"shorty" Pac project (update=bezel and artwork added!)

[nostrebor]

Long time lurker here... Finally felt the urge to join and share my project.

I have been planning this cabinet for about 6 months, working on it for about 4 weeks. I probably have about 16 hours or so in the construction, and am almost done with the woodwork part

A few specs:

17" pc monitor from a college auction. Turned out to be a trinitron.

AMD 1.8 with 256mg ram, and 80gig HD. Computer was free from work (DVD,CDRW,floppy,video card included) had a dead MB. Paid $27 for a new MB, and actually got paid $20 to buy the HD after rebates. Computer cost = $7

I-PAC for inputs

All wico leaf sticks. (2) 8-ways for Robotron, and a 4-way for LOML to play Ms Pac Man.

Bob Roberts took care of the rest, except coin up buttons and start buttons will be radio shack mini buttons to save some space.

Cabinet is built at 3/4 scale from Jakobuds Pac Man plans, but 22" wide inside to allow for the 8-ways. It is sized so my 5 year old can stand and play, and I can sit and play.

Used 5/8" MDF and 3/4" MDO for construction. NO fasteners through the sides! It was a goal of mine to not have any patching to do on this. My primary hobby is woodworking so I went the dado and glue-joint method, and am very pleased with the results. The joints ended up nice and tight, with good adhesion. The cabinet is "strong as bull".

I'll just let the pics speak for the rest. Let me know what you think!

[nostrebor]

Pic of side showing dado's

[nostrebor]

rear view with monitor

[nostrebor]

Control panel and bezel board. Both are easily removeable for maintenance, and will be covered by artwork/plexiglass.

[nostrebor]

Last one... back side of CP. Waiting for connectors and wire from Bob so I can finish this up.

[crashwg]

I am completly stunned and impressed by the quality craftsmanship you have put into this cab.  Great work!

On the other hand, I completly dispise you for making my cab (mini galaga) look so ameteur.    

Personally I think you have gone overboard on the amount of joysticks you put on a mini but I'm assuming you're a big fan of Robotron but I'm still not understanding the third joy that is higher than the other two.   ??

Keep up the great work and keep us posted!

[froggerman]

Personally I think you have gone overboard on the amount of joysticks you put on a mini but I'm assuming you're a big fan of Robotron but I'm still not understanding the third joy that is higher than the other two.   ??

Lower joysticks are Wico 8-ways, higher one is a Wico 4-way.

[Witchboard]

I like how you've recessed your admin buttons in the front.  Everything is looking great so far.  Keep up the good work and keep the progression pics coming.

[Edgedamage]

Pic of side showing dado's

Done with a router?

[javeryh]

It looks fantastic so far!  I also like how you recessed the admin buttons - I might have to "borrow" that idea for my cab.  

I have some questions regarding your woodworking - did you use a table saw with a dado cutter blade or a router to make your cuts?  If you used a table saw, what kind did you use?  I'm looking to buy one soon and I've seen a lot of "affordable" ones ($300) but I'm not sure they will get the job done...  

Also, if you were using 3/4" material for the sides of your cab, how deep did you cut the dado?  1/4"? 5/8"? 1/2"(!)?  Thanks!  Keep the pics coming!!!

[nostrebor]

Can't stay logged on at work so answers will come as I can get the time...

Crash... Personally I think you have gone overboard on the amount of joysticks you put on a mini.

Personally I think you may be right, but I don't know if LOML will let me do this more than once. A good portion of my planning phase was spent wearing out an autocad drawing trying to decide what controls to use. Robotron controls just had to be there. Later if I find that it is overkill, I will probably make another CP with a T-stick+ and lose the wicos.

for the other questions...

Router was used for the dados. I made a simple jig that is like a saw-board. Just a straight edge for a router, which uses my 1/2" router bit. I used 5/8" MDF, so 1/4" deep for the dados IMO is max. It should be deep enough for 3/4" as well. I wouldn't want to dance on top of this cab, but the joints are plenty strong enough for the intended use. I also planned enough solid cross pieces in both directions to give the cab stability. Not all of the fixed boards are on yet, so stay tuned.

Table saw...

There is only one choice for less than $1000. Ryobi bt3100. $300 at HD with a free accessory kit if bought before 10-15. ($100 value) search for bt3central and check out the forum. There will be more info than you can imagine, and super nice folks there. It is a fantastic saw for the $$

[nostrebor]

oops

forgot to say thanks!

oh, and the admin buttons are recessed so my little girl won't lean on them and exit her game accidently.

[crashwg]

What are the 4 holes at the top corners of you cp for?  
Are you making the CP hinged and those are some sort of locking mechanism?  
Please tell me that's the case as it is what I'm doing and I haven't quite figgured out how I'm going to lock the CP down yet!

[nostrebor]

The 4 holes are for 4 small radio shack buttons for coin and payer start buttons. The buttons are too shallow to mount in the wood so they will mount to the plexi. the holes are just for clearance.

I am going to keep the CP completely removeable but the latches I used would work with hinges. They are draw catches, similar to the original Pac CP latches, about $3.00 each at the cabinet hardware store. I'll try to get a pic later. I will have a front door with a little coin mech, and opening it will give access to the latches/cp wiring/dvd player. If you have access these latches should work for you.

edit: added pic of similar catch.

[nostrebor]

Had some progress on this cabinet...

Wired the control panel.  
Built the computer mount.
Played a game!

Not without some problems, but it is working.

pics to follow, starting with the wiring job.

[nostrebor]

And here is the computer... had to lose the case to get it to fit in the short cabinet.

[nostrebor]

and last pic.

Rats nest is an understatement, but it powers up and works! Have one controller issue, and a lot of tidying up to do, and then it's on to finishing the back, mounting some fans, and playing some games to shake it down

[nostrebor]

OPERATIONAL!!

[javeryh]

Looks great!

[nostrebor]

Thought an update might be in order We've mostly been playing games, which cuts into the finishing part, but I have made some progress.

1. made a bezel from black matte board. hot glued to bezel board and at corners. (I LOVE HOTGLUE )

2. Finished bending and polishing plexi for the cpo and bezel board, turned out perfect.

3. learning illustrator ... it's a lot different than AutoCAD Thanks to Mahuti for the artwork repository, I have some custom made pac man art. Plotted at work for free so no cash spent so far for artwork

                    -----------here is a pic-----------

[MPS]

You have done some interesting artwork on your control panel and you have inspired me to take mine in a different direction.

I am currently restoring a beat up Pac-Man cabaret cabinet.  Repairing the damage to the cabinet was the easy part, and I think it will look pretty close to original when it is all done.  I will be using MAME on the cab for about 25-30 "vertical" games, and had planned on adding two buttons on either side of the joystick.  That more or less rules out installing an original Pac-Man control panel overlay since the buttons will cover up the artwork.

Since I am "challenged" when it comes to paint/artwork programs, I was just going to powdercoat the control panel black and be done with it, but after seeing what you have done, I may rethink that decision.  

[kcorcoran]

getting ready to build one of these but of ms pac.

can you explain how you bent the plexi for the CP?
it's the same idea I had but wasn't sure of the best way to do it.

advice or links would be greatly appreciated.

[nostrebor]

getting ready to build one of these but of ms pac.

can you explain how you bent the plexi for the CP?
it's the same idea I had but wasn't sure of the best way to do it.

advice or links would be greatly appreciated.

Ok I'll try. I used 1/8" acrylic from lowes, nothing special here. My control panel is plywood and L-shaped, and I radiused the edge with a router and a 1/4" round-over bit. I made a "buck" to bend the plexi around. Basically it is a piece of mdf, 26" wide and about 12" long, with a 1/4" round-over along one 26" edge.(plywood or particle board will work fine also as long as it is FLAT)To bend the plexi I first laid the buck on my bench, at the edge of the bench with the radiused edge up. The idea is to let the plexiglass hang over the edge and bend it down over the buck. I took the full 24" x 48" sheet and placed it over the buck with about 6" hanging over the edge (more than I needed) then I clamped another scrap piece of plywood over the plexi, making a sandwich of MDF/plexi/plywood. next i took a strip of MDF about 2" wide by 26" long and clamped it to the plexi on the "tongue" that is sticking off the bench. This is clamped so that only 1/2-3/4" of plexi is exposed. this is the part that will be heated and bent. Now I take a cheap heat gun (see attached pic) and start heating up the plexi strip over the bend area, moving back and forth to get the heat distributed. Patience is required here. The idea is to get the plexi hot enough to just start sagging over the buck. As soon as it starts to go, get the heat off and apply pressure to it to wrap it around the radius on the buck. I over-bent mine about 5 degrees to help keep it tight to the CP.

Easy as that

NOTE: it took 3 tries to get the heat right. First one was rushed and the bend "pooched" out and did not fit tight to the buck. Second try I kept heat on too long and bubbled the plexi. It takes some practice, but the outcome was perfect!

Good luck.

[kcorcoran]

thanks.
after i posted i did some googling and found pretty much the same info.

not sure if the wife is going to let me buy ANOTHER tool. i'll have to actually find another use for the heat gun around the house to justify the purchase. haha.

k.

[nostrebor]

Don't let a tool purchase slow you down  I think I only gave like $6.99 + tax for my heat gun at Harbor Freight, if you have a HF store close that is a great deal!

 Also might consider a high power hair dryer. It might take a bit longer but it might work. Also a flame source would work (propane torch or butane torch) but it would be much more touchy for overheating. Oh and your wood bucks might catch fire  

Maybe you should just stick to the hair dryer.

(edited for clarity)

[kcorcoran]

well i definitely have a torch in the garage... cant hurt to try.. unless i burn down the garage but it needs a new roof anyway.