Day 1  

The MAME cabinet project begins.

So, approximately 6 years in procrastination mode I've started my MAME cabinet. When I say started, I've started a blog.

Six years ago I had grand plans for a lovely curvy affair in black and purple (I'll see if I can hunt the designs down), but after countless DIY exercises showing my abilities are less than stellar I've decided that was just a concept, I'm going for a slightly customised off-the-shelf affair with more straight lines :)

It's going to be based on Project Mame 2-player upright.

Of course, it won't be anywhere near as good as these :)

When I say 'based on' it's simply this design but bigger. Your average cabinet is about 180cm (6 foot) high and 66cm wide (about 2 foot) for the control panel excluding width for side panels and about 70-80cm deep (about 2.5 feet). This cabinet is narrower, shallower and lower.

My thoughts are the result will be slightly cramped layout for two player games and the player's head will be too high. I'm planning on about 180x66x72.

Day 1 Schedule

I'll be getting wood.

Three pieces of 8x4 (feet) 3/4inch MDF. Metric doesn't exactly work out like this and it's 2440x1200x18mm. The wood is costing about £15 per sheet (from most places, obviously avoid B&Q unless you have a trade card - top tip: make yourself a header sheet on your printer, take it into B&Q and open a trade account. You'll get most things you need at 'normal' prices.

Don't get 15mm, you can't drill into it, it warps and it's just not good enough. Worried about the weight? well, its an arcade cabinet and you won't be taking it round your mates every week that's for sure. It'll be in one place.

Real life pictures to follow.

Note: this won't be a 'doing stuff' every day job, it's going to take months I imagine.

More detailed plans in a sequential and ordered fashion will appear in my pages.
The MAME Project Page