Part 5: Marking out the wood and adding blocks.

Marking out deserves to be a step all to itself. It was a long process as all measurements needed to be exact on both panels. Often I would see differences by a few 16ths of an inch and would have to work out why. It was a horrible time.
I had to get new measuring tools to help me as my old square, ruler and measuring tape was not enough. I got an angle measurer and a longer ruler-square.

Once all the marking-out was complete I simply screwed in the wood blocks where needed.

The top section was perhaps the hardest part to get right.

Part 4: The base

I had to start somewhere - so I started at the bottom and planned on building up from there - using the bottom as the reference. I purchased some large wheels from Lowes. They seemed to have the better choice compared to home depot. I picked up some wood out of a trash can. It was nice and solid and was probably part of a crate. Perfect for using as a base for an arcade machine!  I used some screws I had already. The bolts are from homo depot and cost almost as much as the wheels!

I picked up a post from home depot for about $1 or 50 cents.  It was in the 'off cuts' section. I cut it into stunts to use as feet for the machine.
I rounded off the square post with my router to make it look a little nicer.

As this base was to take the weight of the whole machine - I made the base quite strong. 

Here are the two panels. Notice I put the imperfect side with wood knots on the inside of the machine. The nice side is on the outside. The idea is to not screw anything through the side panels. Thus I will screw blocks of wood to hold all the front/back panels in place.

Side by side they seemed to be quite the same...

Part 3: Routing for T-Molding

I went to www.t-molding.com/ and ordered 2x 20M reels of blue 3/4 t-molding.

I was just about to buy the needed routing bits from there:
http://www.t-molding.com/store/home.php?cat=6

But found them on Amazon a little cheeper...

The slot cutter is pretty nice.
I made the mistake of fitting it the wrong way round. It produced a lot of smoke - but still managed to cut a slot. Eventually I figured it out...  :-)

It is a pain to get it 100% central - but experiment with a scrap bit of wood and some T-Moulding samples got it right. Once set I ran it all the way round. I think I messed up once - but corrected it. It is difficult to keep the router upright at times. Slowly does it!

Part 2: Cutting out.

Once the plans were drawn and I had a clear idea what I wanted to do - I set out to cut the wood.
The 4x8ft plywood panel was cut in half by homo depot.

I then had the horrible task of marking out the wood. I only marked out one panel as I put both panels together and cut them 'as one'.

I tested all the measurements with the monitor and the PC and just double checked I had enough space for everything. I am glad I did as I had not left enough space for the PC and had to make that section larger...

I purchased a new jig saw for cutting the panels together. I also purchased nice sharp progress Bosch blades.
See Jig Saw

Here are two cut pieces...

I had to make a decision to either use T-Moulding or just round off the edges.
The round off would be a risk, as any mistakes would really look bad.
T-Moulding looked like it could hide mistakes and look so much cooler also.
It would make the machine a little more hardy as well.

I got some samples from T-Moulding.com and tried them out. I ordered silver, gold, black and dark blue. The 3/4" blue strip won as I thought the blue would look nice with black, like pacman.

I knew that I would have to use the router to cut groves for T moulding, before I fitted everything - so I ordered a router. I went for the small Bosch one.

Router

Reviews were good and the price was less than the others. Just had to get 1/4" shaft routing bits for it now. Lowes seemed to have the better selection - but the bits are not cheep wherever you go.

The router came in handy for making sure the two panels were trimmed to be exactly the same shape. (I used a straight trimming bit).

So I built an arcade machine...

I built an arcade machine recently and thought it may be interesting to log the stages of building it.

I have been playing around with a program called Mame for a while.
It's an arcade emulator.

Going to the arcade was a big part of my life when I was young. I have fond memories of going to Felixtowe and spending all my pocket money on games machines. I never really got into fruit machines (or one armed bandits as some call them) as I would often lose my money. I was much more into video games - even though they were a rip off and I was not much good at them.
I particularly have fond memories of a 'Bubble Bobble' machine that was in a small arcade near where family owned a parked caravan. It was only 10p a go and the music was really catchy. I used to just watch it when I had no money left. I was quite young...

I was trying to introduce Solomon to the world of Pacman and Frogger and Solomon's Key - but using the keyboard to control the games was difficult for him. So I brought this joystick:

http://www.xgaming.com/

I then got the idea to build a machine. I mean - how hard could it be?
To buy one pre-built is very expensive and I could do it on the cheep.

I started with low expectations - maybe just mount an old monitor to a shelf and hook up my mac to it or something - but then I saw that other people were custom building actual arcade machines.
It looked like something I could do - so I started thinking I would just do the bare minimum to get something to look half decent. As I kept looking at other people's projects - I gathered ideas and just designed my own machine cabinet.

I wanted it to be 2ft deep so I could use a 4x8ft piece of plywood cut in half.
Home Depot do a cabinet grade plywood sheet which is just over 3/4 " thick. It was only about $26 per 4x8 sheet - so it seemed an economical option.

I was going to use an actual 17 or 19" CRT monitor for that authentic arcade feel - plus they would be cheep! - but I found a 19" LCD SVGA flat screen monitor at a Good-Will shop. It works and was $20!
It also meant I could keep to the 2ft depth.
I also picked up a fluorescent tube light for $3.50 - would be good for the back light.

I had some speakers that I got from a yard sale for $2. I have an old PC that is not used any more. I also had an receiver amp that I no longer used. All I needed was a marquee...

There is a company that does Marquee art.  Well they do all sorts of art for arcade machines...
http://www.gameongrafix.com/categories/marquees

In fact I saw quite a few companies that specialize in arcade machine parts. Metal strips for holding the marquee in place, joysticks, micro-switch fire buttons and even cash slot units.

I wanted to do a pacman theme - as this game was really significant and iconic of arcades. I don't think I ever played it in the arcade (it was released in 1980 - I was 4 years old) - but certainly had it at home on the spectrum Z80.

I searched all the marquees on the website and did not find anything suitable - but then went to the bargin bin and there it was! It was a pacman 'arcade classics' sign. I liked this as it was pacman - but not exclusively pacman (as there would be other games played on there). It was half price - but postage was $10 UPS...
arcade-classics

It was already printed at 25" by 7.5" - so this determined my width of 25" !

I experimented with the joystick box and worked out a comfortable height from my kitchen worktop. This gave me the joystick shelf height of 35"

I wanted the machine to be no taller than 6ft so worked back the monitor area from that. The monitor would occupy the upper part of this area. I was worried I would not have enough room for the speakers - but figured I could buy smaller ones if needed.

I spent a long time on the plans - but it was necessary if I wanted this to turn out any good.
I deviated slightly from these plans where it was easier and more practical to do something else.
There are limitations to my skills at wood work - so had to change plans 'on the fly'

Support Israel - they have cool guns!

I never thought I would ever pick up an Uzi and just let rip - but in America this is just normal. 

Some go bowling or do crazy golf - and some go to the shooting range...

I was with a work college at the time and we had tried some guns out already - then I picked up an Uzi... wow! It felt nice and heavy and solid.  In the world of tools - you know that a drill is good quality just by picking it up and holding it. Well it was like that with this gun. It used 9mm rounds - which we were shooting out of a Glock and experiencing a fair amount of recoil.

With the Uzi, I hardly felt like I was shooting at all. From the video it looks like I was getting some recoil though...  I was trying to shoot all over as my bullets were going fast. I mean - I spent ages loading that thing - and it was all over in a few seconds. 

Oh - and spot the unsafe moment... :-)

2012 - one man's view.

I have been following the information coming from Lindsey Williams for a while now (since 2006). His info seems quite accurate. This particular video is 3 hours long! It's worth $90 to buy - so it's worth watching. I would say the stuff about Jesus starting his ministry at 12 and hence we may see interesting acts of God in 2012 is a bit odd - but if this is what the elite believe then I guess it is worth knowing. 

If you have not seen this information then watch with an open mind. This will help you plan for 2012 and the things that may well take place in the financial world. 

Plantar Fasciitis

Well it's 2012 and I still have Plantar Fasciitis, I am still over weight and nothing much has changed.

As with most people my new year's resolution is to lose weight and be healthier and fitter.
I neet to get back to 'The Rack' - if you don't know what that is - then check it out:
http://www.rackworkout.com/

I actually got my 'pro model' rack for $130 delivered!

They are now doing it for 120!!

http://www.therackspecial.com/
Yes - they don't tell you about that site - I found it through 'word of mouth'

Anyway - it is a great workout - but it's like with anything - you get more out the more you put into it.
It's needs self motivation - which few are good at - especially me after a hard days work.
I do feel great after doing this though... then next day anyway.

I got a special sock for my plantar fasciitis -
the strassburg sock!

I got good relief right from day 1. It really makes a difference. Can't say I am healed or anything - but it is a major factor in my healing. It's not getting worse anyhow.
My new balance shoes don't seem as comfortable anymore - so I put my inserts in them now.

Was thinking of buying some Nike Shox - these really feel nice! Still thinking about it. They are not cheep!

I hope my health improves this year - especially my feet. Pain gets boring after a while.

2012

2012 - It's the end of the world as we know it!!