Speakers arrived... and grills

Since I'm going "by the book" on this project, I ordered the Klipsch 2.1 speaker system. It comes with a subwoofer and 2 side speakers. A removeable volume and woofer control also comes with it (with a long cable so it can be located anywhere - trying to figure out where to mount it so it's hidden but easy to access). Got them off of eBay - they're normally around $150.00 but I got a perfect system for half that (shipping included!) and they work great.

I also ordered 2 of the 5.5" x 9" speaker grills from mikesarcade.com. They just arrived and look really nice.

More work on the cabinet, part 2

Today I did the work required to mount the speaker panel and monitor panel. I installed the support pieces (hot glued to the side and pre-drilled before gluing them in). Those are visible in the first photo. They follow the angle of the that top edge.

The speaker panel was a tight fit and required some serious sanding to get it to fit.





Next, I printed out the templates for the Klipsch 2.1 speaker system - these templates are for mounting the two smaller speakers above the monitor (the subwoofer will sit inside the cabinet on the floor base).

The most difficult part here was just checking my measurements to make certain I had the templates placed properly. There's a limited amount of space for mounting the speakers so they don't interfere with the glass screen protecting the monitor.


Cutting the holes out with the saw wasn't difficult at all. You can't really see them in the photo but there are also screw holes at the four corners of each large hole that will hold the speakers to the panel.

Used a large drill bit to drill starter holes in each corner so I could get the saw blade going.






And the cabinet so far... the speaker panel and the monitor panel are only sitting on their supports and not screwed in yet - I'll need to remove them to paint and attach the speakers when that panel is finally ready to go in.

Need to buy a small flourescent light to mount inside the marquee area at top and start shopping for the monitor/LCD panel I want to put inside.

More work on the cabinet

Well, I've managed to get the back panels and the back angled panel installed. It's really starting to look like an arcade cabinet now.

The clamps in the picture were being used to hold the upper back panel in place until I could properly connect it to the sides of the cabinet (see picture below for notes on this step).

The gap you see there will be for access to the computer and inner components of the arcade cabinet. I haven't decided if I'll hinge the front door of the cabinet or not. There are some advantages and disadvantages.

What you're seeing here is a closeup of the mounting of the back angled panel and the upper back panel. I used these small pieces of wood as braces. I use a hot glue gun to attach them after I've pre-drilled them.

Everyone does things a little differently, but what I do is pre-drill the pieces first - I drill 2 or 3 holes in the side and these will allow me to place screws into the sides of the cabinet. I also drill 3 or 4 holes in the edges and these allow me to place screws into the angled panel and back angled panel (see next image for closeup).

Here you can see a closeup of the screws that will go into the upper back panel. I've already screwed the bracing piece into the sides of the cabinet.

Pre-drilling works for me because it's very difficult to drill those holes after gluing the piece in place. My electric screwdriver is small enough for me to get in there and tighten the screws down but the drill is too bulky.

Back to the project...

My wife and I had a baby boy arrive in May which put my work on hold. Now that he's sleeping through the night and we've got a new routine down, I've been able to move forward again.

Last weekend, I cut the slot for the t-molding on both sides of the cabinet and mounted the cabinet sides to the base. This weekend I did some more work on mounting the top of the cabinet and the lower back panel. I'm following St. John's book VERY closely. Where the book may lack a detail or 2, I've been able to go to the byoac.com website and find the answer. There's a project there called "Mars Invasion" that follows the book closely, too. That project has a lot of pictures that have answered questions of mine.

Here are some photos of the work so far.
In this one, I've drilled the holes (using a countersink bit) so that I can sink the screws deep. I'll fill in the holes with wood putty later.

I didn't have a helper for this portion so I used my step ladder along with some scrap pieces of wood to prop up one end of the cabinet side until it was level. Then I clamped everything in place before drilling.

Here are the two sides mounted. They're wobbly, so I followed the book's instructions and used some L-brackets to secure them a little better.

Now it's starting to take shape and you can sort of see what the final cabinet will look like.

Used clamps to provide the lower back cabinet piece with a 3/4" recess. This recess will continue with the upper back cabinet piece, the angled back piece, and the top.

I went ahead and did the top piece next so the entire cabinet wouldn't be so wobbly. Even with the L-brackets, it needed more stabilizing. So the top was put in (using 8" strips of 3/4" for the top to sit on for stability).

And this is where I have stopped for tonight. Up next I've got to mount the angled back piece and the upper back panel. Then I'll put in the speaker shelf and the monitor shelf. Hopefully I'll have some time this week and next weekend to do a little more work on it.

Don't forget the arbor

As someone who wants all the information up-front, I feel I should let any visitors know that there is one additional part you will need to create the slot cut for the t-molding that will go around the edges of a cabinet. This isn't mentioned in the book and I had to do some searching to find one.

The piece in question is called an Arbor and you need it to use the slot cutter (see below post) with your router. Once again, I found it at Lowe's. Home Depot is only 2 minutes away from my home but, once again, they didn't have it. (Two strikes, Home Depot - I'm starting to see a pattern here.)

Anyway, here's a picture of what the arbor looks like. Be sure to buy one that matches the diameter of your slot cutter (either 1/4" or 1/2"). They run about $10.00.

Link for 1/4" arbor at Lowe's

Up next, cutting the slots in my cabinet pieces - this weekend.

Slot Cutter for T-Molding

Tracked down a 1/16" slot cutter for my router. This is a hard bit to find! Found one at a local Lowe's for $16 (with tax). They're $20 + tax at Home Depot. So far, this has been my general experience with prices at Lowe's vs Home Depot. I'll use this bit to cut the slot around the edges of the cabinet so I can insert the t-molding.

In the image, the distance B is the 1/16 edge that will cut into the plywood.

Base completed with casters

Got the base completed, including casters. I used 2.5" casters and as you can tell from the photo, there's about a 3/4" clearance. Took it for a spin in the basement area where it'll go and it rolls fine. And, miracle of miracles, it's level. The arcade cabinet won't tilt!

Got the base built

Got the base built. Only one support piece isn't flush with the cabinet bottom edge but a little sanding will fix that. I've got the L-brackets to mount the cab sides but I want to cut the t-molding slot before connecting them, so that's my next step. Actually, the next step is finding a 1/16" slot cutter - may have to order it as I haven't found anyplace that sells it locally.

Smart Strip arrived

I just got my Smart Strip from bitsltd.net - it will allow me to plug in the PC to the "Control Outlet" - when the PC is turned on or off, power to the other devices (monitor, speakers, etc) is turned on, too... very convenient and a power saver.

Has built-in surge protection and spike blocking, too.

Cutting the Cabinet Part 4

So, there they are... all the wood cabinet parts. I've wrapped the side panels because it was supposed to rain on my ride home, but luckily that didn't happen.

Everything is now unpacked in my own workshop and I'm ready to start assembling. A summary in case anyone is interested:

Started at 9am

Lunch at 12

Picked back up at around 12:45

Finished at 3pm

All in all, 2 man job took about 6 hours. I had fun... it's always good to spend some time with Dad in the workshop and catch up on things. More later...

Cutting the Cabinet Part 3

Dad had some great tools that I don't have, including a nice belt-driven sander. In a few of these images, you can see the control panel sides... we clamped them together and then gave them a quick run through on the sander. We were able to do this on all the various pieces that had matching pairs.

Also in this batch of images are the 2 control panel tops.

Cutting the Cabinet Part 2

In these images, you'll notice that piece of long metal that looks like siding. That thing was invaluable. We would draw our lines, then clamp this metal guide 5.75 inches to the right of the line. This was the guide that let us use the circular saw with very good accuracy. The metal guide can be separated into 2 pieces for smaller runs.

The sander you see wasn't to even up the edges but to take off the little slivers that inevitably happened along the edge. Just one quick pass down each long cut and the burrs were gone.

Cutting the Cabinet Part 1

FINALLY got away to spend a few days at my dad's workshop to cut the cabinet pieces. I've been ordering my components, bit by bit, but this is the part I've been anticipating most. I'll post some pictures below with some comments and will continue posting images as I put together the cabinet...

First images here include the side panels being cut. My dad and I worked together with the rule of double-checking each other's measurements. The great part is that I made a few mistakes that he caught and I caught some of his... so going slow and measuring twice (and sometimes more often) definitely paid off and we made all the cuts correctly the first time and I didn't have to invest in more than the original 3 sheets of Sandiply.

Speaking of sandiply - this stuff was great to work with. Not too heavy. EXTREMELY smooth on the "good side" and DECENTLY smooth on the "bad side." There were ZERO snags/splintering of the edges and all pieces were flat and no warping. I've not worked with warped plywood before so I can't speak to how much work this might have saved me, but I can tell you it made measuring and marking the cutouts much easier.

In one of the images you'll notice that we clamped two sheets together. "Good sides" were placed together so that when we cut out the side panels they will be mirror images of one another and I can use the smooth side. This also saved time and I only had to draw one side panel on the wood. We used a circular saw set to 1.75 depth and it cut through both sheets easily. No sanding was required to "match" the sides. That said, it was very helpful to have two sets of hands and eyes to do this.

Got delayed a bit...

This weekend my dad is helping me do the wood cutting. I'm going with a product called Sandiply (from Home Depot) - it's plywood, very flat, and sanded smooth on one side. I just don't want the hassles of MDF dust and weight and am willing to put in the time to prepare the wood so the final cabinet looks good. It costs about $7 more per sheet than MDF, but I think the smooth side combined with the lack of warp (common in plain plywood) will make it worthwhile.

I'll be posting pictures of the progress next week - including layout and cutting of the wood. I'll be doing this on the byoac.com website under the 'Project Announcements' section. Do a search for "Saucer Invasion" to find it.

Joysticks arrived

I got my 2 Ultrastik 360s from Ultimarc today. I also ordered the wiring harness for both of them so I won't have to do as much wiring. I plugged in one of the joysticks to the USB port on my laptop and ran MAME. I forgot to enable joystick control, but once I figured that out, I was able to run Pac-Man with no issues. My only (minor) issue is I think the joysticks are too "soft" and I may place an order later for the stiffer springs so the joysticks are a little tighter.

All in all, I'm very impressed. I placed my order last Monday and they arrive today, exactly a week later.

Ultrastik 360s ordered

I've now ordered my two joysticks - I chose the Ultrastik 360 from Ultimarc for many reasons, but the main one being the ability to program it. I know there are other joysticks with this ability, but this type of stick also provides for attaching up to 8 buttons directly to the stick. I may not use that ability, but it's there if I want it. I also liked the fact that my email questions were answered very quickly. (As a matter of fact, all the vendors that I've used have been very pleasant and responsive to my questions AND getting my orders to me - I've listed all the vendors I've used in my Links section.)

I ordered them with the black bat top - there is no green option, so I'm going to have to either stick with black or find some sort of replacement or workaround. Ideally, I'd like green bat tops (versus round ball tops) but I can't paint them and so far I haven't found anyone who makes a suitable replacement.

NovaGems arrived today

14 pretty little green buttons arrived today. I may only use 12 of them and have 2 as replacements OR I'll use them all... not sure yet. The other buttons on the control panel will be black (including the Player1/Player2 buttons I recently ordered).

Trackball arrived

The lighted green trackball arrived today from Tornado Terry's. Once you start ordering parts, you know that there's no turning back. The trackball is an authentic Happ 3" and has got some heft to it... the ball spins easily and continues spinning when you give it a good push. This is going to look great as the center piece of the control panel (and as the saucer's central area - see the control panel overlay in the earlier post).

Player 1 - Player 2 Buttons

I want black buttons for Player1 and Player2 - there's not that many places that sell them and they're a bit difficult to track down. I found a place that has them in stock and they responded very quickly to my email requesting whether they had the items in stock.

Lizard Lick Amusements has them for $1.50 each which is very reasonable. It's shipping that's going to get me in the end if I keep ordering from different places. But that's okay - some places have stuff, some don't - I'll order parts where I can find them. I just placed my order and was emailed that they'll be shipped tomorrow.

Early design for the Control Panel Overlay

I may change my mind, but I like the idea of using the green lighted trackball as the center of a saucer. This is an early design I threw together, just to have something visual to get me thinking... I'll have it drawn by someone with better skills than mine, and I may go with more or fewer saucers in the background... or none at all.