(Part 3) Top products from r/cade

Try to go easy on the cleaning chemicals when possible. Simple green should work fine on most of the exterior. Magic erasers can be good for stubborn or stained control panels, side art or general trouble spots, but be warned they do tend to take some of the paint off especially on old art. Novus 2 is a fantastic polisher for just about anything plastic, can work on rusted metal too if you want to tumble some parts. Goo gone (NOT goof off!) is great for removing old adhesives if you need to replace a CP or side art and take off some old glue underneath. Any glass cleaner is fine for the monitor (CRT!) screens, use simple green or a light cleaner on the plexiglass bezels or around art on the underside of a glass marquee. If you have some stained or smelly particle board inside your cabinet, white vinegar and a scrubbing brush can take out some of the smell and discoloration.

Those are the main tools I use, I'm sure each collector has their own set of favorites.

You might benefit from using one of these.

The right side of the bezel looks like it is cutting off part of the screen (vis: barrels).
That said, it looks great! Love the metal accents. T-molding & Paint will really make it look great.

Consider making something to fill in the gap on the top. As others have mentioned, a marquee might/speakers (speaking of, where is sound coming from, now?) would be a good choice.

Not OP, but I am the guy who wrote the blog post/built the cabinet. A few things:

1. I suppose you can directly screw/glue MDF, but I didn't want to risk splitting it, and plywood takes screws on the edge much better. It's also much lighter, and since this gets moved around the office, making it (relatively) light was a priority. As for the subtle wood grain, I do in fact enjoy it! It's super classy!
   
   
2. We did solder all the wires to the microswitches. We'd had bad luck with crimped wire ends slipping off the microswitches before. The microswitches are also rated for some insane number of presses, so making them relatively permanent wasn't too big a deal. We've had to swap one or two out, totally not a problem (we just tossed extra switches and a soldering iron into the back of the cabinet so it's always there in a pinch!)
   
   
3. For the signal to the monitor, we bought a VGA-to-SVideo converter for that old school CRT feel. This is the one we went with, and then just ran the motherboard's VGA out directly into it.

From my experience, accurate price guides are hard to come by due to the many issues that an arcade can have.

The best price guide I have found on the internet is this...
http://www.arcade-classics.com/exidy_arcade_price_guide.html

Unfortunately, that list does not have Lethal Enforcers... If you want a book that you can go off of, the best one I have heard of is...
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0375720383/qid=1095771480/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/002-9092071-7079222?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

Hope this is helpful.

You could get one of those smart strip surge protector when you turn on the computer that is plugged in to the first spot it turns on the rest of the plugs though I've never used one that's what a lot of people recommend for a mame cab

Smart Strip SCG5 Energy Saving Power Strip with Autoswitching Technology and Coaxial Surge Protection https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000L9FQUO/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_mywwub03WW22X

Forstner bit as mentioned, and one of these is key for making the hole level, straight, and better than by hand:
https://www.amazon.com/Wolfcraft-4525404-Attachment-4-Inch-8-Inch/dp/B000JCIMEA/

i used this amp: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B010FAQQNY/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

and the cheapest pair of 4" car speakers that amazon had:https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000230LBI/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

generic one-way speakers would have also been fine for these classic games, but i actually couldn't even find them as cheap as this pair. this is way overkill compared to the audio setups that were in these classic games, and i was actually impressed with the quality of the sound from the amp in general

i didn't bother making the volume external, i just open the back of the cabinet to adjust if needed

Absolutely. You can configure certain games (Pac-man, digdug, etc) to automatically start in portrait mode.

Here's my mount, works great and a bit cheaper than the one you listed (also comes with a free HDMI cable and a level) :



https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000WYVBR0/ref=pe_175190_21431760_C1_cs_sce_dp_1


This mount has been on two different walls both with great results, but it's not super low profile. It has an arm that lets you bring it out from the wall a bit.

Anyway, here's some pictures of my pedestal setup (I dismantled it recently ) :

https://imgur.com/a/qbJmq

You want a 1 & 1/8" inch forstner bit. I have this one, works great:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00004RK4U/

Not a lot out there (that I know of) focuses on the fall half, but I feel like you'd appreciate these:

From For Amusement Only: the life and death of the American Arcade by The Verge

Replay: The History of Video Games

The Arcade Experience: A Look Into Modern Arcade Games and Why They Still Matter

Game Over: Press Start To Continue, The Maturing of Mario

It does but theres a way to avoid that with these https://www.amazon.com/Dolphin-DC-100P-Super-Connector-Pcs/dp/B000JP7FIQ

you put the wires into there and then clamp down. itll be set forever.

for the controller ports you can use these https://www.amazon.com/Swellder-Connector-15-pin-Terminal-Breakout/dp/B01270C0ZI/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1466612452&sr=1-3&keywords=db15+breakout

you screw in the wires to whgere they go. this way you wont need to solder anything at all. it makes the bench a little bigger but you could also more easily reconfigure the controller as well.

or even something as simple as some wire tubing would clean it up:

https://smile.amazon.com/Monoprice-107118-1-Inch-10-Feet-Flexible/dp/B001114AO4?sa-no-redirect=1

Nintendo joystick shafts go through a captured ball in the base which probably needs a thorough cleaning.
I would start by completely disassembling it and cleaning the entire base, especially the area around the ball. I use Brakleen to de-gunk them. Then after it dries, I use a silicone lubricant on all the metal mating surfaces.

Should be this, but double check the pin layout on the bottom of the board before ordering. I'm not home to check my boards to verify. It's Amazon Prime, so should arrive in two days at most.

As requested:


Bartop kit - $139.99 link


Buttons - $66 link


Raspberry Pi 3 - $35 link


Raspberry Pi Case - $7.95 link


Power Recpetical - $5.99 link


USB Hub - $11.99 - linl


Zip Ties for cable management - $5.98 - link


External USB Ports - $11.90 link


Velcro Pads for mounting speakers and Raspberry Pi case - $2.98 link


64 gb SD Card - $24.88 link


HDMI to VGA adapter - $7.99 link


20 ft of 3/4 inch t-molding - $6.99 link


Total cost so far including shipping - $361.13

I could only find black melamine edging online. http://www.amazon.com/Sauers-Black-Melamine-25-Edging/dp/B00315PNAI
I was trying to find the "T" type that and rout a groove into my wood, but in the end I just settled for iron on edging. I went slow and its holding up really well.

The one thing I should mention that isn't visible in the photos...I put a small drill hole in the plexiglas over the power button of the monitor. That way if the monitor ever shuts off I can just slide a paperclip inside and fire it back up.

Not like the Pandora's Box, but have you looked at this? https://www.amazon.com/Mattel-PlayTV-Golden-Tee-Golf/dp/B000EYF7YQ/ Even says it's "Officially licensed by Golden Tee".