how tro make wooden golf arcade machine ep 1

Is everything ready on your arcade machine?

So now we have everything physical ready on our arcade machine, but as for all the digital bits, we still have work to do. Frontends - This is just a menu interface to launch out games from, and it works off arcade controls.

How do you connect a Raspberry Pi to a wooden arcade?

Once all the boards are secured, attach the upper side of the arcade and you’re done! Follow the wiring instructions of the cardboard control panel to wire the buttons and joysticks to the raspberry pi. Place the screen on the wood panel and mark the position where the screen touches the wood.

How do you cut a plywood arcade cabinet?

All units are in inches and degree angles. Add 1/4” to the length when a miter is present, 1/2” when 2 miters are present. You will also need to cut out the 2 sides of the arcade cabinet. Using your profile template, mark 2 profiles on the plywood and cut with a jigsaw. The cuts do not have to be perfect as the router will clean it up.

What was the name of the arcade in Arlington TX?

Forum 303 Mall in Arlington, TX had the biggest arcade in town called the Forum Fair Arcade. It even had a full-size Merry Go Round in the middle of it. Most arcades when I was growing up were divided into two sections. Pinball and video arcades. I was a computer geek the day I saw my first computer.

Step 1: Materials

Here is what you will need to begin: Tools: Hand saw or jigsaw. Straight edge for drawing cut line Power Sander, preferably random orbital. Drill for drilling screws and 1 1/8th spade bit for drilling arcade button holes. Cutting knife paint roller if painting by hand Adjustable wrench for bolts Wood Clamps Materials: 1 sheet of 2' x 4' X 1/2" plywood or MDF wood.

Step 3: Cutting the Wood

Cut the board down the line you drew lengthwise. Now cut down the diagonal line to make your triangle sides. Next, on the other half of the plywood sheet, cut your 3 16" boards for the front and control panel Now cut the 2 inch arms from the control panel section of plywood. And that right there is most of the cutting.

Step 4: Sanding and Rounding the Sides

Next, clamp the two triangle sides together and whip out your power sander. You will need to sand the edges even on the two sides. Those cuts are hard to get perfectly even. While you are sanding, you can just sand away the tip of the side and round off the base as well. You will be left with two identical sides, rounded to safety.

Step 5: Cutting the Back Notch

Here comes the last major cut. It is a little more difficult because it is a couple angles in one cut. Keep your side boards clamped tight, and cut the notches as you penciled them out from the plan. Be careful to keep the wood you cut out free of damage. You will need that for the arm.

Step 6: Cut Cross Sections and Start Assembling

Now we can take those dowels we have handy and start cutting them up. We will need a number of 16" bars that we can screw in as cross sections in the cabinet.

Step 7: The Control Panel

This is an easy step, but takes some well thought out planning. Simply use your 1 and 1/8th spade bit and cut button holes, and a joystick hole. You will need to test out exactly how you want you controls placed so it is comfortable with you.

Step 8: Final Assembly and Dissasembly

OK, now we need to just finish putting everything together. Clamp everything how you want it and screw together. For the area above the monitor, you can either put two dowels and wedge plexi between, or for the easy route, you can just put a flat board across the top and forget a marquee.

Step 1: Plans

It would have been nice if we had a plan. It was more like several hours of arguing over some cardboard cutouts we made from all the eBay shipments we get. I have to bring this template to work and scan it since it is the official template I used for the sides. It probably differs a bit from the dimensions we drew up.

Step 2: Cutting Out the Parts

I started with a fresh bandsaw blade since this bandsaw was bought for $20 at a yard sale and had seen some abuse......

Step 3: Computers

We used Acer Revo atom based machines we had left over from Boxee setups. And odd mix of Windows 7 home and Windows XP.

Step 4: Little Bits

I found some shortie VGA and USB cables in the scrap pile. For the power strips I either used a dollar store special or I just shortened up some extension cords. My son made all of the graphics panels. I went to Lowes and found these 8 foot plastic edging strips for $2 each. They made a really a nice edge around the top Plexiglass panel.

Step 5: Hack Night

Well they made it to Hack Night. They actually worked great. They didn't get any paint and finishing. There just wasn't time. I did get out a putty knife and wood filler but that will have to wait. I wanted to spray the sides with either Krylon stone look alike paint or thank trunk speckled paint from the auto store.

Materials

The cabinet is built out of 3 - 8’ x 4’ plywood sheets of 1/2” thickness.

Template

Cut out this template precisely and keep as you master template for all future cuts.

Cut list

All units are in inches and degree angles. Add 1/4” to the length when a miter is present, 1/2” when 2 miters are present.

Cut Instructions

Using your profile template, mark 2 profiles on the plywood and cut with a jigsaw.

Control panel

Follow the wiring instructions of the cardboard control panel to wire the buttons and joysticks to the raspberry pi.

Screen

Place the screen on the wood panel and mark the position where the screen touches the wood.

Decoration

This is your cabinet, have fun decorating it and personalize it the way you like! We used the https://arcade-stencils.glitch.me/ to generate stencils and drawing on our cabinets.

Watch The Arcade Machine Video

Designing The Arcade

Building The Arcade Cabinet

• Old school arcade cabinets were made from 2×4’s and plywood, painted and covered with graphics for the game specific hardware and software that was installed in it. Plywood is pretty hard to paint and completely removed the grain from showing through, so I decided to use 3/4″ MDF (medium density fiberboard). MDF didn’t really exist as we know it to...

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