New Bartop - 'BlackBox' - Completed! New Photos!

[DigDreams]

This is my first attempt at a MAME cabinet, so I figured I'd start with a bartop.  I wanted something that is a little "sleeker" than the boxy type styles I commonly see, so this one is modeled after an old computer design. 

Originally I was going to do one that looked like an old commodore PET, but I wound up doing one that looks more like an old TRS-80 Model 3 than anything else.

I got the monitor sized up and just "drew around it" to get the most compact design.  The best way I could figure not messing up the clearance was to use an actual picture of the monitor I am using (an old GoldStar 14" CRT I had lying around).  It's design is actually very similar to the 'PixelBox' project on here, it's just much bigger.

I took a side shot, brought it in to PhotoShop, scaled it correctly, then verified all the measurements again to make sure.  Following is the profile I came up with:



I won't be using t-molding, I am building it all to "seam up".  The hinges will allow the whole top of the cabinet to fold down, allowing easy access to everything.  It's 24" tall and 26" wide.  Plywood for the base, and 3/8th MDF for the other panels.  The monitor rests on two wooden dowells (the notch on the bottom made it perfect for that) and there are a few 1x1's and 4x1's used for bracing and support.

I had a bunch of computer parts laying around, so I wound up putting this together:

 

[Ninten-doh]

Hey, nice start.  I have a lot of those same parts waiting for my bartop project to begin....when I have a moment to catch my breath from my job that is.  I'll be watching this thread with mucho interest!   

[javeryh]

Wow looks great so far - keep the pics coming! 

[vrf]

Its design is actually very similar to the 'PixelBox' project on here, it's just much bigger.

I thought that profile looked familiar... 

Looks good so far. I'm not a fan of the way the front of your CP "arrows" out like that. Looks like just a bunch of wasted space. Seems like the lines should angle back inside.

But it's your cab. Keep up the good work!

[Crafty]

Keep up the posts.

Blackbox.....
Hmmm I know a joke about three models on a plane....

Seriously though is this the name you have selected?

Do you have  artwork ideas..Or is the name descriptive of the end product..

[DigDreams]

The name "Blackbox" has nothing to do with airplanes or the color. 

I guess I am showing my age, but I am an old-time hacker.  I ran one of the first BBS's in FL way back in the early 80's (when 1200 baud half duplex was as fast as it got). 

Before there was internet, there was only long distance, which was an issue for high-school students with no cash and pissed off parents waiving a phone bills in their faces. A "BlackBox" was a hacker's tool for making long distance phone calls without paying for them. 

As a MAME machine is a pseudo-legal way of playing all the video games of that day, I named my MAME machine 'BlackBox' for nostalgia sake.

- DigDreams

[DigDreams]

Its design is actually very similar to the 'PixelBox' project on here, it's just much bigger.

I thought that profile looked familiar... 

Looks good so far. I'm not a fan of the way the front of your CP "arrows" out like that. Looks like just a bunch of wasted space. Seems like the lines should angle back inside.

But it's your cab. Keep up the good work!

I actually didn't steal your idea (believe it or not), I have been working on this for a while now.  I will admit though, I did take one thing from your design, my original didn't have the diagonal 'notch' on the back.  When I saw that on yours, I liked it and added it to my profile drawing.  That's really the most 'natural' shape to fit the monitor, controls, and PC in to the smallest space.  I guess that's why TRS-80's, Pet's, and AT&T CPM Machines all looked very much like this.

I added the slope in front because I hate the way most bartops have that huge "ledge" in front.  I wanted more of the old computer profile for this style (again, the name 'BlackBox' makes more sense now doesn't it).  The actual angle is not set in stone yet.  Once I get to that point I want to play wth a few different angles and see what "feels best" with the side flipper/nudge buttons.  There are no controls on the slope other than the pinball side buttons.

Thanks for the comments, and good luck with your ultra-mini.  It looks great so far.

- DigDreams

[ArtMAME]

Are the 6 white buttons across the top admin buttons?  Or will they be used for other games also?

If you want to clean up the control panel a bit and if you are using an IPAC, you could get rid of all the top admin buttons and leave the 1 and 2 player.

I have found that all I need to get around in the frontend I am using (MAMEWah) is 1 and 2 player and  up, down, left, right.  Using a default IPAC configuration, you can achieve the following keypresses:

ESC = Player 1 + Player 2
TAB = Player 1 + Right
Enter = Player 1 + Left
Pause = Player 1 + Down
etc...

So you could just use Player 1 and Player 2 and your joystick to navigate the front end. This will leave you with a less cluttered control panel,  or you could add a spinner or something else to your new found realestate.

[theCoder]

How did you come up with 24" wide?  That seems a bit too much.  I'm agressively reducing every 1/4 inch and every 1/4 ounce out of my project. 

Good luck on your project.

[johnperkins21]

How did you come up with 24" wide?  That seems a bit too much.  I'm agressively reducing every 1/4 inch and every 1/4 ounce out of my project. 

Good luck on your project.

He said 26" wide, and I'm guessing it's a typo. He probably meant 16" wide, which would be about what he needs for a 14" CRT monitor.

[vrf]

I actually didn't steal your idea (believe it or not), I have been working on this for a while now.  I will admit though, I did take one thing from your design, my original didn't have the diagonal 'notch' on the back.  When I saw that on yours, I liked it and added it to my profile drawing.  That's really the most 'natural' shape to fit the monitor, controls, and PC in to the smallest space.  I guess that's why TRS-80's, Pet's, and AT&T CPM Machines all looked very much like this.

Oh, I wasn't suggesting you stole anything, but it's totally cool (and kind of flattering) if you do borrow ideas. However, in your design, you might be wanting that inch or so of floor space back that the notch takes up, if only to have the PSU flush against the back wall for the power cable and fan. But maybe you have something else in mind.

Don't know if you've seen this project before, but this guy did a really nice job fitting all his parts into an attractive desktop profile.

http://www.zone76.com/Arcade_Projects/Mini_Arcade_Cabinet/Mini_Arcade_Cabinet.htm

His control panel seems to have minimized the "ledge" thing that you're talking about. I think it's because it sort of tucks back in for those two lower red buttons.

[Kangum]

Im not sure if you used your cold heat gun yet, but if you havent be very careful of the tip. They break really easy and cost almost as much as the whole thing to replace.

also cold heat is basically a mini arc welder, so be careful if you try and use it for other more sensitive work you will fry components you are working on.

[Crafty]

Have to agree with ArtMAME about all the buttons across the top of your CP

Please enlighten us as to there purpose...

[DigDreams]

Are the 6 white buttons across the top admin buttons?  Or will they be used for other games also?

Read the part above about that.  I don't want to get rid of them - or have to explain to people how to shift the keys.  I specifically purchased clear buttons with icon discs and LED's for these buttons.  They look like this:


In clear (this is what I have)

I purchased icons for P1 Start, P2 Start, P1 Coin, P2 Coin, Enter, Escape, Pause, and Mame (for tab).  I am also not using MAMEWah - I am using 3D-Arcade with the custom skinset I made that is pictured above.  MAMAWah does not have the rendered cabinets spinning in 3D.


In red - but two more of my icons. 

The full info on these button inserts can be seen here: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=51813.0

The exact icons are: BD001R, BD006R, 2x BD004R, BD013R, BD012R, BD007R, and BD014R.

I want someone to be able to walk up to it and use it without having to learn a bunch of shifted commands, not to mention the clear lighted buttons with inserts look awesome.   Everything on this cab lights up except for the joystick.

- DigDreams

[DigDreams]

Thanks for the info about ColdHeat.  Hopefully I won't fry any of my LED's with it, I will have to be careful.  It's funny, the commercial says how great it is for "delicate equipment".  Maybe I should just use a regular soldering iron instead.  I just figured with all the LED's and resistors I have to solder it would go faster with the Cold-Heat.

I mis-described the dimensions - sorry about that.  It is 24" Tall, 26" DEEP (not wide - oops), and 17.5" Wide.

I looked at the pics on that Zone76 site - nice little cab - but I still like the the slope in the front.  It is more for aesthetics than anything else - but it should also make it more comfortable to add a flipper and a nudge button on each side.  Also, since the cabinet is stitting up fairly high on the bartop, this adds an armrest.  I have even debated putting a gel-strip on the slope to make it extra-comfy. 

- DigDreams

[DigDreams]

I've been working on my Marquee...  Here is what I have so far.



I'm not sure if this will be the final version yet, I'm still tinkering with it.  There is a higher resolution image here if you want to see the details:

http://www.digitaldreamsinc.net/mame/marquee_large.jpg

On another note, my LED's should be here tomorrow.  That's the last thing I am waiting on. I plan on taking pictures of different combinations of LED and Button colors.  It should be interesting since I got some rarely used colors like Ultra Violet, Violet/Blue, Pink, and Cyan.

- DigDreams

[Crafty]

Marquee looks fantastic...

Unsure if the character to the left of Mame fits in Change

Don't forget space top and bottom for retainers....

Hate to see any of your artwork obscured....

[alexandro98]

Yea, I would have to agree, The "Night Elf" char doesnt really fit in.

[theCoder]

I'd either go with the dark misty look, or the cartoon look.  Mixing them doesn't work for me.  I'd drop the cartoon figures.  They don't go with your "black" image and distract from your beautiful work.

[DigDreams]

I appreciate the comments, keep 'em comming.  You guys might be right, I think I need to drop the cartoons.  I'll rework it and put a new version up shortly.

Well, it's 4:45am and I'm still doing artwork - my wife is gonna kill me.  In any case, I just finished the control panel design.  The previosu one was done just to find  a minimum width to make the cab.  This one is all measured out...

Here is the "diagram" version:



Large version here: http://www.digitaldreamsinc.net/mame/cp-diag-large.jpg

Note that I need 1" clearance on the left and right (light bars) - the way I have it designed, I can literally go right up to the top and bottom edges.  The CP will "snap in" and make it level - with the CP out it will have a 3/8" notch in the cab where it fits in.

I'll describe the trackball hack later on - too tired right now, but the little lit buttons will actually be there and work as mouse buttons (the small cyan and pink ones below the trackball).

Here it is with the artwork:



Large version here: http://www.digitaldreamsinc.net/mame/cp-art-large.jpg

I also picked up my acrylic today.  I'm going to go with Kinko's backlit vinyl for the marquee, and whatever high quality format they have for the CP.

Time to crash...  I'll update again soon.

- DigDreams

[DigDreams]

I'm still messing with the marquee...  I took out all of the cartoon type graphics and added a dragon and a griffon.  Take a look and see if this version of the marquee is better:

http://www.digitaldreamsinc.net/mame/marquee-less.jpg

I am not going to remove the "Night Elf" as someone mentioned above...  I based the whole theme and color scheme on it, not to mention the 3D Arcade skin I designed is based around it as well.  Plenty of arcade games had a "fantasy theme" so I don't think it's that "off" (Golden Axe, Dungeons & Dragons, Gauntlet, etc.).  I didn't want the theme too "cartooney", I wanted some nice "quality" artwork for the cab.

Let me know what you like better, the original Marquee, or this new version.  Thanks again for the comments and suggestions.

- DigDreams

[bishmasterb]

dig,

Your marquee is looking good, I like the Night Elf as well...you know you've got a trackball on there, and potentially enough inputs (including the joystick) you could almost play Warcraft III on that thing.   

IMHO, I would lose the Griffon and Dragon though, it's just a little too much detail. Perhaps in their place, just put some abstract flourishes/bulletpoints in the same style as your typeface.

Looks good!

[DigDreams]

dig,

Your marquee is looking good, I like the Night Elf as well...you know you've got a trackball on there, and potentially enough inputs (including the joystick) you could almost play Warcraft III on that thing.   

IMHO, I would lose the Griffon and Dragon though, it's just a little too much detail. Perhaps in their place, just put some abstract flourishes/bulletpoints in the same style as your typeface.

Looks good!

Thanks...  I appreciate the input.   I'm going to try some absctracts next. 

I keep thinking about this thing as a MAME keyboard - it would be super slick and would literally disappear when it was off.



Info about it here: http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/input/8193/


I did one with a sword - let me know what you think of this.



High Res Here: http://www.digitaldreamsinc.net/mame/marquee-sword.jpg

I'll try the abstract version and post what I come up with.

- DigDreams

[DigDreams]

Ok, here is an abstract using a fleur.



High Res Here: http://www.digitaldreamsinc.net/mame/marquee-fleur.jpg

I'm kind of liking this one and the sword so far, but looking for feedback, so I created a poll in the artwork area:  http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=54826.0

Thanks for your input!

-DigDreams

[alexandro98]

...
I am not going to remove the "Night Elf" as someone mentioned above... 
...

Yea, sorry it was late for me when I posted and originall read your post.
However with the cartoon chars gone it looks a whole lot better!!

The last too marquess your posted, hmm..

The fleur one, looks good, the fluers and everything has similar colors and all look like good together.  Guess the word to describe it would be its more "professional" looking.

The sword one tho, I really liked that one when I first saw it, then I saw the fluer one. 
However in coolness Sword > fluer but there is something about the sword one that doesnt flow/look as professional as the fluer.  I cant quite place my finger on it,  When I look at the sword one, the sword just looks slightly out of place.  Maybe its the wrong kind of sword, maybe the sword is the wrong color and sticks( try change the swords pallete?)
 
Im rambling its seems.
Basically.
Fluer looks best so far, but pls keep working on the sword because in coolness factor Sword > fluer.
Good luck!

[DigDreams]

However in coolness Sword > fluer but there is something about the sword one that doesnt flow/look as professional as the fluer.  I cant quite place my finger on it,  When I look at the sword one, the sword just looks slightly out of place. 

I know what you mean.  The sword comes from a scanned picture - so it has a "real world palette".  I shifted it more towards the blue spectrum - but it still has that "photo" look.  I tried reducing the color count, but then it looks too dithered.  This was about as good as I can get it to match, but I am still inbetween the sword and the fleur (thus the poll I posted).

I also tried the "Arwen"sword from Lord of the Rings - but the gold tones really clashed.

Thanks for the input!

- DigDreams

[Buddabing]

I like the sword, but take the MAME logo off.

[DigDreams]

I like the sword, but take the MAME logo off.

Like this?



High-Res: http://www.digitaldreamsinc.net/mame/nsword.jpg

Please vote in the poll so I can also get an overall opinion!

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=54826.0

- DigDreams

[Ninten-doh]

Good call by Buddabing.  Looks much better IMHO w/o the "MAME" logo.

[alexandro98]

hmm...
better but still something wrong with the sword.
Fluer still, but keep messing with the sword one!!

[johnperkins21]

Maybe some sort of drop-shadow or halo around the sword, along with dropping the brightness of it? I've got the artistic skill of a chicken embryo though, so take any of my suggestions with a grain of salt.

[Buddabing]

I am no artist, but maybe the sword looks more sharp than the rest of the image?Maybe add the drop shadow like John suggested, or introduce a slight blur to the sword part so that it matches the rest of the image.

It still looks great though. Looking at the printed image isn't the same as looking at the same image on a computer monitor.

IMO keep the characters and the flowers off.

[DigDreams]

Great feedback guys, I really appreciate it!  I have taken your suggestions and integrated them into the design.  Here's where we are at:



High-Res Here:

http://www.digitaldreamsinc.net/mame/sword-2-large.jpg

Whadda ya think?

- DigDreams

[johnperkins21]

I think it needs a just a little more brightness. I'm being drawn too much to the Night Elf's eyes right now. I think just a hair brighter on the sword and the eye is drawn back to the middle without the sword overpowering the image.

[alexandro98]

Yea!

    

The sword one finally gets my vote!

[DigDreams]

further tweaking...


High-Res: http://www.digitaldreamsinc.net/mame/sword-tweaked-large.jpg

- DigDreams

[johnperkins21]

That's about perfect!

[Cameronj]

Awesome artwork!!!!! I look forward to seeing this one take shape. I am now kinda embarassed to put up my pitiful bartop.

[DigDreams]

Thanks guys.  I like the way it turned out too.

I got the sides cut today, I'll post some pics tomorrow.  The only thing I did wrong was cutting them separately, I really should have through of that.  I'm pretty good with a jigsaw, but did have a few little wavers and they came out slightly off.  I wound up clamping them together and sanding the !$*# out of them until they were perfectly even.  The result is great, but it should have been easier -- I'll remember that next time for sure.

- DigDreams

[Kangum]

I think you should do a test panel out of cardboard. just make it the exact same size and spacing. pop the buttons on and stuff. get a real feel for it before you cut the final piece. I skipped this part thinking everything is just fine and didnt like it after. Your button spacing worrys me. The 6 buttons you use to play look to far apart to me.

maybe its fine for you if you have big hands. But test panels in cardboard are pretty fast and might save you the same headache i got.

good luck on it.

[DigDreams]

Your button spacing worries me. The 6 buttons you use to play look to far apart to me.

How right you are!  I didn't even notice that - I guess I have been looking at it too long.  Thank you BIG TIME for pointing that out. 

I had them 2" apart and backed them back to 1.5" apart, which is what it looks like most people use.  Here is the re-worked CP.



High-Res Here: http://www.digitaldreamsinc.net/mame/cp-art-large-v2.jpg




High-Res Here: http://www.digitaldreamsinc.net/mame/cp-diag-v2-large.jpg


And here is my update for today, the side panels are done...



I still have to cut the speaker holes, but I want to be sure where I want to mount them first.  I'm going to partially assemble it and see where they work best.  I am thinking they will somewhere around the center of the panel, maybe a little more towards the top.

I also finally found something for the trackball buttons.  I was originally going to use a clear acrylic "blind tilt bar" that I had lying around - but I can't find it now.  The plan was to drill a hole in the side for the LED.  Neither Home Depot or Lowes carries them so I started looking around the various "junk drawers" in my house...

I managed to find two "Light Sabre" pens.  I am going to use those.  They have a nice smooth, rounded top for the button, and I have a red and a blue one.  I can place an LED inside the tube, then trim it to fit in between the CP and the microswitch on the trackball.  I am going to make a "guide cylinder" by mounting a piece of 1x1 with a hole drilled in it under the CP to keep it in place.  This will make two small (1/2" round) illuminated buttons for the mouse left & right clicks.  I'm not hooking up button 3 as I see no use for it and it is very low on the trackball PCB (see the CP diagram).

This was the only way I cound figure out to use the trackball buttons.  Sure, I could solder leads to the PCB - but a Happ button will not fit inbetween the trackball pcb and the top of the CP.  I think it will look cool as they will be smaller buttons, but still lit.  I mainly wanted use of these for windows so I don't have to hook up a mouse.

I'll post more pictures as I progress.

- DigDreams

[Crafty]

The marquee rocks....

much better than previous versions...

Cant wait to see photos as it all comes together..

[leapinlew]

Looking good.

I loved warcraft III. I'm not a big fan of offset buttons - I prefer the more traditional Street Fighter layout.

Keep up the good work

[DigDreams]

Ok, I finished the marquee retainer.  I did this first since it was the most difficult cut to do.  I used a jigsaw with a fine tooth blade.  I was concerned if it would rip apart while cutting, so I clamped it down to a base board first and it cut pretty well.  It is 18" wide with .75" border to the left & right, and a .25" border on the top and bottom.



On each side will be two mirror clips (top and bottom of left & right sides).  In the middle is a small wooden block.  The marquee will clip in and the whole retainer will slide in to the front.  I will then screw it down through the left and right side panels into the wooden block.

That's it for today.  More updates and pictures to come.

- DigDreams

[DigDreams]

Ok,  how do I start...  I started putting it all together and realized I didn't like the angle of the monitor.  I also realized I had mis-calculated the monitor size.  I had not taken in to account the outward curve of the tube itself.  As a result I wound up having to re-cut just about everything.

I went back to Home Depot and purchased some new 2x6 MDF 1/4" panels,  I had previously cut 24" panels, but including the 2" curve of the monitor I realized I needed a 24" x 26" panel.

This time I clamped two panels together and cut it all at once.  Good Move.  This time I also clamped down a guide rail instead of going freehand.  I wound up cutting two "PERFECT" sides.  Cool so far...

Now I measured the speakers, cut a card-board test panel, then cut both panels (still clamped together).  I came out with mirror image perfect cuts.




It was no small trick to size the speaker cuts correctly.  There was a 1/32nd seam I needed to match.  After a cut, some trims, and a little sanding it matched up perfectly.  I sanded down an extra 1/16th to allow for paint and moved on.

I cut a "revised"  base board, then moved on to cutting the monitor supports.  The plan was to use a 1" wooden dowell to rest the monitor on, and a 1x4 support for each beam.


At this point I must emphasize the invaluable resource of phone books.  I used them as saw horses and to position the monitor as measuring.  Save these things, they work as saw horses, braces, clamps, etc. 

After measuring three times, I made the load-bearing supports out of 1x4.  I cut supports and spaced them out on the base board...



You can see the ever-useful phone book in use...

After double checking everything and trimming the mounts, no more phone books - the monitor mount is done.



After it all matched up, I counter-synced the screws, added wood filler, and sanded it down...









I added some industrial adhesive and called it a night (not by accident).   This is where my wife said, "You've had too much to drink to be using power tools!".  So I stopped for the night and wrote this.



Tomorrow I will cut a new (slightly larger) marquee, and start bolting it all together.  It's getting there!

I think it will be done by next weekend.

- DigDreams

[DigDreams]

I got several more panels cut this weekend - I'll add some more pictures shortly...

As I was looking at the art I felt the control panel art was a little "redundant" using the Night Elf eyes in the background.  I re-did the CP a little bit.  I was looking for some opinions of what looks better.



High-res here: http://www.digitaldreamsinc.net/mame/cp-choices-large.jpg

What do you think?

- DigDreams

[DigDreams]

New bezel art...



High-Res Here: http://www.digitaldreamsinc.net/mame/bezel-large.jpg

- DigDreams

[Crafty]

I prefer the second CP option with the character (Excuse my ignorance as to which character)

It ties in nicely with the Marquee and gives the CP a bit of a high lift..

Can I ask if the lettering on the bottom means anything (probably another dumb question)

As for the bezel I think that it looks right to me adding anything else might draw the eyes away from where they should be looking...

Overall topnotch effort on the art

Can I enquire as to what programs you used for this artwork and where your images came??

[DigDreams]

Overall topnotch effort on the art

Thanks Crafty!

Can I enquire as to what programs you used for this artwork and where your images came??

The joystick arrows, trackball art, and other design elements are all original and were all done with PhotoShop. 

The background artwork (the characters) came from World of Warcraft by Blizzard Entertainment (PC Fantasy RPG).

The "Planet" on the right of the marquee is actually a heavily filtered photo of a plasma ball (the kind you buy in Spencer gifts that send out the little lightning bolts when you touch it - bet none of ya guessed that!).

The sword is "Twinkle" scanned from a photo in the Museum Replicas catalog then heavily filtered and adjusted.

Can I ask if the lettering on the bottom means anything (probably another dumb question)

The text on the bottom means absolutley nothing.  It is in elvish script from Lord of the Rings, but it's just put together based on "what characters look cool together".

- DigDreams

[DigDreams]

One more new picture...  I have some of this taped together since several of the pieces still need prep work.  The lighting is installed and it's all fitting together nicely.



Tomorrow I'm recutting the marquee retainer (almost done with it, made it slightly larger), and cutting out the "window" of the monitor bezel.  Then I finish up the back panels and move on to finishing work.

I'm making the CP out of cardboard before I cut any holes in the actual panel/acrylic.  I just want to be sure I like the feel before I start cutting.

- DigDreams...

[theCoder]

My vote is for CP art #2.  I don't particularly like the character, but it does go with your dark theme.  The main reason I like #2 is because it provides something prominent to look at and it is not centered.  Along those lines, I'd recommend moving the "Mame" on your bezel to the right or left, not centered.  Just my 2 cents.  In the end it is your artwork, and good looking at that.

[DigDreams]

Today I cut the new front marquee bezel (I made it a 1/2" taller when I re-did the side panels) and the rear angle piece with the power switch.

I was looking for a small power switch that I could hide under the angle in the rear of the cabinet.  I wound up finding a push button lamp switch at Home Depot that did the trick:



Here are the new pieces from the front:



And from the back showing the extra support on the switch piece, and the side bars on the marquee (to screw through the sides of the cabinet and secure the marquee since the retainer is only 3/8" thick). 



I have to cut the two last pieces on the back, and then I can paint.

That's all for now!

- DigDreams

[Cameronj]

It is really coming together nicely from what I see! I love all of the artwork!

[DigDreams]

Today I cut the top of the enclosure and added all of the guide rails. 

First I cut and installed guide rails on the sides of the cabinet.  I used Loc-Tight Industrial Adhesive to do this (available at Home Depot).  Had I known this stuff worked so well, I probably would have used less screws (less countersinking, filling, and sanding).  When this stuff bonds, it's like one piece of wood it's so strong.  The other nice thing about it is that it is immediately sticky, but not too much to adjust.  It makes lining things up super-easy.  I HIGHLY recommend it!



Then I cut the top piece and installed the guide rail that will hold it in place.  It lips over the light board to hold things in place.



Once it all dried, I had a perfect fit.







I was originally going to use two hinges to let the top and rear panels swing out for access, but after seeing how nicely it fits together and how well the guide rails are working, I think I am just going to use velcro to hold the rear panel on.

This way there will be no visible hinges and it will all seam up tightly (instead of having to leave room for the hinges to work).

Tomorrow I will cut the rear panel, and the woodworking portion of the cabinet will be complete (except for cutting holes in the CP and Bezel).

So far so good.  I'll post more pictures as I progress.

- DigDreams

[DigDreams]

I finished the construction of the cabinet this weekend.  I also dropped off all of the artwork at Kinkos to be printed.  It should be done tomorrow or Monday.

I wound up using the hinges.  By limiting the amount they open, it almost makes a "clamp", so no fastening is necessary.



With it on:



I also cut the monitor window into the bezel, which completes all of the sawing.  Now it's just the CP, painting, and artwork.

Here it is as it stands right now.  I have to do some filling and sanding, then paint.





That's it for now.

- DigDreams

[DigDreams]

I picked up my printing from Kinkos yesterday, it all turned out really good.  Here is the control panel:



And another view...



It was really hard to get a good picture of the marquee lit up, this was the best I could do.



I installed the bezel, and the acrylic.



I wasn't happy about how the vinyl wrapped around the corners, so I made some corner pieces in Photoshop.  I printed then on glossy paper, and carefully cut them out with an exacto knife.  Here is a closup of the corner pieces:



With that done, I took it all apart and put two coats of Killz Oil-Based Primer on it.



Then I put on 3 coats of Painter's Touch Black Semi-Gloos Latex Enamel paint.  I think I am going to add one more coat once this is good and dry.



That's where I am at now.  1 more coat, clean up the "aftermath" of the painting, and put it all back together.  Pretty much all that is left is assembling and wiring up the control panel, and installing the speakers.

- DigDreams

[Crafty]

Overall topnotch effort on the art

Ive said it before and Ill say it again..
Amazing artwork..
Looks even better on you're machine..

You must be super impressed

Well done

[theCoder]

Looks great.  Love the pinball buttons.  In addition to pinMame, you should check into the ProPinball series.  It is the most accurate simulation of pinball out there.  You can find it in the discount rack for around $10.  You can also find no-cd versions of the main executables on the web.

[DigDreams]

Looks great.  Love the pinball buttons.  In addition to pinMame, you should check into the ProPinball series.  It is the most accurate simulation of pinball out there.  You can find it in the discount rack for around $10.  You can also find no-cd versions of the main executables on the web.

That looks awesome.  I just picked up the three pack (TimeShock plus 3 others) on Amazon.com for $6.29 delivered.

Thanks for the tip!

- DigDreams

[DigDreams]

BIG UPDATE!  Now that the 4th coat is dry, I was able to put together the guts of the system.  Here is what the inside look (pre-monitor installation so you can see):







Here is a closeup of the rear switches.  The chrome one is the push-button power switch, the black one is the PC's power button, and the red one is the reset button.



And here it is all put together:









I JUST got done doing this about 15 minutes ago, and I seem to have a small problem.  After it is on for about 10-15 minutes it just turns off.  I think it may be a heat problem, I will have to look in to it.  If so, I can add a few cooling fans, but I hate the thought of drilling or cutting it now that it is painted.  Argh!

We'll see - I'll let you know what the deal is once I figure it out for sure.  I'm going to install a CPU Temp. program and see if that is it.  The MOBO is set to power down if it starts to overheat.

What a pain.

- DigDreams

[Cameronj]

Looking awesome! You have really been progressing rapidly!

As for the shutting off, I had this happen a while ago. The problem was there was too much power being consumed by all of the devices in the Power Supply for the PC and the voltage to the MB would dip and the MB would shut off as a protection measure. Just a thought.

[vrf]

I'd say it's definitely a heat problem, as you have no airflow through the box at all. Your PSU isn't even moving hot air out of the box since you have the vent fan trapped inside. You need to get hot air out of the box. The cool air will come in through cracks and such (or smaller holes), but you really need a fan or two up top to bleed that hot air out. Run a duct from the PSU fan to the outside, too.

[DigDreams]

Yeah, it's heat.  I added some vents on the back, two fans connected to the exhaust vents, and one in front of the CPU and it is now stable.  I have the control panel "cracked" about a 1/2 incjh right now and it's holding steady at about 145 degrees.

I just ordered two Antec 72cfm fans from NewEgg.  I think that will solve it for good.  I'll post pix of the new vents tomorrow.

- DigDreams

[arcadefever]

  that CP look great  well done , the art on that cab is out of this world 

[DigDreams]

It turns out that my CPU temp isn't that far off.  The Athalon XP 2400+ is one of the hottest running CPU's out there.  It's max temp is 85c or 185f.  I am used to Intel CPU's which run much cooler (my 2.8 P4 is running at 104f right now).  I want to be on the safe side though, so the extra fans should keep it well under 150f.

I have to do a little touch-up painting now that I drilled a grid of 70 holes in the back.  Once I get it done I'll upload another pic.  I have a ton of things to do this weekend, so I'm not sure when I will get to it.

- DigDreams

[DigDreams]

I made up a "test trackball mount" to determine all of the exact positions of everything before I cut the main control panel.  Here is how I mounted it:



Pretty simple, just some nuts & bolts.  Here are top and rear views.



If you are wondering, the arrows where my notes after making adjustments to the mounting holes.  They had to be right on to get the ball to line up, so once I took it apart, I didn't want to forget which side of my "enlarged mounting holes" to use.  It took a little tweaking to get everything right - glad aI did a test panel first.



I used pvc washers to insulate the board, and you can also see here the "lightsaber pens" I am cutting up to make the buttons.  These will be lit from inside with LED's.



After a little dremeling of the back to slope the inside of the track ball hole, it really works well.



As you can see below, the ball sits nice and high.  I hate trackballs that barely come up over the CP.



I have the main CP all marked now and ready to cut.  More updates soon!

- DigDreams

[miles2912]

I don't think bartops come much nicer than yours.  Great work.  When I was looking at the design I thought there might be a heat issue.  Good to see you have resolved it.

D-

[Zeosstud]

I think for an original Bartop that is amazing.  I am currently working on my bartop and even when its done it wont looks nearly as cool as this one.  Hell I might not even post a pic now, I mean why be shamed :-)

I do have an idea / suggestion / thought  The speakers out the sides just dont work for me, how about backing them up about .5 inchs and putting some kind of super cool grill in front of em??

Great Work, cant wait to see it all drilled out and finished.

Zeosstud

[DigDreams]

I think for an original Bartop that is amazing.  I am currently working on my bartop and even when its done it wont looks nearly as cool as this one.  Hell I might not even post a pic now, I mean why be shamed :-)

I do have an idea / suggestion / thought  The speakers out the sides just don't work for me, how about backing them up about .5 inches and putting some kind of super cool grill in front of em??

Great Work, cant wait to see it all drilled out and finished.

Zeosstud

Thanks!

I actually went to alot of trouble to find speakers with exposed controls that I could recess.  These LabTec's were the best I could find.  The main reason is that I have the front bezel protruding with the volume, mute, and  tone controls as well as a headphone jack.  About 95% of the actual speaker is hidden, a little less than

[DigDreams]

UPS delivered my fans from NewEgg today.  WOW - These things are HUGE.  No wonder they move 72cfm of air.  They measure 4

[DigDreams]

The testing results for round #1 are in...

With the 4.5" fan in the back acting as an exhaust fan, all of my buttons plugged in the CP, and three smaller fans running across the motherboard (blowing from the front of the MB towards the exhaust fan) I am sitting at a steady 135f.  If I pop out the pinball buuttons it will drop down to 130f. 

It's making a hell of alot of suction, so I may drill a row of vent holes arosss the front at the very top.  These would be under the

[versapak]

Add the top fan, and make it blow air out. Change the bottom fan to suck air in.

[DigDreams]

Ok,  I installed the top exhaust fan, and for now I am not changing anything else.  With all the buttons in I am sitting at a nice cool 126f after running for a little over an hour.  Looks good.

Next I am going to try removing the three small fans I have blowing across the mobo.  I can leave them if I have to, but it really makes the CP tight.  If I can remove them I will.

I am also going to try Versa's suggestion and reverse the rear fan (making it an intake instead of an exhaust) and see what that yields.

If I can't get the temp I want without the small fans, I may add the vents uner the CP.  If all else fails I can leave them in, but it makes the top row of buttons kind of tight inside - I will have to be careful which way they all face (in different directions to deal with the tight space).

I'll post more test results soon.  It takes about an hour and a half to really see if the temp is stable.

- DigDreams

[DigDreams]

Add the top fan, and make it blow air out. Change the bottom fan to suck air in.

I tried it like that, but it heated up fast.  Much better results with both fans as exhaust.  It Idles at around 131f now.

- DigDreams

[DigDreams]

Lots of progress today.  I got the CP done, except for the small trackball buttons, the pinball buttons, and the LED's.  Everything else is done.


Here is the back of the CP.  I had just enough room to squeeze everything in, it was a tight fit.



Here is the front of the CP with the artwork and controls installed.  It works great.  Programming the iPac was a breeze and everything worked first try.



And here is an updated front-view with the finished CP.



I am also adding an extra LED to the trackball that will be attached to the HDD light.  This way the trackball will "pulse" when the HDD is accessing.

I'll be doing the LED's, pinball buttons, trackbackball buttons, and putting in the button icon discs next weekend.  More pix will follow once I get it all lit up.

- DigDreams

[DigDreams]

Question:

Now that I have the iPac installed I have noticed a strange problem.  If I plug the regular KB & Mouse in to the Mobo, once I boot up - if I use the keyboard, the iPac stops responding.  Until I use the keyboard, the iPac works great.

If I plug the Keyboard into the iPac this problem goes away, but I don't like it like this.  I purchased a wireless KB & Mouse to go with this, and having to have the remote connnected to the iPac makes it hard to place where the wireless KB gets a good signal.

I am using my iPac with a USB cable right now.  Does anyone know a way around this?  Will it work better if I just get a PS2 cable for the iPac instead of the USB???

Any suggestions would be helpful.  Thanks!

- DIgDreams

[theCoder]

I'm not sure if you've settled in on your venting issues, but if you've got to add more holes, I'd recommend putting them in the bottom.  You've got a beautiful cab going, more holes and plates will be distracting.  On my project, I put one 3" fan blowing in within 1" of the CPU and about 20 half inch holes in the bottom for exhaust.  No one will ever see the holes in the bottom, and you can barely hear the fan.

Regarding the speaker... I second the recommendation of Zeosstud.  The volume, mute, and headphone stuff are just mounted on one edge of a printed circuit board (PCB) inside one of the speakers.  If you take a screwdriver to it, you'll find it is pretty simple in there.  You could put a small slot in the back bottom and expose the edge of the PCB.  I did this on my current project (PartyBox) and it turned out well.  I've attached a few pictures.  In the first, you can see I've got two small boards (lower left and right) holding various I/O, one of which is the volume pot I hacked into the amplifier PCB.  The second picture shows the slots in the back of the cab.  If you're not comfortable with this idea, pick up a pair at a garage sale or Goodwill (I paid $2 for mine) and rip them apart.  The worst case is you'll blow a few hours and possibly learn something along the way.

I'm currently having a problem with my IPac-2.  After a few hours of debugging it, I wrote Andy at Ultimarc.  He had me run a few tests, I sent him the results, and he is now sending me a new unit.  I'm not sure if you got one from the same batch or something.  Your problem sounds different however.  In my case, I was having problems programming it.

Sounds like we're both on the finishing stages of our projects.  Keep up the good work.

[DigDreams]

I'm not sure if you've settled in on your venting issues, but if you've got to add more holes, I'd recommend putting them in the bottom.  You've got a beautiful cab going, more holes and plates will be distracting. 

Wow.  That is the single most valuable piece of advice I have gotten thus far.  I can't believe I didn't think of venting the bottom.  I feel like an idiot, but thank you big time. 

That's the second great piece of advice you have given me - you ROCK!  I got the four pack from Amazon for $6.29 delivered: Pro Pinball: The Web, TimeShock!, Fantastic Journey, and The Big Race.  I found No CD hacks for all of them.  You can actually get "The Web" off of freeloader.com for free, but I am not going to laod that one up.  It's the first in the series and does not allow remapping of the keys.  It also is nowhere as good as the other three.

It's running an idle of 126f - 130f, but loaded it goes up to 140f - 148f.  It's within the limits, but too high for my taste.  My cab sits flat on the ground, so I'll puck up some "feet" for it and lift it up a

[Cameronj]

Good Idea on the HDD LED on the trackball! It looks great! I hope mine comes at least a bit close when finished. Wiring the LEDs has been a real pain!

My next project will be full sized and I won't have space issues to deal with. Wiring will go much better then!!!

[DigDreams]

No kidding.  Space is tight in these bartops.  I just barely had enough room for the iPac and the barrier strips!  A full size would be much easier, but this is good practice.

When I initially cut my side panels I didn't like the angle of the monitor, so I wound up recutting them.  With it being a bartop, at least I didn't waste any expensive materials.

Soldering LED's & Resistors now...  Cut, Solder, Heat Shrink...  Cut, Solder, Heat Shrink...  Cut, Solder, Heat Shrink...  Cut, Solder, Heat Shrink...  Cut, Solder, Heat Shrink...  ARGH!

- DigDreams

[theCoder]

No kidding.  Space is tight in these bartops.  I just barely had enough room for the iPac and the barrier strips!  A full size would be much easier, but this is good practice.

When I initially cut my side panels I didn't like the angle of the monitor, so I wound up recutting them.  With it being a bartop, at least I didn't waste any expensive materials.

Man I can really relate to the tight space comment.  These bartops are tight. 

And saving expensive materials... There may be less material involved, but I'm not really seeing any cost savings in going small.  But then, I didn't do a bartop project to save money.

[DigDreams]

Man I can really relate to the tight space comment.  These bartops are tight. 

And saving expensive materials... There may be less material involved, but I'm not really seeing any cost savings in going small.  But then, I didn't do a bartop project to save money.

Yeah, I am not adding up what this cost intentionally - I know it would aggrivate me.  I spent over $150 just on buttons and LED's.

I mainly did a bartop first for space reasons (since I am moving soon), and because I have a serious back injury right now and lifiting anything heavy was out of the question.  I know when I do a full-size cab I will be using a 27" monitor.  If I lifted a big monitor right now, it would probably be the last thing I ever did.

- DigDreams

[DigDreams]

Well, I finished the BlackBox last night.  The CP was more than tight, and was a real pain in the you know what to complete.  Here's the back of the CP:




And the front of the CP...



A different angle showing the bezel...




I couldn't get a real clear view of the button icons across the top.  About the best I could do was in the dark. 



The trackball picks up all the  LED's in the case, so it looks amazing.  It's hard to get the colors right in the photo, but the last button is purple.  The others are all standardd Happs colors with matching LED's, the purple is a clear with one Violet-Blue LED and one UV (Blacklight) bulb.


Here are the finished pictures of the complete cabinet (several views):











And in the dark:



... of course I'll be tweaking it here and there.  I have to drill one more hole to add the second controller (optional game pad for player #2).  I have a light gun, but I think I am going to use that on the next cab.  I think this one is too small for light gun games.

Comments welcome!

- DigDreams

[DigDreams]

Minor tweaks today...   I drilled a small hole in the bottom to all a Nostromo N45 GamePad (for Player 2) controls to be plugged in.

I also color coded the "Categories", "Facvorites", and "Information" options of the front end (3D Arcade, Custom Skin - see beginning of thread).  Now the first row of buttons controls these functions while the second row switches between listbox, FPS "Walk-Thru" arcade, and "Cylendar Arcade".

I installed all the Pro Pinball series and the No-CD Hacks, and configured all the keys for that and VPinMame.

- DigDreams

[theCoder]

And you though you were finished.... We'll probably still be tweaking & posting on our projects for months.

[DigDreams]

Well, one small problem...  In pinball games (VPinMame and Pro Pinball) the IPac-2 misses keypresses every once in a while.  I have tried running separate grounds to them, and removing the pass-thru keyboard but to no avail.  It only happens about once every 40 keypresses or so, but it's enough to ruin your pinball game.

Any ideas?

- DigDreams

[Crafty]

Very impressive 

 any idea on ballpark cost...

[DigDreams]

I was actually trying to avoid adding it up...  Let me get back to you on that, I'll have to do a little math, remove the new tools, etc...  Too much is the short answer, but I guess I am curious - so I'll add it up.

- DigDreams

[theCoder]

On your keystroke issue...
I can't speak for visual pinball, but on ProPinball, if you dial up all of the graphics knobs, you can run into problems.  The problems almost always show up as late keystrokes or buttons held down too long.  When I back off on the detail and the resolution, the problem has gone away for me in the past.

Good luck.

[DigDreams]

I wrote Andy at Ultimarc and he is sending me a new main chip for the I-Pac2. 

He said in May (when I purchased mine) he had a bad batch.  Hopefully that will fix the issue.

- DigDreams

[DigDreams]

Very impressive 

any idea on ballpark cost...

It wound up costing roughly $888.96.  Here is the breakdown:



Of course, I also spent around $250 on some new tools: Heat Gun, Soldering Iron, Clamps, Hole Saw, Bits, Jigsaw Blades, etc.

- DigDreams

[Crafty]

Thanks for the cost breakdown...

[theCoder]

I was just helping a friend install ProPinball on his computer.  He was having keyboard problems.  On Fantastic Journey and Big Race, there would sometimes be a delay on the time between hitting a flipper and the actual event happening in the game.  If running XP, the fix is to set the "compatibility" to "Windows 98".  This is done by right clicking the .exe file, and going to the compatibility tab.  Just in case you run into this.

[DigDreams]

I already figured that one out, but thanks.  Just waiting for my new chip from Andy. 

Also, I found a way to reduce my CPU temp by 10 degrees with SOFTWARE.  Amazing, check it out:

http://www.cpuidle.de

I would have never believed it, but it really works.

- DigDreams

[DigDreams]

I got my new IPac2 chip from Andy today.   I popped it in, and now everything works perfectly.  It even remembered my key configuration after replacing the chip, which surprised me.  I thought I'd have to re-program it for sure.

I can finally play Pinball and not have to scream at it!

- DigDreams

[psychotech]

That's one Great Bartop... Thanx for all the info ..I'm just trying to get my 1st one finished.

[leapinlew]

This turned out great! Good work 

[theCoder]

Glad to here you're up and running. 

It is not healthy for you or your box for you to be frustrated at pinball!  Keep the tilting simulated instead of physical.

[DigDreams]

I'm lovin' Pro Pinball now that the buttons work right.  Thanks again for that tip!

Anyone else that wants some GREAT pinball games for their box - I got all three for under $6.50 DELIVERED.  Here's the link:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00004C8S0/ref=dp_olp_2/002-5985483-3353628?ie=UTF8

- DigDreams

[MameMaster!]

that's a great lookin' bar top.

Congrats on a great job! 

[DigDreams]

[quote author=MameMaster