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daddycreswell

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Joined
Mar 4, 2012
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259
Location
Middle Tennessee
Maybe someone on here might be able to help me. I am no master craftsman by any means. I am going to build a tabletop arcade system. I have the plans, but I am trying to figure out away to print out this picture to scale so that I can use it as a template. My problem is going to be the sides of this picture. I don't know the angles.
 

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astroracer

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Joined
Jun 22, 2005
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Mid_Michigan
All you need to do is layout the points on a sheet of plywood. You have to have a measuring tape and a square, right?
A protractor will get your angles. They are about 3 bucks at any store in the school supply aisle if you don't have one. You should have one though, kind of a staple tool for wood working. :)
The arc is a bit more work to figure out but easily do-able by measuring your drawing and working up a scale factor. I can walk you through it if you want to learn.
Mark
 
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gungatim

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Joined
Jan 8, 2013
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8,101
Location
west mich
I would lay it out full size on the plywood myself. having built a few arcade cabinets in my time, that is how I did it.

for the arc, 2 options: since it isn't critical (it's just a body cutout space), take a lid from something approximate and just lay it on there until it looks good. can lid or something.

or, what I do, is take a thin 3/5" strip of flexible Masonite, drill a hole in one end, lace a piece of string through the hole, then tie it off on the other end making an arc. just slide the string until you bend the Masonite to get the curve that hits the two points.

works like a charm...

and show us the game when done, what software you using (MAME? what front end? need ROM's?), Happ controls? using a multi-ac for them or keyboard hack? trackball?

gotta see it!
 
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daddycreswell

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Joined
Mar 4, 2012
Messages
259
Location
Middle Tennessee
I would lay it out full size on the plywood myself. having built a few arcade cabinets in my time, that is how I did it.



for the arc, 2 options: since it isn't critical (it's just a body cutout space), take a lid from something approximate and just lay it on there until it looks good. can lid or something.



or, what I do, is take a thin 3/5" strip of flexible Masonite, drill a hole in one end, lace a piece of string through the hole, then tie it off on the other end making an arc. just slide the string until you bend the Masonite to get the curve that hits the two points.



works like a charm...



and show us the game when done, what software you using (MAME? what front end? need ROM's?), Happ controls? using a multi-ac for them or keyboard hack? trackball?



gotta see it!



Thanks for the tips, my BIL has bought some SD card with 60k games, and raspberry pi. Yes plan to use happ controls, he never mentioned if he wanted a track ball need to ask. I'll post some pictures when I get it together.


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gungatim

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Joined
Jan 8, 2013
Messages
8,101
Location
west mich
all electronics.com has the arcade pushbuttons in various colors if you look for them, $3.75. much cheaper than the usual places.

get some spare snap switches while you are at it, if you play it a lot, you will wear the switches out regularly. they are like .75 for the switches and just snap in the housing.

check out BYOAC.com for ideas for graphics and stuff. I had some marquis art printed out on poster sized sticky vinyl for one of mine from their vendor, but you can do some nice graphics with regular old adhesive kitchen shelf liner. you can get it in checker board graphic for a couple bucks a roll and trim it down, also the shiny metallic silver makes good graphics or background for the control panel...

http://www.allelectronics.com/item/pb-216/black-jumbo-pushbutton-switch/1.html
 

IowaDon

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Nov 2, 2016
Messages
103
Location
SW IA
If you want the two sides to be identical, first make a full size template out of 1/2" MDF. It's easier to sand and shape and get "perfect". You can then reproduce identical copies in plywood with a pattern cutting bit and a router. Keep the template safe and you can build more in the future.

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