I’m not into fishing, it’s not relaxing and it’s not fun to me! My son loves it, lucky for him he has a Grandpa and a Brother-in-law who likes to fish! My Brother-in-law brought an old tackle box that was his Grandfathers and it had a bunch of old lures and fishing line. Not sure how old it is, but it looks pretty old!
One of the several airports I passed through, not sure where.
Well, I didn’t make much progress. At least that’s how it felt. I reworked the speaker panel and installed the speaker grills. I added a green and a red button on the speaker panel and wired them in to control the computer’s power and reset button. Now I can turn it on and off without opening the front of the cabinet. The fluorescent light I was planning on using for the marquee was too small so I got a larger one that’s 23″ long and puts out more light. I’m using a set of Logitech x540 speakers and quite by accident the base of each speaker pivots around so it could be mounted on a wall which made them perfect for mounting on the 2×4 just above the speaker panel. So using the handy mount and some chicken wire I mounted the speakers and they are easily removed so I can finish painting and such.
Another good thing about the x540 speakers is it has this handy volume pod sort of thing so I can put it in an accessible place and control the speaker volume.
I thought about mounting it on the speaker panel, but I don’t want to make it specific to these speakers in case I need to change them out later.
Speaker images pulled from this review of the x540 speakers here.
I’m pretty sure I broke the slot cutting router bit by installing it backwards. I’ve used Jigsaws and circular saws and table saws and drills and Dremels and belt sanders and many other power tools. The router is the one power tool that actually scares me a bit. The slot cutting router bit for cutting a slot in the sides for installing the T-Molding came as a shaft, a cutting blade that looks like a really small circular saw blade, some washers and bearing. You have to put it all together and I think looking back at it I put the blade on upside down. When I started doing test cuts there was alot of smoke. I just thought that’s how it did with the MDF because when I cut circle holes it did something similiar. After awhile the blades on the cutter simply broke off.
This is what it should have looked like.
Image was pulled from here.
Well that’s a $20 lesson learned. So, I’ll get another one and try it again later.
Day 8 hours: 2 1/2
Next :: Goto Mame Arcade Cabinet – Update
It was really surprising to find this cool architecture as I was walking thru Central Park.
I haven’t done anything on the cabinet for the past week. I didn’t want to spend more money so I wasn’t going to do the T-Molding around the edges and some other stuff I was going to skimp on. But I figure this thing is going to be around for awhile so I want to do it right. Plus I just haven’t had any extra time to work on it. So, I’m going to order the T-Molding and the router bit for it and some other stuff and in a week or two get back to finishing it. Then I need to route edges for the T-Molding, put another coat of primer on it, paint it black, re-do the speaker panel, get the artwork printed at Kinko’s (the current artwork on the marquee I just printed on a inkjet printer, but it’s multiple pieces of paper so you see the seems), get a coin door and mount that plus whatever other things I decide to do!
I haven’t found a TV to use in it and I don’t like how the speaker panel came out so I’m going to redo that.
I also want to give it a name, but haven’t found anything that isn’t already taken or isn’t just plain cheesy and silly.
The above picture is how it now stands.
In the mean time check out this Google Directory I found with links to tons of arcade cabinets others have built. I’ve been browsing through it looking for ideas.
Stepping into Central Park from the noise and hustle and bustle of New York was quite a dramatic change. No more noise of the city, no more hurrying. It was just quiet and peaceful.
I didn’t get a lot done today. I wasn’t sure how I was going to do the marquee area at the top just yet. I read some around on the internet and looked at what others had done. Most bought the marquee retainer from Happs controls. It was $13.35 for 10 feet. So I added it to my cart on their website and went to check out. Well, they have a $25 minimum and I didn’t have anything else I needed right away. So, I thought well, I’ll just see if I can find something here that’ll work.
I went to Home Depot and wandered around until I found these 36″ aluminum L shaped brackets. They worked perfectly and only cost $2.99 each! Since it’s aluminum they cut fairly easily with a hack saw blade.
I drilled three holes in the L brackets and the upper and lower marquee support area while holding 2 pieces of plexiglass against the cabinet so I would get the spacing correct.
The plexiglass came in 24″ x 18″ sheet for about $7.00. I had no clue how to cut it so I just grabbed my utility knife and scored it until it came apart. That doesn’t make for very clean edges, but you won’t see the edges I cut since they’ll be resting behind the L brackets. If you have to cut a side of the plexiglass that will show you’ll want to find a different way to cut it.
Here is the plexiglass installed with the L brackets. I have a piece of blank paper between 2 sheets of 24″x 7″ plexiglass. I’ll work on the artwork and have it printed at Kinko’s later.
Like I said earlier, I didn’t get alot done today. Mostly because while the primer was drying the other day I took some of the scraps from the arcade cabinet and made my wife this little writing desk. It’s 31″ tall, 18″ deep and 40″ wide. She saw a picture in a magazine and asked me if I could make it. I wasn’t sure, but I figured I’d give it a try. It turned out pretty good and should score some brownie points for all the hours I’ve spent (and will be spent) working on the arcade cabinet!
Oh, I also managed to buy the black paint!
Day 7 hours: 2 1/2
Next :: Goto Mame Arcade Cabinet – Day 8
I figured I’d post this because I’ve been wrestling with it for hours now.
<asp:HyperLink ID=”HyperLink1″ runat=”server” NavigateUrl='<%# “makeappointment.aspx?SiteId=” + DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem,”accountid”).tostring + “&Date=” + DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem,”drivedate”,”{0:d}”).tostring%>’>Make Appointment</asp:HyperLink>
This gives you a hyperlink that looks like:
http://localhost/donor/makeappointment.aspx?SiteId=875&Date=1/23/2008
Notice on the date item I added the ,”{0:d}”
This formats the date to a short date with no time.
Sometimes the silliest things can take forever to figure out.
Maybe it had something to do with my kids running around my office. Right after they left I got this working!
Note: I don’t claim to be a uber programmer. If you are one, feel free to tell me my code is crap! I just shoot for what works for my needs. Also, WordPress does some funky stuff when you post code, so some of the quotes might get messed up when you copy and paste. I need to figure out how to post programming code without it getting all messed up.
Day 6 – Top vent slots, front door latch and more painting.
I cut some slots in the roof of the cabinet for ventilation, not sure they are really needed.
I had planned on making the front area at the bottom a door with hinges and such, but I decided I didn’t want to mess with figuring out where to put them and all that. Instead I just have the bottom area as a solid piece that I put a cam lock in middle top and then cut out a slot in the 2×4 that sits behind it. This way I can totally remove the front if I want to.
I might change this later and put hinges and all on it, but for now I like how it works.
In addition to the cam lock I’m putting some of these cabinet magnetic catches along the bottom inside to make sure it doesn’t easily come out.
I love building, I love cutting and drilling and sanding and routing and glueing and all of that. But, I hate painting. It’s boring, it’s tedious and it seems to take forever. ehhhh, I hate painting.
Day 6 hours: 4 hours
Running total: 26 hours construction.
Next :: Goto Mame Arcade Cabinet – Day 7