/diy/ - Do It Yourself

Looks a lot like the one I built!

Excellent project, and I built mine out of stuff I mostly had sitting around.

Factory seconds MDF at $8 for a 9'x5' sheet, a couple sticks of 2x2 I had left over, and an old computer running Windows 98.

I just had to buy a used coin door (I wanted a functioning coin mech for MAME games), new Happ controls, and a $25 dollar controller bored (Because I started soldering up a keyboard, then got pissed when I had ghosting issues while testing halfway through soldering), and a piece of Lexan.

All said and done I had less then $100 and a saturday tied up in the whole thing. Plus a full week of evenings setting up the front end and emulators.


I wish I had a better pic on my computer. This one was taken before I designed the marquee and keypad graphics, and had a friend airbrush the sides. I'm actually thinking I didn't have the final coat of paint and clear on it yet. Originally built it 3 years ago, but I'm going to overhaul it in the next few months. I already put in a slightly newer computer (A 20 GB HDD wasn't cutting it, as I also use mine as a jukebox), now at 120 GB and windows XP (Nothing special, but I like putting old computers to use). I'm going to tint the lexan on the front, and hopefully find a bigger CRT. I'll probably redo the keypad graphics (To incorporate some of the menu controls), and put a sheet of lexan over them for a finished look.