First (Sortof) 4-Player CP (drilling complete!)

[pjdangerous]

So I started my first project (again).


My first CP was put on hold (and subsequently thrown in the trash) back in 2005 when I first joined the forums. About a month ago I was digging through storage after a move, and found Saint's book, my IPAC, and all the HAPP controls, this fanned the flame and now I'm back with a vengeance.

My project has already begun.
- I am going to go for a wood grain 4-player CP.
- Want to have a 3-6-6-3 layout.
-The CP is going to be 40 in x 18 in. The rear will be 6.25 in at the rear and 4.25 in at the front. 
- I modified the design of the old TMNT/Simpsons CPs from Jakobud's site, and the lower level of the Supercade.
- For some reason, I am very interested in learning old-fashioned woodworking, so most of the cuts are going to be done with hand tools. (the holes will be drilled with power tools since its hard to find hand drills.)

So the other day I bought 2 24inx48in 3/4 in birch plywood.

and began cutting with my tools. And new station!

I couldn't wait until I finished the cutting before getting an idea of how it will look...


I finished the cutting yesterday, and started the drilling and hand planed the rear bevel last night as well. I will post pictures as soon as I can, but I have only been able to work on it when I have the time (and my career work has been taking 70+ hours a week the past couple of weeks) so progress will be slow. Also did I mention I have never worked with wood outside my last attempt at a CP.

Thanks in advance for taking this adventure with me.
 

[Hunk_4TH]

Looking good! What type of wood are using? This may be an inspiration for my new cp I'll be working on soon!

[pjdangerous]

Thanks for the compliment.

The wood is just run of the mill 3/4 in birch ply presanded.
It ran me about 15 bucks for a 2ft x 4ft sheet.

I've started box assembly and have drilled some button hols on the main box. I'll post more pics when I have the chance.

[Hunk_4TH]

No problem. I'll be following this as I'm going to be snagging an MK 1 cp top only from a fellow member here soon and I'll most likely be needing to build a box for it 

[pjdangerous]

I decided to put the player coin buttons on the sides of the panel, and I drilled those one Sunday.
I planed the rear bevel sometime around then as well.

On Monday I started the assembly. I started with on of the angled sides. I used wood glue and brackets to keep the wood together. I don't have clamps long enough for the 38 inch expanse, so I relied on gravity until the glue was tacky. Then I made some adjustments and braced it up against the wall.

I added the front panel and the back panel yesterday. I used metal clamps to hold the wood in place while the glue took.

I noticed the wood for the base panel must have warped sometime over the week, because I couldn’t get the panel to line up with the front panel. It was off by less than an eighth of an inch and it will be hidden, so I am not worried about it.

I plan on being able to have this cp be semi portable, so I drilled three holes in the rear panel which I will turn into a dual purpose cord hole/ handle which I will use a coping saw to cut.

Once again I do not have a clamp large enough so I had to improvise!

Once the glue dries tomorrow I will be sanding and working on the CP (Hole drilling time!)

[pjdangerous]

I'm back... I've acctually finished all this before Thanksgiving. Then I was out of state for a bit.

Heres some posts on my progress.

I borrowed (without the intent of giving back) a cardboard box from work, and cut holes from various templates I found on this site and others.



I did not like the Street fighter layout. It was too uncomfortable for my hands. Also I wanted to use only six buttons, and I found that an ergonomic layout can be used for a 4-player Neo-Geo layout.



I finally setttled on a layout I found. I can't find the post again. But I used my Search-Fu to find an ergonomic layout I liked. It was provided by that "creepy prince" dude.



The scaling did not feel right. So I played with it using GIMP. I found this scale was the nicest.



The glue was dry and it was time to layout the buttons. As I said before I was going for more of a typical old school feel. So I cut the panel top as a rectangle.



Heres some pictures of the drill holes. I found that the drill bit chipped the ply on the backside worse than on the front side. I just taped my template. Drilled a pilot hole, and used a 1 1/18th bit. The buttons fit perfectly.

Tips for drilling:
1.) clamp the piece being drilled to a piece of scrap wood. This minimizes chipping.
2.) Do not force the bit. The drill should feel smooth. If you feel bumping. Withdraw the bit whille drilling a second before gently continuing.





I later realized that I forgot to drill the start button holes and the exit/pause hole buttons. I went back down and drilled them. My stupid drill jumped on the last hole!!!! Gougeing the wood!!!

I have:
Fixed the gouge with wood putty.
Sanded with a course ply paper.
Tested the buttons, and wired them to my IPAC.

I need to:
Finish the sanding.
Rewire the buttons.
Stain the CP and add a couple of coats of polyurethane.
Add Hinges.
Create artwork decals.

I'll post pictures later.

[Xiaou2]

 The reason why the SF layout was uncomfortable, was because you had the
buttons spaced way too far apart.   There should only be like 2mm max space
between the edge-lips of the buttons.  Basically,  you put them as close as possible
while still being able to turn the button nuts without too much trouble.

 Keyboard keys have been in straight rows forever, and they work just fine.

 You may find... like others (myself included)  that while the Ergo layout seems
great at first... that when playing an intense game of SF or similar... you will
land your middle finger on the edge of the button instead of the middle of it...
merely because your brain thinks that is where the button should be:  Aligned
with the others. 

 In reality... the straight alignment is also more comfortable
as the fingers compress & bend and adjust easily to the shape...  where as the ergo layout has the middle finger nearly fully extended... which leaves it almost no
up/down travel, without straining the finger by having to extend it further than is comfortable.   

 Also, buttons are easier to press when the motion is straight up and down.
Being that the middle finger is very much extended... it will mean that your
finger will have to strike it more at an angle... which again... is uncomfortable in
duration.

 This and the angle mounted 3 & 4th player are the two most common
and tragically repeated mistakes on Byoac.   Almost everyone who has had those
setups for any length of time comes to regret it.. and probably will say so.

[pjdangerous]

I appreciate the suggestion. The SF layout was spaced far apart, but I also tested other SF layouts with smaller spacing designs, I only took a picture of my first example. I spent a lot of time scouring this site and other sites reading up on the ergo. vs. standard layout. And I went through about 5 standard and 7 ergo designs. You are right in that most people perfer the standard layout, but in my playtesting of games so far the ergo layout just feels right. I guess time will tell. So far I prefer the ergo.

Plus, no need to worry about the angling of the joys. I printed the template angled for the stick hole distancing to make it look more symmetrical, but when I mounted the joys I squared them against the box. Through my searches I found while the standard vs. ergo. debate is about 70:30. The angeled vs. square layout is like 5:95. I figured in this case i did not want to be in the minority.

Thank you though for the advice. happy builds!