Truecade's January custom cocktail project

[Truecade]

So I sold all of my MAME cabinets in November/December and wanted to try something different.  This time I wanted to design and build my own cocktail cabinet.   

Step #1: Design in AutoCAD
I spent about 10 hours drawing up plans for a cocktail cabinet.  My goal was to get all of the panels to fit on a single 4'x8' sheet of plywood or melamine. 

Here are a couple iso views.



I was able to fit everything except the base on one 4'x8' sheet of wood.  Success in my book!



Step#2: Cut the wood
I could either cut the wood myself in my garage with a jigsaw, or pay someone with a CNC router.  Since a jigsaw doesn't make clean edge cuts on melamine, I would have to use plywood if I wanted to cut it myself. 

Hmmm...$20 for a sheet of plywood + 8 hours to cut the wood myself or.... pay $200 to get it cut on a CNC router out of black melamine.

I chose to get it on a CNC router four a few reasons.
1) Time.  I don't want to spend hours cutting wood.
2) Difficulty of cuts.  Cutting these pieces with a jigsaw would be very rough.
3) I can get further "sets" of this design cut on a CNC router for about $150 because they will already have the tool path.

One week later... I had my wood. 



Step #3: Buy parts

Here is a general list of the parts I needed to buy.
Key 32 Max
Four 8-way Joysticks
Two 4-way joysticks
21 Buttons+ silver switches
2 panel top clamps
Access Panel Door
19" Bezel
Speaker Grills
Glass Clips
L-Brackets
Vinyl Laminate
Cable+Connectors
Cabinet Feet
Power Strip
Wood Screws
2x4s
Dowls (for monitor & base plate)
Back Hinges (Black)
Computer Speakers
2" Grommet
Top Glass
PC Parts
19" PC Monitor Dell M991 or M992
Sound Blaster 16 PCI
T-moulding

I racked up about $700 for these parts.  I probably missed a few things above, but this was my initial list.

Step #4: Start Assembly!

First, the base.



Next, cut a hole for the bottom fan.  This fan pulls cool air into the cabinet so the monitor doesn't get to warm.






Step #5: Router the edges for t-molding and bevel the control panels.
I always hate using the router... it is soooo messy.  I need to get a nicer router with a vacuum attachment.  Anyone have some suggestions? 



The slot bit.


I tested on a scrap piece to make sure the t-molding slot is centered.  My first attempt, it was not.  :ack:


Ahh... much better.



A picture of the front of the control panel after using a 1/2" roundover bit.



Step #6: Continue assembly.

Everything seems to fit together!  My AutoCAD drawings only had one small flaw (missed a couple button holes), but it was easy to fix.  You can see on the right side there was small crack in the melamine. It is no big deal since it will be covered with laminate.


Speaking of laminate..... this stuff is used mostly for audio speakers, but it gives a great finish to arcade machines.  I was putting a sheet on and it was about to roll back on itself so I (stupidly) decided to hold one end with my mouth and the other with my hands.  The glue ripped the skin off the inside of my lip and it was bleeding profusely.... I had a fat lip for a couple days.  Lesson learned.   



Ahh... its starting to come together.  Here is a shot with the front control panel on.


One of the side control panels... and buttons and joysticks on the front CP.  I used black vinyl laminate on the control panels. 



Here is a shot with the top folded down.



Here is a shot with the top up.  It is held in place by two control panel clamps.


Step #7: Bring it inside for final assembly and wiring.

You can see here I've started some wiring, added the speaker grills, top glass, and put on some t-molding.  It is still pretty dusty.... I don't think wife appreciated me bringing in so much sawdust, but my garage was damn cold. 


Here's a shot of the KeyWiz32 keyboard encoder.  Ahhh... wires everywhere!!!  I used 7-wire sprinker wire from home depot: 35c a foot!


Another shot from the top.  I have pretty much everything wired in this pic.  The platform at the bottom is where the monitor rests.  The subwoofer is underneath.


Here's the power button on the back.


Step #8: Configure the computer parts.

I had originally wanted to boot to DOS and run everything from a USB flash drve.  I had no trouble getting it to boot into DOS, but I must have spent 20 hours trying to get different DOS sound cards to work.  I tried 3 different sound cards with DOS drivers, but finally came to the conclusion that the integrated video on the MB was using IRQ 5 and conflicting with the sound blaster emulation.  Frack it, I'll just install Windows.

After I got all of the hardware/software working in a mATX case, it was time to mount the parts inside the cocktail cabinet.  Here is a picture of the MB and hard drive.


Step#9: Add in the monitor and some bling!

The monitor fits perfectly.  I also used three blue cold cathode lights that will light up the control panels. 


Its alive and passes the smoke test.  I did make one mistake when closing the top.  The cable to the KeyWiz wasn't all the way in and it sheared it in half.  Luckily, I had an extra cable.  Lesson learned. 




Step #10: The kid test.
Uh oh... now comes the real test. If the three year old doesn't break it, I'll consider the project a success.



It passes the test, but I think he likes his better.



Total Project cost: about $900
Total labor: about 20 hours not including AutoCAD design and the time I spent trying to get #$!*( DOS sound to work.

After messing around with this for a few days, I'm pretty happy with the way it came out, especially since it is my first attempt at a cocktail cabinet.  With that said, I think I prefer upright cabinets to cocktails.  This one takes up too much room in my house and I'd rather stand up when playing arcade games.  I do have an extra 21" monitor sitting around.... I'm thinking my next project will be an upright built around it.   This one will definetly be going on craigslist.

[Truecade]

Oh, and one more thing.  Kyle's PacMan Cocktail plans were extremely useful for this project.  As you can probably tell, my cabinet resembles it quite a bit.  Thanks Kyle.   

[johnperkins21]

I'm not really a huge fan of cocktails, but I must admit you did a great job. I dig the neon under the glass.

[bmrust]

i have not seen a cocktail that i liked (a lot) until this one...

very nice

[vrf]

awesome work! Great job with the write-up/photos, too.

[cagey]

This is a great cab! I'm surprised not more people have replied. The lighting is a really nice touch.

As vrf said, great write up! This is the sought of cab i have been planning on building and this is a great inspiration. Thanks for taking the time to post this all.

Do you think you might put your plans up for download? They seem exactly what I have been looking for.

[needlesmcgirk]

ditto on the plans. I know I want to build a cocktail table someday and I really like the way yours turned out.  Fantastic work my friend!

[Truecade]

Sure, I can upload the .dwg files this weekend.  You'll have use a CAD program to get the dimensions, but everything is there.

[hsr]

Very nice indeed.

Where did you buy the vinyl laminate?

[blueznl]

This may sound silly, but where do you people find those glass tops? I'm just wondering...

[Truecade]

I picked up the vinyl laminate from parts express.

I had to call around to a few local glass shops to find a place that would cut the glass for me.  I gave them the top panel to trace the glass and they used a belt sander to round the edges.  I think the glass was around $45, it is non-tempered.

[leapinlew]

Hey! Check it out - it looks great!

Good work.

[Stobe]

Looks great!

How many CNC places did you call?  Was $200 on par with what this would normally cost?  I imagine they have some price/hour machine fee, plus setup, correct? 

-Stobe

[CheffoJeffo]

Nice project ... well done!

[Timoe]

I definitely want to build a coctail cab now.  That is one CLEAN machine!

Good for you. 

[cagey]

Any sign of those plans?

[javeryh]

Wow that's a great job - and fast too! 

[spacies]

Congrats on a nice build.

I love simple clean looking machines and yours is one of those.

Well done and enjoy it!

[Harakiri]

Hi there!

The thing that amazed me the most in your cabinet was the planning part!

Since i'm a cheapskate i was curious about the cutting process issue. Is it really that hard to do it by hand with the proper tools? Why is CNC cutting so expensive?!

I'm imaging a way of building a arcade cabinet for the lowest price possible, so far it would be something like:

- Cabinet planning (asking someone for their own) [FREE]
- Arcade parts bundle from X-Arcade [$29.95 + Customs taxes = $37]
- Spare TV (i can get one easy) [FREE]
- Some cheapo ATI 128 card supporting arcade games resolution [$15]
- Cheapo used PC (Hypothetically speaking) [$250]
- Paintjob (in my case black or red) [$15 per 2 liters]
- Screen glass (dunno about this one) [let's say $40]
- Some cheapo pads to hack [$7]
- Wiring [$6]
- Bolts, hinges and other parts [$20]

Total costs:

$400 Euros

Still expensive and i'm sure i've missed something here...

It would give a nice thread though:

"Build your own arcade in a budget!"

[Truecade]

Okay, sorry for the delay.  You'll need to use Autocad or another program to grab the panel dimensions off this drawing.  Also, set your precision to 1/32" to get accurate dimensions.  The insde corners are all 1/4" or greater which is the minimum bit size for most CNC routers. 

Regarding the costs of CNC machining, half of the cost is just the setup/engineering time to trace the tool path.  Once this is done, it is just pure machine time to cut additional "sets".  All of these panels could be cut using other methods, but I just prefer the finish of black melamine and I don't have the best woodworking tools at home. 

[Knievel]

Nice cocktail and great job documenting the build, I suck at that.

I'm curious as to why you covered the cabinet in vinyl? Looks great but seems strange that you would build it from black melamine and then cover it up..makes for a nice interior I guess.

[markrvp]

Nice looking cocktail.  Good job.

[(+_+)]

Very nice and clean job. That's one lucky kid you got there. Well 2 including yourself. 

I just live too watch the kids enjoy all our hard work. It's makes it totally worth  it.

[erleichda]

Is there a post that contains links to all CAD files sorted by project?  Sifting through the old posts is fun, but so very frustrating sometimes.