MameRoom Cabinet...Adding Wheels, Is the Extra 5 Inches Too High?

[Charles4400]

So out of necessity I will have to add wheels to my mameroom Cabinet which should get in one Mon! (Oh Yeah!)

It's the Ultimate Arcade II 4-Player combo Kit.

Well I emailed them and asked about what I needted to do to get wheels or casters on the thing and they said I would have to reinforce the bottom with 2x4's as all the weight is supported by the sides of the cabinet.

Well adding 2x4's to the cabinet bottom and then 3" castors under that adds about 5" lift to the entire cabinet.

I know wheels make the thing look UGLY but I plan on putting some molding around the botton of the cabinet covering most of the wheels so it is not so noticable....

Question is:
Will the extra 5" height make the control Panel too high? Will it be an ackward position 5" higher than normal
?

[Franco B]

I dont know how the UAII is built but could you not reinforce the bottom from inside the cab?

[paulscade]

I did exactly that when I built my UAII.... and for exactly that reason (that the frame would need to support the weight if I raised the cabinet off of the ground).

BUT... I had to modify the dimension of the bottom of the cabinet (the "tail" of the cabinet) to make up for the frame and wheels because I didn't want to add to the height.

This series of photos shows it best:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=82241.MSG857779#MSG857779

On a stock cut cabinet, a 2x4 frame will definitely raise the height.... IMHO, too much.  With enough screws and glue... you could probably gain a little by building a 1x2 frame and using thinner plywood for the bottom. (I used a 2x4 frame w/ 3/4" plywood on the bottom)

But remember...  this cabinet is really heavy when fully built (w/monitor, etc)... I'm estimating upwards of 300 pounds.  I like to make sure that I won't be fixing a broken cabinet in a couple of months (by insuring that it's built strong).

[shmokes]

I think adding 5 inches of height is way too much.  Can't you just redesign the base so it's more like my cab in the first picture below (though you wouldn't need to make the base so high, I needed extra space between the base and the floor to put racing pedals)? 

Also, check out this thread.  Lots of ideas for casters including the furniture casters in the second pic below that you might be able to incorporate easily without adding so much height to your cab.

[Charles4400]

Nice Cab Paul! That looks great and I like how you documented everything with pics!

I am no woodworking master and I got the cab kit from mameroom (though I received some broken pieces will see how they replace it   )

I'm going to see if 1x4s will do the job on the bottom with castors. I don't know how to modify things that well as I am definately no carpenter and don't have the resources to have built my own like you did Paul...though it does look awesome!

Thanks for the link Shmokes!
That does give me different options to think about

It's just with the mame cabs the weight really is completely supported by the bottom sides of the cabinet...the base is just to support the sides a little and istn;t even touching the ground...but certainly not a support piece.

I'm thinking of just haveing the 1x4's placed perpendicular to the sides on the bottom (having the cabinet lay on the 1x4s as if it were a pallet) with castors.

Hope this works....but still considering other options .... totall work in progress!