Help building cabs

[JohnnyG]

I've just gotten a problem with GameEx fixed within 5 minutes of posting a question on the forums: I'm always amazed at how helpful and knowledgable people here are. Tom obviouly, but Headkaze, Emph, Lingpanda and so many others always seem to be right there with the help you need. Cheers guys, much appreciated.

My point for this topic is can anyone who's built cabs give me some pointers on building my own?

I'm in Ireland, so where to get material would be great. I have quite a few plans I downloaded from the Jakobud site, and I'm going to go for a Nintendo widebody style.I'm thinking of putting LED buttons in my cab, nothing too fancy, no attact mode, just lit buttons. I a a member of the BYAOC boards, but to be honest, you guys here are much more friendly and helpful. Can anyone do a little tutorial on how to wire, say GGG LED buttons with a 12v from the power supply?

As always, if I can help anyone out myself, I'll be happy to. As I said, I haven't built ANYTHING yet, but I have been amassing as much info as I can about just about anything (drilling plexi, wiring coontrol panels, making volume control knobs, lots of stuff). I'm claiming no credit for any of it: I've just looked around for it and downloaded/bookmarked anything I thought was relevant.

I know this is not about GameEx, but seeing as it is about playing arcade games, I hope I can be of some help to someone, and give a bit back to a great community.

Thanks all.

Johnny

[JohnnyG]

Bugger! Forgot Nologic! Sorry, man!

[JohnnyG]

and Adultery, Slipstream, Ricci...so many others... Thanks guys!

[emphatic]

Oooh, someone is sucking up.

My tip is this: Get a stripped JAMMA-cabinet and use that as a base. I promise you it will be worth it.

Here's why:

You get a lot of professional arcade engineering for free

No hassle creating those pesky T-Molding grooves

It will at least have a good base coat if you need to re-paint it

You can even find a cabinet "cheap" that still has a working arcade monitor

Hey, perpaps the controls work as well, just get an J-pac and you're almost home (electronically)

Sure, you might get a kick from creating something from scratch, but it'll cost you.

If you just modify the "real deal", it won't be as hard getting it sold if you feel you're really ready to build your own as selling your first attempt at building something you don't really know enough about building.

I bought my JAMMA-cabinet for about $250 (2300 swedish crowns) that is fully working. Had I known before building my "from scratch"-cabinet (costs about $600 and counting)...

Emph

[JohnnyG]

Oooh, someone is sucking up.

My tip is this: Get a stripped JAMMA-cabinet and use that as a base. I promise you it will be worth it.

LOL! Yeah, kind of pre-emptive sucking up, cos I reckon I'll be looking for a whole lot of help when I start to build!

I've been looking at getting an existing cab, but theonly one I saw was an old defender, busted monitor, stick and only two buttons intact and o no idea if the boards were working, and the cab was in a really bad way (scratches,water damage, etc). He wanted 150 euro, for what amounted to a load of dodgy components and badly damaged chipboard. I passed!

Even getting a coin door second hand is next to impossible, primer paint for MDF is about 30 euro for a tiny tin, don't get me started!

I really want to have a go at making one myself: I got lots of blueprints and bought a router, enough spares to make 2 or 3 Mame PCs, bought an Ipac, now I need the cash to buy the controls (and a new PC!) and off I go.

Having said that, if I can find a good cab at the right price, I would buy it, but I wouldn't sell it on: two of my friends are very interested in seeing how it works for me, so they might take any old wPC bits/cab for themselves.

Thanks for the advice, Emph, always appreciated.

Johnny

[emphatic]

You should move to Sweden. Here you can sometimes get used cabinets for free. No, I'm not even kidding.

Emph

[Adultery]

I have to agree and recommend a refurb for starters. Mine's been a playable WIP for at least a year now, and it's still costing me an arm and a leg.

The internal parts (wiring, installing the board / speakers / switches / etc) is the easy part. I just think the carpentry sucks.

Little things will really add up on you fast - extra buttons, coin door (as you mentioned), bezels, marquee (if you like a custom one that'll be about $200 for an attractive one), have you seen what they want for a friggin trackball? Sheesh!

I got the cab I'm working on for next to nothing, but the project's well over $700 already... And that doesn't count the external hard drives and such.

Your first cab is definately a learning experience, that's for sure! I bet Emph is right - keep in mind after you build this one you're gonna want to build a better one.

[iano]

I have to agree and recommend a refurb for starters. Mine's been a playable WIP for at least a year now, and it's still costing me an arm and a leg.

The internal parts (wiring, installing the board / speakers / switches / etc) is the easy part. I just think the carpentry sucks.

Little things will really add up on you fast - extra buttons, coin door (as you mentioned), bezels, marquee (if you like a custom one that'll be about $200 for an attractive one), have you seen what they want for a friggin trackball? Sheesh!

I got the cab I'm working on for next to nothing, but the project's well over $700 already... And that doesn't count the external hard drives and such.

Your first cab is definately a learning experience, that's for sure! I bet Emph is right - keep in mind after you build this one you're gonna want to build a better one.

Hi. Have to agree with Emph & Adultery. This is an expensive hobby. I wanted find a jamma cab to save on the woodworking (which i'm no good at). The old arcades which i had played in had closed and those that hadn't just had gambling machines. So i didn't have much choice. I've got most of the parts i need but the whole project seemed to snowball in terms of cost (ICE Buttons/2 LEDWIZ/HAPP 3" Trackball/IPAC/MagSticks/Speakers/Amp/Custom Marquee/CPO - the list goes on !) and i haven't any tools/mdf/paint etc yet. I'd say the project if/when finished will cost in total about 2500 euros !! I'm dreading the woodwork which i'll probably get the timberyard to do most of the cutting to size. If you decide to go down this route i'd recommend buying The Saint's book 'Project Arcade'. As well as having loads of tips/ideas, it has step by step cabinet design/plan based on Lusid's design. For cabinet construction tips etc you may want pop over to www.arcadecontrols.com (BYOAC). SpyStyle also sells a cd thru ebay with step by step construction tips (& illustrated photos) and offers some technical support via email if you buy his cd.

Good Luck !

p.s. I live in Ireland too (getting stuffs a pain)

iano.

[brianon]

From Ireland also guys

Getting stuff is a pain but I got lucky and got a free Dragons Lair Cab (minus controls & Monitor).

Its mostly complete now, hence my recent posts here, a year or more after buying GameEx.

I did get a second Cab but gave it too my uncle as the missus wouldn't allow it in the house

As others have stated. I recommend byoac.

My problems now are Software config and Artwork. Want to get a marquee and bezel printed.

[Will]

I really enjoyed building my own cabinet, and I think it looks pretty good. There are a number of things now that I couldn't have gotten with a pre-built machine. For example, I couldn't find any machines that had enough room on the control panel for all 10 buttons comfortably. Also most of the $200-$500 cabinets I found to buy were in BAD condition and would have needed about the same amount of work as to make one. I spent about $400 on materials for mine and about a week of pretty solid work to get it to 90% completion. After that it has taken MANY weeks and months to get it (software wise) tweaked to perfection. If I made another one, I'd still built it myself. The point is, it depends on the person! If you'd like to learn a little wood working and craft something yourself, there are some great resources around here (PM me if you want--I have tons) to guide you every step of the way. It isn't as hard as you think. Either way it will be frickin sweet.

[emphatic]

Here's a couple of pictures of my cabinet (comments are in swedish, sorry):

As you can see, it's not your typical generic cabinet, but if you could see it up and close for real, you'd also see that the carpentry is far from what the arcade industry can "whip up". I really love the shape of it, and the size(I built it bigger to get the same awe-inducing experience you'd get if you were still a little kid), but I almost never play on it anymore, now that I got a real JAMMA-cabinet to play real arcade PCB's on.

Emph

[brianon]

Here's a couple of pictures of my cabinet (comments are in swedish, sorry):

As you can see, it's not your typical generic cabinet, but if you could see it up and close for real, you'd also see that the carpentry is far from what the arcade industry can "whip up". I really love the shape of it, and the size(I built it bigger to get the same awe-inducing experience you'd get if you were still a little kid), but I almost never play on it anymore, now that I got a real JAMMA-cabinet to play real arcade PCB's on.

Emph

WOW. Love the Cab.

What theme you using in GameEx? Really nice and simple.

Also, where did you get Raiden III for PC? I would sell an arm to get that !

[ourgrace]

JohnnyG

I did the "Build it your self thing" and I had a lot of fun with it. Good Luck to you, I hope It turn out as good for you as it did me.

As far as the buttons check out this link LED Button

And this is links to some of the sites I got info/parts from MAME_Links.zip

ourgrace

[emphatic]

WOW. Love the Cab.

What theme you using in GameEx? Really nice and simple.

Also, where did you get Raiden III for PC? I would sell an arm to get that !

The theme is my own, I'll upload it if you like, it has no emu specific backgrounds, but it does have specific bg for start page.

Nothing fancy, but I like the colours and It does look arcadeish enough.

Raiden III is only available for the japanese market, but you can "get it" if you search hard enough. More info on the game itself here: http://raiden.mossjp.co.jp/raiden3.html

Emph

[brianon]

The theme is my own, I'll upload it if you like, it has no emu specific backgrounds, but it does have specific bg for start page.

Nothing fancy, but I like the colours and It does look arcadeish enough.

Raiden III is only available for the japanese market, but you can "get it" if you search hard enough. More info on the game itself here: http://raiden.mossjp.co.jp/raiden3.html

Emph

Upload? That'd be great

[lingpanda]

I was lucky enough to pick up my Mortal Kombat II Cabinet for $100. It was off a friend of mine. The control panel was completely destroyed. It had been converted several times after being a dedicated MK machine. It came with the orginal monitor. I actually threw the monitor away. Didn't know at the time I could use it. It also didn't come with any Jamma board. It was more or less the case with a monitor. I'm also missing the coin door parts.

I would suggest trying to buy a used arcade cabinet. Check your local arcades for any on sale. See if they have some not working and ask how much they will sell it for. Check local ads.

[emphatic]

Upload? That'd be great

Sorry, I can't do that. This is not a filesharing forum. Let's not get Mr. Speirs in trouble.

Emph

[lingpanda]

Sorry, I can't do that. This is not a filesharing forum. Let's not get Mr. Speirs in trouble.

Emph

I think he was talking about your Theme.

[emphatic]

I think he was talking about your Theme.

Of course! I'm such a dufus! I'll look into that ASAP.

Emph

[TalkingBull]

When I first got into MAME, I was living in an apartment and had no tools for woodworking. I looked at picking up an old JAMMA (Which is a very good idea) but there wasn't anything in my area that I could go pick up and I didn't want to pay $300+ to have one carted and shipped to me. I went to the only arcade that was left in town (I wanted a Guantlet Legends) but they wanted $2500 for it. I settled on a Ultimate Arcade II Cabinet kit from MAMEroom.com

It gave me the opportunity to build a cabinet without having to cut any wood, it was pre-laminated so I didn't need to paint or anything, and it only took about an hour to assemble.

Now, ideally, I would rather have built one from scratch but I thought you might want to look into one of their kits as an option.

About the only customization I was able to achieve was the control panel which I designed myself and they cut for me.

Now that I have a home and a garage full of tools, I make my own cabinets and enjoy it a great deal. This is just one of those options for folks are in the same boat I was in.

After saying all that, the cheapest solution I have ever seen is an old Jamma with the monitor still in it. If you can get one with no guts and a monitor, you are set. The monitor is the most expensive part of the whole set-up.

[emugamer]

Like TalkingBull, I also used mameroom. I bought the same cabinet. I have to say I was disappointed in the quality. It's basically particle board with a nice smooth coating. Screws do not hold well. If I had the time and skill, I would have built one myself. But I'm not skilled in woodwork and the cost of a pre-fab cabinet outweighed the cost of purchasing the tools. I wish I would have looked harder for a used cabinet though. The most difficult part for me was mounting the monitor. I bought a Wells Gardner 27" monitor. I thought that mameroom would provide a way to mount it, but they didn't I had to figure out a way to keep it in place and brace it. Another learning experience. I bought all of my arcade parts from Happ. Awesome place. The bezel they sell is junk though. A flimsy piece of plastic. That was definitely a waste of money. And shipping alone was $30 (US). I'm going to be hiring someone to fabricate a nice bezel out of wood, because I still don't have one.

Overall, the entire cost of my cabinet without the bezel and including a budget PC is $2,500 (US). There are a ton of things I would have done differently if I had the chance.

If I were rich, I would drop $15,000 on a CNC router

Hope all goes well with yours!

eg

[brianon]

Of course! I'm such a dufus! I'll look into that ASAP.

Emph

[Nologic]

Bugger! Forgot Nologic! Sorry, man!

Hehe just caught the thread...didn't seem like some thing I could really help with since I haven't built one...but I do like the brown nosing.

I'd have to differ any ways to everyone here...tho its not the route I would go my self.

Reason being that I'm a journeyman union carpenter and I have nearly every thing one could want short of CNC tools. Hehe and I have the stubbed finger to prove it.

Any ways if you need some one to suggest the right tool for the job...I can do that...other wise I'm of no use.

[eproxy]

Nice side art for cabs

http://www.localarcade.com/arcade_art/index.php

[JohnnyG]

Hi All,

Wow, some great replys: this is why I initially posted!

I'm working at the moment so I can't stay long, but to Iano and others trying to build in Ireland, I might have a place that's selling old cabs off (no idea of prices yet, though). I still like the idea of building my own, but I'll see how much they are looking for compared to building (and the hours of time to build it!)

CHeers all,

Johnny