 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
 | |||||||
 | |||||||
 | |||||||
| So i saw some plans late last year for an old retro style arcade cabinet and i decided that it might be a fun project. I didnt start taking pictures as early as i would have liked to but i can try to describe how i started anyways. I started with 3 sheets of 1/2" MDF for the cabinet structure, 3/4 seems common but i was concerned about weight, as i will definately have to move it once or twice. The plans i loosely based mine on called for a much shorter cab than i actually built. I wanted it to be taller than me. It ended up around 80" tall, so its a good 6" above my head I used 2 x 2's in the corners and nailed into it from either direction, that way there arent any ugly beams in the cab. Also that thing is rock solid, its not going anywhere. I also raised the control panel to a more comfortable heigth for me, not horribly kid friendly though (unless that kid is 22). I installed a light to go behind the marquee, it is screwed to a 2 x 2 that spans the width of the cab. I used my wife's uncles NCR (numeric controlled router) to punch the holes for my joysticks and buttons. We laid everything out in TurboCad and the machine punches the holes. It was way cool. The holes are so exact that i could barely get the buttons through, but they are sure in there solid. I decided to go with an IPAC2 from Ultimarc for my interface, and i got my controls from Game Cabinets Inc. I used a ton more wire than i thought. I think i went to home depot 3 times before i was done, just to buy more wire. I brought my computer and hooked it up for a test run of the buttons, worked fine except player one couldnt quite hit down+right on the joystick so i had to open it up and drill just a bit more because it was hitting the wood. | ||||||||||
 | |||||||||||
