Cabinet Diagrams/Ideas
So here's the current thinking I have on the build of the cabinet.
First of all, let me give you a visual of the basic layout of the cabinet I'm thinking:
This is pretty much what I want. Obviously some things will be different, there will be no big banana joystick, and there won't be any artwork on the sides (probably just painted all black. But the shape and idea is what I'd like.
It's hard to see some of the details, so I'll walk you through them from top to bottom. The top front is known as a "marquee". It's basically a piece of plexiglass w/ a transparent artwork behind it, lit by a florecent light behind that. I'll have this in the cabinet, but the artwork will be different obviously.
Below that there are two speakers (sorta hard to see in the pic). I believe the ones I'm thinking about have 4" grills on them, but I need to double check that.
Below that is the monitor, it's 27", and has a black plastic bezel around it that we can cut to size. More on the monitor later.
below that is the control panel, which is the black box looking thing the banana is on. This is where all of my controls will go (I'll get into detail about the control panel layout a bit later).
Below the control panel, and not pictured here will go the coin box, where you insert quarters. That's basically the front.
The sides are slightly curved in the front/bottom area instead of straight. The yellow on the edges is T-molding, so we'll have to cut groves into the edges for the T-molding to fit in.
In the back I'd like there to be a door w/ a lock on it that comes off. You can see what I'm talking about if you click here and look at the back of a different cabinet. the door is from between where the cord comes out, and the lock near the top. This allows you access into the inside. We should also think about making some vents on the back as well for air circulation.
That's the quick overview of the cabinet. Now more details...
As far as the wood and building this thing, I'd like your opinion on what sorta material we should use. I know people who use MDF, because it's relatively cheap, and takes paint well, but I also know it's extremely heavy, and has a few other bad properties.
So I'm wondering if we could go w/ plywood. I figure it'll be lighter, and perhaps stronger, but if we go that route I'd really like some quality plywood. Mostly I'm concerned w/ any warping, and I want to be able to paint the cabinet and not see any wood grain. I'd like it to look as authentic as possible. I know that may cost more, but hey, I ain't paying for it. :) Any thoughts on what type we should use?
All the wood should be 3/4" thick. That's the standard for all arcade cabinets. As for dimensions, I found this site that made the cabinet above. They have dimensions for the cabinet as H 65 1/2", W 38 1/4", D 26 3/4". That's as much as they say. They actually have the above pictured cabinet at a local arcade here in Minneapolis, and I was thinking of going there, taking some pictures and possibly measuring it. Not sure if I'll be able to though. But that's what I know so far.
This should give you a pretty good idea of what the cabinet looks like and should get us started towards getting actual dimensions, etc.
So the next thing I figured I'd give you are all the mounting diagrams of the stuff that goes on the cabinet (the control panel mostly). Let me start however with the monitor.
The monitor is 27" diagonal. It is also extremely heavy. I don't know for sure but I hear it weighs around 85lbs. So it's the heaviest thing in the cabinet and we need good support for it, especially since it's sitting at a 45 degree angle in the cabinet. Around the monitor like I said is a bezel that should add a couple inches on each side of it. On top of that I'd like to use some smoked plexiglass as a protector for the monitor. Here's some pics:
Monitor picture:
Monitor measurements:
Now, the control panel. Like I said it's the box looking thing in the picture above w/ the banana on it. I did a prototype of it in cardboard. Here's what it looks like.
Control Panel Prototype:
Inside Control Panel:
If you look at the first picture of the cabinet on this page, one of the things I'd like is to have a piano hinge on the control panel so the top can be opened and I can get under the top of the control panel at will and change stuff. This means I'll need a way to lock down the top so it doesn't move, although I don't know how I'd do that. With all the controls on it, things could get rough so it has to be tightly secured, but also easy to open and get inside. I'd like to make this as invisble as possible as well, you shouldn't know you can open it just by looking at it.
One thing I was thinking as well, was to put some plexiglass or lexan over the control panel to protect it. This would mean drilling holes in both the control panel and lexan. I also want everything to be flush. I don't want to see any screws or the big black mounting plate for the trackball. This means parts of the wood will need to be routed out for these things to fit inside. Then I was thinking of adding a layer of vinyl over these recessed bits to cover them up, and then possible the lexan over that. We can talk about this more, as I might not have explained it well.
Anyway, I figure at the very least you may want to see all of the pieces going into the control panel, so I'm going to show you each piece, and the measurements for each one so you know this ahead of time. At a later date I'll try to send you better measurements of how far apart everything should be. For now this should just get you familiar w/ the various parts.
Joystick Picture:
Joystick measurements:
Button measurements:
Trackball picture:
Trackball measurements:
The trackball actually connects to the black mounting plate you see in the prototype picture above. Thus the mounting plate measurements are probably more important than the trackball itself.
Trackball Mounting measurements:
Spinner picture:
Spinner measurements:
That's the basics of the control panel. Below the control panel, will go the coin box. You can see a picture of it in that one link I have above that shows the dimensions of the cabinet. Here are the details...
Coin Box picture:
Coing Box measurements:
Those are all the measurements I have for various pieces in the cabinet. I've seen people build these online, and I've picked up a few things on their construction, but I'm sure you know more than any of them.
I'd also like some casters on the bottom of the cabinet, like two on the back so you can roll it around, none on the front so when it's on the ground it doesn't roll around. I'd think the bottom panel would be thicker than the sides of the cabinet (is that right?).
I also know a lot of people use 1x1's along the inside of the cabinet and attach the pieces to each other that way. We can do it any way you want, as long as it looks good on the outside. I'd like to not see any screws on the outside if possible.
I'll try to figure out more specific dimensions of the cabinet sometime soon, as well as exact placement of everything on the control panel. I'm hoping you may have some ideas as well. I also hope this isn't too much work. I'm thinking we can do most of this in a weekend, and I can bring it back in pieces and put it together here. I just need to get everything cut and ready for assembly when I get home.
Anyway that's what I have so far, and I thought I'd pass it along. If you really want to get a good idea of things, find a Golden Tee arcade golf game at any bar and it'll be a lot like that, but somewhat different (smaller control panel, little different design). I don't know when I'll be coming home for help on this, but I will be! :) Thanks for any help you can give, I really appreciate it!