Jump to content
Due to a large amount of spamers, accounts will now have to be approved by the Admins so please be patient. ×
IGNORED

Mini Cabinet 27"/22"/7"


Recommended Posts

Hey guys

 

I grew up playing pinball whenever I could, a primary school friend had an old EM machine that I would always play as well as getting to play whenever we got taken to the movies or a special trip to TimeZone during the early & mid 90's and when I started going to seedy arcades & pool halls in the late 90's. I had Epic Pinball on my PC when it came out around 1993 and loved playing it as well. As arcades phased out and changed into prize game fests, and my gaming was PC & console instead of arcade I stopped playing except for the odd game when I came across a machine every now & again or some Pinball FX. I had always wanted to build a MAME cabinet but had always put it off, but my yearly bonus from work came through so I started researching about building myself a bartop MAME machine when I saw the pinball setups people were making and was blown away. I had seen some of it earlier but just desktop based and didn't think it was worth the effort, but my mind was made up that I was going to build a pinball cabinet. I had my old PC lying around that was only missing a GPU (and monitors) so I had my starting rig.

 

Here's my setup

 

CPU: Intel i5 2500k

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-D3

RAM: 16Gb DDR3

GPU: Gigabyte GTX750Ti

SSD: Crucial MX200 250Gb SSD

PSU: Corsair 450W

Playfield Monitor: Acer K272HL 27" Monitor

Backbox Monitor: Acer K222HQL 22" Monitor

DMD Monitor: Waveshare 7" LCD

OS: Windows 7

 

With my lack of space around the house I decided to build the biggest mini cabinet (smallest mid size cab?) I could get away with, so opted for a 27" playfield.

After buying my playfield monitor and GPU I did a format of my SSD and setup the PC fresh, and worked out how to install & use Visual Pinball & PinballX. I still have a LOT to learn with it but it was fun just playing with my keyboard on the kitchen table.

 

kitchen_test.jpg

 

I scoured for any plans but they seem to be few and far between, with just about every cabinet being a custom solution. I grabbed the Williams plans that are around and learnt how to use SketchUp to design my cabinet.

 

Base_Cabinet.jpg

 

Happy with the basic design I made a trip to Bunnings to grab my materials and start building. With my general lack of woodworking skills I had to teach myself via YouTube some of the fundamentals, built myself some cutting jigs for the circular saw and got to measuring and cutting. For the people who lack any skills and think that they could never build something, it is really easy(ish, just read up and watch some videos and you'll learn quick enough). I got the panels for the body cut out yesterday, and then spent this afternoon putting the mitre cuts in, putting my monitor rails in and assembling the body. The monitor fits in nice and snug.

 

cutting_jig.jpg side_panel.jpg

 

body1.jpg body2.jpg

 

body3.jpg body4.jpg

 

I placed my order with OzStick the other day for all my buttons & the Zeb encoder, I'm opting for just a launch button and no plunger due to space limitations. I'd like to go all out but maybe in the future if I build a fullsize cabinet.

 

Tomorrow I'll be building my backbox and testing the mount for the backglass monitor and see how it all looks together. I'm still waiting for my 7" monitor to arrive so I won't be able to fully assemble it until I have it in my hands and can get accurate measurements for the screen to mount it. It's a fun project, can't wait for my other parts to arrive to get it into a playable state.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not a lot of progress today, my wife works night duty so I had the kids most of the day while she slept but I did mostly build the backbox. I still need to make a mount for the backglass monitor and the speaker/dmd panel but I'll need to wait for more parts to arrive before I get started with those. It's taking shape, it's not perfect but I'm pretty happy with the progress so far.

 

backbox1.jpg backbox2.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another small update, made the brace/holder for the backglass monitor. Made a small cross piece that I drilled into for the VESA mounts on the monitor to hold it all into place.

 

backbox3.jpg backbox4.jpg

 

I need to put some hinges on the missing back piece for internal access, sand down my holes and fill the screw holes & gaps then the shell is done pending buttons arriving.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Package arrived today, my 7" LCD came in. Simple plug & play in Windows, USB powered HDMI screen. http://www.waveshare.com/7inch-hdmi-lcd-c.htm

Now setting up all my tables to work with the 3 screen setup, and hopefully mount the 7" monitor and speakers this weekend.

 

3_screens.jpg 3_screens2.jpg

 

 

I also had an expensive lesson, always support your monitors and dont let them fall screen first onto your cabinet :( Luckily it was only the 22" screen but that was money I wasn't planning on spending but thanks to my rushing & stupidity I needed a new screen.

 

broken_screen.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It definateley sucked when I turned it on and saw the damage, I was hoping for the best after it happened but oh well.

 

Slow progress this week, back to work after my annual leave. I did get my buttons & encoder arrive from OzStick, awesome service from Chris getting me my parts super quick after a phone call letting me know about a delay with the wiring kit I ordered.

 

I also got my legs delivered today while in the process of wiring up the encoder so I just had to stop and put them on to see how it all looks together. It's nearly ready, I still need to do the cutouts for the DMD & Speakers and make my lockdown bar.

 

assembled.jpg

 

Back to wiring up the buttons and giving this a test run

 

*edit* After a bit of hair pulling I have the buttons working. I gave my daughter a lesson on how to play, she's obsessed with the buttons as I was trying to wire it up so it's only fair she gets a shot

 

testing.jpg

 

PinballX is giving me some grief with not running Physmod tables, I'm sure I've got it configured correctly. This is the screenshot of my settings in PinballX, but the tables just wont launch.

pbx.jpg

They work fine if I load them manually outside of PinballX though. Anyone got any ideas?

Edited by KTS82
Link to comment
Share on other sites

PinballX is giving me some grief with not running Physmod tables, I'm sure I've got it configured correctly. This is the screenshot of my settings in PinballX, but the tables just wont launch.

pbx.jpg

They work fine if I load them manually outside of PinballX though. Anyone got any ideas?

 

Do you have separate XML files for your different versions of VP, or just the one?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, one more hurdle. The old PC I was using has been having power issues along with monumental slowdowns, so I've bought new PC components today to set up.

I at least got the DMD screen cutout done Saturday and got that mounted so it's pretty much now a case of getting the PC back up & running, then onto the decorative stuff. I also need to tidy up the rush job of wiring up the encoder and getting the nudge settings done but that's going to have to wait.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Bugger all progress the last week. Built the new PC, and then realised that the new skylake Pentium didn't cut it in terms of processor power so off to buy a new i5 to go in it (and think of something to do with the pentium). Then spent a few days trouble shooting why windows 7 was not booting, swapping out SSD's, reformatting etc with no luck. Turns out Windows 7 just didn't want to play nice with my new hardware as I've put a copy of 8.1 on today and everything is fine, so I'm back to configuring my software and getting to where I was a week ago.

I did get a few metre's of carbon fibre wrap today, so that will give me the incentive to finish the exterior and finally tidy up the wiring inside on my next day off.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Been a while since I did any work on the cab, it's been functional so I've been focused on putting on new tables and playing them but I just had 4 days off work so I pulled apart the working cabinet and started on the cosmetics. Sprayed with the black, then applied the vinyl. Still a bit messy, amd a few bubbles in the vinyl that I'll need to get at with a heat gun to smooth out.

 

20161025_110322.jpg

 

20161025_110343.jpg

 

20161025_115723.jpg

 

20161025_120300.jpg

 

20161025_120024_010_ANIMATION.gif

 

It's now back to the internals, fixing up the wiring and finally setting up the nudge function. And then probably onto a version 2 cabinet haha

Edited by KTS82
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice job. I have the same playfield monitor on my testbench setup and it's great, especially considering it's a 27" IPS panel and only cost me $259!

 

When you come to doing your "version 2" drop me a line as I'm working on a new Pinscape based encoder which, in it's basic form, will offer analog nudging (it has an inbuilt accelerometer) and 15 button inputs for about the same price as an I-PAC2. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

20161025_120024_010_ANIMATION.gif

 

 

Great work! Love the .gif too!

 

What are the dimensions of this mini cab? looks like it's has standard legs so I assume standard height? what are your other dimensions?

 

I have never considered VP never mind a mini cab, but this one is making me think again...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've only been on the arcade side of the forum and never heard of virtual pinball until seeing that animated gif. I think I now need to make one of these! Is there a good guide around on the forums with hardware/software guide?

 

Nice work to the thread op, looks awesome.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice job. I have the same playfield monitor on my testbench setup and it's great, especially considering it's a 27" IPS panel and only cost me $259!

 

When you come to doing your "version 2" drop me a line as I'm working on a new Pinscape based encoder which, in it's basic form, will offer analog nudging (it has an inbuilt accelerometer) and 15 button inputs for about the same price as an I-PAC2. :D

Yeah, the 27" monitor is a real bargain. When/if I build a second I'll for sure be getting my parts again from you. The zebs board is a neat little unit, it was super easy to wire up but I had no intention of adding a plunger and really prefer the cost of an iPac :P

 

I also have a buddy who wants me to help him make a full size unit for his mancave, we'll see if I can talk him into a Pin2DMD as well

 

Great work! Love the .gif too!

 

What are the dimensions of this mini cab? looks like it's has standard legs so I assume standard height? what are your other dimensions?

 

I have never considered VP never mind a mini cab, but this one is making me think again...

 

Thanks, at the moment with the levellers all the way in the front of the cabinet sits at 900mm. Cabinet was based on a Williams cab, front to back is 850mm, the cabinet is 450mm high at the back and 365mm at the front, then another 485mm high for the backbox. I'm more than happy to share my SketchUp files, the V2 cabinet has been designed as seperate parts so I can get a quote on CNC cutting. I think I've hit the limit on what I can do with a circular saw and a drill (but I'm damn happy I've done all this myself and with only 2 power tools)

 

I've only been on the arcade side of the forum and never heard of virtual pinball until seeing that animated gif. I think I now need to make one of these! Is there a good guide around on the forums with hardware/software guide?

 

Nice work to the thread op, looks awesome.

 

I was initially going to build a bartop MAME unit, I've been wanting to build a cabinet for ages but then stumbled onto the pincabs, I'd heard of them but never saw them and was blown away.

 

As for a guide, I never really saw a good one. I went to about 5 forums/websites for software and tips, outdated information in google searches and a painful process. It was a daunting process but plenty of helpful people around to point you in the right direction.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

Thanks, at the moment with the levellers all the way in the front of the cabinet sits at 900mm. Cabinet was based on a Williams cab, front to back is 850mm, the cabinet is 450mm high at the back and 365mm at the front, then another 485mm high for the backbox. I'm more than happy to share my SketchUp files, the V2 cabinet has been designed as seperate parts so I can get a quote on CNC cutting. I think I've hit the limit on what I can do with a circular saw and a drill (but I'm damn happy I've done all this myself and with only 2 power tools)

 

 

Well once you get your V2 plans in order, give me a yell as I have a CNC table router at my work which will do the job. We have done a few pinball related jobs lately...

415386333_PlayfieldBeingRouted.jpg.b0b9f6be8718c63fefe325af0a4485af.jpg

As long as you don't mind me making a second set..;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well once you get your V2 plans in order, give me a yell as I have a CNC table router at my work which will do the job. We have done a few pinball related jobs lately...

[ATTACH=CONFIG]100492[/ATTACH]

As long as you don't mind me making a second set..;)

 

Might just have to take you up on that, are you in Melbourne by any chance?

 

Nevermind, just saw your profile and I was out for the last Bayside Pinball Club meet so yes, you are :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Might just have to take you up on that, are you in Melbourne by any chance?

 

Nevermind, just saw your profile and I was out for the last Bayside Pinball Club meet so yes, you are :)

 

The last Bayside meet was in Nunawading, this is where the CNC is at...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...
+1

 

Sorry guys, I've neglected the site for a while with an insane work schedule, I've uploaded my SketchUp plans for the cabinet I've built as well as the revised plans for a V2 cabinet for anyone to grab/modify as they please. The V2 cabinet is all as separate pieces so I can try and get then cut on a CNC so I have it as an all in one zip file or a folder with the individual parts

 

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B_2KqIucN4caUjh3bHV1YmkwYUE?usp=sharing

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...