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.
wood
All posts tagged wood
I decided to look at sourcing the wood for the cab today. There were two places I considered – Bunnings and Melboards (located in Hallam – so close to me). Bunnings won out. I estimate I will need 3 boards of 1800 x 1000 x 18mm. Bunnings has 2400 x 1200 x 18mm for $33 each. This should leave plenty of left overs for things like the base, top and front panels. I suspect I will need some additional wood for bracing and load bearing, but that will be purchased separately, and cost much less.
Thickness was a decision I made based on some advice and general research. Anything below 16mm will be too thin, especially for an upright. You could maybe get away with 12mm for a counter top, or a very cheap table top. The real choice is between 16, 18 and 21mm. The good thing about 18 and 21mm is T moulding is easily obtained for these thicknesses. If you go with 16, you will need to do additional trimming, or try and source smaller T moulding. I felt 21mm would be too thick for my cab, so 18mm it is. I guess generally speaking, the bigger the cab, the thicker you should go to ensure it’s sturdy.