Finally! building a cabinet from scratch

[MaMeNnO]

Hi all!

Being thinking a while of building an Arcade cabinet, I left the thinking fase and started to really build one.
After some research on the net I came across arcadecontrols.com and I must say this is the place to be! 
I'm going to build a cabinet based on the dimensions of the centipede cabinet I saw at http://www.retrospieler.de.
Two days ago I bought the wood and one side is drawn. I don't have a router or fancy CNC machine, so I have to help me with the tools I (and my father in law) have.

I will put some pictures here and I'll keep you informed of the progress.

I think I might also ask some questions of you guru's around here! 

Well, my adventure in the wonderful world of cabinets started!

PS. this cabinet is being build in Holland 

Should have posted this in "Project Announcements" i guess... 

My front end, Finally! building a front end from scratch

[MaMeNnO]

here are some pics from the the wood and joysticks I ordered from www.arcadeshop.de It took a week and a day to get from Germany. It's the nearest place for me to buy.

Here the wood is cut into some more to handle pieces


I use "betonplex" I don't know what's it called in English. It's real nice wood with a hard and smooth toplayer.


The dimensions. Yep, the metric system. You do the math!


The sticks and buttons!


I do the design in A9CAD from A9Tech. The freeware is real good! Wel at least good enough for me. Check it out at http://www.a9tech.com/

[danny_galaga]

nice start  . there at least two others from the netherlands here- patrickl and level42. what type/size monitor will you be using?

[Lutus]

As long as you have pictures and have actually done something and ordered parts then I would definently say that qualifies your project as belonging in "project announcments".   

Keep it up.  That is some interesting wood you got there by the way.   

[quarterback]

Keep it up.  That is some interesting wood you got there by the way.   

Boo-yah!

[TehJefe]

Just be especially careful not to scratch or scuff that shiney top layer... thatd be a real pain.

[MaMeNnO]

nice start  . there at least two others from the netherlands here- patrickl and level42. what type/size monitor will you be using?

I'll use a 19" pc monitor to start with. I'm thinking of taking off the cover and put it in a metal frame. Then I want to fix the bottom part with a hinge so I can change the angle because I don't know for sure what will be a nice angle.

Just be especially careful not to scratch or scuff that shiney top layer... thatd be a real pain.

Yeah, that's what I have experienced (on the edges) this weekend  I should have bought MDF... that would have been so much cheaper!

Hopefully I can find the time to post more pictures to night.

And what do you do when you discover that the design you got from the internet isn't really what you want, AFTER you bought and cut the wood??? Right, you just glue the controlpanel area on the side.
The pictures will speak for them selves. That will definitely get me some posts with  in!!!

[MaMeNnO]

T-molding is very hard to get in Holland. Actually I don't know if it really can be purchased, because every where I ask they either say "I don't know what you mean" or "Maybe there and there" or just "No". Called a manufacturer today. He could maybe make some. I mean, a special made T-molding (just for me!  ). But that would have cost me a little... 80 euro's ($101) for the die, price per feet and a minimum order of 1000 meters (333 feet)! I could start a T-molding site my self with that! 
I think I just order some red T-molding from tmolding.com, but then customs and shipment will cost me more then the stuff it self I guess. No, I'm sure because I've already asked them... $13 to just get the T-molding from US to Holland. Hey, I've spent a fortune on the wood, just spent a "fortune" on the T-molding!

[Lutus]

Where are these pictures you speak of??

I could use a laugh!

[MaMeNnO]

Where are these pictures you speak of??

I could use a laugh!

I'll post them later on to day.

About the design, I have some picture of that. I made some minor adjustments afterwards, but just for you guys (and girls?!) to have an idea...

Side


Front


Controlpanel


I've left out the top, bottem en back, because the're not really interesting. Unless...
All measurements are in centimeters (cm). The design is still changing. I'll post the final designs when all is finished.

hmm... the pictures don't come out really good 
That's because of IE.

[MaMeNnO]

Here is the promised update with some pictures of the progress to far.

On one side the lines where drawn and the wood was clamped together, so the wood wouldn't move while sawing. A circularsaw was used to do the sawing.


The roundings where done with a hand- and machinefile.


The controlpanelarea... I hear you say "The what???". As I earlier mentioned I wasn't pleased with the design afterall, so I made a few adjustments. This ment that I had to glue the controlpanelarea on the side, because original the marquee and controlpanel had the same width. The wood was allready cut and If I just placed the marquee 16 cm (6.2") to the back, that would have left to less space for the monitor to fit, hence this solution.


The complete side... well, allmost! 


The complete side!


For the fillets (the right term for this I looked it up, but you never know) to have the right angle I used a saw that could be adjusted in steps of 1 degree...


the saw I used. It works really nice. I think there are more ways to do this, but I was glad I could use this.


The fillet lined up.


The perfect length screw to hold the fillets.


Dowelholes to fix the controlpanelarea together with some glue.


Yes, it's fixed! Thank god that worked.


Just some clamps to hold everything together. I used some little plastic bags to prevent the pieces of wood glued to the wood due to spilled glue.


Well, that's it for now. Next weekend I'm on a trip to Rome  so, no progress till next week I'll guess. Hey, I have job!  So most of the time I just can work on it in the weekends.

[theCoder]

Next weekend I'm on a trip to Rome...

Beware of the private taxi's.  They'll rip you off blind.  The official city cabs are great however.

The things we go through to correct our early (bad) decisions and screw-ups.  I swear they take up half the build time.

[MaMeNnO]

The things we go through to correct our early (bad) decisions and screw-ups.  I swear they take up half the build time.

O no... I sure didn't want to hear that! But then again, I explicitly didn't set an enddate for the project. I'll pay extra attention at every decision.

[_) (V) (-)]

I explicitly didn't set an enddate for the project.

I don't think any project here ever has a real 'enddate' 

Seriously tho Mamenno, I really like that classic finished wood cabinet look! It really adds an element of class and stands far above all the black laminated  particle board cabnets.

I venture to say my wife might even tolerate something looking like this in our living room as it will have more of a 'furnature' look to it.

Is it possible to put some kind of protectant on the finish?
You know, something to help avoid minor damages like scuffs and scratches?

[MaMeNnO]

I explicitly didn't set an enddate for the project.

Seriously tho Mamenno, I really like that classic finished wood cabinet look! It really adds an element of class and stands far above all the black laminated  particle board cabnets.

Uhhh...  eventually the cabinet will be white with red T-molding, seriously. I want to apply a few layers of white with a hard varnish top coat to avoid the damages. I also like the shiney look.

[_) (V) (-)]

 
To each his own I guess! 

[MaMeNnO]

Well today I bought some small stuff. A handfull of quickdisconnects to put on the connectors of the joysticks and buttons (cherry switches)...


...and a few plasticconnectors to go between the encoder (I don't no which one yet) and the wire from the sticks and buttons.


Speaking of an encoder I thought of buying an I-PAC2, but an KeyWiz ECO2 (non-solder) will also do. Price wise the KeyWiz is in favor. I don't know about specific pro's and con's. Has any one experience on these two encoders?

I-PAC2 $39.00:


KeyWiz ECO2 $20:


I will just have two sticks, 6 buttons per stick, a one and two player button, credit button and I think max. 4 admin buttons.

[Havok]

I can add support for the KeyWiz - I have that and a couple of GPWiz controllers, and they work flawlessly!

[postalp123]

I-Pac's are amazing as far as I'm concerned.

I've bought four of them all said and done and every time Andy keeps impressing me with his customer service.

A Mini-Pac will give you enough inputs (28 total) and is barely larger than a credit card. Couple it with the optional premade wire harness and your good to go.

Ultimately the Keywiz & "Pac" line of products are both good, but the support & setup software you get with the "Pac" line of products puts it above and beyond.

Great work so far, keep it up!

[MaMeNnO]

Thanks for the comment. I think I will go for the KeyWiz. I hope they deliver their goods faster then their answers by email.  Maybe to busy delivering the goods 

Haven't said a word about the PC I'm going to use. It's gonna be a PIV 2.53Ghz that should be plenty 
I going to dismantel the PC and will also rip a few parts from it. I think I'm not going to use the DVD writer or firewire card. It will also be a lot lighter without the case and such. I'm going to reinstall it completely'. For the frontend... no choice made yet, but it has to be simple and nice looking. I'll be running mame107 on the PC. Allthough I have too much games, I made a list of about 200 games. Guys who are running just everything out there I can not understand.

For the monitor I'm going to use a 21" PC monitor. There are plenty cheap ones out there on marktplaats.nl (sort of local EBay for the Dutch market... very popular!). Don't know if I will ever going to use a true arcade monitor. I'm no Arcade purist.

Well this weekend I'm going to be working on my cabinet again. The trip to Rome delayed the progress, but it was worth while! 

[MaMeNnO]

Today I have finished all fillets on both sides. It took more time then I had expected. When one side was finished I used this tool... What is it called in English 

...to copy the angles from the finished side. It was a real good help this one. I can recommend it.

You can copy an angle and then use the tool to draw a markingline on the wood...


I've used it also to adjust the angle of the circularsaw...


Just to check if everything was ok...

Yes! The angle is perfect. As I said a real handy tool. Couldn

[rolls rolex]

My first thought was "what the heck did you do with the wood, it's all stained" but it's a tree shadow 
I'm curious how many more tools your father in law has, it's starting to look very good 

[MaMeNnO]

My first thought was "what the heck did you do with the wood, it's all stained" but it's a tree shadow 
I'm curious how many more tools your father in law has, it's starting to look very good 

Thanks! Well, we didn't touch the router yet. That will be used shortly.

I can add support for the KeyWiz - I have that and a couple of GPWiz controllers, and they work flawlessly!

The KeyWiz is on it's way! 

I will start soon with a prototype of the controlpanel. Just to check if the sticks and buttons work well for me. I'm not planning on connecting it all together. On the other hand, it might be helpfull to play a few games to check it really plays ok.

[MaMeNnO]

When I came back from work today my girl friend said "There was a package delivered for you.". Immediately I responded with "From America?". She said 
Can't be that difficult when you see the package... (she never read this board  )

Quickly I looked for the package on the table and... yeah, it's the KeyWiz ECO2! (non-solder  )
So, now I can really do something with the buttons and sticks I allready have for 2 months. 

Right... photo's rock (a photo says more then...    ), so here are a few...

Is this package from the US?!


What's in the package...


May I present the KeyWiz!


Oops, and it's back...

[Stobe]

Looks great so far.

Just curious, have you measured the clearances of your buttons/sticks atger they are mounted on your CP?  The distace between what will be your CP top and CP bottom looks a little tight.

Keep up the great work.

-Stobe

[MaMeNnO]

Just curious, have you measured the clearances of your buttons/sticks atger they are mounted on your CP?  The distace between what will be your CP top and CP bottom looks a little tight.

To be honest? No, not exactly. As I countersink the sticks that should give me enough room to work with.

[MaMeNnO]

Today was day three of the cabinet. To bad I can almost just work on the weekends. This day was the build day. I saw the cabinet come to life a little bit. It

[rolls rolex]

Is that the white t-molding or just smoothly sanded?

[MaMeNnO]

Is that the white t-molding or just smoothly sanded?

No t-molding. The wood has a brownish top layer and the inside is sort of white. So, just a little sanded. The cabinet will be white with red t-molding.

[johnm160]

That is a T-bevel. Very useful tool

Today I have finished all fillets on both sides. It took more time then I had expected. When one side was finished I used this tool... What is it called in English 

...to copy the angles from the finished side. It was a real good help this one. I can recommend it.

[MaMeNnO]

That is a T-bevel. Very useful tool
[...]

Thanks for the translation.

Today I got my t-molding. I got it from t-molding.com. They even threw a couple of samples in the package. Also the routerbit was in the delivery. Better test that first on a little not-to-be-used-for-the-cabinet piece of wood. Before I...

My red t-molding...


Samples t-molding...


Routerbit...

[MaMeNnO]

The last few days I was all exited about getting my IDE cable for the KeyWiz Eco2. So when the shop called they had it, I drove by and collected it. That evening I cut the cable, stripped the coat till I was left with lose wires. Well, just plug it in and... WTF!  it doesn't fit!. Just looked at the IDE connector to see there was a contact missing.

I just assumed it would go ok, otherwise I wouldn't have cut the damn thing! Yeah, I know, "assumption is the mother of all F#@K ups". Sometime, just sometime on a real bad moment I get myself in this pitfall.

Now I know there are 40pin connectors with 40 contacts instead of 39. The difference for harddrives and motherboards.
I got a real 40pin connector from my boss and connected the wires from the other cable. It's a bit of work, but then you've really got something... I hope. The connections should be ok I guess. Maybe I should test them first with a multi-meter. Ok, some pictures...















Well looks good so far.

[MaMeNnO]

Today was a day without touching any wires, so I can't do anything wrong... or can I? The marquee plates are now in place and also the holder for the glass. The door at the back is also in place with a piano hinge. Works great! The groove for the t-molding was next. I was really excited about doing this. After getting the routerbit from the US I couldn't wait to use it. First a test piece. Yep, perfect! The t-molding fits beautifuly. The first side went kinda, well bad. That is, the controlpanel part. I went to fast on that part and as a reaction I pulled the router out... BIG mistake! Never, ever pull a spinning router out a t-molding groove!  First, hold and wait till it stops and then pull it out. The routerbit slammed against the wood and it came out the router. Luckly the bit wasn't broke or something, otherwise I would have had a big problem. Anyway, here are some pictures.

The marquee plates...


The marquee holders...


Door with pianohinge...


The door hangs...


Closeup of the pianohinge...


T-molding routerbit...


The final groove...


The T-molding fits OK...


Oops, little accident...

[WunderCade]

I was just wondering why you went for the bookshelf-look for your arcade cabinet?

It is a rather unique twist, but it really makes me want to put my stereo, some books and maybe an accent plant or two in it rather than play games on it.

Just my take.

[psychotech]

Looks great. I'll be spying 

[dudebozo]

i like your progress so far.  keep it going dude.  i hear you on the foul ups with the router.  i had a similar incident with mine...well...there was a cat in my backyard and my dog felt that the shortest path to get the cat was under my saw horses...well...luckily nothing too terrible happened.  but yeah, keep up the great work. 

[MaMeNnO]

I was just wondering why you went for the bookshelf-look for your arcade cabinet?

It is a rather unique twist, but it really makes me want to put my stereo, some books and maybe an accent plant or two in it rather than play games on it.

Just my take.

Wait till it's finished, then we'll talk again  BTW the brownish you see now, will be completely gone. It will be white with red t-molding. The front inside will be black. The side art is in progress.

Looks great. I'll be spying 

No problem!

i like your progress so far.  keep it going dude.  i hear you on the foul ups with the router.  i had a similar incident with mine...well...there was a cat in my backyard and my dog felt that the shortest path to get the cat was under my saw horses...well...luckily nothing too terrible happened.  but yeah, keep up the great work. 

Yeah, some things you have to run into yourself. Too bad for me.

[MaMeNnO]

I wasn't sure the connector I made was fully perfect. So, I thought I'd better use a multi-meter to confirm every wire on the connector is OK. I took the meter and touched every pin. I was glad to see that everything was OK. When everything is all wired up and something isn't working, then you have to check that everything is allright. It's better to do it upfront.

Houston, we have contact! 


All the ends of there wire were stripped and twisted... very boring!


Not to much of an update, but that's all I can do this weekend.

[MaMeNnO]

Before I make a definitive CP I thought I better make a test one first, because it's the first time I ever made one. Are the sticks and buttons in the right place? Does the whole thing work fine for me? Just some questions I want the answers to before I make the real thing.
I started out to get a cardboard box, because it's easy to work with.

First some holes. You can also see my screw up. I was just to busy drawing and cutting that I forgot that the buttons and stick should be the other way around on the right side.  So, I started allover again and kept saying stick left, buttons right, stick left, buttons right, stick... 


The layout...





Added some text just for fun...


I want to router out the stickplate from the top of the CP and then attache a slim plate over the whole CP. That way I can hide  the bolts of the sticks... BUT I have second thoughts about that it. I think it's much easier to router from the bottom and mount the sticks from there. That way you can see the bolts, but it's not that bad I guess.

Anybody specific concerns about this?

I also ordered some more parts. Trumpet nets, CP clamps, coinslot-mech and locks. I expect them early next week...

[psychotech]

..!

If you haven't done so already.. DO NOT leave the joystick mounting bolts/plates above the CP!

You've already built a great looking cabinet, so don't go the 'easy way' now as you're 'getting there'. Won't be that much more work to make a plexiclass CP cover ..actually why not just clamp them together and cut both at the same time after you're sure of the final layout.

Well yeah, according to the pictures of the joysticks of choice ..undermounting (without routing, at least) might be an issue depending on the depth of your CP..? Or maybe not???

Anyway.. still spying.