Fully CNC-machined cab from Finland

[Raitsa]

Hi guys.

Started building my first Mame cabinet and the first day of actual building here in Finland was today and the day was a success, everything went wery smoothly.
We CNC-machined all the parts from 19mm MDF-board  and glued the cabinet together.

This is the first prototype to test the ideas out and the company that owns the CNC machining station/wood shop is thinkin of maybe selling cabinet kits for all EU countries for all interested parties.

2 different kits, maybe 3, will be available:

- assembled, unpainted
- assembled, painted (black)
(- and maybe unassembled kit, unpainted)

I will be updating this thread with new infos & pics.

Would love to get some feedback too

[Pixelhugger]

That CNC machine looks like it was made by Festool. *wonders how much a Festool CNC station would cost*

Anyhow.... you cut and glued up the same day?  Wow.

Looks great. I would think a kit would be the most cost effective way to sell across the EU unless crate shipping and insurance are cheap.

Good luck!

[meltman]

CNC'd?

Wow. That is cheating! 


Very very sweet cab. I bet it put-together very easily.

[DaOld Man]

I said it once, I will say it again...

You young hooligans and your fancy smancy CNCs.... Get off my lawn!

Oh what the heck.. heres a afro dude for you..
 

[BASS!]

Man, that is so cool, I am annoyed. Good work!! Now just find a way to ship em and were in business:-)

[psychotech]

Awesome !

The cab looks great and very professionally designed

FWIW I'd go with the unassembled & unpainted kit as the main option as that seems to be the easiest way to start selling them ..at least if/when you're going to sell these to all EU countries...

Just think of all the shipping fees (as Pixelhugger already mentioned..). Actually, even if you were to sell these in Finland only .., well, you know the local (FI) shipping fees and how much they would add to the cab's price (Posti/Matkahuolto/Rahti) ;(

Anyway, are you planning to do other (or to create your own) designs in the future?

How about giving the potential customers something extra.. Optional artwork or an easy way to order the controls along with the cab..? Custom designs maybe....

Anyway, en osta *

Joka tapauksessa, toivottavasti homma lahtee hyvin kayntiin ja saatte ihan sairaasti asiakkaita

psychotech

* Anyway, I wont be buying

[Expressline99]

That looks great. Does the control panel open up?

 

[Raitsa]

Hey guys, thanks for the warm welcome and encouraging feedback. Good to be here among other arcade maniacs.

The controller in this proto will be a dual X-Arcade™ Dual Joystick, which will be dropped into a slot, so the control panel does not open up, although beneath the controller there is a sliding keyboard+mouse drawer too.

The keyboard drawer will be push/open type, like will the big door where the coinslot usually resides.

This is the only cabinet design for now, but if there is enough interest/market, other versions might just follow. Time will tell.
But we will concentrate on this (beautiful?) design for now and we will try make this product as good as it possibly can be done.

Please note that the inside MDF-panel is grooved with a constant  19mm CNC groove so the joining boards fit perfectly, making the glueing process easier and resulting on a very tight and precise fit.

At this stage, we do not plan to start selling control panels ot other accessories, that is something for the customer to buy themselves.

We are concentrating on what we do best: 100% precise woodwork with the help of modern equipment.

Still, this is a hobby project which might end up a joy for other arcade afficianados too.

On the business side of things, we are still counting the costs and only time will tell, if there is a reasonable market for this kinda product.
Just the 2 needed 19mm MDF 3050*1220 boards cost about 80€ (108.5 US$).
So the price of the kit/final product is not yet known even by us.

We might very well ship a kit anywhere in the world, why stop at EU borders, if need be?

But lets finish this cabinet first: time to start mocking things up with a 24" flat screen monitor etc.
A local company will make personalized sideart stickers, the design has not been started yet.
*Raitsa makes a note to himself*
Something to do with time travel i guess, or my old time favourite game, Wizard Of Wor...

Keep the questions, ideas & feedback coming guys 

[MrMojoZ]

Any plans on building your own control panel at some point? Even a blank panel that users could configure to their liking might work well.

[Raitsa]

Thats possible MrMojoZ, if we´d have suitable autocad drawings available.
Wanna send me some to check out to raitsa at gmail.com? 

I have not personally made any controllers yet so i dont know what works and what to avoid.

[MrMojoZ]

I've only built self contained sticks and modified exisiting control panels so far so I can't help there. I just hate to see your nice cabinets marred by the inflexability of your current control panel choice.

[ivwshane]

I've only built self contained sticks and modified exisiting control panels so far so I can't help there. I just hate to see your nice cabinets marred by the inflexability of your current control panel choice.

I agree with this as well. In my opinion as soon as you throw an x-arcade stick into the mix (or any pre built controller) you are limiting your scope of appeal.

I'd make the design so that that if someone wanted to all they would have to do is bolt their cp box to the cab (including an x-arcade box) and they are good to go.

[psychotech]

Jeps, just like the guys (MrMojoZ & ivwshane) already told you...

Do not make it only X-Arcade depended. Or if you do, then AT LEAST offer the potential customer another couple of options along the lines suggested...

In essence.. Give em´ a couple of "good looking & feeling" control panel options that can be just "dropped into place" and You're on to profits!

Paskaaks mina naista oikeasti tiedan, kunhan huutelen

Peace

psychotech

PS. Jos kiinnostaa, niin voin osallistua paneleiden "ergonomiasuunnitteluun" .. Heh. (Ihan harrastusmielessä, ei palkkiovaatimuksia.) Löydät meitsin täältä ja sieltä "ainoasta?" suomalaisesta..

[Raitsa]

Hey again guys, here´s a small update on the project status:

we will ditch this design (aint that what prototypes are for)...

First thing next week we will be making a new run & a new improved cabinet kit on the CNC station.

Reasons for this are quite tiny but important for us; we have this "humble" goal to make the best damn arcade cabinet kit in Europe
To reach that stage we want to make the kit even better than it is at this stage.

Some of the changes will be:
- change the controller area so that any controller can be used easily (or you can make your own controller in the controller base we supply with the kit)
- the keyboard drawer will be remade
- marquee area will be slide on/off
- monitor sides will be remade & a slot for 6mm glass will be grooved for fast&easy assembly
- the main door will be remade so the hinges can be mounted on either side
- the kit will be even more easy to assemble
- a few other small changes

The look & size of the cabinet will remain about the same.
The changes are mainly to ease the assembly and to further improve the functionality of the cabinet.

Thanks for the feedback, keep it coming, please!

[Raitsa]

I have no real clue on what the sensible asking price (in euros) for a kit like this would be.
It takes quite a lot of work and will be made with using high quality parts, hinges etc.

Any ideas guys?

www.xe.com/ucc translates your currency to euros...

[thatitalian]

Ship one to me and I will check the quality, then I can give you a rough price to charge.....

[Sir Headless VII]

mameroom.... er North Coast Custom Arcades makes kits. Their price are available here

[thatitalian]

So if it is not laminated you are looking at about 250 euros without a CP. Is that a fair assumption?

[Raitsa]

thatitalian, i honestly dont think thats possible. But thanks for the feedback.

[ken_cinder]

All this prep and quality work........only to be ruined by dropping a prefab X-Arcade stick on it.

Why? I'll never understand, it's instant fail on something that was win.

[Raitsa]

No no no IJTF_Cinder, please read post 13 again.

"Some of the changes will be:
- change the controller area so that any controller can be used easily (or you can make your own controller in the controller base we supply with the kit)"

[psychotech]

As I already replied on the (Finnish) Huoltovalikko forum:

A sensible price for the kit could maybe be calculated this way...

1. Take for example "a comparable" Ultimate Arcade kit, add shipping to EU (including customs) ..and the final cost for the kit would be like XXX Euros?
2. So, Your cabinet could cost at most: The above XXX sum ..and plus/minus a few % ..which would equal about Euros.

How else would/could you calculate a feasible selling price for a product not yet finished and not nearly adequately presented?

Make a website for the kit(s) to showcase all the design innovations vs. competition and that way justify a slightly higher price?

(If I were looking for a cabkit and could get "a fairly similar product" shipped at my doorstep overseas cheaper, well ..)

Yeah, CNC programming/machining ain't too cheap and your product seems top notch, so obviously the price'll be a tough question.

And hey, I'm really not trying to be hostile Great stuff

Onnea matkaan. All the best

psychotech

[Raitsa]

Hey arcade friends, I just uploaded some of our CNC-cabinet machining videos to:

http://keskustelupalstat.com/mame/

[Ummon]

Since NCCA is 'dollars', and you're Euros, maybe look at TurnArcades and see what they're offering, if they are outside the UK.

[BASS!]

Hey I converted those massive avis that you put up to flash flv. You may wanna give these a shot considering I got all of them to 7mb in one zip file.

Just upload em to your website and use this player to display em. http://www.longtailvideo.com/players/jw-flv-player/

Check your email.

[Raitsa]

Hey uprightbass360, sounds good, thats a new thing for me to check out.
But nothing in my email at raitsa at gmail com

[BASS!]

Yeah, I realized after you posted you hadn't put your email in your profile. Check now:-)

Sam

[BASS!]

http://www.walkernews.net/2008/01/11/how-to-embed-flv-flash-in-wordpress-or-html/

There is a good walkthrough how to embed the videos in your wordpress:-) Lemmie know if you have any issues.

I did the same at www.annaberentsen.com if you wanna see another example

[Raitsa]

CNC cabinet construction videos at http://keskustelupalstat.com/mame/ are now much smaller, thanks to uprightbass360´s skills.

VLC (videolan.org) plays the files nicely on my PC too.

[Raitsa]

43 new pics added of the final design, now the kit comes with a control panel too.
The right one is the final design in the pic 081-1, left one was a prototype to test things out.

All the pics are at
http://huoltovalikko.keskustelupalstat.com/showthread.php?t=4407&page=3

[DashRendar]

That's arcade perfection right there.   

I would be interested to see what price you charge for these, if you decide to sell them.

[Raitsa]

Thanks DashRendar, the final prices for the cabinet kit are as follows:

- unpainted unassembled kit 460 euros (without shipping)
- unpainted, assembled kit 520 euros (without shipping)

All needed 19mm MDF parts are included + keyboard slider, hinges for the door and other parts.

Possible customers must arrange delivery by themselves, looks like the shipping prices are quite high because of the weight & size of the kit.
Atleast from the companies we asked the shipping price from.
I will be adding the weight & size of the package here next week.

We will be offering a painted, assembled version version of the cabinet kit soon too, price yet to be finalized.

The original assembled prototype is for sale for 250€.

We are in the process of making a proper product / ordering webpage.

The cabinet kit is being manufactured by http://www.puujaloste.com/valokuvat.html
We are located in Turku, Finland. http://stable.toolserver.org/geohack/geohack.php?pagename=Turku&params=60_27_N_022_16_E_region:FI_type:city%28175689%29

If you guys ask around for possible shipping prices, please let me know.

[ivwshane]

Much better with the new design!!!

[Raitsa]

I was looking forward to some comments & feedback on the final design above, but its been a bit quiet, so i´ll ask for some infos:
 
whats the "recommended" height for a control panel?
How much do the more popular joysticks & trackballs etc need space?

How does the control panel we made for the cabinet kit look like to you guys?

[psychotech]

 

Awesome!

How does the control panel we made for the cabinet kit look like to you guys?

The CP looks really good 

Anyway, to answer at least some of your questions...

Could you tell us the (real, usable) CP inside dimensions at the moment?

Width/height/depth ...both in- and outside.. preferably with some kind of schematic for the "docking system" used?

Dimensions ...?

Height of the panel..  Make it adjustable and you Rock!

psychotech

PS. .. Ei voi mitaan.

[mayhem]

Im hopeing your not putting all your eggs in one baskit .. youll be supprised this hoppy isnt as big as you may think and youll not make a fortune less you goto the leths or importing controlls and thinsg like that. If you only sell the cabs then your going no ware fast and thats were people tend to make mistakes. ....


Just a thought for you.

[ivwshane]

I was looking forward to some comments & feedback on the final design above, but its been a bit quiet, so i´ll ask for some infos:
 
whats the "recommended" height for a control panel?
How much do the more popular joysticks & trackballs etc need space?

How does the control panel we made for the cabinet kit look like to you guys?

I'd take a look at real production cabs and design your cp dimensions around what they have.
http://www.jakobud.com/cabinetPlans.php

[Franco B]

Im hopeing your not putting all your eggs in one baskit .. youll be supprised this hoppy isnt as big as you may think and youll not make a fortune less you goto the leths or importing controlls and thinsg like that. If you only sell the cabs then your going no ware fast and thats were people tend to make mistakes. ....


Just a thought for you.

These may help you, just a thought. [Linky] :Linky:

[Twin-X]

Im hopeing your not putting all your eggs in one baskit .. youll be supprised this hoppy isnt as big as you may think and youll not make a fortune less you goto the leths or importing controlls and thinsg like that. If you only sell the cabs then your going no ware fast and thats were people tend to make mistakes. ....


Just a thought for you.

These may help you, just a thought. [Linky] :Linky:

 

[mountain]

Im hopeing your not putting all your eggs in one baskit .. youll be supprised this hoppy isnt as big as you may think and youll not make a fortune less you goto the leths or importing controlls and thinsg like that. If you only sell the cabs then your going no ware fast and thats were people tend to make mistakes. ....


Just a thought for you.

These may help you, just a thought. [Linky] :Linky:

Note: When in the UK, find Franco and buy him a beer. 

[thatitalian]

Im hopeing your not putting all your eggs in one baskit .. youll be supprised this hoppy isnt as big as you may think and youll not make a fortune less you goto the leths or importing controlls and thinsg like that. If you only sell the cabs then your going no ware fast and thats were people tend to make mistakes. ....


Just a thought for you.

These may help you, just a thought. [Linky] :Linky:

Note: When in the UK, find Franco and buy him a beer. 

Shouldn't you change Linky :Linky to Drinky :Drinky...

[mayhem]

next time look up dislexia and if you read my logs youll find its full of them mistakes .

[Franco B]

Doesn't stop you from using spell check.

[mayhem]

(edited)  .....

Cannot be bothered with people like you self.

[Barry Barcrest]

Are the panels pre routed for T-Molding. I couldn't really make it out on the picture you posted. I think this is something you have to add if it's not already there. Folks buying a kit usually do so becasue they don't have the skill, tools or space to do this work themselves and that would include routing out the T-Moulding slots.

The final design does look pretty slick though.

[Raitsa]

Hey Barry Barcrest, no prerouted parts for T-moulding at all.
The edges are just smoothly rounded all the way with a router.

You think T-molding is necessary to protect the MDF board edges or are they just being popular for improved looks?
Or do they serve both purposes?

*offtopic*
This thread is in dire need of a bit of cleaning...
*offtopic ends*

[shardian]

You absolutely should add a t-molding slot. Arcade machines have T-molding. Period.

Other than that, your design looks very nice.

[ivwshane]

I think the kind of person who buys this would want t-molding and will probably get a lot of satisfaction from installing the t-molding too.


I've only seen a couple of cabs with no t-molding on them and I've never seen a discussion that favored no t-molding either.

+1 for t-molding!

[Raitsa]

A popular finnish online publication ran a story of the project with a few nice pics etc:

http://plaza.fi/edome/artikkelit/yleiset/retropelailua-itse-rakennetulla-arcadekabinetilla

[Encryptor]

Sweet! I love the movie Heavy Metal. Where did the artwork come from? Is it available anywhere?


Encryptor

[Raitsa]

Actually Encryptor, the writer of the article had used a random cabinet picture of a finished cabinet, its not one of ours, the design is all different.

All the other pics are from our project, of both versions v1 and the final v2 with a removable control panel too.

[Raitsa]

Hey guys, just a quick update on the project:

the CNC station will be fired up next week, 5 kits will be made & assembled on this run: 1 of the cabinet kits will be painted Ferrari Red, just as the customer wishes 

More info & pics in english here: http://www.dragonslairfans.com/smfor/index.php?topic=834.0

[Raitsa]

Some more pics of cabinets being made:

[Raitsa]

This is how the cabinet kit looks like painted:



More pics at http://huoltovalikko.keskustelupalstat.com/index.php?threads/mame-arcade-pelikabinetti.3965/page-3

[HaRuMaN]

Hawtness!  Now that is how a cab kit should look!

Needs more t-molding, though.   

[Gamester]

Needs more t-molding, though.  

+1

Not sure I like the fact that the wheels are so visible from the front of the cab.

Otherwise, very nice!

[Chicken McNobody]

Love the finish!

No pun intended. . .

[SNAAKE]

totally awesome n badass

[Raitsa]

My cabinet at home, work in progress:

- monitor will get bigger...
- bezel
- marquee + led lights
- remove wheels
- remember to add joysticks + buttons...
- sideart etc
- speakers

[drventure]

Damn! Very nice indeed!

[Raitsa]

Thanks drventure

Our arcade cabinet kit infos can now be found at http://wiki.arcadecontrols.com/wiki/Turun_Puujaloste

[jerbear]

Hi
I have access to a cnc machine of my own and I was wondering if you would be willing to sell measurements or plans or your cutting file.

[cemel]

(edited)  .....

Cannot be bothered with people like you self.

Come on, its not that difficult to do a spell check.
If clicking a button is that difficult for you, try installing this free grammar checker.

[Necro]

It's not that difficult to check the date of the last post either.

Thread NECRO!!!!!!

[dextercf]

It's not that difficult to check the date of the last post either.

Thread NECRO!!!!!!

lol

[Rick]

Thanks DashRendar, the final prices for the cabinet kit are as follows:

- unpainted unassembled kit 460 euros (without shipping)
- unpainted, assembled kit 520 euros (without shipping)

Necro or not, I *just* read these prices.  $460 Euros converts (today) to ~$611 USD.  (I'm in Canada, and it's comparable.)  Is it just me, or does this number seem really, really high?  I do understand the processes of R&D and prototyping, but when all is said and done, a full-size cabinet such as this is - at maximum - four sheets of MDF, approximately 2 hours of CNC machining, and a couple hours of sanding and finishing at best.

I haven't done much research, but I'm really, really happy I'm building my own.

[dextercf]

Finland is not Canada/USA, that also translates to prices for material and such.
I'm from Norway and can tell you that I'm every other day banging my head agains a wall about costs of parts/cabinets and such up here versus the US market.

Of course, in my case there is a demand and availability issue. But still sucks!
Also, there is shipping involved. One example is my last purchase, which is a game pcb and I could choose from two prices for the shipping.  $36 and $44.
When the board it self costs $100, that's a pretty big difference.
Awell..

[amendonz]

thats nothing for shipping on a pcb  try living in new zealand 

[borals]

AND TASMANIA!!!!!!!!

[dexxy]

well g'day mates... 

[Unstupid]

At $611 that doesn't seem too bad of a price for a fully cnc'd machine.  It costs a lot of money to run a machine of that caliber.  That is not a home built cnc machine.  That thing probably runs on 3phase 440/480, as well as the vacuum hold downs and the dust collectors.  Next add in the labor rates to have someone load the material, swap out material, and stand there with his finger on the big red button.  Also add in the time spent engineering the cabinet.  This includes drawing up something in a cad package then flattening everything out to be cut on a flat piece of mdf, as well as toolpathing the drawings.  This is only a 3 axis machine so the toolpathing would be pretty easy.  To toolpath this whole cabinet probably 4 sheets of mdf probably wouldn't take more than 2 hours, but at burn rates of $150/hour (like mine) it could add up fast.  Now the engineering is only a one time cost so only the first cabinet is expensive.  Each time you build a new one it's easy cause the engineering is already done.  What gets expensive is the customizations when you have to go back in and redesign things.  Still, you take everything into account and $611 doesn't look too bad,  shipping costs on top of that may be scary though.

As far as the cabinet design goes, I'm not a big fan.  They should include t-molding slots or at least non beveled edges so you can put your own t-molding.  The control panel looks a little shallow, can you fit a trackball under there?  Lose the keyboard tray, you don't need a keyboard with a good front end,  lose the door in front and cut out a hole for a coin door.  The vents on the top look like they will leak light from the marquee, maybe add a panel behind the marquee area to make it a separate chamber.  I'd lose the bezel for the marquee, it looks a little excessive.  Lose the wheels as well, if ya need to move it get a hand truck or refrigerator dolly,  don't need the cab rolling away during an intense street fighter session!.  The monitor area looks awkward.  It has a bezel but it probably won't fit my monitor so I'd need to add another bezel on top of that bezel or behind?  Not sure how that would work.  The paint job looks nice though!