I'm building an arcade cab!

[ivwshane]

I thought this place was a goner!

Anyway, I've decided for this year I will build a mame cabinet from scratch.
If anyone has any experience and wants to give their tips please post.
Right now I'm in the planning stages and I'm stuck on the display:(
I'd like to get a 25" display but that means normal pc displays like lcd's or crt's are out, so now I'm looking at arcade monitors but they seem to have their own issues.

I'll try to keep you guys updated!

[adidas]

and I thought everybody would have given up...

I don't know of anyone here that has built an arcade cabinet themselves; though I know jewboy had planned to years ago.


The only advice I can give is google But you've already done that.

[Damian]

Hi Ivwshane!

If you're not looking for a powerhouse, could try a *-ITX system which will not only be a lot smaller, but will save considerable power.

http://www.mini-itx.com/

[ivwshane]

Thanks but I've already got a system ready to go.

If I had money to burn though, I'd buy one of those just to play around with.

[Silverhaze]

I'd love to have one but I know I wouldnt use it often enough.

[TheLastKamikaze]

Congrats!

If been thinking of getting one too (but I'm lazy, so I was just thinking of getting one of http://www.custom-arcade.com/... and yeah, they're a bit pricey...). What are you thinking about?

[ivwshane]

What was I thinking about in terms of what type of arcade cab?

I'm thinking something similar to this but with a different control panel layout:

http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?game_id=9804

or something like this:
http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?game_id=8753
http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?game_id=8754

[adidas]

would it be easier/cheaper/better to buy an old cabinet off of ebay and rework it?

[ivwshane]

It would but I've had some mdf laying around for a couple years now and I need to use it for something. I'm a do it yourself kind of guy anyway and by making a cab from scratch I can build it exactly the way I want to.

[Silverhaze]

Hows your project going Shane?

[ivwshane]

I'm in the design stage (really just trying to get the dimensions down) and I plan on ordering the parts next week:D

I've settled on this design (top pic)
http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?gam ... 2&letter=T

This is kind of what I'm going for as far as the control panel layout (not necessarily these theme designs):

Here is a rough sketch of the cab:

Here is an example of some lighted buttons I plan on using:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeJfLzxl ... ic=72753.0


Any comments or concerns?

[ivwshane]

I forgot that I also found the monitor I'm going to use. It's a 27" hdtv tube in 4:3 format with hdmi:D

http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/productD ... oid=177542

http://picasaweb.google.com/ivwshane/MameCab

[ivwshane]

Here is a little update!
Sorry about the pics, they were taken with my phone.