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colors. Find them in The Geek Pub Store!
I started by breaking down the sheet goods into smaller pieces as they’re easier for
me to handle on the table saw.
I like to use a track guide which helps me get straight cuts with a handheld circular
saw.
Then on the table saw I cut down the pieces to their final dimensions. If you don’t
have a table saw don’t worry. You can make this arcade with all handheld tools.
After cutting the parts down, I took a second and labeled each one so that I can keep track
of it easily.
I started by cutting down what will be the base of the arcade. To make this look nice
I put a 45 degree miter on them, but that’s purely optional.
The two side pieces get a decorative cut out on them. To make it easier, I taped the two
parts together so I could cut them at the same time.
I then cut the marked section out using my bandsaw. A handheld jigsaw would work fine
here.
The bandsaw leaves ugly marks on the wood, so I removed them using a spindle sander.
All that’s left for the base is a little glue and a few brad nails!
Alright so there's two sides to the arcade. There's the side that's going to have the
coin door in it (and so will cut a hole for that with a jigsaw later on). The other side
has a door in it and so the door is obviously much smaller. So we need to build a face frame
to go around the door so what we'll do is we'll glue the face frame up. And I probably
will use actually pocket holes I think to hold it together. Then we'll have one side
that is a solid sheet of MDF one side of the face frame with the door in it!
I used my pocket hole jig to quickly add some pockets to the rails.
Now, quite honestly I expect the pocket holes to really just be clamps while I wait for
the glue to dry.
I find that clamping the two boards to my bench makes for a much better seam when screwing
in the pocket hole screws.
And that’s it! A completed face frame that our door fits into nicely!
For those who follow my arcade builds, you know I like to use cleats. Cleats give a little
extra structural rigidity. But more importantly they make the assembly process much simpler.
I used some spacer blocks so the base would sit level and then started assembling the
cabinet. You can see how the cleats really make this simple.
With everything lined up I started adding glue and brad nails to complete the assembly.
Brad nails are like little clamps that hold things in place while the glue dries. If you
don’t have a nailer, no big deal. You’ll just need to wait about 30 minutes for the
glue to set before moving on.
Now this is starting to resemble a cocktail table arcade!!
Included in my plans are spray and stick templates that you can use to make cutting out various
components of the arcade simpler.
I like to double up the pieces when there are duplicates and make two at the same time.
I also include templates for drilling the control panels. I like to use a punch to divot
the center of each button so that it's easy to place the drill bit in the exact center.
I prefer to use Forstner bits when drilling these out, but paddle bits from Home Depot
would work fine too.
The templates really take all the work out of it!
There are several sections of the arcade that need to have a t-molding slot added. It’s
super important we route these before assembly, since the router won’t be able to reach
those spaces once glue up is complete.
Next I went to work building the two control panels. I used the same method as the base:
Using cleats. Only smaller.
Brad nails tend to split ½” MDF, so I decided to just clamp it up and wait for it to dry.
With the glue dry I went to work routing out the T-molding slots. Again, this must be done
before gluing them to the arcade as the router will not reach later.
I went to work cutting out the slot for the coin door. I used the jigsaw for this operation.
A quick test fit and all is well!
Before gluing on the control panels I wanted to have some access ports behind them. I used
the jigsaw to cut out a 2” slot behind where they will glue on.
Then I just added some glue… lined them up carefully… and then clamped them in place!
With the cabinet base complete, it’s time to start work on the table top.
The tops of most cocktail table arcades are once inch (that’s 25 MM) thick. I could
have just bought a sheet of 1 inch thick MDF but then the prices of lumber these days!
Instead I decided to cut down two ½” thick pieces from the ½” MDF I already had on
hand.
I coated one side with a lot of glue. Did I say a lot? I then sandwiched them together,
clamped them up and let them dry overnight.
The next day I trimmed it down to final dimensions and attached the giant template!
I again used the jigsaw for this operation. I like to use my air compressor to keep the
dust out of the way as the blower on the DeWalt kinda sucks. I tried to stay about 1/16”
away from the line.
I then used my orbital sander to remove the jigsaw marks and bring it down to the line.
And then a quick sanding of the top!
With all of the construction complete, it’s time to give it all a nice coat of paint.
I used the bench dawgs from Rockler to keep the cabinet from sticking to the paper.
I then shot the entire arcade with two coats of filler primer. After sanding, the filler
primer looks sort of like plastic. It’s *really* smooth.
I then sprayed the cocktail table arcade with three coats of flat black. If you take your
time you will be amazed at the results you can get from rattlecan paint.
I began installing the T-molding. I decided this arcade was going to be black and yellow.
Geek Pub colors!
The smaller T-molding goes on pretty easy. The larger t-molding generally needs a rubber
mallet to persuade it into place.
In places where the corners are really tight you may need to notch the T-Molding to make
it fit properly.
We have an entire video on T-Molding Tips and Tricks if you haven’t seen it.
Oh man that looks sweet!
I flipped the table top over and installed the LCD panel. I just pulled this panel from
a CCTV monitor I found on Amazon.
Did you know we sell T-Molding in The Geek Pub store?
I used its existing mounting brackets, drilled holes, and screwed it to the table top.
Now we’re in the home stretch. I started installing all of the components starting
with the coin door.
The joysticks just screw into the back of the panel. There are templates in the plans
for drilling these holes.
This is our yellow controller kit. The buttons just drop in the holes and you screw a nut
on the back.
The start and select buttons go on the front of the control panel.
There’s plenty of room for the encoder board to be mounted right between the joystick and
the buttons.
Then it is just a matter of connecting all of the cables, and I have detailed wiring
instructions on the site.
Each button gets a dedicated connection from the encoder and then the LED power is daisy
chained from one of the two power ports available on the board.
With it all wired up I installed the control panel and plugged the encoder into a USB power
outlet. Let there be light!
I like to have USB ports on my arcades for using external controllers.
On the side of the arcade I installed an IEC C14 power connector that is both fused and
switched.
To install the tabletop I used these little L brackets from the hardware store to allow
it to be removed later should the
monitor need to be replaced.