And so it begins..........Project Pink..COMPLETED !!

[sealslayer]

The time has come after much looking and drooling on here, today I started my first cab.
Its taken me a few months to buy all the tools I needed and to buy my workshop / shed and the wait for me is now over.

I took my first cut in anger today and I'm very happy with the results so far.
I don't intend to create anything to fancy for my first cabinet, although I will try and make it as clean as possible.
The GF has decided on the colour scheme, she's a lover of pink so its going to be a pink theme, we are going with pink T-molding, Fluorescent pink lighting, Black laminated sides along with pink joysticks and buttons if we can get hold of any.

Day 1:
Bought the Wood today, 18mm MDF along with timber for the internal structure.
first off I made my sawboard, whoever came up with this simple idea is a genius.! Perfect cuts everytime so far.





First off I'm not using any plans as such only very rough diagrams and measurements, I'm not the sort of person who can sit in front of a PC with turbocad, I like to get my hands dirty.
I made some rough measurements while the MDF was against my fence so I could get a good view of the cab in my mind before I started. This may sound shoddy but I have quite a good eye for scale and its all turned out perfectly well.

The biggest pain was cutting out the section above the CP where you face the monitor, no way of getting the circular saw in there, it was a case of gettings as much out as possible then I planned to use the the sawboard with my jigsaw to get a perfectly straight edge.
Once I got most of it out I had a "use the force luke" moment and decided to go freehand with the jigsaw and I'm really shocked at how well it came out, almost perfect. A little bit of sanding along the edge and it looks great !



Took me about 4 hours to complete one side and to get the other side to about 90%.
Tommorow I'll clamp the two together and run the router around the edges to match them perfectly.

The image below looks very bad, its because I had to rotate the image, my workmanship isnt that bad I promise !!
Once the CP is in place it will line up perfectly with the top of the cab and the Kickpanel at the bottom, 35" wide.

[theCoder]

Oh, yeah, it's pink for the girl friend, that's it.  I've heard that one before.  Good luck on the build.

[yfdgricker]

Good Luck! The sides have an interesting look to it already!

[sealslayer]

Day 2:

I didn't end up with much spare time today as worked called just as I was about to start matching the two sides, I've had a slow week work wise so I thought I'd be at it all day 

Managed to clamp the two sides together then noticed with much dismay this huge chunk missing from the second side 

I can only think I must have slipped or the circular saw may have got stuck, god only knows, next time I wont do any work when it starts to get dark 

I managed to sand the two sides where the big junk is to a resonable level then I filled the rest and have left it to set overnight.

Also found out today that the seller on ebay that I was going to buy the T-molding from doesn't appear to sell pink.
The final set back of the day came when I stood the two panels as they will be when the cab is complete.
My head is only about a inch away from the top of the cab, it appears I may have made the top stick out a bit too far, I can either make the CP deeper to give a little extra room or take a inch or two of the top so it doesn't stick out so far, this however will ruin all the outside alignment that I wanted, i.e the top,cp and kick panel all being the same depth.
Nevermind theres always tomorrow to figure these things out.

[MYX]

The title...And so it begins..........
I feel like I should be hearing a deep voice and reberb when it is said.

As to speed... It will go no where nearly how fast you thought it would. I keep forgetting to include set up time in my plans.

[sealslayer]

Day 3:
Well I can't believe how much time I've spent today and seem to have got next to nothing done.
A few hiccups along the way slowed me down slightly, firstly I have learnt I need to mark the sides of the cab in and outside.
When I started today I put the two sides together and noticed a  difference at the top of the cab when they where laid flat on top of each other, now they weren't like that the night before 
There was probably about a 3mm difference in the two, so I set to work with my router to trim down the side that had more excess, it was only after I had done this that I realised what I had done.
when I turned them over they matched !!, I know they should match either way but I didn't have a router bit deep enough to mate the two sides so I did the best I could with the sander, its only a very minute difference but it still niggled me 

Basically all I have done is round of the bottom corner and the kick panel, made the bottom and top battons and drilled the holes for them to be mounted, hopefully tomorrow.
The Battons at the bottom have been secured by big arse 8mm Bolts, the monitor shelf and the top battons will be held the same way, although they will be cut down once the cab is complete.

Can you believe I still don't have a monitor !!, I'm going to look for the average dimensions of a 21" Monitor and keep my fingers crossed that my monitor shelf is going to be the right size.

I would probably be going at a faster rate if I had plans at hand but I'm quite enjoying the  way its going as it seems to be evolving as I'm having different ideas as I'm building it.

The angles of the battons came out extremely well considering I'm only using my eye to judge the angles and a handsaw to cut them without a Mitre block ! (pics of those tomorrow)







What I have learnt today...

I must mark the inner and outersides to avoid confusion 
I don't need a Mitre saw.....
This is extremely pleasureable and time consuming and is surprisingly taxing on the body, I feel like I've done more psychical work in the last three days than I have a month at work!

[theCoder]

For what it's worth, most of your adjustments, misallignments, and patched screw-ups will never be noticed by anyone but you. 

[sealslayer]

lol, just noticed on page 2 of this forum that I'm not the only person to have used "and so it begins" to start their thread, I honestly didn't see that thread when I named this one 

[sealslayer]

Day 4:

Today went very well, secured all the battons to the inside of the cab.
Made the monitor shelf and the very bottom shelf
So far I've not used a single screw, its all being held together with enough bolts to sink a battle ship    this baby will be able to take some serious punishment.

I used bolts with a square and drove these home into the monitor shelf with the aid of socket and a rubber mallet, great way of sinking them to ensure the square bolts sinks into the MDF.









Tommorow I'll secure the bottom shelf and hopefully make the top panels, I've been very lucky with the off cuts from the original sheets of MDF, after the sides where made all the extra pieces where exactly 24" so they fit inside the cab perfectly.

[CheffoJeffo]

Interesting profile to your cabinet ... kinda has an Asteroidish feel to it.

Cheers.

[sealslayer]

I just went freestyle with the design as the board was standing up, its all turned out great so far.
Only point I'm slightly concerned about is how far the top sticks out, I've hit my head on it 4 times today, if I'm using bar stools though it wont really be a issue.

I have some interesting ideas but I'll let the progress pictures do the talking as they may change while its being built.

[NightGod]

The title...And so it begins..........
I feel like I should be hearing a deep voice and reberb when it is said.

I think of the scene in the first Mortal Combat movie when they're on the ship and sky starts opening up and Raiden looks up and says "IT HAS BEGUN!"

Day 4:

Today went very well, secured all the battons to the inside of the cab.
Made the monitor shelf and the very bottom shelf
So far I've not used a single screw, its all being held together with enough bolts to sink a battle ship    this baby will be able to take some serious punishment.

I used bolts with a square and drove these home into the monitor shelf with the aid of socket and a rubber mallet, great way of sinking them to ensure the square bolts sinks into the MDF.

For future reference, those are most often called "Carriage Bolts" and they're great for attaching joysticks to control panels.

[sealslayer]

lol, I know now for future reference what the bolts are called, thanks

"And so it begins" is from Lord of the rings return of the king, when Gandalf is standing on the balcony if my memory serves me correctly.

[grueinthebox]

If you haven't changed your mind yet, Dream Arcades sells pink t-molding, buttons and joysticks...  Picked up some of the t-molding when they were taking preorders to see if there was enough interest to have it made.  Figure I'll use it someday, but I'll man up and admit it's not the wife's idea.   

[sealslayer]

Oh good, do you have a link to their website? and do you know if they ship out to the UK?
Cheers 

[sealslayer]

nm, google is your friend , wow very cheap prices, just hope they ship overseas...

Looked on their FAQ section and it says $200 dollars for overseas shipping, I'm not sure if thats for whole tables or any size item , I really hope not as they have everything I need in pink and its so much cheaper than over here.

[theCoder]

What are your plans for the kickpanel flange at the front-bottom?  Chrome plated or polished aluminum diamond plate would look excellent there.

Keep up the good work and pictures.

[zenmasterbooty]

After a pondering the shearing strength of ten 8 mm steel bolts, I have to ask...how heavy is your monitor?

[subcriminal]

I just went freestyle with the design as the board was standing up, its all turned out great so far.
Only point I'm slightly concerned about is how far the top sticks out, I've hit my head on it 4 times today, if I'm using bar stools though it wont really be a issue.

Doesn't look too hard to shave a bit off those marquee sides. Maybe before you fit the lightbox?
After you're friends have been round, had a few beers and bashed their heads they might not find your cab so impressive Looking good though

[sealslayer]

Day 5:

I'm very happy with today's work, not a lot done but what has been done looks great.
I cut the kick panel out along with the piece that will sit behind it, one edge of the kick panel had to be cut at a 50 degree angle but my circular saw only goes to 45 degree's.
I had to take the adjusting bolt out and move it past the saws guide mark and put the bolt back again to wedge it at 50 degrees.

I'll post pics of the kick panel tomorrow, I also made the little mouse holes for the locking Castor wheels to sit through.
Once the large holes where drilled just cut a line up to each side and cleaned any mess off.









Tomorrow I plan to route the panel that sits behind the kick panel deep enough to sink a piano hinge that will be joined to the kick panel. Once the cab is laminated the hinge will be sunk and invisible.
This will give easy access to the Castor's as it will open upwards giving you plenty of room to lock and unlock the wheels, probably completely pointless as it will hardly ever be moved but I'm trying to go with different ideas, I'm sure the idea has allready been thought of and used, but what the heck 

[sealslayer]

After a pondering the shearing strength of ten 8 mm steel bolts, I have to ask...how heavy is your monitor?

lol, I hope the monitor is no more than 30 KG (70'ish pounds), alot of the nuts and bolts etc I have used have been bought  from car boot sales, in the states these are probably known as flea markets, so whatever I can lay my hands on I have bought as its nice and cheap, probably overkill considering I've sat on the shelf and it didn't budge.
Over here 300 people drive to a field, typically on a Sunday and sell anything and everything that they can fit into their cars, Great place for getting lots of cheap bits and bobs. I bought 8 x 26" piano hinges yesterday for 30p each (60c)   

What are your plans for the kickpanel flange at the front-bottom?  Chrome plated or polished aluminum diamond plate would look excellent there.

The kick panel will be like you suggested diamond plate  and routed so it sits flush except it will be sprayed in......you've guessed it high gloss pink   

Doesn't look too hard to shave a bit off those marquee sides. Maybe before you fit the lightbox?
After you're friends have been round, had a few beers and bashed their heads they might not find your cab so impressive Looking good though

I think I may well end up having to do this, the bolts are far enough away to cut a inch off and still leave enough of the batton in place. I didn't really want to though, when you look from the side view it was all going to be perfectly in line.
I may consider extending the CP a extra inch or two, that way the kick panel and the top will still be in line and keep it looking uniform.

[NightGod]

So...just curious...what do you do if you and this girl ever break up?

I mean, an all pink cab is great when you HAVE a girlfriend, but it's not much for GETTING a new one.

[sealslayer]

lol its to late now, I was up until the small hours buying lots of  bits on ebay that are all pink.
Actually the plans I have in my head for the cab will look great once its all lit, I quite like the idea of pink now especially the joysticks, they have a gob stopper look to them

[theCoder]

I quite like the idea of pink now especially the joysticks, they have a gob stopper look to them

And so it begins......

[mikevangels]

So...just curious...what do you do if you and this girl ever break up?

I mean, an all pink cab is great when you HAVE a girlfriend, but it's not much for GETTING a new one.

Call me crazy but I never thought any cab was a good idea for getting a new gal.

[_) (V) (-)]

I have a question about your castors.

Won't the 'mouseholes' restrict their movement?

I mean, when you are turning the cabnet around or reverse it's direction of movement, the castors tend to spin 180 degrees. It looks like the mouse hole will prevent this.  Or will the other set of wheels do the steering?

I am interested because I really like the 'hidden' castors look but not sure how to incorporate it on my own project.

[sealslayer]

I have a question about your castors.

Won't the 'mouseholes' restrict their movement?

I mean, when you are turning the cabnet around or reverse it's direction of movement, the castors tend to spin 180 degrees. It looks like the mouse hole will prevent this.  Or will the other set of wheels do the steering?

I am interested because I really like the 'hidden' castors look but not sure how to incorporate it on my own project.

I plan to use the back wheels to direct the cab and the front ones are there really only to lock the cab once its in place, your right it does restrict the movement if you intend to move the cabinet a lot.
For the wheels to move the full distance you would only have to  make the bottom part of the hole slightly larger, where the circle meets the line down you could cut it at a angle rather than straight so you have enough play in the wheels.

[sealslayer]

Day 6:

I seem to start something each day that I had no intention of doing they day before  my plan was to route the kick panel for the piano hinge but for whatever reason they didn't happen.

I made the top pieces today, nothing yet has been secured though as they have to be sanded and painted inside and out.



I then decided I really had to get a monitor to see how much room I would have at the front and rear when the door would be shut.
I headed off to a good shop that sells pre-owned PC items, as soon as I walked into the shop staring at me was a nice 21" PC Monitor  I paid

[NightGod]

So...just curious...what do you do if you and this girl ever break up?

I mean, an all pink cab is great when you HAVE a girlfriend, but it's not much for GETTING a new one.

Call me crazy but I never thought any cab was a good idea for getting a new gal.

OK, you're crazy.

Chicks dig the arcade cab. Don't use it as a selling point, but it's not a bad thing to have in the house when they come over. Though in pink....

[theCoder]

...how am I going to fit the glass to the front of the cab.

Two ways come to mind.
The first is the way my 1980 Atari cab did it.  There were two horizontal pieces of wood running the width of the cab, one at the top, and one at the bottom.  The top piece had a slot in it, the thickness of the glass.  The bottom had a small L shaped ledge.  The tall portion of the L was in the back with the width of the bottom the same thickness as the glass.  The glass was lifted up into the top slot, then pushed onto the ledge.  A retaining strip was then screwed into the bottom piece of wood to keep the glass from coming forward and down.  You could get away with no retaining strip if you make the bottom piece have a shallow slot, and the top one having a deep (1/2" or so) slot.  Lift the glass up, push in, slide down.

The second way is similar to a picture frame.  A rectangular piece of wood with a pocket routed out in the back.  A piece of glass is held in the pocket with a couple of small pieces of scrap wood and a few screws.  This approach is very easy to do, but you don't have a convenient way to clean the glass a few years down the road when it gets dusty inside.

Look around on this forum.  I'm sure there are many other ways people have addressed this.  Keep up the great (and fast) work.

[sealslayer]

Day 7:

After a night of non stop thinking about the monitor frame, I decided to have a day of rest today....
Well that was the intention......

After a long winded driving detour due to a accident on a main motorway I went past a old hardware store that I had intended to visit on previous occasions but never got round to doing.
I picked up a six metre length of 3mm angle, perfect to start making my monitor frame with 

I cut the pieces into four using a hacksaw at first, this just wasn't quick enough so I tried my jigsaw.
I added a little bit of oil and it cut through the metal in no time, I then clamped, drilled and bolted the frame together.




After I couldn't resist the temptation and brought my laptop down to have a quick preview, the picture looks great and is a perfect size for the cab 



Tomorrow I'll cut the corner pieces that will connect to the frame and to the four corners of the monitor and clean all the framework up as it looks like crap at the moment.
This will also act as a great straightener for the cab as it will be bolted from the sides and bottom and will pull it all together nicely


Running Costs and time to date.

Not all the items listed have yet been used.

MDF

[postalp123]

MDF

[sealslayer]

MDF

[sealslayer]

Day 8:

Finished the rest of the monitor frame today, took sooooooo much longer than I expected, much like the whole build so far 



I had to get the angle grinder out to smooth the edges of the frame as they had started to cut a groove into the MDF, this really peeed me off, as so far everything was going well, now I'll have to get the filler out again 

Tomorrow I'll start to figure out how I'm going to make the bezel, I have the monitor front still and I think I'm going to trace that onto some cardboard to get a template then maybe cut the pattern into thin MDF.
I really want the whole thing to look as flush to the monitor as possible, and it has to be able to come out easily if I ever have to change the monitor at any stage.
I'm trying to think of all possibility's, monitors don't last forever and the last thing I was is to have damage anything if It has to ever be changed.

Another thing in the back of my mind is the distance between the monitor and the glass screen, I'm going to have to look at different examples, at the moment I'm thinking of making it as close as possible.



Running Costs and time to date.

Not all the items listed have yet been used.

MDF

[sealslayer]

Day 9:

Well its actually day 10 but so little got done yesterday I'm not going to bother calling it a day. 

Today I gave the last coat of hammerite paint to the monitor frame, a nice gloss black.
Yesterday I did all the measurements to get the correct position for the frame then drilled all the bolts holes for when the whole cabinet gets put together.

I made the screen cover today, I really don't like the look of plastic bezels so I decided on a plain front.

I used my router today for the time really, I have messed about with it before but today was the first time that the work had to really count, I'm very happy with the results.
I sanded and rounded the edges of the screen cover to give it a much smoother look, as it looked far too sharp.








I spent all day measuring, cutting, adjusting, sanding the inside of the monitor cover to get the correct angles for the screen, only to find when all the pieces where in place they pushed the front out to far, not a problem at the moment but it will be when the glass is on     what a waste of time !!


What I intended to have behind the screen
Still we live and learn 
I'll cut out some very small pieces of 6mm MDF to put behind the edges to cover any point where a normal bezel would cover the monitor



On the plus side I got myself the bargain of the day, a Mitre saw for

[dudebozo]

nice build so far.  keep up the work.  yeah, i have to agree with you on that last part.  the many trips to home depot or sears to get tools.  it's like...oooooohhh, look at that cordless drill combo kit, i'll take it!!!  good job dude

[NickG]

...no way of getting the circular saw in there...

OMG! That cracked me up! (I hope you were joking) Good job on your cabinet.  Neat caster limitation idea!

[sealslayer]

lol no I really couldnt get my saw in there to cut one long complete line, so I cut most of it away, looking back If i had to do that part again I would have routed it out.
That part was the side where the monitor goes and I didnt have the confidence then. 

[sealslayer]

Day 11

I seemed to start so well and now each time I go to work on the cab it seems that nothing is getting done, most frustrating !!

Yesterday and today I finished the kick panel, I routed out the channel for the hinge to sit into, this now sits nice and flush with the wood and will be hidden with laminate. using the router can be so much fun 
The kick panel will eventually have magnetic catches attached to keep it closed.
Nothing yet has been screwed in so ignore the fact that the wheels are behind the kick panel, same with the piano hinge only a couple of screws are holding it at the moment 

I also made the two pieces for the CP to rest against, all that's left now is to cut the back door, front door and the internal pieces that will hold the PC then its time to paint all the internal pieces.
The inside of the cab has to look as good as the outside for me as I'm aiming for the cleanest look possible.








Running costs and time to date

MDF

[Chris]

I spent all day measuring, cutting, adjusting, sanding the inside of the monitor cover to get the correct angles for the screen, only to find when all the pieces where in place they pushed the front out to far, not a problem at the moment but it will be when the glass is on     what a waste of time !!

Maybe not...

On my Konami cabinet, the glass rests up against the bezel... there is a crossbar at the bottom to hold it up, and it goes behind the speaker panel at the top and behind the control panel at the bottom to hold it in place... no need for bolts or a frame or drilling.  So if you even have just the thickness of the glass left in front of the bezel and enough glass to go below the panel and above the speaker panel a bit, you're in business!

[sealslayer]

That's exactly how I'm going to hold mine in place now, Ive cut the screen surround 1/4" higher than the top speaker panel and I'll route that out so It will slide up.
I really wanted a small gap between the sides of the cab and the screen so I had to lose the idea of the inner pieces of wood for the bezel.

Construction has now slowed to a standstill, too many pieces are needed for me to continue.

I ordered my Buttons,joysticks,trackball, T-molding and trackball from dream arcades today all except the trackball are in glorious pink
Once the T-molding arrives I can then try and find the correct size router bit.
Then I have to buy the glass so I can then figure out how much room I have at the front and where to route the speaker panel.
After that I need to find my speakers, ideally I want a surround sound system purely for the Sub woofer and a remote control.

Until then I'm stuck, I cant paint the inside because pieces have to be fixed in and I cant fix those in until I've routed !!!

[Chris]

Couldn't find a pink trackball?

I think someone once said that acrylic juggling balls are the right size for a 3" trackball... am I remembering that?  Also, trackballs have been dyed before, I believe.  Do a search for "trackball" and "dye" and see what you get...

[bb040]

try this link you may find what your looking for................http://www.seriousjuggling.com/Balls_Acrylic.htm

[sealslayer]

Ive ordered a translucent blue trackball, would I be able to buy one of those clear balls and put a pink LED behind it?

[RayB]

I'm not a fan of the extended over-hanging marquee area. Are you planning on playing the machine outdoors? If so then I can see how that will shelter you from the rain.
 

[sealslayer]

I'm not a fan of the extended over-hanging marquee area. Are you planning on playing the machine outdoors? If so then I can see how that will shelter you from the rain.
 

lol, yes I know I made it stick out too far, as I've mentioned before I keep banging my head on the damn thing but I'm gonna stick with it now.
If I cut it back it would ruin the side profile,when its completed it should all line up nicely, that's the downside of not having any plans.
It looked ok when it was drawn on the side of MDF but completely different when its made 

[shardian]

Get this from groovy game gear:
http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=74&products_id=273
You can manually configure any color you want.

[sealslayer]

wow its been such along time since I've been able to make any real progress.
Having to order tools and other bits and pieces has pretty much slowed the build to a stand still.
My slot cutting bit should be in stock tommorow so I can route out the for the T-molding and then get on with painting the inside of the cab.

Today I finished the keyboard drawer and the bottom section where the PC will be exposed and lit up in its full pink glory 
I've not fixed anything yet so its still loose while I make sure it all fits tightly when the perspex screen is laid over the PC.
I also still have to cut the holes in the side of the PC compartment for the huge 120mm fans to keep everything nice and cool 

[sealslayer]

I finished work nice and early today so I managed to get a few hours cab building under my belt 

Today I routed out the 3 sections for my some of my speakers , two satellites and the center speaker will be above the CP, the sub will be in the bottom of the cab, I've still to decide whether or not to use the other two speakers. The speakers are from cambridge soundworks and will be hooked up to a the 5.1 desktop theatre control box
I'm still; undecided how I'm going to cover the speakers, I have some speaker cloth and I also have some acrylic UV reactive fan covers that look pretty nice, only time will tell 









The two 120mm fans have also now been routed out to keep things nice and cool around the PC.
The back door had its final fit only to find that the mains power and VGA lead hit the back door and stopped it closing properly 
So I had to route out to small squares in the door to allow for the cables to fit into once the door is shut.

I picked up a 500mm square diamond plate panel along with a metre square of rubber to go around the diamond plate on the kick panel.

Once again I'm pretty much stuck now as I'm still waiting for the slot cutting bit t come into stock, it was supposed to arrive on Monday, if its not here by tomorrow I'll demand my money back and go elsewhere.


running time and costs to date


MDF

[sealslayer]

Been a while since I updated on here.
I really wanted to have finished by now and to be honest I don't know why I haven't.
The build was going at a very fast rate then died down to nothing, the past 5 days have been a real test for me, I'm not the most patient of people at the best of times but over the last few days I have been so tempted to set upon the cab with a sledgehammer and start again.

The painting has been the biggest pain in the butt ever, I painted 3 coats of primer only for it to loOK awful so I sanded it all down and started again.
Then I applied the paint and it looked ok when it was wet, once it had dried it was a different story, I really can't see how people on here get a perfect finish just using a roller.

Once again I sanded down hoping the second coat would look good, nope absolute rubbish.
Another trip to get more sand paper and off I go again, now sanding down all the inside, the back door, the drawer and the bezel all of which where painted in satin black and 5 days later where still not completely dry !!!

I put enough paint on to cover the primer not gallons of the stuff, man I'll never use that paint again that's for sure.

All has not been lost though, while the cab was painted in its awful black it made me realise that it didn't look right being all black so I tried a little bit of pink spray paint inside the cab.
I let it dry over night then cut it back a bit and coated it with some lacquer and it looks beautiful.

The process should take at least a week to do but I was curious as to what the finish would be like so the end product will look even better.
At the moment the cab is 4 different shades of colour white, black, pink and yellow !! Primer, satin black, pink and filler primer 
Today I sanded all the panels again, I'll get a few cans of primer and filler primer and have it primered and ready for the main spraying at the weekend, then I can get on with laminating the bezel and the front door while that's drying.

Pics tomorrow of the multi coloured cab 

[theCoder]

It's still not too late to change your mind on the color.  Perhaps a dark hunter green, or maybe deep blood red.

[sealslayer]

Much progress today, I pickd up the glass and once I laid it over the bezel the whole cab took on a new light even though it was stripped down and looked like a explosion in a paint factory 
The little things like that really give the the heart a lift and get the enthusiasm going again.

The glass is two sheets of 3mm with the laminate coat in between, when the monitor is turned off it looks like a mirror and you can barely see the monitor.
I finished the kick panel today after the rubber had been glued and clamped overnight I placed the diamond plate over the top and cut the section out where it will sit nice and flush with the rubber.

I also started the front door today managed to sort out the hinge and attach the lock, tomorrow I'll route it out for where the plexi will go.
The plexi will be two sheets with a sheet of transparent neon pink fablon sandwiched between.

As promised the picture of the worlds most colourful cab !! 

[sealslayer]

It's still not too late to change your mind on the color.  Perhaps a dark hunter green, or maybe deep blood red.

My orders are pink, pink and even more pink.
"You can never have enough pink"
Quoted from the better half 

[theCoder]

It's still not too late to change your mind on the color.  Perhaps a dark hunter green, or maybe deep blood red.

My orders are pink, pink and even more pink.
"You can never have enough pink"
Quoted from the better half 

I had to try one last time. 

Lots of thin coats with a light sanding of 400-600 grit paper between seems to be a common approach.  Good luck with the paint.

[NightGod]

Paint, sand, paint, sand, paint, sand. Don't even worry about what the finish looks like while you are applying until you have two coats of primer topped with two or more coats of color. My first coat of primer looked like absolute hell-I sanded it smooth and put a second coat on and it looked much better. The third coat looked amazing. Color coat took only two to get right.

The point is-in the end, it's not going to matter what any coat looks like except for the last (though you'll want each coat to be sanded smooth in the interim to give yourself a good base, which is what will ultimately make that last coat look amazing).

[sealslayer]

Gahh the messageboard wont let me post a GBP sign !!
Anyhow I bought a 25L 2hp air compressor  for the bargain price of  50 GBP ($100) today along with the all the paint.
The paint worked out at 60 GBP.
2.5 Litres of thinners
1 litre of best thinners
1 litre of pink cellulose gloss
1 litre of grey primer
paint strainers
Filler hardener
wet n dry paper

Today I sprayed the cab and most of the panels in the filler primer, tomorrow I'll turn my garage into a spray booth and put the first coat of grey primer on

[SirPeale]

This picture is amusing; I don't mean that in a bad way, I mean it in an oversight way.

You've got wheels on the back.  The purpose in them is so you can grab the cabinet, tip it back and wheel it around fairly easily.  Quite a few cabinets have them.

You've put those decorative flanges on the back, rendering them effectively useless. 

Edit: well, it's not a total loss.  I see they're swivel locking casters, so at least you can push the unit around.

[SirPeale]

Ive ordered a translucent blue trackball, would I be able to buy one of those clear balls and put a pink LED behind it?

1) I don't think they make pink LEDs.  Red, yes.

2) even if they did, it wouldn't shine thru pink, the blue trackball would only allow blue thru because it filters all other colors of light.

[WunderCade]

My orders are pink, pink and even more pink.
"You can never have enough pink"
Quoted from the better half 

  Plop..Plop..Fizz..Fizz..Oh-what-a-    it-is....

[sealslayer]

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=51525.0;attach=57128;image

This picture is amusing; I don't mean that in a bad way, I mean it in an oversight way.

You've got wheels on the back.  The purpose in them is so you can grab the cabinet, tip it back and wheel it around fairly easily.  Quite a few cabinets have them.

You've put those decorative flanges on the back, rendering them effectively useless. 

Edit: well, it's not a total loss.  I see they're swivel locking casters, so at least you can push the unit around.

That picture is of the front of the cab 
I've got those wheels on front and back, I need to have some sort of movement with the cab as it will be in our kitchen in front of a cupboard door so I have to be able to move it easily.
I made that little front kick panel with the hinge so I can lock them when I don't need to move the cab

[sealslayer]

Set up my Spray booth today and got most of the items primed before I ran out of primer 
I'm lucky that my garage has a galvanized beam across the top that I used to hang most of the panels from.
I screwed two screws into a part of each panel that wont be seen and tied wire to them.
Perfect !!


I really thought 2 litres would have done the job, another half a litre should do it, just one side of the back door and another coat on the keyboard drawer.

I started out using a cheap mask to see if I could get away with using it, after about 20 seconds of spraying the garage looked like this.....



Lol it was like a sandstorm had hit my garage I could barely breath so I had to go and buy a proper mask, another 28 pounds added to the costs !!

I've not sprayed anything with a compressor and spray gun for about 8 years and I had forgotton how much fun they are to use compared to normal spray in cans.
I'm very happy with the results not a run, or sag in sight and no overspray 
Its turned out so well that most of it feels like it doesn't need rubbing down before the pink gloss goes on, of course I will though.






The Gloss pink I have is a sight to behold, its matched to the T-Molding from dream arcades, its sooooooooooo Pink 


running time and costs to date
Prices are in GBP as the message board wont allow me to use that symbol I have to leave it off 


MDF  25
Timber 11
glue 3
filler 4
sawboard plywood 5
nuts and bolts 9
20 x leds 4.99 / 5pp
2 x 120mm fan covers 6.04
12" dual cathode purple kit 6.49 / 2.25 pp
sleeving kit 5.99 / 1.99 pp
2 x 120mm fan 2.00 / 4.25 pp
monitor 40.00
6m x 3mm steel angle 8.75
8mm Drill bit 4.18
Hacksaw Blades 2.98
More nuts and bolts 6.28
Angle grinder cutting wheel 1.98
Angle grinder grinding wheel 1.98
6mm MDF 3.75
Sandpaper 10.16
More MDF 12.98
zip clips 1.00
handles 1.00
back door hinges 1.00
Vinyl 2.90
clips 0.70
Joysticks,buttons,trackball,mounting plate, t-molding 100.00
rubber mat 9.50
diamond plate 14.00
Pink spray paint 12.99
wasted primer and paint 15
more sandpaper 10.00
Cellulose paint, thinners etc 60 + another 40 needed
Laminated screen glass 28


444.22 ($880)

If I take into account all the tools etc that I have had to buy the cost will probably be nearer 800 ($1600) but they can be used for other projects so I'm not going to dwell on the cost of those too much.

[sealslayer]

Today the pinkness began 

The cab got three coats of gloss along with the back of the kick panel, the speaker section and the section that holds the screen in place and they all look fantastic, Its all now staying in my garage with the heaters on until the weekend to get the paint nice and dry.





Tomorrow I need to finish the back door, front door and keyboard drawer once everything is dry I'll cut it back with 1200 grade wet n dry then compound it for a super fine finish.

Once that's done I'll get the laminate and do the sides, front door and keyboard drawer then it can be moved into our flat for assembly.
Then I need to start on the CP !!!, does it ever end

[Aurich]

Lovin' it, can't wait to see the final outcome.

[theCoder]

Did you cut the paint with anything, or spray it on straight from the store.  Nice finish.

[shardian]

WHy are you doing laminate on the sides if you are getting that nice of results with paint?

[Ninten-doh]

WHy are you doing laminate on the sides if you are getting that nice of results with paint?

That's my question as well.  It's looking great!   

[sealslayer]

Did you cut the paint with anything, or spray it on straight from the store.  Nice finish.

Yeah the paint is 50/50 mix with best quality thinners for the gloss, same ratio for the primer but standard thinners.
The paint is cellulose that is mainly used over here for spraying cars, very easy to spray but unless you have a very high quality spray gun ( I don't  ) then you have to cut back and compound for a perfect finish

[sealslayer]

WHy are you doing laminate on the sides if you are getting that nice of results with paint?

I had always intended to laminate the sides before I started to build the cab so there are around 30 holes in the sides where the bolts have gone through.
No matter how hard I try I can never get a perfect finish to hide the filler marks so it would look awful.
When I fill holes, I fill, sand, fill until perfectly smooth then use a filler primer ( putty primer ) then use high build primer and they still show so I have given up on filling and spraying over holes

I have learnt lots of lessons building this cab and one is I don't need to make big holes in the sides for bolts

[theCoder]

... the paint is 50/50 mix with best quality thinners for the gloss, same ratio for the primer but standard thinners.
The paint is cellulose that is mainly used over here for spraying cars, very easy to spray but unless you have a very high quality spray gun ( I don't  ) then you have to cut back and compound for a perfect finish

So you are using enamel paint (cleans with thinner, not water)?

[sealslayer]

... the paint is 50/50 mix with best quality thinners for the gloss, same ratio for the primer but standard thinners.
The paint is cellulose that is mainly used over here for spraying cars, very easy to spray but unless you have a very high quality spray gun ( I don't  ) then you have to cut back and compound for a perfect finish

So you are using enamel paint (cleans with thinner, not water)?

Yes the paint is mixed with thinners but It has to be  cellullose thinners , I'm not very clued up on different paint types but I don't think its enamel.
I am quite sure though that its only used over here in the UK as I did a search and only UK pages came up with any hits.

[sealslayer]

I had to give it all another 3 coats today so in total its had 6, if you look at the picture above you can see the faint difference in colour where the primer can still be seen.
I only noticed it after I posted the picture on here, it seems the camera can pick up the difference better than the human eye.
The camera being able to do that came in quite handy when I started the other coats, even when I looked at the cab I couldn't see the difference so I turned on my camera and looked at the screen and amazingly you can see the difference through the camera without having to take a photo of it so I carried on giving it more coats until it looked a perfect colour through the camera

I finally got the spraying mastered to perfection on the inside of the back door that nobody will ever see 
I was spraying with the correct amount of overlap but was going a little to fast, when I slowed down you could see the gloss really building up to a super shine, only problem with that though is the potential for runs to appear but it all ended very well.

In total it took 4 litres each of primer and gloss to paint it all and really I could have probably done with another 2 litres of the gloss.
The cost of the paint along with the cutting compounds etc has added quite a bit to the cost and I really don't know if I would do it all again knowing what I know now.
The only other option would have been to laminate the inside of the cab, formica do a nice laminate called "juicy pink" 


MDF  25
Timber 11
glue 3
filler 4
sawboard plywood 5
nuts and bolts 9
20 x leds 4.99 / 5pp
2 x 120mm fan covers 6.04
12" dual cathode purple kit 6.49 / 2.25 pp
sleeving kit 5.99 / 1.99 pp
2 x 120mm fan 2.00 / 4.25 pp
monitor 40.00
6m x 3mm steel angle 8.75
8mm Drill bit 4.18
Hacksaw Blades 2.98
More nuts and bolts 6.28
Angle grinder cutting wheel 1.98
Angle grinder grinding wheel 1.98
6mm MDF 3.75
Sandpaper 10.16
More MDF 12.98
zip clips 1.00
handles 1.00
back door hinges 1.00
Vinyl 2.90
clips 0.70
Joysticks,buttons,trackball,mounting plate, t-molding 100.00
rubber mat 9.50
diamond plate 14.00
Pink spray paint 12.99
wasted primer and paint 15
more sandpaper 10.00
Cellulose paint, thinners etc 106
Compound (g3 +g10), more wet n dry , cloth 28
Laminated screen glass 28

518.22 ($1040.00)

[zenmasterbooty]

I really like this cab...
BTW. Most digital cameras "blue shift" infrared light into the visible spectrum, but if you have a cat, I'm sure it will appreciate the effort.

[sealslayer]

I really like this cab...
BTW. Most digital cameras "blue shift" infrared light into the visible spectrum, but if you have a cat, I'm sure it will appreciate the effort.

Thanks, lol I have 3 cats they only thing they appreciate is being fed 

[sealslayer]

I picked up my laminate today, not a bad price at all, two sheets of 10' x 4 ' cost 48 pounds ( $98) its a nice black textured effect.
When I picked up the laminate I realised I had made a bit of a mistake with the routing for my T-molding, I had a sample of laminate but didn't realise that it had been glued to a piece of material to keep it sturdy, I used this to measure the position of the routing.
Now I actually have the laminate I can see that its much thinner and there will be a overlap from the molding, I may trim it down if it looks too much.

Tomorrow I'll put all the pieces together on the cab that need to be screwed in from the sides then fill all the holes as the laminate will probably crack if any pressure is applied against the holes.

The paint has dried much faster than I thought so I had a little go at wet sanding and compounding, the finish was glossy as it was but nothing compared to a little sandpaper and compounding.

I used 1200 grade wet n dry paper then G3 medium grade compound and finished with G10 liquid compound.



Before sanding and compounding

I'm holding up a magazine in the reflection and its almost impossible to see




after sanding and compounding 






I can see light at the end of the tunnel now, the cab will be put togther and indoors by the weekend then all thats left is the CP and the wiring, hopefully by the next weekend the girlfriend will be playing wonderboy to her hearts content 

[theCoder]

As my son once said years ago...That's Chiny (shiny).

When I picked up the laminate I realised I had made a bit of a mistake with the routing for my T-molding, I had a sample of laminate but didn't realise that it had been glued to a piece of material to keep it sturdy, I used this to measure the position of the routing.  Now I actually have the laminate I can see that its much thinner and there will be a overlap from the molding, I may trim it down if it looks too much.

I've made this type of mistake more than once.  Made a decision, measurement, or assumption based on a representative sample, only to have the final thing be a little different.  Think of all the learning opportunities we expose ourselves to.

[sealslayer]

I finished the kick panel yesterday and had my first attempt at using laminate and the flush trimming bit, I'm now in love with the flush trimming bit and should have bought one ages ago, it makes life so much easier.

So today I ploughed into laminating the sides with much enthusiasm and confidence only to have it all dashed by a stupid mistake.
I didn't put enough pieces of wood down on the side of the cab and you've guessed it the laminate got stuck out of position, I moved most of it only for it to snap    
to make things worse when trying to remove the broken piece it splintered and impaled itself under my finger nail, many expletives where  heard around the neighbourhood along with the sounds of bits off wood being thrown around the garden !!

So I've now run out of glue and can't use my second sheet of laminate on the side of the cab that's got glue rapidly drying on it, off I go to the shop to get some more glue, come home and use the broken piece as a template for my second sheet.
I cut it out and doubled up on pieces of wood only to find that the new piece of laminate has a piece missing where the kick plate is because this is the part that had snapped off the first attempt.. many, many more expletives are now filling the air and tools are starting to be kicked around the garage along with any passing cats !! ( joke )

Anyhow it all turned out ok in the end besides the odd lump where the glue had dried, I managed to join a small piece of laminate that was missing from the kick panel area and it all looks fine, you can see it if you look close but not from a few feet away.
I put the T-molding on and it really is starting to look like a cabinet at last.
I also laminated the screen bezel with a piece from the broken sheet, the front door in the picture is reversed and will be laminated and pink on the inside.





I'll have to get another sheet of laminate tomorrow and finish the other side...more costs added to this money pit 

[sealslayer]

Finally got the cab indoors this weekend, its so nice to have it inside and now near completion 
I finished the front door today, firstly I laid a sheet of laminate onto the door and clamped the edges then flush trimmed the inside edges of the laminate.
After that I cut a piece of 2mm plexi about 1" wider than the hole in the front of the door and routed the door out  for the plexi.
Then just a simple case of Laying the plexi in and gluing the laminate on top for a perfect flush finish 

I also put the PC in place and started most of the PC wiring. I covered all the leads in pink UV reactive sleeving and changed the molex connectors to pink reactive ones.
I put in the cold cathode tubes and secured them to the inside of the PC area, they actually started out as white cold cathode tubes but I covered them in neon pink fablon, it gives off a great pink glow 
Fans along with the freshly sprayed pink fans covers are also in place and keeping things nice and cool.

Tomorrow I'll finish the wiring, at the moment they are only temporally in place and look pretty shabby

[theCoder]

Sweet !

Are you venting out the side of the cab or is the PC in a box with venting routed to the back?

[sealslayer]

That picture doesn't really show how much space the PC has to breath in, the whole bottom section of the cab is open right upto the top of the keyboard drawer.
At them moment I have 2 x 120mm fans blowing onto the PC with no heat issues at present.
If things do get hot then I'll probably turn one of the fans around to vent the air along the side and out the back of the cab.

[sealslayer]

The finish line is now insight it's been a while since I've updated on here but lots has been done.
As you can see the CP is now wired and complete laminated inside and out of the CP Box and  powered by a IPAC2.
As with the rest of the cab simplicity is what I wanted more than a CP with art work, to a lot of members here this may seem a little bland but it fits in with the minimalist look I was aiming for.

There was a little disaster with the front of the CP box, the damn laminate glue ended up on the plexi and melted it, along with the flush trimming bit bearing scorching the front of the laminate so that will all have to be replaced, I'll then put a pink cold cathode tube inside it so Its lit up like the PC below and you will be able to view all the wiring etc

Also in the side of the CP is the space for the DVD rom drive you can just make it out in the second image, I used a PC case drawer that fits over the front of the DVD and has a eject button and a small section that will be illuminated with a pink LED.
At the moment my MOBO is not USB 2 compliant so I'm unable to connect the DVD Rom to the USB - IDE converter as its USB 2 

After those little bits its just a case of placing all the wiring into the galvanized metal trunking that will run down the inside of the cab to keep things nice and tidy and of course making the marquee.

[Timoe]

This is my favorite cab right now.  Its freagin' weird guy.

you made a freagin weird cab, ya weirdo.  What the heck are those joysticks?  Seimitsus?  Are they actually pink?

And you laminated the inside of the control panel box.  Those weird asssked little details are what make this cabinet rad.

good job!

Hey, take more photos.  Lets see the control panel guts!

[theCoder]

Too bad about the ruined Plexiglas.  If that was your most expensive mistake you got off easy.  Will you putting on side art, or keeping it simple?  With as much  I gave you on the color scheme, it turned out nice.  Good job.

[javeryh]

I LOVE the pink color scheme.  I am building a mini for my daughter and I'm going to be painting the entire thing pink as well.  I think I'm doing light pink on the outside and black on the interior with the darker pink t-molding and pink buttons/joysticks to match.  I'll only have 3 buttons on this one though with a vertical monitor for the classics.  My paint job will be laughable compared to the slickness of yours.

AWESOME JOB!!!

[sealslayer]

Wow been ages since any updates on the pinkness....
Today my Marquee arrived from Gremlin solutions so I set about putting it up and building the retainers.
They started off as aluminium edged strips, after 5 coats of hammerite satin black they look just the part.
I was going to buy retainers from gremlin solutions but they where too large and would have covered far too much of the marquee.
At the moment I've lit it temporally with a 12" fluorescent tube, next week I'll get 4 x 12" white cold cathode tubes for the final fitting.



As you can see its keeps with the feel of the rest of the cab, nice and minimal.
Its my first attempt at using Photoshop and I'm very happy with the results, up close it looks perfect not a pixel to be seen the Font is Dark Crystal.
The pink edge around the wording glows really nice, just like a neon light.



I changed the front plexi where I spilt glue on it  , actually it did me a favour, I couldn't think how I was going to cover the edge of the MDF that was exposed all the way round the edge of the plexi or what material I was going to use, then I had a brain storm and T-Molded the inside 
I wouldn't have been able to do that if I hadn't had to take the old plexi out.
Also got a really good deal on ebay for a pink USB Keyboard and optical mouse that keeps in with the pinkness, only £5.99 ($11.00) 











All that's left is fixing the cathodes for the marquee, putting all the wires in the rear of the cab into trunking, hang the Sub Woofer inside the cab and finally get the trackball lit up.

Taking the cab indoors is a death wish when it comes to trying to get it finished quickly, far too much of my time has been wasted playing on it rather than finishing it 

[sealslayer]

This is my favorite cab right now.  Its freagin' weird guy.

you made a freagin weird cab, ya weirdo.  What the heck are those joysticks?  Seimitsus?  Are they actually pink?

And you laminated the inside of the control panel box.  Those weird asssked little details are what make this cabinet rad.

good job!

Hey, take more photos.  Lets see the control panel guts!

Lol thanks for the compliments, yes I am a little weird but weird is good 

Pictures of the CP's Insides coming next week when I've lit the trackball, I don't like to keep taking the CP off it makes me nervous 

The joysticks are pink, I'm unsure of the make I bought them from Dream Arcades.

[Silver]

Only just caught this thread - that is one serious paint job. I don't think I'm even familiar with half those words....

Wicked cab, I really like the look (and the Dark Crystal font - I remember loving that film). Giving me some incentive to (finally) get on with mine (Parts sitting in a cupboard, at the planning stage for about 3 years....).

I notice you are UK based - can I ask where you got the glass and plexi from?

[Donkey_Kong]

This cab ROCKS!!

B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L!! Don't use that word much but i though maybe it fits here...Congratulations!

[sealslayer]

Thanks guys, I really do appreciate the kind words, it makes it all worth while 

I notice you are UK based - can I ask where you got the glass and plexi from?

The glass was from a small local glass shop, its 6mm grey laminated made by pilkingtons.
It worked out at £28.00, quite a good price I thought. Most of the guys in the US seem to use greylite 14 but after quite a lot of searching around I couldn't find any over here, the glass I got didn't look to dark but once its against a bezel it looks great and hides the monitor perfectly.

The plexi was bought from B&Q's 2mm 4' x 2' sheet was £15.00 that was enough to do the front door, the CP twice  and two pieces for the marquee to be sandwiched between.

[Pixelhugger]

HOLY CRAP! Haven't checked in on this one. Drop dead gorgeous. And inpiring. After seeing this I'm definitely going to find a way to display my PC in my cab. That is just too cool!

[Donkey_Kong]

I've followed this build I think from the beginnning. It was around the same time I wanted to start my 1st cab. This thing is SO amazing.

I mean who would have ever thought that this...


Would turn into this...


That cabinet is so nice it brings tears to my eyes man! I'm all choked up right now...

[sealslayer]

Thank you guys for the kind words 

[sealslayer]

The time has finally arrived where I can say my cab is COMPLETED  !!
After many hours of hardwork and endless nights dreaming about cabinets its all done, today I lit the marquee with four cold cathode tubes, placed the wires into plastic trunking and lit the trackball.

A big thanks to the members of BYAOC who have put up with my endless barrage of stupid questions, if it wasn't for this board I could never have gained the knowledge to even start a cab let alone finish one.

My aim from the start was to create a cab that was as clean as possible, the inside was just as important to me as the outside and overall I'm very happy with the results.

The inside completely sprayed, the inner section holding the PC  laminated inside and out along with the CP being laminated  both inside and out.  the inner edge of the plexi window in the CP was routed out and T-molded so the whole cab has no nasty looking unfinished edges anywhere to be seen. 

































Full size image links
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/zoe.grimes/c1.JPG
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/zoe.grimes/c2.JPG
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/zoe.grimes/c3.JPG
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/zoe.grimes/c4.JPG
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/zoe.grimes/c5.JPG
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/zoe.grimes/c6.JPG
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/zoe.grimes/c7.JPG
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/zoe.grimes/c8.JPG


Total costs

MDF  £37.50
Timber £11
glue £3
filler £4
sawboard plywood £5
nuts and bolts £9
20 x leds £4.99 / 5pp
2 x 120mm fan covers £6.04
4 x 12" dual cathode  kits £25.96 / 6.00 pp
sleeving kit £5.99 / 1.99 pp
2 x 120mm fan £2.00 / 4.25 pp
monitor £40.00
6m x 3mm steel angle £8.75
8mm Drill bit £4.18
Hacksaw Blades £2.98
More nuts and bolts £6.28
Angle grinder cutting wheel £1.98
Angle grinder grinding wheel £1.98
6mm MDF £3.75
Sandpaper £10.16
More MDF £12.98
zip clips £1.00
handles £1.00
back door hinges £1.00
Vinyl £2.90
clips £0.70
Joysticks,buttons,trackball,mounting plate, t-molding £100.00
rubber mat £9.50
diamond plate £14.00
Pink spray paint £12.99
wasted primer and paint £15
more sandpaper £10.00
Cellulose paint, thinners etc £106
Compound (g3 +g10), more wet n dry , cloth £28
Laminated screen glass £28
Laminate sheets x 3 £75
laminate glue £25
I-Pac £ 28
Marquee £26
Retainers £8
3 x Cabinet locks £9.00
2' x 4' Plexiglass £15.00
30GB HDD £20.00
DVD Rom £10.00

£770.85
$1600.00

Theres probably more items that I've missed from that list but the price scares me enough that I'm going to leave it as it is 

Next up is a cocktail  with another funky paint job and much more weirdness 

Overall it was great fun for the most with a few moments of insanity thrown in for good measure, I've learnt many lessons that I'll definatly be taking with me to my next project.

[theCoder]

A big thanks to the members of BYAOC who have put up with my endless barrage of stupid questions, if it wasn't for this board I could never have gained the knowledge to even start a cab let alone finish one.

This has been a fun project to follow.  You should be proud.  I bet your wife is.  Excellent job.

[MYX]

I love the window to see the wireing. Great idea. You spend so much time putting the stuff together and no one ever sees it. This way it is part of the overall look. Great job!!!

[MaMeNnO]

That's one heck of a nice cab. Great job and nice costs! I wouldn't go as far as putting a window for the underneath CP, but it's a creative feature.

[javeryh]

This thing really is stunning.  I love the paint job and how you lit the inside to show it off.  Whenever I'm showing my cocktail cabinet to friends I always want to bust out the pictures I took of the inside and the wiring because that's where all the craziness is located.  You have definitely created something "outside the box" and it came out great.  It makes me want to take a few chances in the design of my next one...

[leapinlew]

all I can say is... great job. Top Notch work.

[Nostalgia]

Honestly man, that is one of the nicest cabinets Ive seen. Even if it is pink