Since I knew the chances of me finding an affordable Joust cocktail cabinet in decent shape were slim to none, I decided to design and build my own cabinet. I am relatively new to woodworking, and am by no means an expert, but I figured this would be a good learning experience - you know, always looking to expand my horizons.
My original cabinet design was very similiar to the Joust cocktail cabinet. However, as I started planning it out and refining the details, it seemed like it would be way too many angle cuts, so I modified it to eliminate the angled sides. I actually toyed with the idea of making it completely rectangular, but I really liked the look and feel of having the two control pannels slightly angled towards each other. Just a few angle cuts - shouldn't be that difficult, right?
Armed with only a vision of the ultimate arcade cabinet and $50, I went off to the hardware store to buy some 5/8" particle board (because it was on sale). When I got there, I ran across MDF, which is basically particle board with a smoother finish. I decided to go with 1/2" MDF, thinking it would make measurements easier.
I started out cutting the top piece and the control panel, then I designed and drilled the holes into the control panel... this is the most exciting part of an arcade project, and I was really looking forward to seeing how it would look with the buttons and joysticks in place.
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After marking the cuts on the boards, I had to use a circular saw to make the cuts because the extensions on my table saw were not long enough to support the large pieces. To ensure the cuts would be as straight as possible, I used a nice straight oak board and some clamps to guide the saw.
I eventually bought a jigsaw to make the cutouts for the monitor, handles, door, fan, and trackball mounting plate.
With all the pieces cut, I thought I was just about ready to put it together. Then, I realized that I should put some supports on the sides to provide more than the 1/2" of contact from the MDF. I cut, glued, and clamped like a madman until all the connecting pieces were ready to assemble. I was finally ready to put it together, right? ... not quite yet.
I decided to clamp it together for some photos:
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I needed to paint it next, so I hauled the pieces outside and spraypainted them. When I was done, I thought that it didn't look very good, so I went out and bought some semigloss black paint and a small roller. I then rolled it with two coats and it looked great. So, I was once again pumped to assemble it.
I fastened it all together using glue, clamps, and countersink screws, knowing that this thing would be pretty darn heavy whan it was all together. I was quite amazed at how well it all fit together - all my detailed work had paid off! Next, I taped and spraypainted the control panel and top:
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It was time to wire it up... at last! I temporarily screwed in the I-PAC and Opti-PAC boards to the cabinet, flipped the control panel, and began cutting, stripping, and crimping. This took longer than I had expected, but the labeling on the I-PAC and Opti-PAC boards made it easy on my brain!
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After going back and forth about what type of monitor to use, I bought a 21" monitor on Ebay (got it for only $112.50!). It was in perfect shape. Needless to say, I was very happy! I had a 19" arcade monitor and had already bought a monitor bezel from Happ Controls, but after seeing this monitor on Ebay, I decided that was the route I wanted to take.
One of the toughest decisions in building a cabinet from scratch is choosing how to orient the monitor. There are some people who have designed rotating monitors to solve this problem. A standard arcade monitor mounting, either vertical or horizontal, limits the number and types of games that can be played accurately. The bottom line was that the 21" monitor was bigger, which meant I could mount it horizontally and still have enough screen for vertically oriented games.
So I was ready to build the monitor stand, which was a simple design: two traingle-cut platforms bolted through the floor board. The monitor weighs about 90 pounds, so I needed a strong base, but knew it wouldn't be moving around too much.
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With the monitor stand in place, I bolted in the handles, access door, and cooling fan. I also attached the switches for the trackball light and fan power control. Next, I set the speakers in their stands, put the PC in the cabinet, and wired everything up. I also set a power strip in the cabinet, cut the power cord off and wired it up to a black power cord for a neater appearance from the outside. I could now place the monitor in the cabinet and tape the edges with electrical tape so I wouldn't have to paint it.
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The next thing to make was the monitor bezel, which I decided to make out of black foamcore board. It is very easy to work with and only about $5/sheet - I only needed one sheet for the job. I decided to angle the sides out slightly at the bottom to ensure both players could see the screen, since the control panel is cut at an angle.
After the bezel, the last thing to make was a posterboard cover for the top to help the appearance of the opening to the monitor... which wouldn't be necessary if I hadn't prematurely cut the monitor opening for the 19" arcade monitor! Anyway, it was another easy task.
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With everything in place, I bought a 1/4" piece of 48"x30" glass for the top and attached it with glass clips that screw into the bottom of the top piece. I would highly reccomend pricing glass before ordering... I got this piece made for $40, but some places wanted over $100 for the same thing!
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The list of equipment used to build the cabinet is below:
Tablesaw
Circular Saw
Power Jigsaw
Wood Clamps - 4 standard & 3 pipe clamps
Power Drill - bits: standard set (bolts) & 1 1/8" spade (buttons and joysticks)
Dremel Tool
Wood Glue
Background