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Cab Construction – Day 2

Posted by Andrew Burch on April 6, 2011
Posted in: Galaga Arcade Cabinet. Tagged: , , , . Leave a Comment

I came into Day 2 excited after the great progress that was made on Day 1. We didnt get as much done as I had hoped, but I think that’s mainly due to the stage we are at. Time seems to fly while doing this, but at least we continued to move forward. Starting the day out, I installed the IEC switch at the back, along with the filter. A rectangular shaped cover was made for the power wiring, that will enclose it and protect anyone leaning into the cab (should they do so with the power on).

A coin door was also cut – although I think we will need to use some of the offcuts to cut a better door for the cab. I plan to use MDF, covered in some contact I had originally planned for the control panel. The door will feature a coin mech and lock. On the inside it will also have a counter and a tray to catch coins. This should feature in day 3’s work.

Coin door cut
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Cab Construction – Day 1

Posted by Andrew Burch on April 2, 2011
Posted in: Galaga Arcade Cabinet. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

After two and a half months of planning and waiting, I have finally been able to start building the arcade cabinet (with help from my father in law). Using the Galaga cab plans from Jakobud, we started by marking out the desired side panel shape on one of the MDF sheets (Note: We purchased 3 1200 x 2400 x 18mm MDF sheets). Once this was cut out, the edges were sanded flatten out and improve smoothness of the corners and curves. We then used this as a stencil on the second MDF sheet to cut out the second side panel. Again edges were sanded. The results of this can be seen in the first image below.

Side Panels
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The second month in review

Posted by Andrew Burch on March 13, 2011
Posted in: Galaga Arcade Cabinet. Tagged: , , , . Leave a Comment

Yet another month has past on my journey to build my own arcade cabinet. The second month has seemed somewhat slower in progress, although I did get a few important things done. The biggest of which was the plans for the internal wiring. I also took some time to grab images of Galaga cab projects other people had done, and got them printed at photos to use as reference material as I’m building. A wise $5 investment I think. I purchased a number of wiring bits also to round the month off – not quite as exciting as researching and buying coin mechs, game boards or controls, but still important.

I think month 3 will see the most physical progress for the cab, as I expect the shell to be built and painted. The power wiring will be done and most internal components installed. With any luck, all that will remain at the end of the month will be some artwork and touch ups.

T Molding

Posted by Andrew Burch on March 13, 2011
Posted in: Galaga Arcade Cabinet. Tagged: , , , . Leave a Comment

My search for T Molding was fairly simple. There are a number of places here in Australia that sell it. Most online arcade shops have some available – it all depends on the thickness, colour and texture you are after.

My first purchase was from GameDude, which had the Galaxian Green I was wanting for my cab. This was priced at $12.50 per 10 feet. I thought this was ok. But I have since discovered T-Molding.com which has an awesome selection, and is even cheaper (despite being located in the states). For the same Galaxian green, I was able to purchase 20 feet for $10US (roughly $11AU). When postage was added, I was up for $20.78AU for the 20 feet (compared with close to $30 from GameDude).

T-Molding.com is well worth checking out when you are looking for t-molding for your arcade cabinet. The only real drawbacks I found was you are forced to purchase in increments of 20 feet and maybe have an extra few days to wait.