread would reference 7 minute abs. 

[n3wt0n]

Okay, the cab has been tore apart to the bare shell and we are going to rework the control panel to have a tighter layout, an admin button area and a 7th button for each player. Thanks for any advice so far.

progress since original post...

Complete tear down and sanded the cab.
Got the coin doors and reject buttons working again. They were gummed up.
Adjusted monitor so back panel will close with a bit of modification.
Got all the locks working.
Ordered and received Howler controller
Put together PC - Intel G3258 with MSI board, 8gb ram and 640 gb HDD running windows 7.
Ordered 2 120mm fans to draw cool air into the bottom of the cabinet and have started test fitting those.

Next up...
test trackball.
finish Fan fitting and make covers.
adjust back panel.
paint cab.

Also, I need to order some RGB buttons. Can anyone recommend the electric ice 2 with RGB-drive II? Is there a big difference between those and the helios RGB? Also thinking of picking up the trackball lighting upgrade kit but not sure if budget will allow. Lastly, what RGB ball top works well? I currently have whatever old 8 way sticks I had in the original Street Fighter II cabinet. Do they make RGB conversions for these?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

[lamprey]

Also, I need to order some RGB buttons. Can anyone recommend the electric ice 2 with RGB-drive II? Is there a big difference between those and the helios RGB? Also thinking of picking up the trackball lighting upgrade kit but not sure if budget will allow. Lastly, what RGB ball top works well? I currently have whatever old 8 way sticks I had in the original Street Fighter II cabinet. Do they make RGB conversions for these?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

The price difference isn't all the much (roughly $.50). I opted for the Helios because I was blocking a lot of light, so I thought the little extra might help. But, I'm not sure that it really did. Personally, I like the RGB Drive II's better for actually attaching to button as you can remove them if you want to remove the button without having to disconnect the led wires. For reference the Helios goes inside the button and the wires come out the bottom. Where as, the RGB Drive's slide in under the button and protrude into the button base. I don't have any pics on me to show the difference in brightness, but I didn't notice much difference. For the record I was using a black button base with a clear plunger with the "center" blacked out. If you are using the Electric Ice buttons, the difference may be more pronounced.

I think they are both solid products so you should be happy either way. My vote would be to save a couple of bucks and get the RGB Drive II.

[wol-nz]

naming though... "1642 Newton"

it can be a play on the (9) - ie 1942 game
As Sir Issac Newton was born 1642

But i'm not sure what your avatar n3wt0n's significance is

I can picture it now seeing the "9" dangling as if gravity has let slip ... 

[n3wt0n]

The price difference isn't all the much (roughly $.50). I opted for the Helios because I was blocking a lot of light, so I thought the little extra might help. But, I'm not sure that it really did. Personally, I like the RGB Drive II's better for actually attaching to button as you can remove them if you want to remove the button without having to disconnect the led wires. For reference the Helios goes inside the button and the wires come out the bottom. Where as, the RGB Drive's slide in under the button and protrude into the button base. I don't have any pics on me to show the difference in brightness, but I didn't notice much difference. For the record I was using a black button base with a clear plunger with the "center" blacked out. If you are using the Electric Ice buttons, the difference may be more pronounced.

I think they are both solid products so you should be happy either way. My vote would be to save a couple of bucks and get the RGB Drive II.

Thanks for the info. that is a HUGE help to at least hear of one member who can shed info on the RGB LED's. Your button setup sounds really interesting, If you have pics of your project I would love to see them. I may also post this question in the main forum since it may not get seen under projects.

[n3wt0n]

naming though... "1642 Newton"

it can be a play on the (9) - ie 1942 game
As Sir Issac Newton was born 1642

But i'm not sure what your avatar n3wt0n's significance is

I can picture it now seeing the "9" dangling as if gravity has let slip ... 

Haha, thanks Woz. I'm not sure what the theme of the machine will be but I am thinking black and white line art for everything - side art, bezel and control panel. I would add classic controllers, system logos and characters to the art work. I think it could be really cool. Have you come across anything like this in the forums before?

[lamprey]

Thanks for the info. that is a HUGE help to at least hear of one member who can shed info on the RGB LED's. Your button setup sounds really interesting, If you have pics of your project I would love to see them. I may also post this question in the main forum since it may not get seen under projects.

Sure thing. Here is a link to my project thread and, specifically, the message where I started showing the buttons illuminated:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,139538.msg1449584.html#msg1449584

[n3wt0n]

Wow, that looks really great!  I can't wait to see the finished project. The vertical widescreen monitor idea is amazing.

[n3wt0n]

Not a lot of progress lately. I have been tracking down parts and still need to do some more before things get crazy.

I now have no acquired...

4 120mm cooling fans for cab
Sheet of plexi for new control panel
Sheet of 5/8 board for new control panel

I have now ordered...

20 Electric Ice Buttons from Groovy Game Gear, T molding, and slot cutter
2 RGB Joysticks from Paradise Arcade

I can't wait to get moving on this. I hope to get the cabinet (without CP) done this weekend.

[n3wt0n]

Hey everyone! I am resurrecting this thread and getting back to work on this game.  I wasn't sure if I should start a new build thread but decided I should keep the original cab information as part of its legacy.

The cab was up and running for a bit but the original base for the panel broke during a marathon MAME session with a bunch of kids during a summer bbq.
There was a weak spot in my makeshift 10 year old design that I was aware of but I didn't think the kids would be THAT hard on it. Hahaha, man was I wrong. If you ever want to stress test your machine throw a few kids in there and walk away for a few hours.

So, currently the machine is out of commission and I am taking steps to getting it up and running again since I have all the parts I think I need. I will post a pic of the machine in it's last playable state if I can find an image. You know, for documentation sake and all. 

I have been reading the forum daily for a couple years now so it's time to put some of that knowledge into practice. I hope to get lots of opinions and guidance from the forum on the new and improved cab in the near future.

[n3wt0n]

Project Goals

Design:

I have decided I would like to create a cab with a design inspired by the grid in tron:legacy.

I have really enjoyed the world created in Tron:Legacy and I am inspired by its ultra futuristic look. My kids and I often watch the movie together - floored by the lighting, buildings, vehicles and the endless attention to detail. Short of letting them draw characters on the side of the cab (a suggested but quickly rejected idea) this is a way for us to find little things in the Tron world together that we think are really cool and then I can work to apply them to the design of the cab. Think Macro. I don't believe the cab requires a Tron related name because the design is only going to be "inspired by" and won't actually have any images of the grid or characters from the movies. We have collected some images from the movie that I will add to this post shortly.
For the name I want something short that suggests it plays multiple games. I am leaning towards Arcadium. It is simple enough and suggests arcade.

Build:

I plan to use the existing hardware that I have. I will outline that in an upcoming post. I also want to push the limits of my router skills (slightly past beginner level) as well as maintain a high degree of fit and finish (think Sonic Hedgehogs work on his racing cab or flight seat and then dial it back because his work is amazing). I already have a basic cab. I believe it is a Dynamo HS-5 cab that I mangled 10 years ago when I hastily entered the hobby. It needs some work done, holes filled etc. but it cannot be returned to it's original state.

...more soon...

[n3wt0n]

I am planning to try something I have not seen on here before and that is an edge lit marquee. I have taken the original marquee retainer (which was sandblasted and repainted a long time ago) and applied a strip of white LED lights to it with the adhesive backing. It is roughly the same width of the two 1/8" pieces of plexi used in the marquee area.



I then notched the bottom of the two pieces of plexi using the router. I notched it just enough that the plexi still sits on the retainer and misses sitting on the strip of LEDs. I imagine it would have been fine sitting directly on them because they have a rubber coating over them but I didn't know if that would effect them long term.



One thing that has worried me from the beginning of owning this cab was the way the marquee retainer was mounted.  It was just screwed into the wood and those four screws were the only thing holding up the plexi and the retainer. I have already needed to go up a screw size once to keep the retainer good and tight so I found threaded inserts with a flange on the top that could replace the large screw holes and let me take the marquee retainer on and off as many times as I needed.





The end result is nice and clean. More to come on the marquee area in the near future.

[n3wt0n]

I missed winning a nice router table on a local auction site the other day and I was a bit bummed so I decided to make my own. It doesn't raise and lower and do all those fancy things that they can do but for just flush trimming it seems to work great so far.







After a few cuts it was evident that I needed a dust collector. Luckily I had what I needed to rig that up too. I was surprised how much fun working though these little problems can be. At the end of the day my little makeshift router table was my favorite thing that I had made. 

[vwalbridge]

You know what? That's pretty dang cool actually. 

[yotsuya]

I missed winning a nice router table on a local auction site the other day and I was a bit bummed so I decided to make my own. It doesn't raise and lower and do all those fancy things that they can do but for just flush trimming it seems to work great so far.







After a few cuts it was evident that I needed a dust collector. Luckily I had what I needed to rig that up too. I was surprised how much fun working though these little problems can be. At the end of the day my little makeshift router table was my favorite thing that I had made. 

That's pretty handy, and your wiener stays safe as well!

[n3wt0n]

That's pretty handy, and your wiener stays safe as well!

You know what? That's pretty dang cool actually. 

Okay, you can use it VW but you have to call it The Wiener Cage. I just filed a trademark on the name. Thanks Yots.   

[n3wt0n]

Since I had a router table sorted it was time to get started on the control panel base. Knowing what I know now I would have never mangled this cab and I would have started from scratch. That being said I cannot change the mistakes 10 years ago me made and I can just make the best of the situation. I started out with good old cardboard sheet to get my sides. I copied the lines and angles from the side of the cab and made sure to have a control panel angle that is between 2 and 7 degrees as suggested way earlier in the post.



I then cut it out and taped it to the side of the cab to see if I liked the profile.



Once I liked the cardboard shape I transferred it to 3/4" MDF and rough cut it out with a jigsaw.



Using my router, some double sided tape and a straight piece of scrap wood, I flush trimmed all the straight edges. After I had the straight edges done, I found something round that fit the profile to help make the corners perfect. I double sided taped that to the MDF and used the flush trim bit to follow the curve and make nice clean corners.





Once I had my "master" shape cut out I gave it a quick sanding just to make sure it was right on the money and I was then ready to make copies for the "ribs" of the structure. It's common knowledge that double sided tape is the best way to go about making a copy of a master or a template but I found a great tip online about using double sided tape with masking tape to help with the super stickiness of the double sided tape as well as the residue that it can potentially leave on your wood. So here it is... I took wide masking tape and I put it in the same area on both the piece to be cut as well as the master template piece (wipe your pieces clean of any dust). I then applied the double sided tape on to the masking tape on the piece to be cut. Then I stuck down the master template to the piece to be cut. The double sided tape was then stuck to masking tape on both pieces. This did make getting the pieces apart WAY easier since the tack on the masking tape is much lower than the double sided tape. An added bonus was that sometimes if they came apart well enough you could get two or three uses out of the double sided tape by carefully peeling the masking tape off the one side.

step 1: masking tape on both pieces (roughly in the same place)


step 2: put on the double sided tape and stick both pieces together


step 3: make perfect copies


...more to come...

[vwalbridge]

I like your style of work n3wt0n. Your ingenuity is great.  I've used a roll of tape a time or 2 for a rounded contour. 

Copy that on "The Wiener Cage".  Perfect name! 

[harveybirdman]

I don't really care for the theme you're going with, but those curves on the CP box look great.  Good job on the impromptu router table!

[n3wt0n]

I like your style of work n3wt0n. Your ingenuity is great.  I've used a roll of tape a time or 2 for a rounded contour. 

Copy that on "The Wiener Cage".  Perfect name! 

Thanks! Sometimes you have to use what you have around or you just end up driving back and forth to the hardware store. 

I don't really care for the theme you're going with, but those curves on the CP box look great.  Good job on the impromptu router table!

Thanks Harveybirdman.  I know I wrote about my theme a few posts ago but I have left the thread name as Blank Canvas because I am having a real hard time committing to it 100%. I know that is backwards to the way a lot of people go about their builds but who knows where this may lead. I hope you stick around for the rest of the build. I am sure I am going to need advice at some point and I would appreciate your opinion.

[harveybirdman]

I'm sticking around man, it looks great so far...

I'm sorry I didn't read closely enough, it sort of sounded like you were going to do a Tron theme for a cab that won't play Tron with native controls and well.... That's sort of a pet peeve of mine.

Plus Tron sucks anyway....

I'm really looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

[n3wt0n]

...continuing on with the "ribs" for the base...

Once I had 6 identical copies made of the ribs I needed to make end pieces that were 3/16 of an inch larger than the other ribs. I didn't have the ability to swap out the router bit bearing to make this adjustment so I used thin pinstripe masking tape I have had sitting around for years. You can probably get it at any paint store. I can't remember the original reason I have it but it sure did come in handy here.

I wrapped the tape around the bearing until I had the difference I needed, making sure I wrapped it very tightly so it didn't ripple or crease. I took a small piece of wood that was the thickness that I needed and slipped that under the taped bearing and against the cutter on the router bit to to gauge if I had put on enough tape or not. In the end it actually took very little time to do and was quicker and more accurate for my needs than changing out the bearing.

Tightly wrap the bearing. I wouldn't go much further than this. The tape was a bit wobbly.


After trimming the one edge. Nice and clean.


Progress so far. I think the ends are going to be a nice fit.


... to be continued...

[n3wt0n]

Carrying on with the ribs. I needed to remove a specific section of each rib. I (again) used double sided tape, straight pieces of wood and the flush trim bit in the router to make the shape. Then I just copied it for the other side.



 After carefully matching the position of each rib on each side I drilled some holes and added some threaded inserts for mounting.





Once mounting was I screwed and glued the end pieces together and added a brace across the bottom edge using pocket holes.



I also added a "front" that will eventually have the panel top hinges attached to it.



The base frame is almost complete.

[n3wt0n]

I have my first issue with the build. I was hoping to wrap the control panel base with a 1/8" panel that I bought at Home Depot but it doesn't want to bend and just breaks. I thought it may need to have some kerfing done to help it bend but even with that it just snaps off. Any suggestions for materials I could bend in this situation? Ideally it would need to be 1/8" but could be less. I am going to head to Home Depot to see if I can find something that will work tomorrow but any suggestions are more than welcome. Here are pics of my kerfing attempt.