Help building cabs

[shaunopp]

I didn't think of that! I used pieces of 1x1 on the inside, glued & screwed from the inside. I agree with no screws from the outside, but I've seen pictures....

Either way, carpenter's glue will add alot of strength.

Used a little bit of wood glue here and there but those Kreg Jigs are friggin solid! You can see the melamine and sorta see the Kreg pockets on the inside of the cab in the pic below.

Also, while I'm thinking about it, another good trick is to use a cheap computer speaker for an audio control bank. It can give you a small amp, volume control, headphone jack and audio only power button for pretty cheap. The control in the pics below was from $10 computer speakers I bought new at a local computer store. After cutting the speaker off the top I had a small amp, nice faceplate, led, potentiometer and headphone jack for $10. The pictures were a test hole I cut in some plastic. For the final I ended up notching the top of the control panel box and dropping it in right under the lip of the lid of the cp. Works slick!

I then hooked them up to some midrange 5.25" Blitz car speakers and a $40 Durabrand surround system from Walmart for some base. The Blitz speaker are just ok for the price, they have a blue LED which I thought would light up more but only does when you really crank the volume.

[bkenobi]

Those pocket screws are nice, but for a cabinet, you don't need to buy a jig like that if you don't already have one. I personally used 1x1's and staples and everything is super strong. I've rebuilt 2 Atari cabs and the reason I went with staples and glue is...that's what they did and it's freakin solid! That said, there are a TON of ways to build a cabinet. I personally had a pneumatic staple/brad gun available, so I used that and glue. The Kreg jig would work awesome if you have one or plan on using one in the future. Screws work great if you don't have either (if you don't have a drill driver, you MUST HAVE ONE).

Basically, carpenters glue is what holds cabinets together. The screws/staples/brads/etc. are there to hold it while the glue is drying....

[shaunopp]

Those pocket screws are nice, but for a cabinet, you don't need to buy a jig like that if you don't already have one. I personally used 1x1's and staples and everything is super strong. I've rebuilt 2 Atari cabs and the reason I went with staples and glue is...that's what they did and it's freakin solid! That said, there are a TON of ways to build a cabinet. I personally had a pneumatic staple/brad gun available, so I used that and glue. The Kreg jig would work awesome if you have one or plan on using one in the future. Screws work great if you don't have either (if you don't have a drill driver, you MUST HAVE ONE).

Basically, carpenters glue is what holds cabinets together. The screws/staples/brads/etc. are there to hold it while the glue is drying....

Agreed, bunch of ways to tackle a cab. All those suggested are structurally sound. Not sure I agree that using the 1x1's and a brad nailer are cheaper or easier than a Kreg Jig if you have neither though. You'd have to buy the gun and an air compressor if you didn't already own them. I had my choice of tools out of the gate but the Kreg Jigs just seemed simpler, cleaner and stronger to me but it all works.

[bkenobi]

Absolutely right. I should have mentioned that (and thought I did, but I guess I missed it). You should use whatever you have first of all, but if you are going to be doing more than just one job, get the tool that you plan on using over again. For instance, I bought my compressor a couple years back cause I wanted to paint something and knew I had a few other uses for it down the road. If I didn't have the compressor, I would have used screws of some kind. Since I already had the compressor and was given the nailer as a gift, and since I wanted to find a use for it anyway, it worked out perfect. Actually, now that I think about it, the 1x1's mostly came from the deconstruction of 3 cabs (2 that I finished, and one that's sitting in a friend's garage as a future project). I basically just reused what I already had available...

I'm not against buying tools. I'm just saying you should buy the tool that makes the most sense for what your overall needs are. This is a cab that has on the order of 50-100 screws. There's no need to spend a ton of money on a cartridge based screw gun when any old drill driver will work for that. If spending a couple bucks saves a huge pain, do it! If it costs more but you have a use for it down the road, consider it!

Anyway, back to the point... There's lots of ways to do build a cab. Just make use of what you have and have fun in the process!

[Tempest]

Shaunopp,

The Blue T-molding is great! I am going to have to keep that in mind....

On the other hand, not if I go with a Tempest theme...

Hey - did I mention this on another thread?... I had at one time considered building two cabinets with just a monitor in the second one (no Computer) for simultaneous player games. Then I thought that if I was going to go that far, I might as well have a computer in it too, so that two separate gemes could be played, and networked together for multiplayer games. At that point I thought that maybe I was going to far.... Has anyone done this? Can it be done?

Bkenobi,

I believe you are right, it's about the glue. Everything else is just "clamps" until the glue dries. Actually, that might be the advantage to 1x1's, you can glue both the edge of the sheet to the adjacent sheet, and the side of the sheet to the 1x1. Twice the surface area!

[bkenobi]

There was a thread I remember a while back talking about networked versions of MAME, but I didn't follow too closely cause it's not an interest I have. I think HK and/or Brian were the ones discussing that version. I think it can be done, but I don't think it works nicely with GameEx, but I could be wrong.

[gryhnd]

I believe you are right, it's about the glue. Everything else is just "clamps" until the glue dries. Actually, that might be the advantage to 1x1's, you can glue both the edge of the sheet to the adjacent sheet, and the side of the sheet to the 1x1. Twice the surface area!

That's essentially what I did. I used bracing blocks glued into place and held with some short drywall screws. The one place though where I didn't want to rely strictly on glue, and where I would have used the blocks even if I hadn't anywhere else, is to support the bottom most shelf. This one has to bear the weight of the entire cabinet pressing down on it and needs to be especially strong and resistant to getting pushed back up into the cab (or pulling apart when the cab is moved around). The bracing blocks plus the dados really beefed it up.

[shaunopp]

Shaunopp,

The Blue T-molding is great! I am going to have to keep that in mind....

On the other hand, not if I go with a Tempest theme...

Thanks, I like the light blue t-mold, some people hate it. I really like Knieval's cabs and so I patterned similar to his. Check out his site KnievelKustoms if you haven't seen it. Below is the full effect, the light blue t-mold fits my theme nicely, maybe not so much with a Tempest cab though since it's all dark and mysterious though.

Marquee

Bootscreen

GameEx Theme

CP Overlay

[kenaan]

i bought my neo-geo jamma cabinet at an auction for $10! no monitor, but good joysticks and buttons, plus a coin door. the only problem has limited space inside and no access from the back. i'm going to try getting rid of the coin door and put the pc in there instead. my recommendation when buying a used cab is make sure there is enough room inside and preferably access from the back!

[bkenobi]

Access to the back is a reciprocating saw away!

[Tempest]

Used a little bit of wood glue here and there but those Kreg Jigs are friggin solid! You can see the melamine and sorta see the Kreg pockets on the inside of the cab in the pic below.

Also, while I'm thinking about it, another good trick is to use a cheap computer speaker for an audio control bank. It can give you a small amp, volume control, headphone jack and audio only power button for pretty cheap. The control in the pics below was from $10 computer speakers I bought new at a local computer store. After cutting the speaker off the top I had a small amp, nice faceplate, led, potentiometer and headphone jack for $10. The pictures were a test hole I cut in some plastic. For the final I ended up notching the top of the control panel box and dropping it in right under the lip of the lid of the cp. Works slick!

I then hooked them up to some midrange 5.25" Blitz car speakers and a $40 Durabrand surround system from Walmart for some base. The Blitz speaker are just ok for the price, they have a blue LED which I thought would light up more but only does when you really crank the volume.

I'm re-reading this thread, in preparation of building my new cab...More thoughts:

1. Glue may not hold as well on the melamine covered board that you have, did you use something special?

2. I told you this stuff was dusty...look at the pile of dust by Shaunopp's battery charger! :LOL

3. I didn't notice the first time, that you had a matching set of graphics for your cab. (Marquee, Bootscreen, CPO, theme, etc.), that is the shiznit! They must be used on the cabinet that is only partially in the picture. Do you have pictures of that cab running? (or not running?)

This may sound crazy, but my basement is painted yellow, purple, and red. I was originally thinking of light blue t-mould, because I liked yours so well (no need to do a Tempest design now!) but I see they have purple...

http://www.t-molding.com/store/product.php...t=31&page=1

I'll probably stick with the blue...I don't want it looking ??? Stupid ???

[bkenobi]

1) Yes, if you have melanine on both sides of the material you use, you won't want to use glue as the primary means to hold the cab together. You have a couple options though:

* Use single sided melanine pointing the raw side inwards.

* Use a router to cut a bare spot in the melanine. If you do this, you can actually have slots (if you cut 1/4" - 1/2" deep) which add structural support, a place to glue, and a nice reference during assembly.

* Use bare MDF and apply laminate to the outside afterwards. This gives you more options for finish color and means you can build the cab a bit more "dirty". In other words, you can just screw through the outside into your braces and not worry about it showing up since it will be covered. As long as the surface is smooth or at least countersunk, you will be good to go.

Either way, MDF and melanine both produce TONS of dust and are a pain in the arse to keep your work area clean. On the up side, they cut like a dream and finish REALLY nice.