The sharp angles looked a bit harsh so I tried to incorpoarate a couple of curves. After failing to draw them free hand I came up with this method....seemed to work well.
I used a jigsaw to cut out the design I had drawn then stood it up so I could stand to it and see how it felt and luckily it felt right.
I then clamped the cut-out to my other fresh piece of MDF so that I could draw round it which I think is common practice at this stage. This photo shows how much of the actual sheet I was using so waste was quite small.
I clamped the two pieces together so I could go around the edges and sand it back hopefully making them as identical as possible. At this point I was thinking about T-moulding and maybe going round the edges with a router which I don't own. The cost of the tooling at this stage on a first build put me off so the plan now is sanded edges without T-moulding.
At this point I'm researching monitors and took a chance on this 19" monitor which I found on ebay. Because I'm not sure what games will be installed I figured 4:3 might be a safe option. I'm trying to think just one step ahead at each point so realised I needed to get the cabinet stood up.
I used a piece of 18mm deep MDF to mark an outline around the edges of the side panels so I could mount some battens. I wasn't sure whether there was any science behind this other than whatever I do it needs to be absolutely rock solid when it's stood up.
.....The above work was carried out in September 2013... My business gets really busy over Christmas so the arcade was left untouched but I spent a bit of time forward planning what I would do next. Because I made one or two mistakes and might have tackled a couple of things differently I am making mental notes now for the second cabinet. The goal is to complete the whole process with this cabinet then go into the next one with a bit of experience....
So back to now, its Febuary 2014 and I've got time to spend on the arcade again. This weekend was great for motivation. I decided to attach some battens to the panels, again not sure what would work best and trying to imagine it in a 3D format in my head was tricky. I screwed through the battens into the Mdf sheet to save screw heads being on the outside. I'm thinking just enough battens to get it stood up....
.......
although attaching the battens was easy the tricky bit was that I realised there was suddenly so much to think about such as should access to the base being front or back and how to hinge the door, how will the marquee fit, control panel angle and size, screen bezel angle and size and where will the speakers go...
At this point I decided getting it stood up would help with all these questions. I decided to go for slightly thinner 12mm thickness Mdf for the front and back panels mainly to try to manage the weight but also to see if it worked in terms of rigidity. I built on its side on my workbench...
A major milestone for me. It stands up and is perfectly square but best of all it's absolutely rock solid with no sway at all...
Here is the view from the front. The transformation from two side panels to a standing carcass happened over a day or so and the motivational boost is massive. I'm really pleased with the look of the arcade at this point and although it's not groundbreaking in terms of design it is exactly what I wanted it to look like.
