Vewlix 'Slim': Project Plans on Page 1 (More CP info added - page 1)

Tech Talk
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Objective:

‘Enhanced version’

Base Construction:

Materials:

18mm MDF: Front, side, top and bottom panels
40mmx30mm Wood Strip: Cabinet legs
25mmx25mm Wood Strip: Internal supports
Wood Glue: Glueing support strips and panels together
35mmx4mm Wood Screws: Screwing support strips and panels together
40mmx4mm Wood Screws: Screwing cabinet legs to side panels
Cabinet levelling/adjustable feet

Tools:

Jigsaw For rough cutting MDF panels
1/2 inch Router For trimming and bevelling
Flush trim bit For trimming panels to size
Large Chamfer bit For bevelled edges
Drill For screw pilot holes
Screwdriver

Plans for wood sections/pieces:

Plan description:

The darker brown areas show where the MDF has been bevelled using the chamfer bit.
The front piece protrudes slightly to allow for the bevelled edges.
The front edges of the side pieces have been bevelled slightly to give the overall appearence a more interesting and less box-like look
The front of the leg pieces have angled cuts to reflect the real machine.

The following picture is to clarify the above:

Front View:

Plan description:

With the side pieces attached, the overall width is increased by 3.6cm. This is approximately 1cm wider than the monitor. It is important to base the width of the front, top and base sections on the width of the monitor, taking into account the thickness of the side pieces. My monitor is 58cm wide.

Construction:

All the pieces were assembled and the pilot holes for the screws made before anything was glued together. All the main pieces are secured from the inside using the 25mmx25mm wood strip. This is visible in the following picture:

Once the dry fit was completed, The legs were prepared and the leveling feet inserts drilled. The following picture shows a test fit on some scrap.

The legs were then attached to the bottom of the side panels using the 40mm screws. 5 were used for each to provide a decent level of support.

Once the fit was confirmed, everything was disassembled and reassembled with screws and wood glue.

Notes:

You may chose to have your panels cut at your hardware store for pragmatic reasons but bear in mind that the cuts may not be exact.
A hole will need to be cut on the top panel to feed the cable through to the controls in the CP. You may want to wait to complete the base of the CP before you do this.

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Sides Construction:

Profile (pre-painting):

Closeup of inside bevel:*

Materials:

18mm MDF: Outside side piece
12mm MDF: Inside side piece
18mmx10mm Wood Strip: Inside Bevelled piece
Wood Glue: Glueing support strips and panels together
25mmx4mm Wood Screws: Screwing side panels together (optional)

Tools:

Jigsaw For rough cutting MDF panels
1/2 inch Router For trimming and bevelling (also see miscellaneous section)
Flush trim bit For trimming panels to size
Large Chamfer bit For bevelled edges
Drill For screw pilot holes (optional)
Screwdriver (optional)

Plans For Side Pieces (not to exact scale):

Plan Description:

The 12mm MDF sections should be on the inside faces of the side pieces
The darker brown areas show where the MDF has been bevelled using the chamfer bit.
The side pieces rest on the cabinet legs.
The edges on the upper half of the ‘V’ on the side pieces are parallel which is not clear from the plans.

Construction:

Cut a template and use this as a guide for the remaining pieces
Attach the 18mm and 12mm MDF panels together before using the chamfer bit to create the bevelled edges (I only used glue)
Bevel the edge of the 18mmx10mm Wood strip and set it aside for later. This will need to match up with the inside of the top piece.**

Notes:

Using the exact dimensions from this cab may cause the top and side sections to not quite line up correctly at the back of the cab. I’m not too concerned about this but you may want to adjust the thickness at the top of the sides to compensate for this. It will become clearer in the next section.
**It may be appropriate to bevel the side and top pieces at the same time to ensure that they line up.

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Top Piece Construction:

Full Top Piece:

Top Piece Side Detail:*

Top Piece Join:

Materials:

18mm MDF: Outside side piece
Wood Glue: Glueing all 4 top pieces together
25mmx4mm Wood Screws: Screwing top pieces together

Tools:

Jigsaw For rough cutting MDF
1/2 inch Router For trimming and bevelling (also see miscellaneous section)
Flush trim bit For trimming panels to size
Large Chamfer bit For bevelled edges
Drill For screw pilot holes
Screwdriver
Sandpaper

Plans For top pieces:

Plan description:

The darker brown areas show where the MDF has been bevelled using the chamfer bit.
The top pieces are cut larger than required
The width of the first top piece equals the width of the MDF sides (12mm + 18mm) plus 1cm for the wood strip bevelled in the ‘Sides Construction’ section
The width of the 2nd 3rd and 4th pieces are thinner by approximately 1cm to allow the marquee to slot in without the edges showing

Construction:

The top section is the most time consuming part and care should be taken making sure the curves are smooth on the initial piece as it will be used as a template for the outside curves on the remaining pieces. The second piece will be used as a complete template for the remaining 2 pieces as the inside curve can be used as well (I didn’t do this but I may as well have as it would have been quicker).

I’m sure that those with better router skills than me can do this more effectively but this is what I did. First draw the outline and rough cut as close as possible to the line. Then sand until the desired curve is obtained on both the inside and outside edges (this may take some time).

This is what it should look like if balanced on top of the base:

Once complete, draw all the way around this piece and rough cut the outside of the curves. Redraw the inside curves and the inside line, reducing the thickness by 1cm. For the second piece, you only need to be precise on the upright parts as a support will be added to connect the sides to the top:

In this picture you can see where the top piece is wider than the sides by 1cm; this will line up with the bevelled wood strip made in the previous section. The wood strip can be seen in this picture:

The inside curves for the second, third and fourth pieces don’t need to be too precise as they will be hidden from view. Attach the first and second pieces together (I used strong double sided tape - not carpet tape as this doesn’t stick too well) and use a flush trim bit to create a matching outside edge. Trim the inside upright edge as necessary to obtain the desired thickness. Once complete, the second piece can be used as a complete template for pieces 3 and 4.

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Front Panel Construction:

Speaker Grill:

Materials:

6mm MDF: Speaker grill main board and spacers
Speaker cloth: Cover speaker grill
Strong and thin double sided tape: Stick speaker cloth to main board
Wood Glue: Glue spacers to back of Speaker grill
Optional: Black vinyl to cover speaker grill main board (else you’ll have to paint it black).

Tools:

Jigsaw For rough cutting MDF panels
Router For trimming and bevelling (also see miscellaneous section)
Flush trim bit for trimming panels to size
Chamfer bit for bevelled edges

Plans for Speaker Grill:

Plan description:

The darker brown areas show where the MDF has been bevelled using the chamfer bit.
The arrows indicate that the spacers are glued to the back of the grill once the construction is complete

Construction:

It’s best to make this once you understand the location of the speakers as the holes that are cut will need to line up correctly. Cut the main board and use a chamfer bit to bevel the edges. Cut out holes in the middle of the board. Once complete, paint the board or cover in black vinyl, cover with and and attach the speaker cloth to it using strong and thin double sided tape (I found that carpet tape was no good). Finally, glue the spacers to the back of the speaker grill. This will make the grill stand proud from the bottom front panel which I think looks much better.

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Control Panel Construction

Full Control Panel:

Materials:

18mm MDF: CP Base, Front, Side and supporting pieces
6mm MDF: CP Lid and back of CP base
10mm pre-bevelled Wood Strip: Bevelled angles for the back and the top of the CP lid
Wood Glue: Glueing everything together
20mm Wood Screws: Screwing sides onto side supports
12mm MDF: CP Joystick section and CP sides
3mm Board: CP Joystick section
3mm Clear Acrylic: CP Joystick section
3mm Opal acrylic: CP Moveslist inlay

Tools:

Jigsaw For rough cutting MDF panels
1/2 inch Router For trimming and bevelling (also see miscellaneous section)
Flush trim bit for trimming panels to size
Large Chamfer bit for bevelled edges
Drill For screw pilot holes (optional)
Screwdriver (optional)
24 and 30mm Forstner bits/Spade bits: Drilling acrylic

Plans for the CP (not to exact scale):

Plan Description:

Two of the CP sides are 18mm MDF and 2 are 12mm. This is to line up with the main cabinet sides.
The 2x6.5 cm CP front pieces are located in the middle of the MDF stack at the front of the CP
The 5 cm CP front piece is located at the top of the front stack on the CP**
The base and 1 of the 6.5 cm CP fron pieces are bevelled.
The single 5 cm CP piece is bevelled.
The CP base is slightly wider than the main cabinet base built in part 1. This is to ensure that the sides of the CP are not restricted by the base

** The above picture shows the top 5 cm piece as a 6.5cm piece before it was cut to 5 cm. This is because I was initially unsure how wide this piece should be.

Construction:

Bevel along the length of the base using the large chamfer bit. Attach the two pieces of 6.5 cm MDF strips together and use the chamfer bit on one of the long sides. Bevel the top CP front piece. Attach them all so they are ordered as shown in the diagram remembering to make sure that the top piece is only 5 cm wide. The resulting ‘ledge’ on the 6.5 cm pieces is to allow the main joystick section to rest on it.

The CP is 594mm in length and 140mm wide with 12mm MDF used for the main base. The 12mm board is routed to a depth of around 2mm around the 3 outer edges where it rests on the ledge to lower the CP slightly relative to the sides.

The side pieces are cut to support the main CP (36mm) and the lid (48mm). The lid is made from 6mm MDF.

This picture shows the ledge at the front and the lid more clearly. The lid was cut further once the main stick section was complete to ensure accuracy:

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Reserved for Finishing/Painting description

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Miscellaneous Items

**Warning: artwork not yet printed/tested.

1. Project Artwork:

Software required:

Photoshop

Sample:

Download Link:

Item Description:

The artwork for the project created in Photoshop
Credit goes to Arthong and Danmartigan for the original template and designs used as a basis to create the artwork.

Notes:

All the layers in the Photoshop file have been merged.
The print is for an A1 sized sheet
The content includes a marquee, sideart and two control panel prints (one can be used as a guide for cutting the acrylic on the control panel if necessary)
Each item is slightly larger than required and is trimmed to size.

1.2 T5 Artwork

Software required:

Photoshop

Sample:

Download link:

Item Description:

The artwork for the T5 created in Photoshop
T5 template in the same style

Notes:

Layers retained
Credit goes to MIVLives for the template that this was based from

2. Project Materials

4 X 18mm MDF 4’x2’ 52
1 x 12mm MDF 4’x2’ 11
1 x 6mm MDF 4’x2’ 7
3mm board 4

8 x 2’ lengths of 25mmx25mm cross section wood strip (base inside supports and upper monitor/speakersupport shelves)
2 x 30mmx40mm Wood strip for cabinet legs 2

Trim for verical inside front sides (router bevelled: hides monitor edges) 2
Bevelled trim for horizontal strips to hide monitor controls, monitor logo and join between marquee and top front panel 3

100 40mm screws 5
30 35mm screws 3
Wood glue 1
P38 car body filler6

MDF water based primer $8
Water based balck/white paint 3
Water based matt (comes out a great satin!) and gloss polyurethane varish $5
PlastiKote Hi Gloss White Spray x3 15

Lots of sandpaper. 10
Black self adhesive vinyl roll (68 cm wide) x2 10
Speaker cloth 7
Levelling feet 7

Monitor 16:9 true widescreen aspect ratio with VGA, HDMI and DVI 180
Logitech sound system (5.1) 115
Sanwa JLF and snap-in/screw in buttons. 52
Madcatz arcade stick to hack 5

6cm x 56cm opal acrylic strip (moves list inlay) 3
Clear 3mm acrylic 5
A1 printed artwork sheet 15

3. Useful links:

Vewlix owner’s manual (link to pdf’s containing some dimensions of the Vewlix cabinet):

http://forum.arcadeotaku.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=862

Donovan Myers’ website (the main inspiration behind my build):

http://www.donovanmyers.com/category/personal/projects/

Link to the original Vewlix ‘Slim’ worklog:

http://forums.shoryuken.com/showthread.php?t=203721

Tools and finishing products:

Trend chamfer bit used for the project (it’s expensive!):

http://www.trend-uk.com/en/UK/product/C197X1_2TC/6/chamfer/bearing_guided_chamfer_angle%3D45_degrees.html

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If anyone has any comments, feedback or suggestions, please let me know and I’ll include them as necessary.

Thanks.

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This is awesome, I’mma have to bootleg this cab when I get the money together :bgrin:

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Artwork added to ‘miscellaneous’ section

That’s great! Let me know how you get on and whether anything needs to be added to the guide.

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i second that boot leg man… i’ll let ya know how it goes…
thanks for this:encore:

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bookmarking for future reference. thank you for sharing this.

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awesome man

cannot thank you enough :wink:

good job

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Man, a kit of this would be super cool.

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C’mon ericleroi i have no nails left to bite awaiting the final result :stuck_out_tongue:

Thank you so much for the blueprints… someday i will make my own Viewlix like arcade cabinet…

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man I love you so much :party:

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Just Wanted to Say Thanks again to Ericleroi, Not only has he inspired me to get started on my Viewlix Project, he also inspired me to change up the Stick I am using for it.

Here’s the result, I used a combo of his work he did for me, and had a friend add to it.

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Thanks! Any suggestions for improvements would be welcome.

No problem!

Thanks for that!

It would, that’s for sure.

Glad to help and be sure to post pics when you do.

Gulp!

No problem and thanks for the encouragement you’ve given me building this. Your stick is looking good!

I’ll be starting work on the plans for the sides soon.

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Added some picture to some of the sections. I may update when the cab is complete.

Edit:

Updated text for side panel construction.

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this thing is just beautiful thankyou for sharing!