Author Topic: My first attempt. A Cabaret (Cabrio) Cab (Read 6974 times)

WonderMellon · « **on:** September 09, 2004, 10:43:31 pm »

Well, I have been visiting these boards for a few years now and accumulating so much stuff that I figured I would have to actually build something sooner or later

I decided to get my feet wet with a smaller cab. I grabed the cabrio plans Jakobud had posted on the forums (I don't think they are actuall listed on his website). I wanted something I could build in and around my townhouse with little or no assistance. I have tried to spend a few hours over the past few weekends working on it and it is coming along nicely. I hope to put together a website sometime soon as well.

One thing I definately learned is that you can build a nice cab even if you live in an apartment or townhouse and space is an issue. I did all of the cutting on my front sidewalk and assembled the unit in the hallway of my basement. All of my tools are stored in a plastic bin that I can easily carry in and out. All in all it takes me about 10-15 min to set up and break down the work space. And that includes sweeping up the sawdust to keep my wife happy

WonderMellon · « **Reply #1 on:** September 09, 2004, 10:44:17 pm »

The basic frame done. Also, the point at which I borrowed a digital camera.

WonderMellon · « **Reply #2 on:** September 09, 2004, 10:46:16 pm »

The speaker plate and monitor housing in. There was a discussion on how large a monitor you can fit into one of these things. I am currently using a Dell 15 inch monitor. A 17 inch can fit, but you would have to have it almost horizontal. As it is this monitor touches the back of the cab.

WonderMellon · « **Reply #3 on:** September 09, 2004, 10:48:24 pm »

The current status of the project. Holes drilled for the speakers (using the speaker covers that came with the PC speakers) and bezel in place. I used an idea from Doc's modular setup and secured the monitor bezel with cabinet latches. They only cost $0.68 and by using them I have instant access to the monitor. They really work well.

tbombaci · « **Reply #4 on:** September 10, 2004, 12:37:52 am »

I like it. I like it alot.

It reminds me a of a Williams cabaret.

Do you have measured plans?

-Tom

WonderMellon · « **Reply #5 on:** September 10, 2004, 12:15:45 pm »

I am glad you asked. In searching for the post where I first saw them I noticed that JelloSlug wrote them up and not Jakobud. You can see the original post here:

http://www.arcadecontrols.org/yabbse/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=6465

I will also attach the plans here as well.

WonderMellon · « **Reply #6 on:** September 13, 2004, 10:11:02 pm »

I was able to get a bit more work done. Here I added the frond acess door, the casters and leg levelers.

WonderMellon · « **Reply #7 on:** September 13, 2004, 10:11:47 pm »

Oh yes, the wood putty and wall spackle on the OSB

WonderMellon · « **Reply #8 on:** September 13, 2004, 10:13:02 pm »

I was able to get 2 coats of primer on tonight. Battleship grey. Don't think I haven't considered calling it "NAVY Cab" and calling the paint job done.

RayB · « **Reply #9 on:** September 14, 2004, 11:33:22 am »

Still looks quite rough. You're gonna need more patching and sanding...

WonderMellon · « **Reply #10 on:** September 16, 2004, 12:52:31 pm »

Well, I was torn between going back and re-patching or just leaving it like it is. I decided to let it sit for a day or two (my schedule for the past few days helped this along) and take a fresh look at it to reevaluate. I went downstairs last night and saw how obvious the dents and gashes from the OSB were. So I broke out the spakle again and filled in the holes. I hope to give it another coat or two of primer tonight and see how it looks.

MiKman · « **Reply #11 on:** September 17, 2004, 02:34:55 am »

Cool looking design. If you gotta spackle so much and were gonna paint it, how comey ou went with the OSB? Just curious why you didn't get MDF or something smoother in the first place...

WonderMellon · « **Reply #12 on:** September 17, 2004, 12:40:21 pm »

The OSB was cheaper, seemed lighter, and was available in the 5/8 size I was looking for. What I didn't discover until actually painting it was that the 2 sides of the OSB are textured differently. One side feels smother in most places but you can feel the bumps and dents. The other side has a checkerboard pattern to it and feels rather rough to the touch.
I assumed that the rougher feeling side was less of a finish side so I put it on the inside. After the patching, sanding and the primer; the cabinet outside needed to be done again to fix all the places I missed. The inside came out very nice and I only had 2 very small spaces I had to patch again.
Part of the idea of making this cab was to do it as cheaply as possible. If you notice in the first few photos, not all of the wood is OSB. I bought 1 sheet of OSB and the rest is all leftover wood from projects other people in my family were doing.
I sanded and put another coat of primer on last night. It looks MUCH better. I will try to post a pic tonight.

the3eyedblindman · « **Reply #13 on:** September 21, 2004, 08:28:42 pm »

i really like this cab, i would liek to see more pictures of the progress.

WonderMellon · « **Reply #14 on:** September 21, 2004, 09:03:04 pm »

Thanks! I am glad you like it.

I did a bit more patching and sanding, then added another coat of primer. While not perfect the sides came out a LOT smoother. Here is a decent view.

WonderMellon · « **Reply #15 on:** September 21, 2004, 09:10:16 pm »

With the sides looking much more presentable, I moved on to the color paint. I have a deep red (almost maroon) paint left around the house. I am going to use that for the cab and flat black for the bezel and acess door.

Home Depot advertised this paint as a mix between flat and semi-gloss. It certainly has a different texture to it and has a tendancy to bleed through the base color. In this case, the grey primer makes it look rather pink. It will be much darker on the second coat.

the3eyedblindman · « **Reply #16 on:** September 22, 2004, 08:57:50 pm »

Looks good, i love the design, i thought ud paint it black tho! ill have to get used to the red, keep up the good work.

Bloinkxp · « **Reply #17 on:** September 22, 2004, 10:24:44 pm »

What a great looking RED cab.
I can't wait to see it finished.

WonderMellon · « **Reply #18 on:** September 30, 2004, 10:58:48 pm »

It has been a while since I made any updates. I have made some progress, but was without a camera for a while. Since my last update I have put the final coats of paint on and the color is a much deeper red now. The access door and monitor bezel are flat black.

WonderMellon · « **Reply #19 on:** September 30, 2004, 11:02:34 pm »

I was debating on how to handle the speaker when I was building the cab. I found a pair of PC speakers for $6 and decided that I would mount the speakers inside the cab, but just transfer the speaker grills to cover up the holes I cut. I would rather have black than blue, but it doesn't look too bad when standing in front of it. The flash makes the contrast look worse than it really is.

For volume, I used some epxoy on a bolt head and glued it to the volume knob. I then used a radio shack knob on the outside of the cab. It works fairly well.

WonderMellon · « **Reply #20 on:** October 30, 2004, 01:18:56 am »

It has been a while since I have made any progress on the cab. I have been too busy with work and when I had time to work on the cab I have been fooling with the control panel. I want a modular system since I can't fit joysticks, buttons and a trackball on such a narrow cabinet. I really like Doc's dowel system and gave it a shot, but no matter what I tried, I just could not get them to match up.
I have ended up drilling holes through the control panel into the supports and hammered in some T-nuts. It is not the prettiest solution but the panels can be removed with a few turns of a screw driver. Now that the modular issue has been resolved, I am working on the overlays. Here is my first design for the joystick panel. Each panel is 4.75 inches wide by 7.5 inches tall. The image is a bit bigger all around to wrap onto the sides a bit.

WonderMellon · « **Reply #21 on:** October 31, 2004, 10:28:38 pm »

I worked on the button overlay tonight. Hopefully I can get the control panel modules done by the end of the week.

WonderMellon · « **Reply #22 on:** December 01, 2004, 11:20:18 pm »

The Cab has been in a playable state for quite some time, but I did not have access to a camera. I got the panels installed and the buttons working. It is not complete yet, but very fun. My daughter loves it too. She plays a mean game of Puzzle Bobble

WonderMellon · « **Reply #23 on:** December 01, 2004, 11:24:52 pm »

I had high hopes of trying to make some nice neat wiring. I have seen some projects here where the wiring looks almost as good as the cab itself. This is NOT one of those projects.

I still need to strap a few things down and staple the admin line to the cab wall, but I doubt it will look much better.

My current computer will not fit inside the cab, so I have a smaller one that I need to configure and set up. Right now the computer is sitting alongside the cab.


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