Yeah, that’s the reaction that I typically get from anyone I tell. Actually, the conversation goes like this:

It cracks me up!!! But, since you’ve found this website, you apparently already know what I’m talking about. So here it goes…

Who?

Hello all, my name is Webb Pickersgill and I’m just another 20-something guy that grew up during the popularity of the 80′s arcades. I’ve always wanted to own one of those classic arcade machines, but never wanted to put the $$ out to buy one and I didn’t know which one to buy since I liked so many of them. I’m the kind of guy that likes to make things.. and when I heard about MAME, this project became a “calling” for me.

Why?

Ok, so maybe you don’t know what this is all about, let me explain it for you. The idea is that there is a really cool PC program called MAME (as well as many other similar emulators) that allow you to run those good ol’ retro arcade games. Yeah, you got it: PacMan, Donkey Kong, DigDug, Crystal Castles, Punch-Out!, Tempest. So, you download the program and a few ROMS and you play them on your computer system using the keyboard, but there’s something missing! You’re missing the physical arcade experience! You need the cabinet, authentic arcade buttons and joystick. THAT’S what I’m building, a cabinet, control panel and PC to act as an arcade machine to get that total authentic arcade experience. I always wanted an arcade machine. (grin)

How??

Well, that is the reason for the rest of this website. I’ve taken some time to take pictures and take notes as I did the project so that I could share the project with everyone on the Internet who wants to do the same thing.  If you have any questions, please feel free to email me.

Stages of Development

• Cutting
• Assembled
• Control Panel
• Painted
• Monitor Bezel
• Joysticks & Buttons
• Temp Marquee
• Coin Door
• Final Cabinet

Yeah yeah.. I was so excited to see what the cabinet would look like, I had to make up a temporary marquee. Really boring, I know. but doing this temporary marquee taught me a few things. First, although you can’t see it plainly from the picture, apparently I made a minor error during measuring. The marquee area is actually 1/2″ larger on one side than the other. This became obvious when I measured to cut the plexiglass, and was important when I designed the finished logo in Photoshop.

Here, I wanted to give you a close-up shot of what effect the 2×2′s behind the plexiglass had on the overall backlight. You can clearly see where they are, so when I design the final marquee, I’ll need to be sure I don’t put any important pictures in these areas.

Designing the Final Marquee

Well, after a few hours in Photoshop I was able to finish my marquee. The final piece is 28″ by 7.5″ at 150dpi. (4200px by 1125px) I had it printed up at the local Kinkos for around $16. Although the plexiglass in this picture is making it appear glossier than it should, the Kinkos printout was supurb. The black ink they used was truely flat BLACK and turned out great. You’ll notice that I didn’t put anything above Qbert or below Spiderman… to avoid the lack of light behind those areas.  This picture also shows the bottom retaining plastic clear angle molding better than any of the other pictures.

Here’s a quick rundown on how I made it: There are a bunch of places that have the logo, but I eventually found the original creators of the main MAME logo that I used, and it is on OscarControls’ Website To capture each character I played that particular game in MAME and did the old alt-print-screen combo to capture a screen-shot. I pasted it as a new layer, did some transform-scale so that each character would be large enough to see, and then cleaned up the edges. The I went through my huge collection of fonts to find just the right combination for the “Webb’s” portion, and added a few effects to make it match the style of the MAME logo. After a little bit of shuffling around, I wound up with my marquee. That is about it. Pretty simple.

Here it is, in its final glory.

Download the Marquee

After MANY requests, I have finally decided to post the Photoshop source file for my marquee. The file is a 6.8MB ZIP file, and contains a Photoshop 7.0 file and the font I used for my name.
BEFORE YOU DOWNLOAD: All I ask, is if you download and use this marquee as a starting point for your own marquee, and you post pictures of your cabinet online, that you give Oscar Control and myself credit, and post a link back to this page on my website. I just want to be sure everyone gets credit where credit is due. Enjoy!!! (OK, ok.. I agree to give credit where credit is due, let me download the file already.)

So, at this point my cabinet was pretty much done. It played really well and I was very happy with the result. However, one thing was bugging me… it didn’t have a coin door. There is something about seeing a coin door on the front which would give it that added experience. Of course, I had no intention of actually paying to play my own games, but there was just something visually about it that made me want to add it.

Buying the Door

A friend referred me to someone who had an Happ coin door for sale. It was several years old but it was never used, and still in the original packaging from Happ. For $35 I couldn’t resist. For me, a coin door on the front really helps make the cabinet look authentic!

Installing the Coin Door

Since the part was so old, I didn’t know if there were any measurements available, so I just measured the actual part. I measured the front door and measured the correct size in order to mount the coin door exactly centered. I used a t-square to be sure that the hole was exactly straight to the top and sides. The tricky part was trying to get the curves right. Basically I just eye-balled them and they worked out just fine.

Attaching the door to the front door was pretty easy. There are 5 “fingers” that come out from the back of the coin door. These fingers can be used to mount the door on 1/2″ or 3/4″ plywood, in my case 1/2″. The screws hold the fingers tight to the wood and presto!

The Final Result

On the right here is a picture of the final door from the outside. Looks pretty authentic to me.  The only final touches I would consider would be to wire the lights for the coin slots and replace the “Happ Controls” sign on the coin release button.  We’ll see, only so many hours in the day.

Here is a drawing of what the bit looks like. Truth is, I used the router bit for the t-molding, the returned it to Home Depot.. it was close to $25 for the bit, and I only needed it for about 10 minutes so I never took a picture of it. So this is a facsimile of what it looks like. Once you put it on your router, you actually set the shaft-depth and then tighten it up so that the bit is at the right depth to be exactly in the middle of the wood. The yellow circle-part of the bit is the part that digs into the wood and with the guide, it cuts an exact depth all the way around. I actually turned my cabinet on it’s side, then put the router down flat on the side of the cabinet and routed around the edge. You don’t have to think twice about keeping a straight line at all since the router is already locked into place to cut exactly in the center of the edge and the guide keeps the cutting depth just right.

I ordered 40 feet of t-molding from t-molding.com. You’d think that 40 feet is way too much, but I used all but 3 feet of it.

Using a hot-glue gun I installed the molding. I usually put down about 6-8″ of glue at a time and then held the t-molding in place for about 1 minute. Be sure not to do a long strip AND a corner at the same time, it’s harder to hold. Take your time, this is a detail that will make your cabinet look GREAT if done well. The angles that defy gravity… are hard. If you have the patience, you can put your cabinet on it’s back while gluing these angles to keep the hot glue from dripping on your final paint job.

On a side note, I bought a 24-pack of glue sticks for the project. I was thinking that would be WAY too much glue, but it turned out that I used ALL but 1 stick. Keep that in mind and it may save you an unexpected trip to Home Depot.

I didn’t know what would happen if I just painted MDF.  I’m not too familiar with it and I didn’t want to take my chances, so I decided to put a coat of latex primer on everything.  I’ve done projects in the past where I thought to myself, “Primer?  Who needs primer, this paint will do just fine!” only to see the paint get absorbed into the wood or wall and require a second coat, or third… or eventually need to go back and prime the thing anyway.  I didn’t want to have to re-paint everything if the black paint started to fade or bleed, so priming was a GO!  Here is a picture of the control panel with a coat of the white primer.

Black Paint

I decided to go with a black semi-gloss paint from my local Home Depot.  I figured the cabinet might get messy, being a centerpoint for parties, food, drinks, etc.  The semi-gloss would be easier to clean up than eggshell or flat.

HORAY! The cabinet looks GREAT with the black paint, doesn’t it? It turned out better than I had imagined. I just brushed it on. I did take care to be sure that all of the brush strokes were all going the same way. Piece of cake!

Keeping the Edges Clean

You’ll notice that I didn’t paint any of the edges. That’s where the 3/4″ T-Molding will eventually go.  I didn’t paint them because I wanted the wood to be exposed where the molding was going to be, to allow for the glue to have something to adhere to.  I’ve had glue not stick to “finished surfaces” before.  Keeping the edges raw wood (mostly anyway) would help avoid this problem.

YES, if you’re wondering, my wife Sharon DID let me paint in the living room too. Like I said, she is one-in-a-million!

First step was to get the wood. I got 2 pieces of 3/4″ MDF 4×8′ which would be used mostly for the sides of the cabinet, the floorboards, and other parts that needed thicker support. MDF is “Medium Density Fiberboard” which is one grade higher than particle board. It’s better for this project because it is smoother, holds screws better, and can be routed without falling apart.

Having the TurboCad plans (From Jeff McClain’s Website, See the Design page) really helped speed up this phase. Since the design was already done, all I needed to do was measure out the dimensions on the board. Using a large T-Square (usually used for drywall) I measured all of the cuts out. Piece of cake! In this picture, you can see the measurement lines I have drawn on the MDF.

Remember what you’re dad always told you.. Measure twice, Cut once!!. Yeah, there was a little paranoia with making the cuts.. these MDF’s are NOT cheap.

This is the last piece of MDF to cut. You can see all the sawdust that has collected on the board, and on the couch behind… (hehe)

Cutting for the Speakers

When deciding how to do the speaker holes, I had many options after seeing what others had done. But, in the end I thought that the speaker holes looked really authentic, so I went with them. To cut the holes, I first measured a 5″ circle to roughly measure where each speaker would go. I then marked 1/2″ parallel lines from top to bottom.

Then, to be sure the long ovals lined up and looked equal, I drew a few vertical lines to help me decide roughly where the ovals would begin and end… once again, roughly is the key word here. To cut the holes, I first used a 1/2″ drill bit to drill the ends of each oval. Then I used a reciprocating saw to cut the “straight” lines.

This is what it looks like after the cuts were made. It doesn’t have to be perfect, since you probably wont be able to see the cuts that well after the black paint goes on anyway.

The Aftermath

Yup, this is the aftermath!! I was picking sawdust boogers for days. (hehe) I can’t wait until my MOM see’s this picture of the Victorian couch she re-upholstered for me as a gift.. Sorry MOM! Good news is that it cleaned up better than new. (whew)

For those who want to know: YES I am married, YES Sharon (My Wife) OFFERED for me to use the living room to make the cabinet. I live in Phoenix, Arizona, and working outside in 120 degree weather was not really an option. Thank you Sharon, I love you!

The First Glimpse of Future FUN

AND.. finally, after the first days work, I HAD to prop the wood up together to see what it was going to look like. If you’re wondering, YES, I did stand in front of it and use an imaginary joystick and buttons and play a mean game of Space Invaders.

Well, you guessed it, it’s now CLEANING TIME! Ugh!

(6/26/02) I have finally upgraded the computer system. (horay!) I used an old Dell case, and replaced the motherboard/cpu. The result is a Duron 1.2Ghz processor, 256mb of RAM, and an OEM-ATI Raedon 7500 card with TV output. Getting the TV output to work correctly took a little bit of tweaking, but it looks great. The system is capable of playing all games including all of the latest NeoGeo games, at full speed. This is MUCH better than the old Pentium 166.   You can see the picture to the right with the cover off.  It looks like a mess, but you never see it when the front door is closed.

The only problem I have now, is that the new motherboard is not compatible with the Dell power switch which is built into the existing computer case and power supply. Also, since it’s an ATX motherboard, I cannot simply leave it on and let the power strip turn it on with everything else.  So… until I have a permanent solution to this dilemma, I simply ran the “power” pins from the motherboard to an extra Happ button. To turn on the PC I simply open the front door and click the button. I REALLY hate this, but for now I guess it’s ok.  You can see the red “power” button and wire in the picture.

Original MAME Computer

(10/21/01) In order to get things up and running, I grabbed an old Compaq Pentium 166MMX with on-board video, Soudblaster Live sound card, 2x CD-ROM, 64MB of RAM and a 17″ monitor. Not a power-horse by any means, but it sure does play a mean game of Punch-Out.

However, after playing a few newer games on my P166, I realized that I will DEFINITELY need to buy an updated PC to make this arcade machine really rock. (Groan) I guess I’ll have to ask my CFO (aka wife) for more money to get this upgrade.   For now, I can play all of the retro games I’ve always loved.

I admit it, I’m cheap.  But unfortunately, I DO like quality things.  Not the best combination to have.  I bought a speaker/sub-woofer combo at my local Fry’s Electronics for only $14.99!! Funny thing is that when I was comparing the sound quality in the store, these speakers sounded the best. They just happen to cost the least. BONUS!

Installation

When I got them home, I had them torn down to the basic elements in no time. The actual speakers (the drivers) are pretty small, but they should work fine for starters. I’m planning on mounting the power/volume board in the cabinet below the control panel.  In order to get things wired the way I want, I needed a soldering iron.  So, I borrowed a soldering iron from a buddy and got everything disconnected, I could then remove the speaker enclosures from the speakers.  I then soldered some of the “bell” wire I got for the control panel wiring and made some longer speaker cables.  I needed to make the speaker wire reach from just over the monitor down to where the front panel opened.

I left the sub-woofer intact.  The thing with subwoofers is that the enclosure is usually “tuned” to resonate perfectly with the speaker that is enclosed in it.  Plus, it was easier to do.  I screwed the subwoofer directly into the wood of the cabinet.  I figured it could help the entire cabinet resonate a little and improve the bass response of the whole $15 system.  Also, I figured that this is would be the best place to get the most sound out of the subwoofer  as close as possible to the players ears.  Ultimately it actually ended up sounding pretty good in my opinion.

Final Pictures

Here is a picture from above the cabinet looking down. I removed the top/angled panel so you can see directly down into the top of the cabinet. You can see the 2 speakers on each side mounted over the speaker openings with the black craft-felt inbetween the speaker and the wood.

Volume Controls

This picture shows the sound on/off and volume controls. I was able to use a dremel and remove the part of the plastic casing from one of the speakers that has the volume and power controls on it.  I then screwed this small casing into the inside of the cabinet, just inside the front door.  When I wanted to adjust the sound, I could just open the front door and the volume control was right there.  I considered mounting the volume and power outside the cabinet, but I wasn’t sure how to make it look nice.  So, it stayed inside the cabinet.

I joke, it’s not really a money pit.  But, it can start to add up quickly if you’re not careful.  I’m going to try to give you an idea on how much this cost me so that you can plan accordingly with your CFO (Wife) if you have one. If you have any questions about the materials I used or how I used them, feel free to shoot me an email.

Home Depot:

Happ Controls:

Other Stuff

Total Damage.. I Mean Cost

Well, this is usually the hardest part for me… not because I can’t design well, just because I work on a design FOREVER! I have dozens of projects I’d like to do, but I can never finish the darn designs. I just keep tweaking them, trying new things, not happy with this, that could be better, etc.  Because some of the things I want to do can be expensive to build, I really want to make sure I have a solid plan before I start spending money.  We all know that even with the best planning, you’ll still make mistakes and spend more than you expected.. but I still didn’t want to waste money.

The Kickstart!

This project was kickstarted VERY quickly due to a few helpful people here on the web. My first discovery was a website called Build Your Own Arcade Controls, which has an Examples Webpage dedicated to people who have built MAME cabinets already.  Instead of taking months (or years) painstakingly refining my own ideas and designed, I just tried to absorb as much as I could from everyone on this site.  It had all already been done, so why re-invent the wheel?  I’d visit one site and like the way they did their control panel, and visit another site to find I liked the shape of the cabinet.  Some sites had great technical breakdowns on wiring, or some cool ideas like building a removable control panel (which I decided to implement).  AWESOME website, so please be sure to check it out!

Jeff’s Ultimate Arcade Machine..

In my months of research, I came across a site that had a cabinet that I just thought was nearly perfect: Jeff’s Ulitmate Arcade Machine. So, since Jeff had done such a great job, I simply took his design and started there. THANK YOU JEFF for a GREAT cabinet design!!! His website had full CAD plans that you could download, and they were freegin awesome and exactly what I needed.  Below are the files/pictures that I used, which are re-posted here with permission from Jeff McClain. My final cabinet design is slightly different, but if you make all the cuts based on these designs, you can still make a few additional cuts to get to my design if you want to.

Side View Detail

3D Detail

MDF Cutout Details

Design Modifications

As I mentioned above, I did change the design of Jeff’s above plans.  The first change I made was cutting an angle into the bottom/front of the cabinet.  The second change is to use part of the front as a keyboard drawer.  I don’t have AutoCAD so I decided to just jot down my design notes on paper and scan them in.  Yeah, yeah.. really low-tech, I know!  But I’d rather get them up in the format than not at all.  So, below are the changes to the front of the cabinet that I implemented.

In Retrospect

Now that the cabinet is complete, the only slight change I would make on my design would be to make the keyboard drawer just a tad bit taller.  The keyboard I ended up putting in there barely slid out without hitting the keys against the solid wood piece above it.