4 Player Pedestal Arcade

Instructions

Pedestal Arcade! This has been a hit for our family and our entire neighborhood really. The control panel was designed around Happ-style arcade controls, and an Ultimark U-Track trackball. There are a lot of designs out there that can conform to multiple styles of controls but this DOES NOT. Additionally I had to slightly change some of the offsets on the controls (do test cuts). I used Hidden Hardware Joystick and Trackball mountaing kits. So the screw holes do not go all the way through the material. Screw Holes: I went to 0.65" Depth. I found that the screw heads for the Hidden Hardware needed a little bit of countersink to make sure they were flush with the MDF before putting the joysticks and track ball on it. So on the same screw hole path I set a depth of 0.237" Depth and -0.1" offset. To make a tiny spot for the screw heads. I mean alternatively just use a countersink bit on your drill and be done in 3 seconds instead of doing that. Buttons: I used a -0.01" offset on the button holes. Doing it again, I would make them even bigger since the buttons were just unnecessarily tight fitting. The blue guides on the button holes represent the bezel on top of the button. So just used it visually for spacing. Roller: 0.215" Pocket. There are two circle paths for the roller. The innermost one you cut from the bottom and give a -0.02" offset. The outermost circle path you have to cut from the top. THIS IS FOR THE BEZEL ON THE ROLLER BALL. Very important that you cut out this path on the top of the MDF and the Plexiglass. I used a -0.01" offset, and I think I went to a depth of .318", but lost my note on that. Depth = Height of bezel - 1/8" (plexiglass height). Just be careful to not go all the way through into the pocket you made on the other side. In hindsight I would have just used a 1/8" rabbeting bit on a normal router to cut this from the opposite side of the panel of MDF instead of the Shaper. Or another good idea I just now had would be to use a T-Track cutting bit and cut out the area for the bezel from the bottom. Joystick: 0.2" Pocket. and a -0.01 Offset. Plexiglass: I cut the plexiglass separately from the MDF. If I were to do it again, I would just stack them on top of each other and double-sided tape and clamp them together and do them at the same time. Somehow my cuts were just slightly different between the MDF and the Plexi. And I had to bust out a Dremel and sand the insides of some of the buttons to get things to line up perfectly. If you do cut the Plexi separately, remember to use the same offsets on the buttons you used on the MDF. Again, give yourself more wiggle room than I did. Dados: The pocket cuts for the dado's on the control panel, control panel bottom, and sides all went 1/4" deep. I do think I had to add a -0.01" offset for the perfect fit. Every time you have to add a -0.01" offset to my design you have to take a drink. The pocket cut on the underside of the control panel top I added a 1/4" big negative offset. You want that top dado to be a little sloppy. It's on a piano hinge and I didn't want the top to get hung up on the control panel walls. You should see in the second picture where I have red circles. I screwed up and cut along a path intended for the control panel BOTTOM. It wouldn't be my project if I didn't screw at least one thing up. It ended up not being a big deal because the T-Moulding hides it, and i've since then removed that path from the SVG for the control panel top so shouldn't be an issue for anyone else. The Dados were extremely nice during the assembly step. 10/10. Front and back faces: I cut that all out on the table saw and went 29" Wide. Control Panel "Walls": The walls for the control panel were all cut to 4" tall. Internal Bracing: I just sort of Free-Styled that part. And I did it after I had glued up the MDF. You can see all the 2x4's and where I put them. The true reason I added so much bracing was because our basement floor is very un-even and I absolutely NEEDED adjustable feet. So I needed some good wood to screw those into and it would have to hold the weight. I mostly just glued the 2x4's to the MDF. I made a little tray at the bottom for my computer to lay on. I just got a crappy $200 Dell to put in there and it's a pretty small computer so if you have a big gaming rig you may have to make some adjustments. But the interior is huge so I'm sure pretty much anything could fit in there. Toe Kick: The front toe kick area fits a 1x4 poplar board. I didn't want to use MDF because my kids would kick it and beat it up. In the end you can see I found some Aluminum Diamond Checker Plate to screw over the transition between MDF and Poplar and gives them an extra spot to rest their feet. Also it looks sweet. Vinyl Wrap: Before the vinyl wrap I sprayed the whole thing with sanding sealer. Someone online said to do that so I did. Not sure if I needed to, but then I hit the parts that would not get a vinyl wrap with some glossy black spray paint. To get the vinyl I sent the design and dimensions to Game Room Solutions and they knocked it out of the park. Applying the vinyl to the sides and top went really well. Applying the vinyl to the Front/Back faces was absolute hell. I don't know how people do this. Getting it to lay up flat against the interior walls without wrinkling SUCKED. Maybe apply the vinyl to those sections before assembling? I think that's it, good luck!