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Self Build Arcade Machine – Part 1

Why?

So why would one bother to build an Arcade cabinet? First off, its about 3-4 grand cheaper and secondly why climb Mount Everest? Well, maybe thats a bad example but you get what I mean.

Maybe I'm having an early mid-life crises and yearn to return to the days of playing Street fighter 2 in my school lunch break or memories of seaside holidays spent in amusement arcades, the orchestra of Midway and Capcom sounds luring oneself in as I pass by and seeking out a machine that was unoccupied to play a game, any game, it didn't matter as long as you had 10p.  It was all about high-scores in those days and NOT achievement unlocked messages popping up stating that you've beaten up ten prostitutes!

The finished machine will play around 8000 games including all the old classics from Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Defender and Donkey Kong to the more modern games like Street fighter 2 (20 different versions), Mortal Kombat and some Pub quiz games. It will be a 2 player machine and will include 2 side buttons for pinball games, a coin slot and of course the marquee light to show of the cabinets graphics (In this case Tron).

How?

The Internet truly is a magnificent invention and being able to build your very own Arcade machine really epitomises  the wealth of information that it  offers.  I found a great set of self-build arcade cabinet documentation here:- http://www.arcadecab.com/ and modified the plans to suit my own needs. You can view the measurements I used by clicking on this picture ---->

NOTE: A few people have emailed and asked what the width is.  Its 20" wide, so all the shelves internal supports are 20"

I mentioned "modified" because arcade machines used to hold CRT monitors which was the reason for their depth and not to mention the weight. I wanted a slimline cabinet and thanks to the decline in price of flat screen monitors this was very possible.

Tools

Visiting Homebase was immense fun and felt very primal, I had the urge to cave paint and make fire.  You don't necessary need a professional workshop for this build (worked in the garden) but you do need the right tools for the right jobs. Anyway here are the tools I needed, some I already owned.

• Circular Saw - Any DIY Shop (B&Q)
• Router with 1/16" slot cutting bit with arbor (Vital piece in this build) www.rutlands.co.uk
• Drill
• Dewalt Drill bits + Driver bit + Counter Sink bits (Amazon.co.uk)
• 2 x Saw horses (Argos)
• Jigsaw (Argos)
• Clamps (9.99 set from Argos and a bargain for the price)

Materials

Although much cheaper than buying a complete Arcade machine the materials do add up and may be purchased weekly or as needed:-

• 3 x 3/4" structural grade ply-wood. (Too much, only needed 2 sheets)
• Ledger strips
• Coin Door
• Marquee
• Marquee Retainer (Ebay)
• Marquee Light (Any DIY Store, used the one for Kitchen under cabinet lighting)
• T-Molding (3/4" x 40' - Light Blue - Ebay)
• Keyboard Drawer Slides
• Cam Lock
• Cabinet Screws 1" x 1 Box (Loads left over)
• Cabinet Screws 1-1/4"x 1 Box (Loads left over)
• 3" foam Paint roller
• Paint (Large Tin - Didn't need that much)
• 4 Industrial Casters (2 swivel 2 fixed)
• hinges
• Cloth (To wipe after sanding)
• L brackets x 2
• Sheet of perspex (Local plastics supplier)

The wood arrives!

I was very motivated and excited to start this little project so moved all of the gear needed into the garden. My brother offered some help today and we were very lucky with the weather (living in england) so we made a start on the cabinet.

I spent 2 hours before hand measuring and drawing the layout, I wanted this to look good and the ply-wood was too expensive to make mistakes although at the time I didn't realise that I had enough to make 2 cabinets!

Measure twice, cut once!
- The book of genesis.
(Made that up)

First off we cut the long sides with a circular saw and then used the jigsaw on the rest leaving 1\4" from the lines. Afterwards we used the router to make smooth clean cuts to trim right down to the line.  We then used the electric sander to bevel the corners (Which I marked out with a cast iron weight from our set of kitchen scales) and smoothed all the edges.

Using the first completed side as a template we then clamped this to another piece of wood, drew around it and then cut out the second piece.  Clamping both pieces together again, Craig routed around the first template giving the piece underneath a nice smooth edge and ensuring that both sides were a perfect match and exactly the same size.

The next day we came back to the project and cut out the monitor shelf, marquee top, top board, back board, speaker board, the base and ledger strips.  All pieces were routed and edges sanded. The next step was to attach all of the ledger strips (See above).

Quick Assembly

I was very intrigued at this stage as to how the cabinet would look when finished and made the executive decision of assembling the parts..