New project - Nerdcade Cocktail - almost done!

[cptnwhlz]

I took a week off work and this is what has come of it!

Its scratch built and I made the plans myself with a little help of the forums.  It started as a full upright that I started about 7 years ago but my mom knocked it down as soon as i moved out =)  So I salvaged the control panel and started anew as a cocktail.

features
-17 inch monitor
-2 player cp with optical rotaries and a trackball
-40 inch x 28 inch table top
-2 player ipac and optipac interfaces


Still needs...

-paint ( will take care of this week!)
-glass table top
-some stools that dont tower the table!

in the future..
-much bigger screen (what would someone recommend for a table this sized?)
-work out a better viewing angle?
-more pics

If i could do it again..
-I would buy a router and do it right!

Its turning out really well.  Its overall alot bigger than i was expecting but most sources said they were usually about 30 inches high, although mine is 30 1/2 and a little bigger once the glass is there.


Please leave any feedback , suggestions, or criticisms!

[cptnwhlz]

Its not even done and im thinking of dismantling it!  I don't know what i did wrong, but the viewing angle and the height of the controls are just so awkward.

Its 30.5 inches high and the control box is 7 inches tall total from 18 inches up to 25 inches up (I regret optical rotaries just because of how huge i had to make the box.)  any ideas to fix and salvage this project?

[javeryh]

Its not even done and im thinking of dismantling it!  I don't know what i did wrong, but the viewing angle and the height of the controls are just so awkward.

Its 30.5 inches high and the control box is 7 inches tall total from 18 inches up to 25 inches up (I regret optical rotaries just because of how huge i had to make the box.)  any ideas to fix and salvage this project?

Are you completely sold on having a cocktail?  A slim upright with an LCD monitor would take up much less room and you wouldn't have to worry about viewing angles and comfort.  Also, your screen looks a bit small in relation to the size of the table top which means you have to lean over quite far to see what is going on.  You could make the monitor cutout a little bigger and then drop the bottom edge of the monitor down so the monitor sits at an angle towards the players.

[cptnwhlz]

I ran to goodwill today and bought a surprisingly nice 27 inch tv with svideo.  It wont have the resolution of the lcd, but it will be better than squinting at the little screen.

[cptnwhlz]

project trashed