Cabinet

There are a number of plans available on the Internet that allow cabinets to be built from scratch. However, I live in an apartment and lack the space and tools for major carpentry/woodworking. Accordingly I chose to buy an old second hand cabinet and customise it for my requirements.

I looked through the Web auction sites available in Australia (ebay, sold etc) and found that, unlike America, no arcade equipment is sold through online auction methods. However a search in the yellow pages and on Google for arcade companies revealed a number of local Melbourne sources.

I visited Bumper Action Amusements which is just up the road from me. They had a large number of derelict cabinets from which to select an ideal MAME cabinet.

I chose a cabinet which had last been a Street Fighter II Alpha cabinet according to its generic marquee. It had a dead monitor and lacked the PCB but was otherwise complete. I was only interested in the shell and I liked its overall design. Bumper delivered the cabinet the same day (Saturday!) to my apartment.

I am still amazed by the construction quality of the original cabinet – it is built like a tank! I could never have replicated that magnitude and quality of workmanship within the limited resources available to me in my apartment.

The first task was to remove  the original components and strip the cabinet back to an empty shell. Lots of soapy water and cloths were used. My vacuum cleaner has never sucked up so much rubbish.

In the absence of a tool shed I was forced to use my lounge room and laundry as a workspace.