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Where can I get a cabinet?

atari2600a

Veteran Member
Joined
May 26, 2006
Messages
1,267
Location
Schwarzeneggerville, CA
Here's the thing, for about 2 years now, I've been trying to look for an empty arcade cabinet to convert into a MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) machine. I can't seem to find one locally, & they (sometimes) go for cheap on eBay, but shipping is in at least the hundreds! Anyone have any suggestions?
 
Build one... usually they are a simple timber construction that can easily be replicated.

There's a magazine here in the UK, I think it's called "Retro Gamer", and they always have articles like that. One copy I read, they detailed how to make a MAME tabletop arcade.
 
I don't like tabletops, too ugly & small. I want a full freaking sized cabinet that makes me feel like I'm at the freaking Chuckie Cheese or Arcade or something, not at a freaking bar with some fat guy breathing down my neck!

I have hundreds of scematics on a CD somewhere, I just don't want to buy wood, cut it, & then assemble it.
 
Last edited:
AtariDude,

Does your gratuitous use of the word 'freaking' make your point any better than you could have without it?


CALM DOWN


Pretend you're talking to grandma. Then post. It will come across a lot better.
 
And my children's grandmother has made longshoreman back down in fear. . . but still! ;)
 
Wait, did someone just delete my post? You guys are THAT offended by the word freaking!? Why? It's nowhere near any profanity! If you guys think freaking is profanity, then how can you use the internet?
 
atari2600a said:
I don't like tabletops, too ugly & small. I want a full freaking sized cabinet that makes me feel like I'm at the freaking Chuckie Cheese or Arcade or something, not at a freaking bar with some fat guy breathing down my neck!

I have hundreds of scematics on a CD somewhere, I just don't want to buy wood, cut it, & then assemble it.

I never said you had to make a freaking tabletop, did I? It was a suggestion that the schematics are available if you look
icon_rolleyes.gif


A bit of woodwork never did anyone any harm :)
 
atari2600a said:
Wait, did someone just delete my post? You guys are THAT offended by the word freaking!? Why? It's nowhere near any profanity! If you guys think freaking is profanity, then how can you use the internet?

It does get a bit tedious after the 10,000th time though ;)
 
Hm, well I did take 3 months of WoodShop in the 8th grade (Long story short, I am/was always in the schools that my district tested some weird half-baked scheduling system) Maybe I should make one. How much would you guys think the wood would cost?
 
atari2600a said:
Maybe I should make one. How much would you guys think the wood would cost?

That depends entirely on the type of wood you use, of course. I'd suggest you do what the arcade folks did and use plywood with a veneer of some kind. 8'x4' sheets should run under $15 each (you'll probably be able to make do with 2) and you'll need some dimentional lumber (2x2 or 2/4 boards) to frame it all with perhaps some 1x1s to frame out doors or mountings. Between that, glue and nails along with the laminate you should be able to get the whole project done for well under $100 which is less than shipping something like this from the next city over. . .
 
atari2600a said:
Sorry, it wasn't meant to be used as flaming or anything, just as a comical...thing. Like "that's freaking awsome!" or something.

Youthful exuberance has it's place but most of us are just too damn old for it. . . ;)
 
Today I saw pictures of someone smashing an old (empty) arcade cabinet of some kind into pieces. He already has the basement full of complete arcade systems though, and maybe it was an ugly, damaged one.

If you build one yourself, you can dimension it as you wish. It may be wise to look for a drawing to get an idea what you need. I suppose you need a display (monitor), and at least a few arcade buttons apart from the hidden computer inside. If you are going to install several different games, you should consider which kind of buttons or joysticks needed, and also how to interface them with your PC (gameport? USB?). Even if you found a ready-made cabinet, you might find its dimensions are not the desired ones, and you end up looking for arcade PCBs and the whole kaboodle instead of the PC/emulator solution. :D
 
There's specific controller adapter hardware available on the internet, & I've heard it's easy to hack a keyboard. I'm gonna try to dig up that CD w/ the scematics on it now...
 
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