Building my bartop - 100% complete

ZedEx48K

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I also find this size of bartop a bit too small really, they end up really crammed even with mini itx boards at times and a pig to sort issues once everything is in place (a mate had a bartop business at one point I had had to build some for him). I prefer the path I took when it comes to small versions, there's even room for a small coin door
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Russ J

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I might build one of these after my Robotron is finished...looks an interesting little project and doesn't look that hard of a job..wouldn't use MDF though....18mm Birch Ply all the way
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Russ J2015-01-19 20:49:47
 

silverfox0786

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jengineer said:
yes I bought one from Rich, it was ok...

the blocks are not strong enough for the thickness of the wood, you have to use really short screws which are no good, so it was kinda falling apart as I was building it, instead I drilled straight through and used  coach bolts,, there was also no instructions so I had to put it together like a jigsaw, not hard for me but for other people who have never worked on arcade machines etc before I'm guessing they wouldn't be too happy, there was also 1 piece missing, can't remember which piece now but something was amiss?

He's also bought the really cheap buttons off ebay and drilled the holes for these, but the really cheap buttons are smaller then the normal ones, luckily I had some so I knew what he'd done, its also impossible to re-drill bigger holes

apart from these 3 issues =  connecting blocks no good, holes too small, no instructions, it was ok for the money,,

There's a good market out there for these kits, and I reckon if someone had the enthusiasm to build these properly, and post them all ready built, someone could make more money then they are getting at the moment

this is just for future reference

but to drill a bigger hole in a already made hole

use a Reaming drill bit
 

Pacman83

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Definitely use wooden batons for the inside joints. I can't think of a reason why you'd want to dismantle the cabinet, so use a decent woodglue and it'll be really solid.
 

subzero

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apart from the plastic joints, im also going to use hot glue for extra strength, not that i'll ever be taking it apart, and the back door is going to be held on with 5 door magnets
 

ZedEx48K

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seanr28 said:
to be honest the black paint doesn't look to good, would have been better spraying it on to avoid leaving nasty brush lines.

I have to agree, you can tell it's gloss paint applied by brush, also I would say any form of MAME branding is a no no too, this goes for branding after the frontend too, common mistakes that ruin the image of a cab.
 

subzero

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without seeing the inside of the cab where the paint runs theres no way you can tell its hand painted lol

and seeing as how its a mame cab I think I get away with the art on the sides!
 

jengineer

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sorry to knock your paint job but it doesn't look the best, but to be honest I think most paint jobs on mdf will look pretty poor quality, the bartop I went for was white upvc so no painting was required

everything else you've done is great!
 
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