Mounting X-Arcade Game Controller - Finishing LCD MAME Cabinet
The control panel
As mentioned, this cabinet was designed around an LCD monitor and the X-gaming X-Arcade Tankstick + Trackball. One of the final steps was to mount the control panel. I opened up the X-Arcade unit by removing the bottom of it. I then was able to disconnect the side buttons and remove them from the sides of the case. I then unscrewed the panel from the case. What was left was the control panel with all the guts of it dangling beneath it.
I then placed the panel on the arcade cabinet in the proper place and marked where I needed to drill holes on the inside of the cabinet for the angle brackets that would connect the panel to the cabinet. I also had previously drilled holes on the side of the cabinet for the control panel side buttons. (I later realized that the plywood cabinet sides were too thick and that the buttons did not have deep enough threads to stick through the hole in the plywood. I used my router to remove some of the plywood material on the inside of the cabinet so the buttons would stick through enough to screw the nut on them.) I then used the router with the flush trim bit remove and to trim the Formica back flush so the button holes looked clean around the edges.
After attaching everything, the panel looked like it was part of the cabinet.
The finished cabinet
The final steps were to attach the computer speakers to the back of the speaker grill (I did this by gluing angle brackets to the speakers with epoxy and then screwing them to the grill board) and applying the bezel graphic and marquee graphic.
Overall, I am super happy with how the cabinet turned out. We often have friends over to play games in our game room and then watch a movie in our home theater. People love the MAME cabinet and are shocked to find out it's not a commercially built unit.
Have questions or comments about the MAME cabinet? Head over to the LCD MAME Cabinet Discussion on our forum.
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| Finished LCD MAME Cabinet with Integrated X-Arcade Controller Panel |