New Cabinet - 1st Build - Mega Man!

[boboli]

New cabinet - first time build
Started my first cabinet after dreaming about building one for 7 years. You'll notice lots of mistakes in my build. Hopefully someone can learn from these mistakes.

I forgot to document early stages, so I don't have pictures of the initial cuts. Standard fare I think.

The first pic I have is of the base with casters installed. I would do this differently next time. I got swivel casters for all 4 positions. Next time I would get fixed casters for the back, and swivel for the front. It's a bit tough to move around. Also, the cab feels a bit wobbly because of the casters, even though it weighs a ton and casters are locked.

The base itself is solid. 2x4 frame (built like a wall - 16" on center) with a plywood top and bottom. Casters are bolted to the plywood. If I really get motivated (doubtful) I would swap or move the casters.

I think it would have helped if I had moved the back casters closer to the back of the cabinet. I placed the casters equidistant from all sides and that was a mistake.

[boboli]

2nd picture is the plexi cutting tool I picked up at HD. I had never worked with plexi before. I bought it pretty cheap for the marquee. The tool was also cheap and made cutting the plexi very easy. Draw a line, score the line several times, and then snap. Clean break every time.

[boboli]

Marquee cut. Looks like a winner. This is actually two pieces of plexi sandwiched together. The pieces still have their plactic protective cover, which is why they look so cloudy.

[boboli]

This picture shows my first mistake. In my rush to build this thing I didn't think of mounting speakers or mounting the plexi.

I had to remove the piece of MDF on the top of the cab (it had already been glued and screwed).

I cut holes for the speakers (disassembled pc speakers), added a 2x4 support for the marquee light, and attached a piece of aluminim drop ceiling corner bead (aka angle iron).

The aluminum makes a nice marquee holder because:
1. it's cheap
2. you can get it in almost any hardware stoe
3. If you can manage to put semi-even pressure on it, you can bend it to fit the angle of the cabinet.

[boboli]

Mistake #2: measure twice, cut once.

I had measured the speaker holes perfectly. Problem is, I cut one of the holes on the wrong side of my measurement line - speakers are now not centered in the cab. Also, the speakers look REALLY tiny in the cab.

I may be able to fix both problems just by picking up larger speaker grills.

[boboli]

Day 1 complete (actually day 2 - day 1 was spent cutting the side panels and nothing else).

Profile of the cab so far. I used a lusid type style, modified to fit my tv (a 27" insignia). Pay no attention to the toys and other crap around the cab.

[boboli]

I received my controls from Divemaster. I ordered some competition buttons, a Happ 3" trackball, and 2 ultimarc 360 joysticks, along with an ipac4. I wired everything up in a piece of cardboard.

I discovered that the ipac 4 is overkill for my planned control panel. I'm planning on 2 joysticks and the trackball - no other controllers. I'm also planning 6 or 7 buttons each joystick (not sure yet).

Mistake #3: After playing the cardboard cp, I realized that my control panel box angle was not very good, and the height of the control panel was not good either.

I'm going to try to make this one a happy mistake.

I'm not really a fan of control panel boxes that stick way out or look like they were placed on the cab after the fact. In the process of building, I've discovered that I like a smaller pac man/galaga type profile. Therefore, I decided to try to build up the cabinet sides with the sides of the control panel box (making the box flush with the body. We'll see how long it lasts.

I first cut the box sides and front. I could have made the front more seamless, but I got lazy.

I'm using a Kreg template (aka, pocket hole cutter) to make the cp box. It makes very tight, hidden joints. It's a bit expensive for what it is (a plastic template and drill bit) but it gets the job done easily.

You'll notice in the last picture that I had to make internal brackets out of MDF. I wanted the edges of the cpanel box to stay flush with the sides.

Once I'm done with the woodworking and cpanel I'll have to go crazy with the wood putty to fill in any gaps.

[boboli]

Here are 2 shots with the control panel top on (I made a cp top from 3/4" plywood. One side is fairly smooth, the other side not. I think it was poplar? Very cheap).

I think it will be easier to make a modular panel this way (if I ever want to).

You'll also notice in one of the pictures that I previously used Bondo on one of the sides. I really didn't work from plans other than the initial Lusid style I found on the Net. That led to many early mistakes making a pseudo frame inside. Lots of screw holes later, I had some finishing work to do.

I've never used Bondo before, but I'm now not a fan. The stuff smells absolutely noxious and in my opinion, doesn't work as well as regular wood putty.

[boboli]

Next weekend (long weekend - woohoo!) I'll be cutting holes for the control panel, figuring out how to mount lexan over the monitor, making a cheap paper bezel, etc.

I found the wiring to be very easy (my first time doing it). Building my cardboard mockup control panel didn't take long at all.

The Ultimarc 360's use USB - no wiring required.
The trackball uses USB - no wiring required.

The buttons were quite easy to wire - I picked up some quick disconnects from HD, wired all of the grounds together in a daisy chain back to the ipac, and wired each button to the ipac using the NO connection on the cherry switches. I'll post pics of the control panel when I cut and wire the new wood panel.

[Hockeyboy]

Any ideas for a theme/name? What about a marquee graphic?

[boboli]

If anyone has questions about what I've done, or wants more detailed or different angled pictures, I'm happy to oblige. Nothing I'm doing may be earth shattering or unique, but I've learned a lot from this board and if I can help someone else I'm happy to do it.

I'm also open to any criticism or suggestions to make the cab better or to make the build easier. I'm finding that a good chunk of each build day is spent sitting at the computer searching for something (e.g. how to mount monitor lexan) and then figuring out how I'm going to do the same thing on my cab.

Building time elapsed: roughly 4-5 days

[boboli]

No ideas for a theme or graphics yet. I work with a graphic designer and I've asked him to help. I'm thinking that I want something basic. I don't want to spend a ton on printed graphics, so hopefully something I can paint myself. Maybe retro 80's lines, pixelated space invader type graphics, etc.

I'm also not sure about the color scheme yet. I originally envisioned a basic black cabinet, but after reading along on this board, I'm starting to lean more towards color, such as the gamecreature or bones' coffin cab.

I have 3 very young kids (4, 2, 3 months) so I don't want to do anything too scary or explicit.

[javeryh]

Very nice progress so far - you are cruising!  Your kids are going to love it when they can all play.  Hopefully they will get caught up in some serious high score competition with you!

[johnperkins21]

I love those speakers. 

But seriously, you're making great progress, and the thing is looking good so far. Great job of thinking on your feet for the control panel changes as well.

[boboli]

Thanks all for the encouragement.

It's funny, those speakers are really tiny, but they sounded really good on my desktop! ; ) I'm hoping they work well in the cab too (they come along with a subwoofer, which I'll place in the cab base). It's an easy fix if they sound like crap though. I didn't glue the piece that holds the speakers (learned from my previous mistake) so I can tweak. Once I get something that sounds good, then I'll glue and screw.

Tonight I'm hoping to draw my button and trackball layout onto the new cpanel cutout. I'm using standard NeoGeo spacing that I picked up from this board. It worked well on my template, but I'm a bit worried that it won't work when I try to mount the trackball to the cpanel. I cut the panel down a bit to fit into the cabinet, and I didn't use the mounting bracket for the trackball when I made my mockup.

I'm sure something will work out though. It always seems to.

Got some computer parts from NewEgg today too. I was planning to run everything off an old 700mhz laptop I had laying around, but I was able to assemble parts from NewEgg to put together a pretty sweet desktop for only $320 + shipping. I'll post the specs later once I get everything together.

[johnperkins21]

What size trackball do you have? Those mounts can be pretty big. But instead of moving your controls around, maybe you can think about going down to a 2 1/2" trackball instead of 3" or something? Just a thought if you find that things won't fit.

I have desktop speakers that are at least as small as those, and when I turn them up to 4, it rocks the whole house. If you find the speakers to be sufficient, maybe you could hide the fact that they're small and off-center by just screwing in some grills to give them some girth. A wooden ring from a craft store with some speaker mesh would probably be all you needed.

Keep those photos coming, and we'll keep the words of encouragement flowing.

[boboli]

I definitely plan to hide the small speakers with bigger grills that I can center.

For the trackball, I already have a 3", but I think I can figure out a way to install without the mounting plate if necessary. I think I gave myself enough room in my mockup to account for the plate, but I'm not sure (already disassembled it). The inside dimensions of the panel will only be 27", so it may be tight but should be fine.

[boboli]

More progress.

I decided to start cutting and routing my control panel top.

I couldn't figure out how to mount the 3" trackball until I found a template of the ball on this site. Printed and traced, I cut the hole with a jigsaw. It wasn't pretty, but it will do.

I also routed the mounting plate approx. 1/8" inch.

[boboli]

I also decided to mount my joysticks from the top. I should have read more on this board - I don't want carriage bolts on my cpanel top, so I shouldn't have mounted from the top. Guess I should know better than to start cutting without reading the board.

To correct my mistake, I picked up some flat top machine screws and I used a grinder bit in my Dremel tool to make the joystick plates have countersunk holes. The holes on the plate were straight circles intended for carriage bolts, but now they are widened and flared so that a flat top screw can be inserted flush.

I should have taken a picture of this, but after the next mess I made, I was too frustrated to bother with the camera:

I sandwiched Lexan between my control panel and another sheet of wood, and I started cutting. Everything was going well - no cracks. I used a forstner bit for the joys and buttons, and a 3" hole saw for the trackball.

After I was finished cutting my holes, I flipped the whole panel over and started mounting buttons and joys. I noticed a bunch of VERY tiny screws all under the saw horses where I had been cutting. These things were extremely small and I couldn't figure out where they came from until. . .

I started hooking up buttons to my ipac4 and that's when I noticed where the screws came from!

I had been too lazy to unscrew the ipac from my cpanel while I was cutting. I get a little gunshy continually screwing and unscrewing project boards because I've broken a few by overtightening. Well this time, I should have taken the time to unscrew. The little binding post screws from the ipac had all fallen out, along with many of the metal clips. My carpet is multicolored berber. The sawdust, berber color, and plastic shavings from the Lexan made my next task very difficult.

I spent over an hour scouring the rug for screws and clips. I found most (can't believe it). Luckily, I don't need most of the ipac inputs because I have ultrastik 360's and a happs trackball which are all USB.

[boboli]

Now I need some help. I have some mock up graphics that a designer friend put together for me. I'm looking for opinions. If I had created these myself, I wouldn't care if people "borrowed" from them, but this guy is a designer by profession so he asked that I state clearly that these graphics are copyrighted before I posted them to the board. If anyone likese these and wants contact info, I can provide it.

On the robot mockup, please ignore the "Funbox" wording ; ) That was supposed to be a joke.

I'm also thinking of names for this thing, so suggestions are appreciated. Anything other than funbox.

[leapinlew]

Hey Boboli!

Your cabinet is coming along great.

Is it still wobbly?

As for the bondo... yeah, it smells, but it's much harder than wood putty and is great for large fills. Small fills I still use wood putty.

The side art - I like the space invaders theme. Most of my cabs don't even had sideart, and I like'em just fine. I would tell your buddy not to worry about his artwork. In fact, you should go check out localarcade.com. Quite a bit there to choose from. 

Keep up the good work!

[Dmod]

I like the space invaders too but that blue is a little too bright for me.  I think it would look better against a darker color.

Boboli, how long did it take for your stuff from Ultimarc to ship from the UK?  DHL doesn't have any tracking info available other than they received shipping instructions a week ago. Wondering how much longer it might take.

[boboli]

I actually bought my Ultimarc stuff from divemaster. I purchased over Christmas holiday and Ultimarc was shut down. I purchased a few days before Christmas, and received the stuff after the new year I think.

I'm real big on tracking numbers and rush shipping, which you don't get from divemaster. However, I can't complain about the shipment from Divemaster - I got everything I wanted without errors or damage. 

[boboli]

I'm surprised I'm getting more positive feedback on the space invaders theme - I had requested he mock up something with a pixelated feel because then I might be able to paint it with some square shaped stencils (and save some money in the process).

I agree that the blue is a bit too "blue". I'm worried that the pixelated look might seem amateurish on the cabinet. I've spent time and money on this and I want it to look professional. On the flip side, I'd have a hard time justifying several hundred dollars on the artwork.

On another topic, I cut a piece of clear lexan (all I could find at Home Depot) for the monitor. I started thinking about making a poster board bezel, but I'm not sure it will look good under the clear. The monitor itself has only a slight curve to it, and it's pretty close to the lexan, so not much room for a bezel. I got a quote on a piece of 1/8" tempered grey tinted glass - $70! Seems like a bit much. I'll have to look for someplace that sells window tinting material and try that.

I suppose I'll have to do some test painting to see how the pixelated look will work with paint. I also have some other conceptual ideas with the pixelated theme.

[boboli]

Another topic re: the UltraStiks - these things work great for my needs (never really had anything to compare them to) but I seem to be having trouble getting my computer to recognize them on reboot. Everytime I reboot the machine, I need to unplug/re-plug the joys to get them to work. It's a bit annoying. A few others have posted about this on Ultimarc's message board but there doesn't seem to be a solution yet.

[leapinlew]

I'm surprised I'm getting more positive feedback on the space invaders theme - I had requested he mock up something with a pixelated feel because then I might be able to paint it with some square shaped stencils (and save some money in the process).

I agree that the blue is a bit too "blue". I'm worried that the pixelated look might seem amateurish on the cabinet. I've spent time and money on this and I want it to look professional. On the flip side, I'd have a hard time justifying several hundred dollars on the artwork.

On another topic, I cut a piece of clear lexan (all I could find at Home Depot) for the monitor. I started thinking about making a poster board bezel, but I'm not sure it will look good under the clear. The monitor itself has only a slight curve to it, and it's pretty close to the lexan, so not much room for a bezel. I got a quote on a piece of 1/8" tempered grey tinted glass - $70! Seems like a bit much. I'll have to look for someplace that sells window tinting material and try that.

I suppose I'll have to do some test painting to see how the pixelated look will work with paint. I also have some other conceptual ideas with the pixelated theme.

Check out smoked plexi - it's a tad cheaper. Of course, it's not as durable. I ordered a peice large enough to cover up a 32" television and it was $55.

[boboli]

I thought about seeking some smoked plexi, but the lexan I bought (clear) was $50, and it was enough to cover the control panel and monitor. I'd like something darker to help cover the monitor, but if I'm going to spend another $50, I'd probably just go the extra $20 for real tempered glass.

Has anyone tried window tint material with good results?

[leapinlew]

cool. Good luck - the smoked stuff is well worth it. To me, it makes the images appear to be floating inside the smoked plexi and all the images get a real clean look. A lot of the bleeding isn't as obvious. I used it on all of my projects - which are in Project Announcements if you want to check them out.

[blueznl]

i notice you use the ultramarc 360's which is a good idea to simplify construction :-) how well do they work in actual playing, especially in '4 way' and 'fighting' games?

it's a setup i considered as well, as you can do basically anything with two of those sticks, it looks like...

[Bones]

The grey tinted glass is bloody awesome.

If you can afford the glass spend the bucks. You will be real happy you did.

[boboli]

Bluenzl: The Ultimarc 360's are great for my purposes. I've never had another cab to compare to, but I like being able to switch the mode via software. I'm working with Andy from Ultimarc to work out a bug in the software that leaves the 360's unrecognized on re-boot. Customer service from Andy has been fantastic as well.

Purists might have issues with the throw distance of the joys - they're a bit loose - but supposedly that can be remedied with a different spring or restrictor.

After the price quotes on glass (and since I had already spent $55 on lexan) I decided to pick up a cheap roll of window tint film to try that. I did a little test last night and the stuff looked fantastic. I picked up a roll from Lowes. The color was  called smoke, but it's grey (as opposed to the bronze color they also sell). It was thicker than I expected, which I think is a bonus. Should make it easier to get it to lay flat. I'll be applying it to the inside on the lexan (so that it doesn't move). The grey seems like it will be dark enough to hide the silver surround of my tv as well (so no bezel required).

I'll post before and after picks once I apply the tint to my lexan.

[leapinlew]

so no bezel required

I still needed a bezel after the tint, but what I was able to do was use a black posterboard and just cut out a square hole for the tube. It's just enough to make sure the entire area is black except for the tube.

[fjl]

I got a quote on a piece of 1/8" tempered grey tinted glass - $70! Seems like a bit much. I'll have to look for someplace that sells window tinting material and try that.

Not sure exactly how strong tempered glass is but I would think 1/8" is too thin. I'd at least get 1/4" or thicker. Probably lots more expensive though.

[(+_+)]

I'm considering getting a lightly smoked piece of tempered glass for my cab and was thinking of 1/4" myself. I really don't think you need to go thicker than that. 1/4" will already weigh quite a bit and because your spanning a short distance 3/16" may even suffice.

[boboli]

got a quote today for 1/4" smoked, tempered glass. 27" x 23" = $350!!!

Needless to say, I passed.  I'm in the Boston area, and it has been REALLY difficult finding a local supplier for this.

Unfortunately, after my initial test, the lexan + window tint material looked terrible. Lots of bubbles that I couldn't get out, and the "solution" they sell to spray on and stick the tint material leaves a residue under the film.  The static cling on the film and lexan makes it really difficult too.

[fjl]

$350 bucks!?! 

Well I suppose the next thing is, does it really have to be tempered glass? 

[boboli]

I'm thinking no on tempered - the glass is angled back, so if it breaks, it should fall inward away from users. The only risk would be to the person that broke the glass (i.e. cutting their hand). My only concern is that I have 3 small kids using this and I wouldn't want one of them to get seriously injured.

Found another glass place a few minutes ago that quoted 1/4" smoked for $62.50 (non-tempered). I'll see what the upcharge is for tempered, but it's amazing how wide the price variety is.

[boboli]

an update - $45.92 for 1/4" tempered! $40.92 for 1/8" tempered. I can't believe the wild price differences. This turns out to be cheaper than the lexan I originally bought (which was clear and only a few mm thick). The guy that quoted me $350 called back to say he found another supplier that quoted $260. He was shocked when I told him I got a price of $60.

Needless to say, I'll be buying the 1/4" tempered - 3 days turnaround time.

Last thing to do on my cabinet is artwork. I'll be working on that this week, and hopefully painting this weekend. I'm trying to have the cab done by superbowl weekend (having a little party). It's tough though now that the cab is usable. I'd much rather play than paint ; )

[Kaytrim]

Unplug the PC and get painting dude!  Like I can talk, my cab is still an old computer desk. 

[JamIt]

That's great news on the glass boboli!  Now stop playing and finish painting that bad boy!