My Pacman profile cabinet (finished!......99%)

[missioncontrol]

what size is your CP?

[c64rulez]

26" x 14.5"

[c64rulez]

 Glad you like them Off to work now.. will send the file when I return.

 I use Photoshop 7. The shading is almost automatic.. I just tweak the standard settings to enhance it.

 If you cant get it printed.. you might be able to hire an airbrush guy to try as well.

 

Thank you. I truly appreciate it.

[missioncontrol]

any thoughts on what your marquee is going to look like?

[c64rulez]

I sense evil forces at work here behind those seemingly naive questions 

Still, I posted on page 2 my first version of the marquee. It's nothing much. I really like that blow-up image of the arcade icons, so it's that image resized to fit + my cab's name

[missioncontrol]

oh yeah that's right I got that confused with thr front end you making...

[c64rulez]

Go find a beer and do it fast
You're posts are starting to make sense

[missioncontrol]

I'm at work and they have this stupid rule about drinking on the job 

[c64rulez]

Man, I only drink and have this stupid rule about work.

[DrewKaree]

I'm at work and they have this stupid rule about drinking on the job 

That just means it's allowed.  They wouldn't make rules about it if they didn't want to control it.  Wanting to control it means they think it's fine, but within certain guidelines. 

I like the way I think.  I think I'll keep me. 

[Xiaou2]

  Played with your CP  design a bit.. 

  Maybe you do not care for a trackball.. but you Need a spinner : )   All those driving games need a good way to steer them : )  and also, breakout games too.

 The Cherry's are the 'spinner'   However, the placement might not be the most optimal for playability.   Could be moved easily.

 

 

[missioncontrol]

I'm at work and they have this stupid rule about drinking on the job 

That just means it's allowed.  They wouldn't make rules about it if they didn't want to control it.  Wanting to control it means they think it's fine, but within certain guidelines. 

I like the way I think.  I think I'll keep me. 

so you say they are trying to take my name?

[c64rulez]

Played with your CP design a bit..

 Maybe you do not care for a trackball.. but you Need a spinner : ) All those driving games need a good way to steer them : ) and also, breakout games too.

 The Cherry's are the 'spinner' However, the placement might not be the most optimal for playability. Could be moved easily.

Great stuff man. Thank you.
I would love to have those files, just in case
As for the spinner, if I'll decide adding one, it'll have to be a hack of somekind. Probably been done before.

BTW, I've been sucked into EE so I'm looking for someone to finish my cab online

[DrewKaree]

so you say they are trying to take my name?

Just to make sure they know who's participating in the epx espear spearmi trials 

[Xiaou2]

 files sent   

[c64rulez]

Thanks . Just got them
If I'll use it, It's gonna be signed 'xiaou2'

[Xiaou2]

 cool

   
    While still messing arround, decided to make a mockup for a matching marquee.  Not really well thought out.. just sloppily slapped together for fun 

 

 

[c64rulez]

I guess there are good people here after all 

[missioncontrol]

man those look good Xiaou2 I wish I had mad crazy art skillz I'm still tring to get a decent looking CP

[DrewKaree]

I guess there are good people here after all 

Please make sure to tell them we are lurking about and will turn them to the dark side if they aren't VERY careful.  Now that you've tipped us off, we'll be searching for them to drag back to our lair, screaming the screams of the damned.

[c64rulez]

The best way of avoiding a trap is knowing of its existance.

[c64rulez]

Anyway, the clock is ticking for me, so I want to make some progress this weekend. I found yesterday a piece of very flexible plywood at a local woodshop. It's 5mm thick and bends almost like rubber.
I've decided to go ahead with a curved solution for the front of my cab, so I bought that piece which is going to make it a lot easier.

Encouraged by Drew's idea for the curved front, I've tweaked it a little. Drew's design had the front fixed, while I wanted to maintain access to kbd/mouse by means of a front drawer.

The best explanation of my tweak would be some pictures I'll post after I'm finished with it's construction (hopefully tomorrow). This solution would also provide me with a hidden access panel for various controls.

I also got plenty of advice and price quotes for printing all the artwork professionally. So I'm pretty much satisfied with the way things are going.

Wishing a great weekend to all BYOAC members. Make progress.

[c64rulez]

This morning I charged ahead with that curved front construction.
As you can see from the picture, this special piece of plywood is very flexible, but it has slipped my mind that I would be dealing with a much shorter piece, and flexibility reduces proportionally.

In the second picture you can see the reinforcement blocks which ought to do the trick for me.
Each block has three sides:

The curved will be glued to the plywood.
The straight will be glued to the drawer front.

* this combination should (hopefully) hold the curved front in place.

The topside (where there's a little step) is going to hold a dashboard (on/off, volume, bass, usb, etc.)

All six blocks are going to be spread evenly on the front (about 5" space between each two)

However, gluing this kind of construction is no walk in the park!
Unless you got a pair of helping hands, all pieces would be restless, thus restrained properly.
I also couldn't figure a way of doing more than one block at a time (as I'm writing this, it settles down).

I intend to cut 6 more blocks that will hold the curved front at the bottom, and secure it to the underside of the drawer.

[markrvp]

Good work.

[AC.]

Lookin good - very nice.

[missioncontrol]

can't wait to see how it turns out

[DrewKaree]

Evidently you can, because it's not done, and you aren't hopping up and down doing the pee-pee dance.

[c64rulez]

Good work.

Lookin good - very nice.

can't wait to see how it turns out

Thank you guys. I do hope it turns out like I've planned. Not much progress though because of some pressure at work   

DrewKaree wrote:

Hopefully I've given you more than enough info so you'll give up the idea of going with a flat front  and do it like I sense you REALLY want to 

or it would have haunted me till the end of time 

[Harry Potter]

You're doing this all too fast. go post in EE.  you know you want to.

Nice work by the way.

[missioncontrol]

Evidently you can, because it's not done, and you aren't hopping up and down doing the pee-pee dance.

I was trying to distract him...you know everytime we post here he has an urge to post in EE, then he forgets all about building his cabinet.....I mean if he ever gets his cabinet done how will that look for us....he's allready gotton more done now than I have done in the last year and a half....

[c64rulez]

Oh you foolish earthling, what is a year and a half of your time but two seconds of mine ? ^*





*Translation: Obviously you're not married. drag a project (even yours) for more than a few months and you are out sleeping with the dogs.

[missioncontrol]

Oh you foolish earthling, what is a year and a half of your time but two seconds of mine ? ^*





*Translation: Obviously you're not married. drag a project (even yours) for more than a few months and you are out sleeping with the dogs.

Obvously your the one not married. dragging out a project that is outside the house and away from the wife is a good thing.....

[c64rulez]

Good point there. It now occurs to me that, indeed, when the cabinet was outdoors all was quiet.
Nagging starts when it's indoors.

I wonder though (if you are married) whose decision was it that the  cab gets build outdoors, yours or hers ?
Now, let's see...

[missioncontrol]

it was mutual

[c64rulez]

like in "mutual exclusion" ?

[missioncontrol]

Like in in both didn't want sawdust and crap all inside the house....

We don't even wear shoes in the house, why would I want to start a project like that in the living room....

I just take it outside. It was also a good excuse to go outside for a smoke, but now that I don't smoke it's just a good reason to go outside.

[c64rulez]

ok

[DrewKaree]

Will you hurry up and get done alread?

I want mission to feel inadequate for not having his cab done, and the only way that's gonna happen is if you GET GOING! 

Me, I'd have to feel adequate in order to feel less than that

[c64rulez]

IG-88 wrote to me:

Hey, I really love your cab design. Do you have any detailed drawings of it that I may use?

Thank you IG-88. I also love it

[c64rulez]

comments on the drawings

The design was meant to keep a small footprint for the cab, all around.
A 1/2" all around recess on all sides for some 3d effect.

The material I used for construction was 17mm MDF (~0.66"), and obviously
some boards measurements were affected from this thickness.
I had the three sheets precut along the red dashed lines so that they could
be crammed into my car.

Some panels dimensions in the drawings are not the same as their final
size would get, as there are always adjustments, angled meeting points, etc.

Braces were used whenever and everywhere I saw fit. All were glued and screwed.

The pc mounting shelf "ties" the cab and enhances rigidity.

Casters swivel and brake
After I bought the casters (2", 55lbs load each), I noticed that
they all swivel (2 had brakes).
As I didn't find any fixed ones, I was afraid the cab would go running around.
Believe me, it is not going anywhere.
The cab needs to be pushed with force in order to budge ever so slightly.
There is a 1/2" gap between the cab and the floor, so the brakes can not be reached,
which I knew in advance, and figured it won't matter due to the cabs "overweight".
Therefore I didn't bother figuring a way of getting to them.

One flaw, small price to pay
When I first placed my 21" tv on the tv shelf with the cab semi-constructed,
it occured to me that I've miscalculated the size that occupies the tv.
I had to remove the tv's back cover and install some braces to secure it.

What I should have done: Add 2" to cab overall depth.

Front: straight vs curved issue
The design in the drawings is one that uses straight lines on the cabs front.
(front door, drawer front, cp support)
After being "positively nagged" here on my thread to go ahead with a curved
front, I did. (Actually it is in progress as I'm writing these comments).
After I'm done with constructing this curved solution I'll post detailed drawings for it.

Blocking light panel
Not shown in the drawings is a 26" x 9" board that I installed behind the
marquee's neon. It's perpendicular to the angled top board.

Control panel
Just fill in whatever you want (and can