Noobies first project - scratch built UA 2 lookalike -

[MickeyG59]

    Hi all,
     
          Well i guess it's finally time for a project announcement,
   
    After looking at countless designs i decided on the ultimate arcade 2.
 
    This will not be a "rapid" start to finnish build as i see some do on here, so i plan to do it in stages as money permits, one step at a time. I hope to have the basic cab shell & monitor frame built by xmas, that way i can use my 2 week xmas break to get it all filled / sanded / painted ready for stage 2  (the c/p) in the new year. (well that's the plan at this point)     
   
    My monitor is a WIE YA 29" flat screen 15/24/31 KHz 640x480 res. multisync which i allready have so i guess it's time to start building.
   
    Stage 1 started this past weekend.

   
    After finally building up some basic tools,  circ saw   router etc. i made my first cuts over the weekend,  after getting over the initial 'first time" nerves of ruining my wood it was actually a lot of fun & easier than i thought.
 
    First thing was to make a saw board.  What a great tool this is, straight cuts every time  (thanks Drew for the great write up  i would never have thought of this) with the side panels cut,  then came time to flush trim the sides.  Having never used a router before i was a little "paranoid" to say the least so i checked everything twice (well so i thought)  put on my mask (chemical grade respirator)  took a deep breath & dove right in. Everything went smoothly,  till i was allmost done then it happened!! (murphy struck) the router seemed to "bog in" all of a sudden and on closer inspection i noticed i lost the bearing off my flush trim bit.          "The only thing i neglected to check was the screw holding the bearing in place."   
 
    Lesson 1 learned the hard way -never take a brand new tool for granted check everything!!!-     
   
    Fortunately it was the very back part of the cab bottom, it could have been worse i guess in hindsight. Needless to say it took me allmost an hour to find the damned bearing & screw which i replaced with locktight on the thread.
  Lesson 2  - Steer clear of the cheaper router bits-    
   
    I winged it for the frame as the UA 2 plans on Saint's disc never had any framework included in the design,  but with the monitor i'm using i think it needs some kind of bracing to help take the weight without bulging over time. i still have some more framework to do as i want to enclose the cab, 
 the de-cased computer will fit in a draw in the back for access (yet to be built) nice and tight with access to the cd/dvd drive being thru the coin door.

Nothing is set in stone at this stage and allthough the base is screwed together, nothing is glued as yet untill i'm totally satisfied i have everything just the way i want it. I still don't have a slot cutter yet so being able to take it apart is a good thing at this stage.
   
    I wanted to laminate the outside but seeing as my best quote so far for laminate  around here is (cough cough) $336 AU a sheet,         i think this is out of the question at this point ( better spent on my c/p )  which i have sacrificed once allready to get a digital camera to document my progress. The pics from my mobile phone were crap to say the least so i needed a camera. (i think "i need" is going to be a common catch cry from now on LOL) 
   
    I did a temp. fit of my coin door which is still a W.I.P restoration at this point,  i mounted it a little above centre as i plan to fit a chromed 3" wide strip of diamond plate for a kick panel recessed flush with the surface along the bottom front edge.

So far it's taken about 3 days of work to get this far & i can't wait till tomorrow arvo to get started again. ( only get weekends to work on it at this stage}  So glad i discovered Saint's gem of a book which led to all this, as i'm learning something totally new & "I LIKE IT"
yep the bug sunk it's teeth in pretty deep.

I'm hoping to get the top section framed up & together / bottom rear strips
done & maybe a start to the pc drawer area by the end of the weekend. A
little ambitious maybe but we'll see how it goes. (i tend to get in the zone
when i do things i enjoy)     -sorry for the long winded post-   

"off to the help section to see how to post pics"

           Cheers     

                                         MickeyG
 

[MickeyG59]

lets see if i done this right

[MickeyG59]

a few more

[Stobe]

Well, I'd call that a real good start!

Keep it up.

-Stobe

[javeryh]

Excellent start - and very well documented so far (we love pics!).  Building arcade cabinets is a great hobby - once you get near the finish line with this one you will already be thinking of how to make the next one even better!

Keep up the good work.

[MickeyG59]

 Thanks for the compliments guys    much appreciated 

 ( once you get near the finish line with this one you will already be thinking of how to make the next one even better! )

 Javeryh -    the nexy one's in the back of my mind already ,
                   a 3/4 donkey kong replica for the grandkids.
                   But i still got a looong way to go with this one yet


 A little progress after getting home from work,  picked up a new sheet of MDF    ripped two sections & flush trimmed them to the correct width ready to be cut into panels in the morning.  It's assembly day for the top section
so i hope the neighbors don't mind power tools at 7.00 am               (i'm an early riser)  plus i'm keen to get this bit out the way. Will post some pics when i'm done.


                           cheers   
                                                      MickeyG
                   

[theCoder]

Everything went smoothly,  till i was allmost done then it happened!! (murphy struck) the router seemed to "bog in" all of a sudden and on closer inspection i noticed i lost the bearing off my flush trim bit.   "The only thing i neglected to check was the screw holding the bearing in place."  

A little bondo should fix that divot no problem.  Welcome & good luck.

[MickeyG59]

  Hi all
   
         Time for a bit of an update.   Well i never got as much done over
   the weekend as i would have liked,  but it's moving foreward none the less.  ( we've had a few fires around the district and it's played havoc with our power grid which has been intermitent at best since sunday).   

 This has slowed me down a bit as i have had to do most of my assembly by hand. I have managed to get most of the top section test fitted together and have started the glue up process  of the base section tonight.     



theCoder :-        sorry for the late response ( hope you don't think                 i'm  ignorant)   just hav'nt been able to get online for a few days.

     The divot looks worse in the pic than it actually was,  maybe 1/8 " at
     most so i just flush trimmed that part straight & matched the sides. I
     will be using bondo for all the screw holes though.


              cheers   

                                         MickeyG


             a few pics of my efforts before power outages struck.

[MickeyG59]

      Some pics of the top section taken tonight

[dudebozo]

looking very nice.  keep up the work.  is it addicting yet?  when i was at that point, i would just keep going and going and going.  but you definitely gotta stop and take some breaks, stand back and look at it.  nice work

[Timoe]

I hope that I am not too late.  But when you are finished with your cabinet and you are installing your artwork with pride, you'll go to power it up and you may notice something that will bother you and be difficult to fix later on without making a mess.

The blocking you used in your marquee area may create shadows when the plexi and art is installed.  The light will have a hardtime getting around the blocking.  I recommend cutting them back now while you can still do some patching.

[MaMeNnO]

That might be a problem for me too! Never thought of that. Thanks for the tip. I think I will adjust the marquee artwork for that, because my supportblocks are a little smaller.

@MickeyG59: You're making real good and fast progress. If I may ask, where do the speakers go? Maybe you still have to make the holes or the go somewhere else. Just curious.
Keep it going.

@dudebozo: I hear you on the part of taking stops, have a rest think about how you can solve or fix something. It will keep you from messing things up (but believe me, not all!).

[MickeyG59]

 
      Hi guys     
                  Thanks for the responses and concerns.



     dudebozo :-   
                           I was addicted from the moment i received saint's book.

     

    Timoe :-         
                            "Good Catch"   No your not too late, as i was actually going to post over the weekend about this very issue after i  noticed the "GAP" in this area on your STOCK MAME CAB  (very nice cab BTW  ) ,
but i was'nt sure how much to allow. It's hard to tell actual sizes from pics
but my best guess would be in the realms of 1/8 to1/4 of an inch, am i close
or does'nt  this  matter as long as there "IS" a gap present for light to enter.


   MaMeNnO :-       
                          The speakers are going in the speaker panel, i just
hav'nt got that far yet. {it's only clamped there ATM for the sake of the pic} I want to see exactly how much clearance i can get away with before i commit to cutting holes and the like.  The monitor i have is an ARCADE mounting type, the design of it is such   that it "MUST" be mounted from the rear.

This is impossible with this cab design as it stands due to the monitors size,  so i am going to make a frame up for it so i can slide it in from the front like a TV/PC monitor.(which will also make it easier to remove if i have to transport the cab} This frame will dictate where the bezel & speaker panel will fit exactly. (I wan't to set it in as far as i can get away with from the front}  I have allowed extra so i can trim if need be when i get to that point.
                          Hope this clarifies things.

 

                   cheers     
                                                  MickeyG

[Timoe]

    Timoe :-         
                            "Good Catch"   No your not too late, as i was actually going to post over the weekend about this very issue after i  noticed the "GAP" in this area on your STOCK MAME CAB  (very nice cab BTW  ) ,
but i was'nt sure how much to allow. It's hard to tell actual sizes from pics
but my best guess would be in the realms of 1/8 to1/4 of an inch, am i close
or does'nt  this  matter as long as there "IS" a gap present for light to enter.

I dont know if a "gap" will do it.  After I put my machine together and turned on the light I had four VERY noticable DARK square shadows in the corners.  I had to break out the sawzall and very carefully cut ANGLES off the the corner of each block.

I started like an inch or two back and cut an angle straight inline with the front edge of the MDF.

I reinstalled the marquee and the shadows where gone.  I still have a little paint tough up I need to do now. 

[MickeyG59]

      Well,   I've just got home from work & thought i'd address this problem
while it's still fresh in my mind.  I removed the blocks (just a few screws at this stage)  snipped an inch off the length, then cut them at a 45 degree angle while holding the block at a 45 degree angle in the mitre box.  (if that makes sense)   This in effect cut them at a diagonal,   i think this will fix the shaddow issues Timoe mentioned.  The whole process took about 15 mins to do.   Thanks for the input Timoe, this proved invaluable.     

 A couple of pics will explain what i did better than i can.


                   cheers     
                                                MickeyG

[leapinlew]

Well done!

Good catch Timoe.

[Timoe]

mmm, clean.  I wish mine looked that nice. 

[MickeyG59]

   

  HI all
       
        Well i've made some progress today, all the base section is
  glued & screwed and the top is sitting in place. I've started to
  bondo all the screw holes on the bottom section which should be done
  tonight & started to toy around with C/P box profiles.

  Tomorrow i'm concentrating all my efforts on completing all the
  parts (remaining panels) of the top section so i can get it to
  the point where i can work on it after i get home from work. (i get home
  a little late to be using routers/power saws).  The back panel is going to
  have a lockable hinged door to gain access to the monitor if need be so i
  wan't to get it all cut out ready to go.

  OK now for a question or two.

  I'm fully enclosing this cab because i don't want "kids" to be able to touch the "open frame monitor" for whatever reason. (you know kids- tell the not to touch & it's the first thing they do when your back is turned). Also i don't
want the cat in there when the weather"s cold.
 
   
(1)

"HOW HOT"   do these things get inside, if it,s anything like our  TV or PCmonitor it'll get quite warm after being on for a while, plus there's the added marquee light,PC etc.  I know it "MUST" be ventilated, just not sure to what extent.


(2)

"WILL ONE FAN BE ENOUGH"  (4 inch PC case fan)  for adequate circulation in the monitor area.  I'll include some pics taken tonight with some very crude attempts at paint  added  (hey i'm new to all this) a couple have some ideas doodled in on how i'm thinking  about solving the heat issue.  Please correct me if i'm wrong.

         

  Thanks in advance.        cheers     
                                                                      MickeyG   

[MickeyG59]

     a couple more

[dudebozo]

looking great.  i kind of like the way the layout looks for those UA 2 cabinets.  speaking of diamond plate...i put mine in not too long ago.  i REALLY like the way it looks.  i think you'll like the way it looks on your cab too.

[theCoder]

One 4 inch fan should be plenty.  You might want to put a variable resistor on it so you can turn it down in case it is too loud.  My bartop has a 2 inch fan running at about half speed and it works great and quietly. 

I assume air intake slot on the bottom is smaller than your cats head?

[MickeyG59]

        Thanks for the replys guys, much appreciated.



 dudebozo:-

                   When you fitted diamond plate to your cab , did you go for
aluminium or steel? .      I thought about aluminium but decided to go with
a nice piece of "chromed" steel,  seeing as i have to get a bunch of parts
for my coin door re-chromed anyway.  ( coin return buttons & coin slots
were pretty rusty when i got it )  along with the rest of it, but for ten bucks to my door  who's complaining.  I'll post the ebay pic to give you an idea what i started with.  (it looked worse in real life than in the pic)

                                         
               

  Also did you glue or screw it in place,  i'm thinking of glueing,  if i "rough up" the back a little with a grinder i think a good construction glue will get plenty of bite on it .




   theCoder :-

                        Thanks for the input & the tip on putting a pot in  to control the speed. ( i did'nt think of that ).      As far as the vent goes  it will only be a one inch wide slot cut in the panel strip about  two thirds of it's length.   I'll also put some sort of removable cover over it with a filter underneath 
(speaker cloth or something similar) to minimize dust entering as much as possible.



                   cheers       
                                                   MickeyG

 
                     
   

   

[MickeyG59]

     Hi all,
 
            First off i'd like to apologise for the lack of
            updates the past few months, but due to real life
            (work) my project has all but stalled because i
            just don't have the spare time to work on it as
            much as i'd like.   

            However i have made some progress, small for the
            timeframe but progress none the less.
            (i only get a couple of hours a week to work on it now) 
           
            Things i have got done so far since my last post.
           
           

            Fitted castor wheels
            Bolted the top section in place
            Cut the hole for the rear vent
            Fitted the rear access door
            Built, fitted the K/B & P/C drawers
            Built, painted & temp. fitted the monitor frame
           
            I'm hoping to get the monitor mounted in the frame
            over the next week or so (time permitting) so i can
            get some final measurements for the bezel,speaker
            panel area. Once this is done most of the major
            woodwork construction will be finnished, apart from the
            control panel,then it will be all disassembled,
            the sides (top & bottom) will then be laminated with
            3mm MDF & flush trimmed to hide all the bondo.
           
            This will also bring the 16mm MDF up to 19mm thickness
            which will take 3/4 t-moulding nicely without having to
            trim it, then slot cutting
            After that i guess it's sanding/painting time, then
            reassembly inside the house.
 
            After all this work i'm still stumped for a name/theme
            but it'll come to me i guess before i start painting. 
            I'll post a some pics to show what i've done so far.


                     Cheers   MickeyG         

[MickeyG59]

   This is what i come up with for the drawers, i'm not working to
   to any kind of plan here,  just building as i go.

[MickeyG59]

     Now for the monitor area, i hope this is enough for an 100lb monitor,
     seems very sturdy     especially when the 4 bolts/t-nuts are tightened ,
     it all becomes one with the sides.