~~~» Snopes' Cabinet «~~~
 

In this article I am going to describe how I have been designing and constructing my cabinet. The development of the plans has cost me ten months of work and reflection. They are a very studied plans based on the experience of other friends who have constructed a cabinet; Besides, I have visited all the pages (yes… all pages) that exist in Internet about construction of cabinets, something that was notably useful for me to finish off some things, and to adapt solutions that seemed very good to me and, especially, to discard some decisions I had taken and that, after seeing the results in other cabinets, they did not convince me. I have seen incredible designs, futurists and marvellous, but really complex. We must take into account that to handle a jig saw is not a simple task and to do a straight cut is something only able to reach by professionals.  Because of that, the machine is designed in such a way that we can entrust to the store the cut of the maximum possible number of boards; In fact, we will only utilize the saw in two boards in order to do four cuts in each one.  For it all, I think it can be said we are facing a pretty design, that recuperates the flavour of the 80’s cabinets, and that, at the same time, is apt for almost all the friends of Marcianitos.

Perhaps, some of you wonder why I did not buy a real cabinet adapting it to Mame. The answer is simple: to configure an arcade monitor to work in low frequencies (15 herzios) is an arduous task and I did not want to rack my brain while despairing me. Besides, many of those arcade monitors are burned or have defects because of the use. Another reason why I decided to do it by myself was that I wanted six buttons for each player, and not many cabinets have such quantity. So, at the end, I decided to select this option and I am really happy. 

Next I show you the breakdown of the boards and a graphic with the disposition or arrangement in order that you carry them to the store to cut them :-) At last but not least, I would like to thanks Juanxu for his making up of the plans in the computer. His brilliant work does that the reader of Marcianitos could have a real and faithful idea of what will be the machine once assembled, and also how are the diverse pieces and how should go joined :-) Thanks my friend for enduring stoically all my paranoia ;-) Thanks also to SusiRubi for the magnificent translation into English of the present article. :-)

Very, very important: Read and study all the data in detail before beginning to work. All the explanations are crucial to manage to assemble the cabinet. If they are written here, it is because of any reason.

	Cabinet plans - Download
	Word	Microstation V8	Autocad

 
 
Questions to take into account in the breakdown. 
 
* Having designed the cabinet in two sections instead of only one has two reasons. The first one is that it can be transported better in case we move (as it will be my case), or if we do a reform at home and we need a change of room (a very feasible thing in this design without having to disarm all the furniture, board by board) and two, you do not need to use so much the jig saw, that always (for the ones that are not professional carpenters) yields little bit dirty and badly finished job. Perhaps some of you can still think that is not a good idea (besides of unaesthetic) to do a cabinet in two independent sections.  Let’s see: the cabinet will be placed in a corner of the room, where less space is occupied. Looking at the frontal side it is impossible to guess that it is composed of two sections. But you will argue that looking at both sides is certainly seen.  Piiiii; error! At least in my case, in the sides of the cabinet I will put two high tables (one on each side) as the ones of the pubs where my girlfriend and I will put our drinks and the snacks that will accompany ours precious afternoons of  'Mame-vice' ;-P The advantages, as you see, exceed in a great scale the objections, if there is some.

** The plans of the cabinet are designed to lodge a modern television of 21 inches and the total wide of the cabinet is 65 cm, which permits the fitting of the machine when crossing the door. 

*** The whole machine will be built in agglomerate black lined wood of 19 mm, except the control panel that will be in agglomerate black lined wood of 16 mm. that fits better to install the buttons and especially the levers (with 19 mm is not enough). In case that the entire machine wanted to be done in agglomerate of 19, the following measurement must be modified: Board h. The new measure is: 94 x 612 millimetres. Anyway, while asking the cut of panels to the store, ask also this board h with the measure of 19 millimetres, it is never useless having it ;-) because, to buy the board of 16 millimetres we should trust in the store to have some available remnant, something that is used to be habitual but not sure. 

**** I should also indicate that the design is thought in such a way, so that if we use high chairs (as that of the pubs) to sit down while playing in our cabinet, our legs fit perfectly under the control panel, and we do not have to open the legs wide, a very uncomfortable thing (besides dangerous, jiji) if two people have to play sat down in that chairs, because in other designs there is not enough space for all those legs!.  With the one that we present in Marcianitos, this is solved :-)

  
Other considerations:
1.      The boards f and g penetrate a little in the interior of the cabinet, so that it will be easier to place the plexiglass or the plywood that will embellish hiding the television and showing only the screen. 
2.      The whole inclined section of the back part (board c) will be done in a grille that permits the leaving of the heat.

3. The board o is not extended to the end of the furniture in order to permit the circulation of the air, nevertheless the board j will have two grilles that will act as a vent to air the heat that emits the computer and the sound amplifier.
4.The wide of the board n will be determined once measured the grooves we are going to utilize, so that we should measure them before entrusting the woods.

5. The board k will have a hole in the middle to install the coin door. This board k is a door that can be opened permitting the access to the computer and to the sound amplifier. It also has some hinges as the ones that are in the kitchen cupboards. 
6. The board e is not a board but two plates of plexiglass where the drawing of the marquee will be installed.
7. The lower and superior section will be joined together by means of squads, and the screwed of the board a  to the board l (el).
8. All the machine will be surrounded in a special rubber that does not require doing a furrow in the wood to be installed. This rubber, it has 'U' shape and it is sold in Leroy Merlín (sure in more places too, but I know that there, it is).
9. In the board a will be done some grooves that permit the cables pass to the lower section. 
10. The control panel is integrated in the wide of the cabinet conserving the aspect that had those machines in the 80’s. I have seen many machines that had a control panel wider than the furniture, but although they leave more space to the players to move the commands with a little more freedom, I miss the contact with the other player and that small pushes that light on the wick of the competitiveness, jijiji... and, really, in 65 centimetres wide can perfectly play two peoples enjoying without wearing.
11. In the board r and in the board k there will be installed two small latchkeys to be able to open the doors.

12.  The board p does not extend to the floor, but remains 3 cm over the base of the lower furniture. 
13.  Perhaps some of you wonder the function of the board q, well my speakers are installed upon a foot-hold. I will set the foothold to the board q so that the sound emanates from the speakers, which are downward the space of the foot-hold that is where our ears are. 
14.  For the board c, we must take several things into account. It is difficult, very difficult to cut the board with the appropriate angle so that it fits with the board d. The solution I propose is the following one. There are sold very resistant papier-mâché plates (even with holes, I think). It is slimmer, so we will not have problems for fitting it, and its holes will permit the leaving of the heat. Another solution is take one board more and open two big holes covering them with a grille; it is a more complicated solution, but it is solved asking for a board c shorter than the length of the edge of the furniture, so that it fixes. Do not worry if there is a hole left among the woods, it would be covered with a grille and we will have the furniture with good ventilation, if you prefer this option you have the measure of the board c in the breakdown.  
15.  For the television not to move with the shakes given to the cabinet while playing, it is recommended to place it exactly in the centre of the space that the furniture has to the effect. Once centred it we will proceed to set it with some angle iron only screwed in the board o so that, the television hold up on the vertical side of the angle iron and its does not move. It is recommended to do this not only in the back side but also on the lateral one (in the frontal side it is not necessary because board o is bowed backwards.)
16.  The entire furniture will go joined with allen screws and steel angle iron. 
17.  Just another thing, in the back side of the marquee (done with a draw placed among two plates of metacrilate) will be placed a fluorescent pipe so that our cabinet will have a marvellous appearance.  
18. The planes in 3D are single orientative of the disposition of the tables and their final result.
 
  

Holes, openings and vents. 

· A hidden opening to access to the control panel:

Board a: we will make an opening in this board with the saw to penetrate to be able to access to the interior of the control panel. We do not want the connections to be visible, so the wood rectangle that results from the opening of the hole, will go joined in the hole that have been done by means of a piano hinge and closed with a lock.

· Grooves to fix the television cables, speakers, controls and fluorescent: 
Board a.  We will make three round holes of 60 mm of diameter, situated at 250 mm from the edge of the back of the furniture. Apart from passing the cables, these holes will also run as vents allowing the flowing of the air in the interior of the furniture, a very important thing. 

· Holes for the speakers: 
Board f. In my cabinet the board f has three holes because I have put 3 speakers in that part (I utilize a 5.1 system of sound). The size of these holes depends on the size of the speakers and its embellishers. 
Board i. In this board a great hole near the lower edge will be done so that the sound of the speaker that emits the lows (subwoofer) have an exit to the exterior. After that it will be added another embellisher. This hole will have a diameter of 200 millimetres. It will be done in the centre and placed at 100 millimetres from the lower edge of that board.

My advices:
(I-L names)

Joysticks	Buttons	Coin door
Eurojoystick/2 con micro	Botones A201 con micro	Puerta Mediana 4001

  
And:

Andy's I-Pac

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If someone it is encouraged to build its own cabinet with these plans, please, send photographs of the final result to show them here, so that amateurs see how useful is this stupendous design ;-) For doubts, annotations, suggestions or any other thing, click on the mail icon at the end of this page. 

¡¡¡ SUERTE !!!
 More information in next updating.