johnnysmitch's CAF Arcade

[johnnysmitch]

Just wanted to start off by apologizing  for my apparently inappropriate title of my recent project announcement (thought I censored it enough [it takes the 'f' word twice in a movie to earn an R rating...   ].
  Anyways, I wanted to repost so that I could get some feedback on my project throughout the process, so here's a recap:

I'm building a freestanding, showcase-style control panel.  It will have a complete 4 player setup on one side, and the other side will feature an illuminated trackball, Tornado spinner, 4/8 way switchable T-Stick Plus, and pinball-style side buttons.  To switch between the two sets of controls, the panel will spin back and forth 180degrees and lock into place, allowing for plenty of room between players/controls withough having a 6 foot long CP.
 
As far as materials go, I'm building it out of 3/4" birch ply, and making a stainless steel top for the panel itself, featuring sandblasted space invaders graphics.  I'm planning on using this with a 52" rear projection TV that I won in a charity raffle for $1.

here's a sketch:

[johnnysmitch]

and here's my CP layout:

[JamIt]

I dig it.  Good luck and keep us updated.
--JamIt

[Ghoward]

Great design and I think the new name better too!!

Looking forward to your next update.

Gary

[whammoed]

Good idea.  I think it would also be cool if it rotated front to back instead of spinning around.  One set of controls on "top" and one on "bottom".  Would probably be harder though, and probably wouldn't add any extra functionality.
Anyway, hope it works out for you!

[snekse]

That's pretty sweet.  Keep us updated.  I'd like to see what other cool ideas you come up with.  I'm looking to do a 4 player rotating showcase (ala 1UP) but I may alter my plans if I see something I like.

[johnnysmitch]

I put in an honest weekend's work and made some progress on my machine - I finished the top and sides of my CP, and put all the controls in (just waiting on some quick disconnects so I can wire it all up - can't wait!)  I changed up the design a little; I didn't care much for how the birch looked with the stainless (oak would've looked a little better, I think), so I wrapped the outside in black vinyl, which I think gives it a nice bar look/feel.  I think the stainless top turned out very nice though, and the sandblasted graphics are pretty sweet.  Here's a pic (sorry about the quality - I'll take better shots later):

[johnnysmitch]

and the backside, so far:

[snekse]

I like the background design.  It's surprisingly original considering the theme.  Looks like you have some good spacing on the sides.  I imagine you're going to get some flak for the joystick in the upper right, but who cares, it looks nice.  I'm having a hard time seeing what's in the upper left though; is that a spinner and a small trackball?  Opps, just ansered my own question.  Looked back at your original layout.  Looks good.  Nice work.

[johnnysmitch]

 I imagine you're going to get some flak for the joystick in the upper right, but who cares, it looks nice.  

gotta remeber - this is a spinning control panel, so that joystick in the upper right will actually be in the lower left when using it (there's pinball style side buttons over there too).  Thanks for the feeback tho - this thing has been a buttload of work so far, but I'm really getting excited about it.

BTW - I ended up with a little bit of gap around my cp between the top panel and the wrap around - has anyone had any experience with putting T-molding on the face of their cab/cp?  I already ordered some to try out, but would like to know if there's any tricks to make it wrap around the angles...

[BobbyG66]

WOW!

Love that sandblasted stainless steel. Did you do that at your work or know somebody?
I bet you could sell those...

[Matt, GoC]

Wow that's CAF!!!

[johnnysmitch]

Hoping to get close to finished this weekend - going to wire up the controls, build the base, and put the majority of the computer inside - I'll be sure to take a few *much* better pics in the process.

As far as the stainless goes - my parents have an air compressor, and I've got a small sandblasting nozzle that I just feed with a bucket of silica sand - it works great for small work like this (you can also get cool results sandblasting some kinds of plexiglass/lexan).  If anyone wants to know anything about the process, let me know, and I'll be glad to help however I can.

Savvy?

[johnnysmitch]

Hey all, I've been making some decent progress finally, and thought I'd throw up some pictures of what I've got so far (the end is finally in sight...)  The first picture is a shot of the control panel, which I've built to swivel 180degrees around as planned, so you can use the trackball/spinner/4way/pinball buttons on one side, and spin the whole mess around for multiplayer.  The second picture shows off my latest labor of love, a piece of plexi that I etched by hand, and mounted and lit on the face of my machine (had to make my own hardware - that was a pain).  Finally the 3rd picture is a closeup of said plexi with the lights off.  Please excuse the filthyness of everything, it's still in progress so it hasn't gotten a cleaning yet (can't even see the sandblasted invaders on stainless top...)  I would LOVE some feedback.

[johnnysmitch]

2

[johnnysmitch]

and 3

[whammoed]

Wow, how did you do that to the plexi?
Also, how does it spin and how do you keep it locked in place and how do you keep it from turning round and round and round twisting the wires up?
by the way, very cool.

[Matt, GoC]

Mamey!

[johnnysmitch]

Wow, how did you do that to the plexi?
Also, how does it spin and how do you keep it locked in place and how do you keep it from turning round and round and round twisting the wires up?
by the way, very cool.

I ended up etching the plexi by hand with an exacto knife (if you're trying this yourself, a word of caution - when your hand starts to cramp up, PUT DOWN THE KNIFE BEFORE SHAKING YOUR HAND - I didn't heed this advice and my exacto flew past my face and stuck in the wall   ).  To answer your second question, I found a seat mount from a truck that I welded 'stop tabs' into so that it would only turn 180 and back.  I was initially going to modify it further to use the latch to secure it at the two postitions, but after testing it out, I found that the stiffness of the spin was plenty to hold it in postition without needing a latch.

[Yander]

Wow that looks amazing. I also like to see the dreamcast on top of your TV.

[Acids]

LOL, i see you have that stripped carpet on the floor.
I must have been 7-8 years old when i last saw that.

I was at a friends place playing intellivision and after many hours of low res screens the carpet was too much...    

this is going back 20+ years....  

Anyway..   Awesome plexi.  you done that with a craft knife.?   its so uniform...  

[DarkKobold]

Wow. That plexi is awesome. How many hours did that take you? How did you see what you were doing while you are working? How much would it cost to have you do one?

Amazing...

[johnnysmitch]

thanks for all the positive feedback!  I'm almost completely done with the physical part of the cabinet now (put some more trim one, a final coat of paint, and some other minor stuff this weekend).  Unfortunately, another project I was working on fell over when i wasn't looking and CRACKED MY BEAUTIFUL PLEXI INVADERS... So I'll be making a new one today after work.  I don't recall exactly how long the first one took me, but I believe it was somewhere in the ballpark of 3 hours.  I guess I can get a better measure of that tonite.  A couple of things I'm going to do differently this time around is reverse my artwork to engrave, therefore it can be on the backside of the plexi (already knew this the first time, but somehow it slipped my mind when i was actually doing it), and come up with a way to support it from behind with standoffs or make it flush against the backing board, so that it won't be as susceptible to damage from bumping.  I'll just chalk it up as a learning experience...

As far as how i did it, i printed my artwork out (on multiple sheets) and spray-mounted it to my plexi, then just cut along the lines with my exacto (with significantly more pressure than when normally cutting).  It's not quite as clean as it looks in the picture - there are a few wavery lines and such, but it's really more of a nitpicking thing.  My next one will probably turn out better since i should have a better feel for it.  I'm going to experiment making some wallmounted signs for the room this way too, and if they turn out well and I'm comfortable enough with the finished project, I'll offer my services for others here.

[johnnysmitch]

OK, just finished the replacement plexi; kept an eye on the clock, and found that it took me almost exactly 2 hours to do all the engraving, and another 1/2 hour to peel all the tiny plastic pieces off.  Didn't remember it taking so long to get all the plastic off last time - if I were to do it again (hopefully a different one, and not a replacement   ), I think I would remove the blue plastic right away, and spray-mount template right to the plastic (I'm using temporary photomount, so it doesn't leave a film), which would enable me to simply wet the paper when i'm done and wipe it right off.  Anyways, it looks like my I did a little cleaner job this time, so I'm happy.  My next plexi project will probably be more complex though - i'm thinking something that lights up two different colors.

BTW - I don't think i ever explicitly mentioned the scale of this piece - it's an uncut sheet of 18"x24" plexi.  I'll try and post new pics tomorrow.

[Matt, GoC]

I sent an e-mail to the guy who gives mamey awards about your panel.  I think it'll be an easy victory !

[durak]

Wow! amazing work, both the panel and the plexi!
I was actually also thinking of making a wallmounted sign, haven't gotten into it yet..

[Zakk]

Holy crap this is #$#@ing crazy!

#$#@ing awesome job!  I give it a #$#@ing thumbs up, and I sent a picture to my buds that help me vote on these.  I can't imagine that they won't all come back #$#@ing thumbs up too, but we'll see by tomorrow!!  I'd give it another 'R' rating, for #$#@ing radical!  

One question, would a dremel with the wand attachment make easier work of that plexi?  I think I need a close up of the procedure that you're using, since I don't know how you're attaching that template, etc.  Does the glue from the template wash off, is that it??

Man I knew this one was going to turn out awesome if it got done, bravo!!

[johnnysmitch]

Wow, a mamey nomination before I even have final pics - I'm flattered!  I can't wait to snap some final pics and show off some of my details now!  Still trying to figure out some sideart and stuff to do; got a few ideas brewing, just gotta act on em...

Zakk - to answer your questions: I was originally going to use a dremel (i've got a flex shaft for mine that makes it a bit easier to be precise), but because of the amount of small details and all straight lines, I didn't like how it looked with my smallest engraving bit.  Also, it is extremely difficult to get uniform depth on the engraving with a dremel used this way.  I'm going to try using the dremel on wall sign that I want to make, and I want to try using the router base to keep a nice uniform depth on that; I'll be sure to keep you updated on that - I might even write up a tutorial on plexi engraving highlighting the different methods you can use.  As far as my current procedure, I just print out my pattern (best to mirror it first, so you can keep the engraved side on the back, and therefore make it easier to clean), then spray mount it right to the plexi. I then just cut along the lines with my exacto, right through the paper and into the plexi.  If you use the right spray mounting stuff (the temporary stick stuff), you should be able to mount right to the bare plastic.  If you're uncertain, just leave the protective plastic on the plexi, and mount your template on top of that; it doesn't impede the cutting at all, just makes the cleanup a bit harder.  Almost forgot to mention - when doing this with an exacto, you're going to break the very tip off the blade within the first few cuts - DON'T REPLACE THE BLADE - it actually works far better when the tip isn't razor sharp; the knife doesn't slide around on the plexi as much then, and you get much better control of it.  Just be sure to take your time; one slip up and you'll either have to live with your mistake, or start over.  Drill any holes that need to be drilled in the plexi BEFORE you start engraving.  Start with the hardest/most detailed part of the engraving first, so it won't be as bad to start over if you make a big slip up early in the work, as opposed to at the very end.  Good luck!

[johnnysmitch]

OK, so I know I promised pictures today, but I never got around to taking any, as it was far more important that I spend about 2 hours playing Super Puzzle Fighter with my roomate last nite  .
I did, however, manage to finish mounting my plexi invaders, reinforcing it with a few very nice looking aluminum screwposts that I found at the hardware store.  All that's really left at the moment is some final trim work and cleanup.  Of course I'll be adding to everything constantly, but that'll probably just be detail stuff (still wanna come up with some sideart/frontart of some kind..., and maybe some vinyl decals for the cp, and...)  My next steps are gonna be making some custom layouts for mamewah and figuring out how to add some cupholders - any suggestions?

[johnnysmitch]

Started playing around with some possible side art - any feedback on this direction? Ideas? Also, noone has come up with any cupholder suggestions yet - I'm thinking of designing my own using either aluminum or acrylic (or both) pipe, etching/sandblasting them to go along with my theme...

[Zakk]

Before you outdo yourself even more:

http://www.mameworld.net/massive/Awards/Control_Panels/control_panels.html

It was the second only unanimous vote since I stopped being the "only judge".  Usually there is one of us that doesn't like something and votes against, but this is full out admiration.  In fact the only comment I got against was "too nice to be in an arcade"

Cheers    

[johnnysmitch]

Wow, sweet deal!  Thanks for the nomination and votes!  I'm honored!  This gives me even more motivation to put up a decent website for my project!  

[Matt, GoC]

Congratz!

[johnnysmitch]

while i'm waiting on some materials to put the final touches on my machine, i'm working on some layouts for mamewah - here's my first, slightly censored, that i want to use for mame.  Any comments/suggestions?

[BobbyG66]

I would say that is definately CAF!

[johnnysmitch]

ok, here's a couple more layouts i've been working on - they're still a bit in progress, but i think this is the general direction i wanna go with my console layouts - I'd love some feedback on 'em:

[johnnysmitch]

and here's the other:

[GGKoul]

Great Work!!!  I wouldn't mind a copy of you MameWah Skins

[johnnysmitch]

Great Work!!!  I wouldn't mind a copy of you MameWah Skins

thanks!  when i'm all done, i'm going to put up a project website, where I'll try to put up tutorials for stuff I had trouble with as well as unique things I did with my machine, and I'll put my skins on there too

[RayB]

NICE!!!!

[SpamMe]

Wow! I am really impressed.  Can you post a close up of the engraved plexi by chance (not lit up)?

I'd love some feedback on 'em:

They look good, but seem out of place (tint-oriented color schemes, elements/style not seen anywhere else)  given the other artwork, and the arcade layout (which I prefer).

[johnnysmitch]

Wow! I am really impressed.  Can you post a close up of the engraved plexi by chance (not lit up)?

I'd love some feedback on 'em:

They look good, but seem out of place (tint-oriented color schemes, elements/style not seen anywhere else)  given the other artwork, and the arcade layout (which I prefer).

As to the photos of the plexi - I'll get to that this weekend for sure .  On the feedback for the layouts - I was feeling the same, that the console layouts so far are quite a different feel from the arcade layout, but I'm also thinking of putting together a standalone console emulator to run on a tv in my room or something down the line [especially since I'm not huge on standing/sitting on a stool for the amount of time it takes to go through a console game], so the console layouts will mostly be for that system, and will be just kind of an additional feature of my arcade system.  I definately appreciate the feedback tho - shows that I wasn't alone in this line of thinking

[johnnysmitch]

Here's the layout background I came up with for PinMame - this one took several iterations, but I think it fits almost perfectly with my mame layout now.  I'll take some snapshots of these in action as soon as I get a chance - the first one looks great in mamewah!
[picture updated - see below]

[johnnysmitch]

No major updates just yet - been busy fumbling around with the software end of my beast... got a few pictures to add tho.  First, here's the pic requested of the plexi invaders with the edgelighting off (first one is with flash - very subtle, and the second one is no flash)

[johnnysmitch]

and no flash:

[johnnysmitch]

and here are my 2 main layouts in action:

[Matt, GoC]

Dude, I just realized that your carpet has the same pattern as my favorite chair .

[johnnysmitch]

heheh, yeah, the carpet feels about as good on the feet as it does on the eyes; gonna steal a rug from my folks this weekend [i'd just rip the stuff out and put in something better, but I rent the place...]

[darktemp]

I have to say these are the best front end skins i've seen so far.  Great job on both of them.  Any chance of posting the hi-res art for the arcade one?  I would love to use some of the graphics for my instruction card.  

[johnnysmitch]

I have to say these are the best front end skins i've seen so far.  Great job on both of them.  Any chance of posting the hi-res art for the arcade one?  I would love to use some of the graphics for my instruction card.  

Thanks!  Like I said awhile ago, I'll be putting my layouts up for grabs when I get my project site up (hopefully soon...), and you can grab whatever you can use then.

On a darker note, my project has hit a pretty sizeable snag... I'm using an Ipac4 in my machine, and ever since I first wired it up, there have been controls that werent working (p3 start, p4 directionals) - I just figured it was my wiring, and I would go through all that with a fine tooth comb later on (since the trouble was all with p3 and p4 controls, I wasn't too worried at the moment and wanted to forge ahead for awhile).  Now last night, I've gone over and checked all my wiring, cleaning up any suspicious connections and such, and the problem controls still aren't working.  I check them in WinIPAC, and some aren't registering at all, while others are registering as 2 switches at the same time... it's not my microswitches, as I tried them on inputs that HAVE been working fine, and they work fine there... anyone here ever confront this problem?? I'm waiting to hear back from Andy, and I'm kinda stressing out about it (so close to being finished now... don't wanna have to buy a new board and do more wiring!!)

[screaming]

Wow, this is really cool!  I had a similar idea to make the top of my CP similar to the base of your cab with the lights and the etchings.. One thing I couldn't figure out though is how to light it without the lights being shown? Since you will be looking down onto the top of the CP, you don't have a lot of hiding space.. Any ideas?   Can you show how you hid the lights on yours?

-Steve

[johnnysmitch]

Wow, this is really cool!  I had a similar idea to make the top of my CP similar to the base of your cab with the lights and the etchings.. One thing I couldn't figure out though is how to light it without the lights being shown? Since you will be looking down onto the top of the CP, you don't have a lot of hiding space.. Any ideas?   Can you show how you hid the lights on yours?

-Steve

I don't have any pictures handy at the moment to illustrate it, but basically I just hid a cold cathode light under the aluminum angle at the top and bottom of the plexi; I originally made it more complicated than it needed to be when I was trying to use the aluminum angle as the sole means of holding up the plexi...  As far as what you'd like to do, I think it would work fine if you possibly made your plexi stick into the area under your monitor a bit, and stick a light in there (that is, if you're building a traditional-style cab).  Remember, you really only need light on one edge of the plexi to get all the engraving to light up

[johnnysmitch]

OK, thought I'd give an update for anyone that cares...

Firstly, I'm working on fixing my Ipac; talked to Andy via email, and he told me how to check each input of the ipac to make sure that it wasn't just a software discrepency... found that I had 3 faulty inputs (2 giving no response, 1 with crosstalk).  I was initially kinda bummed, cause this meant that I would have to send it back and wait for a replacement, setting the completion of my machine back probably a couple weeks.  I realized, though, that I had plenty of unused, perfectly good inputs in the way of my p1 and p2 button 7&8 inputs, as well as p3 and p4 inputs 5-8, so with a little ipac reprogramming, I think I'll be able to get everything running smooth after all.  Also, just to let everyone know, Andy has been great help in the whole ordeal, and offered to replace my ipac if I decide that I'm not happy with the board because of the bad inputs.  I'll keep you posted on how it all turns out...

Secondly, I drew up some decals that I'm having cut out of adhesive vinyl to add to the top of my control panel (see picture below).  Hopefully I can pick these up this weekend, and post pictures of how the cp looks with them applied.

Finally, I'm getting a bit experimental again (after being inspired by how my plexi turned out   ), and I'm going to try my hand at molding some translucent joystick handles.  Why, you ask?  Because I intend to light them, of course! This will definately take some time to work out fully, but I've already taken the first steps, gathered my materials, and made some test-castings in acrylic resin... getting pretty psyched about that.

Also in the works, I've gotten ahold of some phosphorescent (sp?) paint as well as powder, and I'm experimenting with those to possibly use on some sideart stuff, cp top accents, or maybe even mixing in with my casting resin...

Sorry to be so long winded here... hopefully I'll have some new photos for ya next week.

[screaming]

I don't have any pictures handy at the moment to illustrate it, but basically I just hid a cold cathode light under the aluminum angle at the top and bottom of the plexi; I originally made it more complicated than it needed to be when I was trying to use the aluminum angle as the sole means of holding up the plexi...  As far as what you'd like to do, I think it would work fine if you possibly made your plexi stick into the area under your monitor a bit, and stick a light in there (that is, if you're building a traditional-style cab).  Remember, you really only need light on one edge of the plexi to get all the engraving to light up

   How far will the light travel through the plexiglas?  I have a decent-sized SlickStick Quad-style 4 player frankenpanel now with the approximate dimensions of 48"x24".  Will a light in the back of it (near the monitor) light up etchings towards the front and the sides of it, do you think?

  Also remember that since it's a control panel top, it will have 3/4" wood underneath the plexi to screw the controls into.  What kind of issues will I run into with that?

-Steve

[johnnysmitch]

I don't have any pictures handy at the moment to illustrate it, but basically I just hid a cold cathode light under the aluminum angle at the top and bottom of the plexi; I originally made it more complicated than it needed to be when I was trying to use the aluminum angle as the sole means of holding up the plexi...  As far as what you'd like to do, I think it would work fine if you possibly made your plexi stick into the area under your monitor a bit, and stick a light in there (that is, if you're building a traditional-style cab).  Remember, you really only need light on one edge of the plexi to get all the engraving to light up

   How far will the light travel through the plexiglas?  I have a decent-sized SlickStick Quad-style 4 player frankenpanel now with the approximate dimensions of 48"x24".  Will a light in the back of it (near the monitor) light up etchings towards the front and the sides of it, do you think?

  Also remember that since it's a control panel top, it will have 3/4" wood underneath the plexi to screw the controls into.  What kind of issues will I run into with that?

-Steve

If the light's bright, it'll carry all the way through the edge on plex that size - my plexi is 24x36, and it lit up pretty well with only one of the lights one (i ended up putting one on top and one on the bottom because i had them) - also, the brightness depends alot on the positioning of your lights - positioning the light to shine into the edge of the plexi works significantly better that putting the light BEHIND the edge of the plexi (that's actually how mine is, simply because i was having trouble mounting them together correctly) - I'd say it's probably about 15% brighter when the light is placed on the edge.  Finally, try to isolate the light so that it's shining ONLY into the plexi as much as possible - the more light that escapes around the plexi, the less dramatic the effect within the plexi.

[Gunstar Hero]

I know this is gonna sounds lame... but...

If it's a USB IPAC, try changing it to a different USB port.

My IPAC2 was giving me fits... Missing inputs, wouldn't program, you name it. I changed USB ports, the freaking thing started working like a champ.

And if it doesn't work, hey, it took 30 seconds to try, right?

[johnnysmitch]

IT LIVES!!!

Gunstar - when I was first having trouble with it, I immediately suspected something with the usb (have had other usb problems with the comptuter before), so I immediately switched to PS/2, which I tend to trust more to begin with (at least w/ Windows...)

Anyways, I did the whole switcharound with the faulty inputs and unused good ones, reprogrammed them with WinIPAC, and made sure everything was set up properly in mame's ctrlr file, and everything's working GREAT now!

On another note - no feedback on the decals?  I hope to get them on my cp this weekend, and have some pics for ya's next week.

[nathan118]

I second having your mamewah layouts for download. Those things are NIIICE. It's guys like you that give us all something to shoot for.  

[LeedsFan]

I second having your mamewah layouts for download. Those things are NIIICE. It's guys like you that give us all something to shoot for.  

I  totally agree. That MameWah skin is EXACTLY what I've been looking for in my project. It's not finished yet but that design will really go well with my cab.

[johnnysmitch]

Decals got delayed a bit - hopefully THIS weekend... in the meantime, I got to one of my side projects earlier than I thought, and have some pictures to share...

I machined myself a joystick shaft with a hole through the center, in hopes of fullfilling my goal of lighting up my sticks [catch on yet that i'm into the lighting thing?] - got some pretty successful results, considering it was my first ever experience with a metal lathe:

[johnnysmitch]

stuck a blue ultrabright LED in there with the necessary capacitor and fed my wiring through...

[johnnysmitch]

then I stuck on an acrylic sphere that I had lying around for just such an occasion, and put my newly created joystick on my cp...

[cue victory music]

that's my stick on the left, and my trackball on the right

[johnnysmitch]

and with the lights on...
BTW - the stick looks short because it is - I machined it with the intention of molding a bat top for it down the line

[johnnysmitch]

and of course the gratuitous full-on shot...

[danny_galaga]

you should change your name to 'johnnylightswitch'  

nice work  

[BobbyG66]

Totally outrageous!
Well Done!

[Totallyout2lunch]

Absolutely effing fantastic....

When are you going to go into production with the joystic stems and balls?

PM me with a price... Want some....

[Matt, GoC]

Showoff

[screaming]

I think.. I have.. full wood..

[johnnysmitch]

Ok, just got word that my decals are all cut and ready, so I'll be sticking em' on this weekend.

Thanks for all the positive feedback on my light-up balltop.  I'm getting some more lathe time this weekend, so I'm gonna try to crank some more out, as well as get a better feel for what the hell I'm doing.  I bought the acrylic balls from TAP plastics, but I'm hoping to be able to mold my own, as well as tinted acrylic bat tops... already had one [mostly] failed molding attempt, hoping the next goes better as I'll have the use of a vacuum pump for this one to make a better, bubble-free mold...
I've been exploring a parallel route to molding, and that's using the pre-formed spheres, but tinting them colors.  I've read that you can use simple RIT dye, with half the water and heated to between 145 and 160 degrees F to dye acrylic (usually to tint windows)... I tried this, with limited success.  The dyes DID tint the acrylic, but not really the colors that I aimed for - both colors ended up looking more like smoked acrylic; the pigment really didn't stay true.  Here's a picture of a clear sphere, one tinted with RIT 'Denim Blue', and one tinted with RIT 'Navy Blue', in front of a normal light bulb:

[johnnysmitch]

and here they are in front of halogen lighting:

[johnnysmitch]

So, based on the results of my tinting experiment, I'm hoping I can successfully mold my joystick handles myself, in which case I can tint them pretty much any color I want.

My next steps for my arcade are to paint some graphics on the base and apply the decals to the top (pictures whenever I get a chance)

Furthermore, I'm going to try to get a better handle on the whole metal lathe thing and perhaps even try to machine the elusive 'T-Stick Plus with hole throught the center' shaft, which would enable me to make the ultimate 4/8 way switchable, topfire, light-up balltop! Keep your fingers crossed for me.

[javeryh]

Awesome.  The talent and creativity around here never ceases to amaze me.

[Santoro]

You need to make and sell those joysticks.  Please?

I love the whole cab.   Great work.

[johnnysmitch]

Thought I'd update everyone on my weekend progress [no pictures at the moment, will try and snap some tonite] -

1.  I put in a few more hours on the lathe, and came out of it with two more joystick handles.  Getting a better feel for the lathe now, but I'm realizing that it's not really within my realm of ability (nor that of the outdated lathe) to produce these in any great number myself.  That said, I sent one of the sticks I made up to a machine shop so I can get a quote on how much a PROFESSIONAL can do 'em for - hopefully reasonably enough that I can pass some of these on to you fellow BYOAC'ers... Still gotta get my molding underway, and keeping my fingers crossed with that one.  My handles fit Competition bases right now - gotta get  my hands on a super joystick to get em flyin with those too... If any of you are interested in these things, please let me know through the poll I started here: http://www.arcadecontrols.org/yabbse/index.php?board=2;action=display;threadid=26595 - I don't want to pour too much time into the whole production of these things if there isn't much demand for them...

2. My CP decals finally came in, and I'm lovin em - I'll snap some pictures to share soon.

3. Put on my painter hat at the end of last week too - put some ghost-like flames on the front of my machine, and hope to add some to the sides, as well as some other detailing soon.  Again, I'll try and snap some pictures tonite.

In the meantime, I'm gonna get back to working on my layout skins and getting my software all in order.  Getting so close now...

[DYNAGOD]

i work doing design engineering at a precision CNC machine shop.
any help you need working up engineering drawings or if your simply looking for a quote on production, gimme a shout.
love to help ya out.
 

[tshizzle.com]

lets see some more pics!  love the cab!

[ras2a]

Fook me, that cab is STUNNING !!!  I sincerely wish I had the time and inclination to get mine up to this standard..

[johnnysmitch]

Hi all - as always, thanks for all the positive feedback!  I've been kinda lazy this week and haven't gotten anything new done (damn that GTA: San Andreas!) - I was going to do some work, but then I ended up playing about an hour of Puzzle Bobble with my girlfriend instead   .  So far it seems that Puzzle Bobble and Super Puzzle Fighter are my most played... gotta have a fighter party or something to balance it out   .  Behind the scenes, I've been working a bit on my handles, waiting for a quote from the machine shop, planning out my molds for the tops, and brainstorming how to make some T-Stick Plus replacements.  I promise I'll take more pics this weekend!

[johnnysmitch]

Holy crap! I just saw this thread ( http://www.arcadecontrols.org/yabbse/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=26954 ) about the new SlickStick balltops - those things are sweet looking! I'll have to definately get prices from my machine shop for stainless! (maybe aluminum too...) - kinda inspires me to get moving on my sticks (not that I'm competing in any way - just gives me more motivation to make something really cool).  BTW, I forgot to ask - can any of you that have supers/ultimates give me a quick drawing with dimensions/clip spacings of the sticks and shafts? I wanna make sure I make my sticks as compatible as possible.

[Zakk]

Don't worry about slickstick stuff, your design LIGHTS UP!!!  Sign me up as your first customer if you make some of these (did I mention I like things that light up too!)  

[johnnysmitch]

OK, finally got around to taking some more pictures this weekend; some of them are backtracking a tiny bit in the progress, but I thought I'd share nonetheless.  These first couple are from when I was lathing the first couple of shafts for my lightup balltops:

[johnnysmitch]

and the most difficult part of the lathing - drilling the through-hole:

[johnnysmitch]

here's a picture of when I was masking the sides and front for some painting:

[johnnysmitch]

and here's a pic of the cab after the paintjob - I don't know what's going on with the flash on my camera, but it's obviously pretty screwed up ATM... the detailing looks MUCH better than in this picture; the flames are very subtle [ a nice dark blue that fades into a translucent blue] - maybe even too subtle - I'm thinking of triming them out with some white or silver... feedback?

[johnnysmitch]

Here's a picture of the whole machine in the dim light [which is when all the lighting looks best...]

[johnnysmitch]

and finally, a closeup of the control panel, showing off my 2 current prototypes of my lightup balltops, as well as the vinyl graphics I recently put on [that I'm extremely happy with; adds some much needed contrast to the CP]

[wrxh8r]

This cab just seems to get better and better.Legendary
Gotta love those flames.

[Matt, GoC]

Awesome!

[johnnysmitch]

Don't worry about slickstick stuff, your design LIGHTS UP!!!  Sign me up as your first customer if you make some of these (did I mention I like things that light up too!)  

OK, I've gone this far... I'm gonna HAVE to light up my start buttons too   - any tricks for this? (I remember seeing stuff about it awhile ago, but I can't find anything now... Zakk?)

[wrxh8r]

http://www.arcadeparadise.org/arcade/ap3/lighting.html
I wanna do this myself

[johnnysmitch]

http://www.arcadeparadise.org/arcade/ap3/lighting.html
I wanna do this myself

very cool - thanks for the link! I'm not sure if I want to rig mine to flash w/games or just be always on - partly because my machine is 4player [so I'd prolly wanna light all 4 player buttons], and partly because I'm not sure how many games actually suppport flashing LEDs [just a handful of the classics, right?]

[Zakk]

There was a gizmo posted in here a while ago that would light the buttons that were active for a certain game.  I'm not sure if it ever got completed, but that would be killer.  

Too many lights might be overkill, (oh I can't beleive I'm saying that!).

Red volcano buttons would have been perfect...

[johnnysmitch]

Too many lights might be overkill, (oh I can't beleive I'm saying that!).

HAHA, NEVER!!!

[johnnysmitch]

starting to look REALLY sweet with the lights off...

[johnnysmitch]

and of course, a gratuitous dramatic-angle artistic shot:

[wrxh8r]

What would be really cool is if you could get your lit up ball like those cube things with the hologramy image in the centre.
A quick search reveals

If you could get some custom lasered spacy styles that would look pretty amazing.

[brained]

!@#$!@#!@# COOL!!!
I WANT ONE OF THOSE :

[HaRuMaN]

*drooling all over the keys*

I hate you...  

Seriously, though, that is awesome.  Hall-of-Fame quality work!  

[johnnysmitch]

What would be really cool is if you could get your lit up ball like those cube things with the hologramy image in the centre.
A quick search reveals

If you could get some custom lasered spacy styles that would look pretty amazing.

Yeah, I was thinking of something along those lines - either laser engraved, or possibly something that I'd embed in the handles when I mold them... maybe in version 2 of my lightup joys...  

[Zakk]

Out of curiosity, what sticks are these going to be made to fit?  I only ask since I saw 'ultimates' on that panel I think, but they are pretty poor sticks compared to supers or perfect 360's.  If you can get a pair done for 'super' sticks I'll paypal you in advance right now, no matter how long the delivery time  

(Heh, sorry just never have liked ultimate joysticks)  

[johnnysmitch]

Out of curiosity, what sticks are these going to be made to fit?  I only ask since I saw 'ultimates' on that panel I think, but they are pretty poor sticks compared to supers or perfect 360's.  If you can get a pair done for 'super' sticks I'll paypal you in advance right now, no matter how long the delivery time  

(Heh, sorry just never have liked ultimate joysticks)  

Actually, they're Competitions on my panel [stayed away from ultimates due to quite a lot of negative feedback thanks to the knowledgeable folks 'round here].  I definately want to make these things as compatible as possible - I think it was in the thread that I started in Buy/Sell/Trade that I requested someone to send me a control drawing of a Super stick, or possibly let me borrow one so I can machine a copy of the shaft/channels... I've noticed that Supers seem to be the most popular around here, along with Competitions I believe, and of course the T-Stick Plus, which I'm still working out a solution for  

[paulcola]

First time poster, long time gamer. There's nothing better than originality. I would love to see more unique cab's such as this, I'm really impressed.

Thanks for sharing your past and future experiences with this thing. BTW, is that screen hell on your eyes when you're trying to read text?

Paul

[johnnysmitch]

First time poster, long time gamer. There's nothing better than originality. I would love to see more unique cab's such as this, I'm really impressed.

Thanks for sharing your past and future experiences with this thing. BTW, is that screen hell on your eyes when you're trying to read text?

Paul

Welcome to the boards! Always good to see new people popping up.
To answer your question - yes, the screen is a bastard when reading text in windows, but text during games and such isn't bad.  Messing with my config files on it sucks quite a bit tho.

[MoonDog]

Like others have said before me, that is SWEET!!  I also really like your MameWAH layouts.  Whenever you get a chance to post those somewhere that will be a hot item to download.  Have you considered making an Atari 2600 layout?  

[lucindrea]

wow that thing is just sick .... heh no guest will forget that thing.  

[Pixelhugger]

HOLY CRAP!  

[GGKoul]

Looks good!!!

Just wondering if you are going to release some of the lightted joysticks??

As I'm very interested it a set!!

[johnnysmitch]

Looks good!!!

Just wondering if you are going to release some of the lightted joysticks??

As I'm very interested it a set!!

Yes, I've been working on getting a smallish run produced; I'm currently getting machining quotes, and I'm trying to cast the tops myself so that I can make custom translucent colors.  I'm still trying to get my hands on a Super stick so that I can try to make them compatible with both Super and Competition bases... look for updated progress after thanksgiving - I've got a few days off work that I'm gonna put towards this project.  Thanks for all the positive comments!

[Pixelhugger]

You are a god among men. This is one of those projects that ups the bar. A while back I had seen an engraved plexi sign in a window display which was lit from beneath with a blue neon tube. I fell in love with the idea but gave up the thought of incorporating it into my cab as I figured it would require expensive equipment and specialized lighting. My jaw flat out hit the floor when I saw this thread. This is gonna get copied! I hope you don't mind if I steal your CCFL fighting style for use in my own dojo. I am so excited this is possible.... not like I needed yet another detail to slow down my project, but this is just too cool to pass up. Unbelievable work.

[johnnysmitch]

You are a god among men. This is one of those projects that ups the bar. A while back I had seen an engraved plexi sign in a window display which was lit from beneath with a blue neon tube. I fell in love with the idea but gave up the thought of incorporating it into my cab as I figured it would require expensive equipment and specialized lighting. My jaw flat out hit the floor when I saw this thread. This is gonna get copied! I hope you don't mind if I steal your CCFL fighting style for use in my own dojo. I am so excited this is possible.... not like I needed yet another detail to slow down my project, but this is just too cool to pass up. Unbelievable work.

Hehe - thanks for the kind words! I'm glad you dig what I came up with; I can't wait to see how yours comes out too (you've got some remarkable ideas there!) Feel free to use any of the ideas I've done on my cab - I can't wait to see how people expand/improve upon the stuff I did (I almost wanna build another just to see what I could do with what I know now...). Keep on maming!

[Matt, GoC]

A while back I had seen an engraved plexi sign in a window display which was lit from beneath with a blue neon tube. I fell in love with the idea but gave up the thought of incorporating it into my cab as I figured it would require expensive equipment and specialized lighting.

Yeah, I thought of doing that too.  Johnny, could you give more info on how you placed the lights and how you planned it?  I know you gave an explaination but more info is good info (in the form of pictures please).  Also, do you think an engraver would work for something like this?  I know you thought about a dremel, but I've got a dedicated engraver and was entertaining the thought of using it to do a similar but more detailed sign for my apartment.  In high school I had a notebook with a black plastic cover that I engraved with a needle.  I still have that notebook and I am still impressed by how well I did the shading of the characters (several of the Dragonball Z fighters) just by using sketch-like lines.  I thought I might try the similar idea with an engraver.  Any thoughts / concerns?

[johnnysmitch]

As far as placing the light against the plexi, you can pretty much put it anywhere along the edges of the plexi.  For mine, for the sake of trying to mount it vertically, I actually put my light BEHIND my plexi, instead of on the edge [you can play around with the placement and see the difference it makes - more light gets into the plexi and engraved areas if the light source is placed on the edge of the plexi].  I basically constructed a 'slot' for my plexi using a couple pieces of angled aluminum and my ccfl light, as shown in the drawing below.  As far as using an engraver to do the etching, all I can say is try it out on some scrap plexi first.  I tried using my dremel, and wasn't very happy with the results for a couple reasons.  Number one is that I couldn't find a bit that would give me as thin a line as I wanted, therefore I couldn't get good detail.  Number two is, because of the nature of the tool (rotary) and the nature of the material (soft), I couldn't get a consistant 'cut depth' with the dremel. Furthermore, because I was using balltop bits (generally work well for engraving), the inconsistency of depth led to inconsistency in line thickness. Both could be rectified by using a depth guide (like the dremel router base), but this makes it a little more unwieldly - better for a larger pattern. When I get around to it, I want to make a sign for my arcade room, which I'll use a dremel for, and I'll post up my results and any other tips I pick up while doing it. Be sure to do the same!

[Matt, GoC]

cool, thanks!  Where do you get one of those ccfl lights?

[johnnysmitch]

cool, thanks!  Where do you get one of those ccfl lights?

You can get them at pretty much any place that sells computers now [I've even seen them at best buy and circuit city lately..] They'll be by the cases/casemods area.  I got mine at Fry's 2 for like $13.  You can also use ultrabright LEDs fairly successfully. That's probably what I'll use for my sign.

[Matt, GoC]

Thanks!

[willyum]

What program did you use to make that little illustration? And what device to draw it? (I'm sure it wasn't a mouse)

[johnnysmitch]

What program did you use to make that little illustration? And what device to draw it? (I'm sure it wasn't a mouse)

Actually, that WAS all mouse   - I used Adobe Illustrator; I use it at work every day, so I've grown pretty comfortable with it for quick illustrations.

[wrxh8r]

Also anyone interested in lighting plexi should look into laser etches.They do so many cool things with lasers nowadays .
Here is a very bad picture of my ps2 with only 1 led as i still havnt got round to throwing a ccfl in there.But you can get images etched to really good quallity.The place i went to only had up to 300dpi but they go alot higher.When they arnt lit up you can partially see through and the detail of the etch is fairly plain.But once they are lit it mint.Changing which side you light from also effects the image.
Different surfaces can be etched as well.They use it on marble floors for company logos.BRicks etc.

[johnnysmitch]

Agreed, laser etching would be VERY cool on an arcade project - you can get some really cool shaded effects that way.  Never looked too deep into it myself - how much does it usually cost?

[wrxh8r]

Its about $20-30 for window in a pc

[ChadTower]

That would be hellacool as a marquee or as the artwork around the monitor glass.

[johnnysmitch]

Just thought I'd throw out a quick update:
Got to test out the arcade for user-friendliness last weekend, as I had a small party at my place, and people managed to navigate the frontend and all pretty well (I've switched around the buttons a bit in mamewah to make my center pause button launch games  in mamewah).  I'm updating my skins right now with some graphics showing which button loads games and which button switches lists.
I got in a couple cupholders that I found on ebay (the square, flipdown kind) and I'm loving them - they blend in nicely with my machine (I'll update my pictures pretty soon).
My vinyl decals are holding up well except for around the joysticks - I stupidly made the arrows end right up against the dustwashers, so they instantly catch the edges and curl up the vinyl - good thing i've got some extras - I'll have to modify them a little bit.
I haven't forgotten about the lightup sticks - I'll be refining my shaft design a bit this coming week, as well as build my molds and see how well I can cast the tops. Keep your fingers crossed for me .
Still on my todo list is finish my detail painting on the sides/front (want to add some silver outlining around my flames to make them pop), make a nameplate for the front face of my CP (that will also serve to somewhat hide the seem in the vinyl upholstery), finish configuring a couple emulators (daphne and zinc), and finally put up my website.
Guess it wasn't such a short update after all  

[ChadTower]

Hey, what is the monitor you're using?  Is that from a Sega cab?  I have a 50" vf2 I'm going to start maming this weekend and if you're using a similar monitor you could probably help me a bit in getting the arcadevga settings and such right...

[Matt, GoC]

He's using a big TV he won at a raffle for a $1.  Lucky SOB...

[ChadTower]

So what video signal type is it using?  I would guess component or svid?

[gregor7777]

I just saw this announcement and shat myself.




OAN, how's the picture quality on the TV? Are you using component?

[johnnysmitch]

The TV's a crappy RCA - I won it in a raffle at walmart, and it was obviously a display unit that they could never sell anyways, as it's got a big 'Walmart TV' logo burned into the screen [not very noticeable while playing on it though - only really on light solid color screens]. Pretty nice for $1 tho   . I'm using S-Video to feed it, and the picture quality is pretty good. It's no monitor, but I'm happy with the quality, and I love playing all these great arcade games on such a big [52"] screen. Plus I can roll my arcade off to the side and use the TV as normal with no hassle.

[MoonDog]

Any word on making your MameWAH layouts available?  I think you did an awesome job on those and I'd love to add them to my system.  Have you considered making an Atari 2600 skin?

Your setup is definitely CAF!!!

[jagnogg]

I don't have any pictures handy at the moment to illustrate it, but basically I just hid a cold cathode light under the aluminum angle at the top and bottom of the plexi; I originally made it more complicated than it needed to be when I was trying to use the aluminum angle as the sole means of holding up the plexi...

[johnnysmitch]

Yes, the etching should work fine with lexan (in fact it might be a little easier to etch, since lexan scratches more easily). The reasons I used plexi instead of lexan for mine is because plexi is typically cheaper and you can cut plexi cleanly with a glasscutter-type tool (deeply scoring and snapping) instead of having to bust out the circular saw and making a mess.
To answer your second question, you will get some glowing effect as long as there's a light near the etched material - but the glow is much brighter/more pronounced if you edge-light it. As I think I mentioned earlier, mine isn't totally edge-lit - my lighting is behind the top and bottom of my plexi, not on the edges, so you could get some idea of how bright it is when not edge-lit. When I ever get around to making my project website, I'll try to throw up some comparisons on lighting positions. Good luck!