| CocktailMAME Home |
| Current Status |
| Hardware Specs |
| Software |
| CocktailMAME Front End |
| Putting it all together |
| Lessons Learned |
| The Control Panel |
| Pictures |
| Links |
| Looking for the plans? I got a direct link on 'em. |
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| The Two Box style, like the classic Midway cocktail cabinet, is $24.99. CocktailMAME is based off of this plan set! |
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| The Three Box style, adds the capability for playing games that work side by side as well opposing, and is priced at $37.99. |
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I'm collecting all of the lessons that I've learned and putting them here. Kind of a knowledge base for those of us who have large, gaping holes in ourcarpentry knowledge.
Cutting
- Inside Curves -- Cutting curves on the outside with a jigsaw is substantially easier than cutting a curve on the inside with a jigsaw. The solution? You an appropriately sized hole saw (a saw like drill bit used frequently when installing door knobs and locks) to get the curve just right. Then you can use the jigsaw to cut the straight lines.
- Straight Lines -- If you're like me, cutting a straight line is not an easy task in and of itself. The recommendation that I got from a co-worker of mine, Norman, was to clamp a 1 x 2 down to the surface and use it a cutting guide. Thanks, Norman!
Formica
- Cutting -- Cutting is a pain. It chips. It tears easily. Life is simply no fun with it. If you're going to use a jigsaw, get a blade where the teeth point down, not up. Using masking tape over where you are cutting helps reduce chipping. If you can clamp it to another board before cutting, that will help immensely. My neighbor, Ron, and several carpentars I talked to suggested using a router to cut the formica. Being that I don't have a router, I went to the next best thing, suggested by Josh, and that was to break out the Dremel tool with a cutting bit and go town.
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This hole was drilled with a standard drill bit. Note the chipping of the formica around the hole.
Drilling -- I found that regular drill bits chip the formica like nobody's business, but paddle bits make nice work of it and don't chip.
This hole was drilled with a paddle drill bit. You can easily see how much more clean the edge is.
- Attaching -- I've heard two ways of doing it. You could be a router blade to cut the notch or you could use a utility knife and cut off the hook portion.
- Speaker and Fan Grills -- I searched and searched and searched. David suggested that I use attic vents, but I couldn't find any in 2.5". I could only find them in 3", 2" and 1.5". But then I was in Radio Shack and found some 2 Piezo speakers. The speakers are help to the grill by to plastic rivets. Drill out the rivets, pop the speakers out. The only gotcha is that you have to glue the mesh to the plastic frame as it's normally held in place by the speaker itself. Cost of one of these? $2.67 at your local Radio Shack.