woodoworking

[Sammy]

Hi guys

 

Any furniture makers here? I project I have in mind that has many unusual requirements that a typical cabinet doesnt need. So.....

 

Think arcade cabinet but smaller. 3/4 inch panels. Tall but square on the bottom. It needs to be relatively lightweight. mdf is too heavy. But the foam core stuff doesnt seem to have the strength unless glued and/or must be permanently attached. I have hardwood floors and I dont want to damage or scratch them.

 

A light plywood is fine since it will be painted. Since CA is earthquake country the bottom could be filled with some ballast... books etc... so its not top heavy and risk tipping over unless the big one hits. Kids will use it.

 

The more difficult parts. It needs to have the ability to be disassembled and reassembled multiple times without compromising the structure. I prefer not to go from the outside so the surface is smooth. Or at least so anything can be hidden but removed later for disassembly. Having a bunch of rivet looking things is kinda ugly.

 

I read the ikea thing, which I have a few of, is not as strong as some would like over time. Also a pain in the ass the actually get the little parts into the wood correctly to assemble later. My guess is going from the outside into some corner structural supports is best, so long as you cant see it but take them out later.

 

Price is a consideration.

[Unchileno]

We have a clan member who build sets for music videos, Top carpenter..Lets see if he gives you a hand..If not Ill give you a hand..Handyman my self..

[Gatorgirl]

Handyman my self..

 

Hand jobs don't count Chile LMAO

[Sammy]

Hehe

 

Been one of those things in the back of my mind that I might want to build an arcade cabinet for the nephew+niece for when they visit. And yes... for us adults. Cant help it I love those old games. Personally more than the modern shooters. Playing with a PS4 controller works for all the stuff that doesn't need trackballs or spinners but its not as enjoyable. However the size of the things are a little imposing for a small room. Even the thinner cabinets. So still debating.

[bds1961]

Hi guys

 

Any furniture makers here? I project I have in mind that has many unusual requirements that a typical cabinet doesnt need. So.....

 

Think arcade cabinet but smaller. 3/4 inch panels. Tall but square on the bottom. It needs to be relatively lightweight. mdf is too heavy. But the foam core stuff doesnt seem to have the strength unless glued and/or must be permanently attached. I have hardwood floors and I dont want to damage or scratch them.

 

A light plywood is fine since it will be painted. Since CA is earthquake country the bottom could be filled with some ballast... books etc... so its not top heavy and risk tipping over unless the big one hits. Kids will use it.

 

The more difficult parts. It needs to have the ability to be disassembled and reassembled multiple times without compromising the structure. I prefer not to go from the outside so the surface is smooth. Or at least so anything can be hidden but removed later for disassembly. Having a bunch of rivet looking things is kinda ugly.

 

I read the ikea thing, which I have a few of, is not as strong as some would like over time. Also a pain in the ass the actually get the little parts into the wood correctly to assemble later. My guess is going from the outside into some corner structural supports is best, so long as you cant see it but take them out later.

 

Price is a consideration.

They make a light weight MDF. Or you can use a thinner stiff plywood like apple that has a smooth finish. Usually used for making drawers

[loaderXI]

Can you use insulation board and laminate luan or similar plywood(finish grade) to it

[Sammy]

From what I read poplar plywood is more lightweight than typical. But pricey in comparison. Another option I suppose is to use a little of both.

[loaderXI]

Also any exterior hardware can be covered with screw caps

[Dessy]

what hardware is it that you want to use  screensize  how many players what kind of hardware  pc or rasberry pi or jamma board 

 

you could also build a  bartop with  a colapsable stand?  or a slimline arcade  or thinking out of the box here  a large 4 player tmnt control pannel  that you can hook up a big tv.lol

[Sammy]

Everything is still in the planning stages. Not exactly decided on number of players. Having two is good to allow for co-op and fighting games. But control panels like that are not so good for the traditional SP games like Stargate. Which is a must. Also just wouldnt feel right playing SP games off-center with controls squished together. I dont particularly like those.

 

Quite a few people have said it might be best to not to get both to co-exist. Leave fighting and co-op games to a cabinet designed for them. No need for trackballs and spinners. Leave those to a SP control panel that has room for them. So kinda leaning away from the usual 2-player cabinets people tend to make. Stick to a SP cabinet with multi-controls.

 

I thought about going the TV route with an htpc and a big portable control panel as well. Of course people sell those. Could also just buy two fighting sticks. Takes care of all the interface problems. Players also wont be tripping all over each other and can sit in their own spaces. But its still a console experience. It might end up being my only option however instead of a big piece of furniture in a corner. I hear pi isnt up to the task for games past the mid 90's but it would make for an interesting project. I tried to get  an android emulator to work but never could. Their rom sets are pretty old anyways. A cheap linux celeron minipc would likely do it all except console emulation. But not particularly interested in console games.

[Blaze]

I built a corner TV stand/shelf unit as all the ones to buy were too small. I wanted it to be high up so the kids couldn't reach the telly and lots of shelf space for our retro consoles. I bought some sheets of thick MDF and had it cut into 3' squares (5 of them). 3 of them cut in half diagonally for the base, top and shelves and 2 squares left whole for the sides. Drilled some holes (not all the way through, just deep enough for dowels) and inserted dowels to support the shelves. The shelves slotted straight in then added some mouldings to the front centre to hold the shelves in. It is massive and has no chance of toppling... I have tried my best. It will come apart easy enough if I have to move it and it was fun to build.

[Blaze]

I also cut the triangle off at the right angle so that there was a hole down the back for all the leads, as you can see in this picture.

 

 

You can't really see in the pics, but the shelves are supported at the front with 40mm x 40mm square sections cut to the shelf depth. They slotted in and the moulding was wood glued to the supports. I also glued the moulding to the shelves I think, after it was decided that the damn thing was too big to move anyway.

Edited November 19, 2016 by Blaze

[Sammy]

This is NOT what I had in mind for a control panel. As you can see, a do-it-all wont work.

 

 

Oh and it would have to fit through a door and around a corner. So indoor assembly might be a requirement. Not sure a sectional idea (top and bottom parts) joined at the middle would work. If anyone did such a thing. Anyways, I might have too many requirements for this to work out.

[Blaze]

If you are going to paint it, you could always use OSB as it is by far the cheaper option. Enough paint on it or a sand down before painting will get rid of uneven surface. You could also make use of an old wardrobe! Take a look at some free ads or free cycle sites for a large wardrobe and there will be enough wood for the panels there.

[pwrcrzy52]

 First draw out a rough plan with some sizes on it so we can see what you have in mind. I have built some different kinds of cabinets and furniture for myself and other people. My wife and daughter think of the ideas and often say oh you'll figure it out. Reclaimed wood is getting really big now for uses.  PS go to pinterest  to get ideas that' where we find them

Edited November 19, 2016 by pwrcrzy52

[Dessy]

just trowing out another idea for the control panel sammy  make it swapable make a 2 player fighting control board  and   1 player with spinner  etc.

[7Toes]

I play with my wood all the time lol

[Sammy]

Yea swappable occurred to me. However it would have to be anchored down pretty good because of the abuse it would take so it wouldnt pop out. Also pretty inconvenient. Fighting games might actually be more enjoyable on a really big screen anyways. Like today it still comes down to what will be played the most. SP or MP.

[Dessy]

about that anchoring  i use 6 magnet plates on my control panels on each corner  and 2  in the middle  it is   really hard to rip that off specialy on a 2 player cabinet 

 

for me  arcades is all about MAME   i am building a bartop right know for my brother   il post some pictures later.

Edited November 19, 2016 by Dessy

[Sammy]

That's an interesting idea. So if nothing else perhaps build one, to start, as SP but in such a way that a MP one can be made up at a later date. To work all the electronics except the computer would have to be on the board itself so only the two cables need to be switched out.

 

Thinking about how to built it into parts using bolts that could come from the inside for the sides. Except for the back access panel. The panels would need large enough plates or something that could be made flush on the outside that the bolts would attach to. The bolt wouldnt poke through. Might not be strong enough unless there were a lot of them.

 

edit: like a cap nut but bigger and flat/flush on the outside.

 

edit again: Ah ok I see. Stuff like that can easily be made up. So this idea might actually work.

Edited November 19, 2016 by Sammy

[Sammy]

Anyone actually use a Pi for this? In keeping prices down if this would work with 80s-90s games it would help having to get a mini pc. I tried getting the android versions working on my firetv and no go. They are old versions anyways.

 

Lots of people say 'yes' to Pi, I think with Linux, just seeing if anyone here did it. To play these games a minipc would be more than enough but pricey. I had no idea even old mac minis were still quite a bit of money. The design idea I have been sketching out, for factors such as location, size and stability, would only allow a minipc or smaller.

[Dessy]

i used  for  my brothers bartop a rasberry pi 2   + 32gb sd card just a 10 class   installed retropie + emulation station with it .  nes snes sega  8bit and 16 bit will work too also atari and older works just perfect same goes for gameboy.   but to be honest all you really want is to run mame .. the  pi2 will run it as long as you dont    load your card over 2000 games this is really max  not that it wont play more but the loading of the  game art is jut really slow when going over 2000 games   the newer pi3 is just better and faster i would reccomend to buy this.

 

before all this whe where building   arcades with the pi1 wich will work it is just a lot slower.

 

for the joysticks  the easyest way i found is to use the ipac 2  interface trew usb  hook up your controls  and bamm your playing.  

 

 

good luck with your build sammy

[Sammy]

Thx. I've started playing KoF on my PC+DS4 and its pretty fun. Tho I am mostly mashing the buttons until I learn how to actually play. Take out the clones and 2000 would be in the far far reaches. All the well known classics but also lesser known games. Kinda hooked on panicbomber atm. I have to research more on what its mame version will support. For a minipc I would rather save that money for a simple htpc after the new chips are out and the prices settle.