Vewlix Tournament Edition Worklog 06
It has been a while since I last posted. My mother recently had surgery and I was helping her to a full recovery. I’ve also been working on my next big thing, but more about that later. For now:
Building the Control Panel
The first thing I did was cut out the bottom part of the control panel. It’s a pretty straightforward process, but it got a little tricky doing the little angle that goes in in the middle. I accomplished this cut with a jigsaw, while all of the other cuts were made with the circular saw.
Both of the angles on the back of the bottom part and the back of the top part are about 32º. I cut those angles using my circular saw rotated to 32º. If you’re going to clamp a piece of wood for a straight edge guide, you’ll want to test your angled cut on a scrap piece because the distance of your guide will change when you move your saw blade from 0º.
The front angle on the control panel was made using the 45º chamfer bit in my router.
All of the little supports that are sandwiched between the top and bottom pieces are also pretty straightforward to cut. I basically measured a long strip that was the height of all of the pieces, then measured out each piece along the strip and made the vertical (and angled for the side) cuts. Then I finished by making the long horizontal cut that was my first measurement for the strip.
The top piece might be the trickiest piece to work on, especially if you’re going to route out a moves list compartment. The two rectangles cut out of the top (for your fingers to reach the start and select buttons) had to be cut using a jigsaw. As mentioned above, the back angle was cut using my circular saw rotated to 32º. Lastly, I clamped a guide to the top to do one side of the routed moves list compartment at a time. Once I had the outline routed out, I used the router to carefully remove the material left in the middle. I used an Xacto knife to remove the rounded corners that the router bit left in the compartment.
Finger Jeopardy
The only other woodworking left is on the two white side pieces, which were very tricky. After my first approach failed (due to concerns over loping off a few fingers on my miter saw), I figured out a safer method that ended up working quite well.
I first cut a long strip of wood 2-7/16″ high with a 28º angle along the top edge. I cut the strip into 4 pieces that were about 8-1/32″ long. Then I glued and screwed 2 of those pieces together (to create the double thickness) with the 28º angles ligning up with each other. This leaves about 13/32″ of material on the front piece that will need to be removed to make it line up with the back piece. Once all of that was assembled, I then made the final 2 angled cuts on my miter saw: the back 32º cut along the side and the front 7º cut along the top.
It’s also relatively straight forward to put everything together. I used 2″ screws to screw through the bottom of the support up into the top piece (so they wouldn’t show through). I had some trouble with the screwing because the support pieces were so thin, they started to split, so I used screws closer to the middle of the piece or not at all on the smaller ones. I also didn’t use any screws to hold all of this to the bottom because of the screws already going in through the bottom of the supports.
Finishing Touches
I ended up screwing a scrap piece of material to the top of the bottom piece. This gave me more material for the screws to bite into. I screwed the control panel into the base from the top in the back and from the bottom in the front. The screws that went in through the bottom in the front bit into this scrap piece that I added.
You’ll have to disassemble your MadCatz Tournament Edition Fight Sticks to get the bottom metal plate off. Once you have the plate off and you’ve removed all of the large bolts that hold the rubber feet on, you can use the bottom metal piece as a template to find where you will mount the sticks on the control panel.
You’ll also notice in some of the above photos that I used a hole saw to cut a hole right behind the scrap piece of wood. This is where the cables for the Tournament Edition sticks run. I also cut out 2 USB plug sized holes in the longer front support pieces for the very same reason. Once this sticks are in place, you will never see these front USB holes.
Next worklog: I’ll talk more in depth about disassembling the Tournament Edition stick as well as what hardware to replace to make it mount to your control panel.
Great update. I’m following these worklogs intently as I am building a cabinet like yours
(actually exactly like yours…) I’m about to start the cp soon.
Sean,
That’s great to hear. Thanks for watching. Be sure to post any specific questions you have here. I prefer to answer people specifically, rather than just ramble on about my build.
Thanks,
Donovan
Thanks!
Can you provide the measurements for your TV so I can make sure the one i buy will fit?
I do have one question
For simplicity’s sake I was planning on buying the same TV you used but apparently the 32″ 120hz Sonys have been discontinued
Thank you
Very handy indeed. I was gonna start working on the control panel today as a matter of fact. lol.
I’ve been keeping a little blog about my progress so far using your plans and tutorials. Lemme know what you think.
http://gatsvewlix.wordpress.com
Since I can’t get ahold of the tournament sticks like yours, I’m gonna build the CP as one large piece. That’ll make things a little easier. Though I will still want to cut a little nook out for the guide buttons for the 360. Though I might just slap those on the top left and right corners….who knows.
Hello,
“I first cut a long strip of wood 2-7/16″ high with a 28º angle along the top edge. ”
Are you using MDF or a standard 2×4?
If its MDF, what was the width?
Im almost done!!!
Thanks a million Donovan!
Donovan,
It’s now clear that I need sleep. The answer is obvious.
Regards,
Insomniac : )
I’m guessing that you got it that I used MDF and it’s 3/4″ thick.
I keep seeing these great posts about people being close to done working on theirs. I can’t wait to see them.
Thanks for checking it out/posting/building your own,
Donovan
Donovan,
Can you supply the measurement of the chamfer bit(s) you used for this project, i plan on purchasing a few bits from mlcswoodworking.com. i understand that all the ones used in this project are 45 degree angles, but what i’m concerned on is the length of the cutting part. i would like to be able to accurately reproduce the angles on the sides of the TE sticks. I do not have a TE stick here, so if you could provide the measurement of that, it would be awesome.
Well, in truth.. I would have paid you to build me one
Its not too hard, but its a time sucker!
Were did you get the VewLix vinyl decal done? Can you post it so we can order one as well? Also, any info on the stickers would be appreciated!
Thanks Donovan!
I went to a local sign shop. If you look up a sign shop in the phone book or somewhere online, any of them should be able to print it for you. I took a PDF, AI, and EPS with me, just to be safe. Download all of those.
Thanks Donovan!
Ok, I will take a few moments to post some update pic’s…
Anthony
hey Donovan. I got a good bit of my cab done, though nowhere near finished.
check it out here:
http://gatsvewlix.wordpress.com
The big difference between our cabs will be Im gonna build the full CP instead of using the TE sticks, and will be running a PC (with mame) and a Xbox 360 for Tekken and Soul Calibur.
Donovan,
I have a few questions. What router bit did you use to cut out the move list on the control panel? How did you secure down the rounded top?
Is the speaker MDF piece the same size as the backer board that covers it? The sketch up file only shows the (thin) backer board.
Thanks in advance!
Anthony
Also,
The MDF piece that holds the backer board below the TV has an angle. Do you remember the amount?
( 29 x 2 1/2 at what angle)
Huge thanks!
Anthony,
I didn’t cut an angle on this piece. It’s all squared up. All I did was offset the piece back 3/4″ from the front edge of the side pieces at the same angle the side pieces are. I took a screenshot to make sure we’re talking about the same thing: http://screencast.com/t/lorkx19NbaR
I know in my SketchUp file that it is 14.9º (give or take) on the bottom to make it fit, but since the hardboard is covering that, I decided to make it easy on myself and not cut the angle. That board is just there to give something for the hardboard to be mounted to.
Hope that helps,
Donovan
Jon & Anthony,
The router bits I used are:
Bosch 45º Chamfer Bit. Part #85597MC
Bosch 1/2″ x 1″ Straight Bit. Part #85227MC
The Straight Bit is what I used to cut out the moves list compartment.
Jon – The sticks are included in my SketchUp drawing, and you should be able to use the Protractor tool to get the angles you’re looking for.
Anthony – I attached the rounded top using 2 scrap pieces of hardboard (1 on each side). I just put a screw into the side of the rounded top and a screw into the side piece (on each side). It’s just held on, it isn’t super secure, but I figured that’s all that is necessary.
The MDF piece along the top is just big enough to mount the speakers, probably 4-1/2″ to 5″ high. The hardboard overlaps the TV frame slightly. If the MDF were the same height, it would ‘hit’ the TV.
First off, the amount of work you are putting into making this info available to everyone is amazing.
I’m wondering, where did you get the moves lists/ other authentic decals for the cabinet?
What powers the speaker system and how is it controlled?
Ok I’m gonna do it, I’m gonna try to build one!
Thanks Mike, I’m glad people are finding this useful.
I got the moves list from the Official Japanese Street Fighter IV website. It’s all in Japanese though. I was going to translate it, but the English text wasn’t readable after trying to squeeze it in that space. The directions and buttons are still helpful, plus who cares what the move is actually called?
I have a really old set of 5.1 Creative/Cambridge Soundworks computer speakers (1999ish) that have a control box that accepts optical in. I run optical out of my PS3 into that control box and then it has RCA connections that go out to the speakers. I just hooked up the cables (that go from RCA plug to 2 separate speaker wires) to the Infinity car speakers. I also used the subwoofer from the computer speakers for extra bass.
Good luck!
Thanks for the info, you are very resourceful.
I’m looking forward to the post on dis-assembling the TE stick. I know they use a lot of sealant on the screws and other parts. Any experiences you can share would help out tremendously.
Hey Donovan,
I had my friend (who speaks and reads japanese) look on the website for the moves list and he couldn’t pinpoint it for me. Would there be anyway you could post the link of the .jpg for the Japanese moves list. I downloaded your Tatsunoko Vewlix artwork, really sweet!
Mike,
I don’t know when I’ll get a chance to get another worklog up. My summer is getting busy quite fast, but my Flickr Photo Set should give some insight into disassembling the TE stick: http://www.flickr.com/photos/donovanmyers/sets/72157614351247898/
Donovan
Hello,
Im at the painting stage now. Today, I went to Home Depot and got totally confused by the paint sales department.
I had 1 gallon of Oil Based Killz, then all hell broke loose. They were totally anti oil based paint and asked a million questions.
What type of paint did you use after applying the oil based Killz? Was it an oil based glossy or flat paint?
Also, they only sold spray cans of lacquer. Will this work?
Thanks in Advance!
I actually used a water-based 1 qt can of semi-gloss enamel. Anything would work here. It doesn’t matter if you use flat or glossy, when you put the lacquer over it, it’ll become whatever finish the lacquer is.
I don’t recommend spray cans, you’d probably have to buy a whole case of them. I’m sure Home Depot has cans of Minwax Lacquer. This is what the can looks like: http://www.acohardware.com/uploaded/images/Minwax/lacquer.jpg
Except instead of a red label, the one I used was yellow, for Clear Semi Gloss.
Hope that helps,
Donovan
I guess I should at least leave a comment since I visit your site everyday. I have learned a lot following your pics and all.I also am building one very similar to yours. Check it out when you have a chance. Thanks for all the hard work!
http://s116.photobucket.com/albums/o38/tbrownqb/Vewlix%20SF4/
Thomas,
Amazing work! Be sure to let me know when you’ve completed your cabinet (and have put photos of the finished product online). I’m planning to do a write up that points to everyone else who’s created their own Vewlix.
Visit my site every day? I feel even more pressure to update more often now.
Thanks!
Donovan
Another paint question..
How important do you find the Lacquer is to the finish? Does it improve the feel of the paint or is it just a sealant / protectant.
I put a few pieces together so you can see my progress.
Wouldn’t you know.. business triples as I start this project. I has really slowed things down.
Again.. HUGE thanks Donovan!
http://s645.photobucket.com/albums/uu171/mavenaz/?action=view¤t=CIMG0028.jpg
I have your comments and your post Subscriped in the google reader. First thing I check in the morning.
I think even after I’m finished with my cab I’ll still be visiting your page.
I’m having a real hard time cutting out those rounded top pieces that go overtop of the marquee…I just can’t seem to get the rounded edges proportioned with the rest of the bar.
Was wondering how you cut those bad-boys out….and how much putty did you have to use to cover up any boo boos…
Thanks again man. Your project has been an insane inspiration.
Anthony,
I guess it would depend on what type of paint you used. In my opinion (after painting/lacquering 2 cabs), the lacquer is the most important part. It gives it an almost plastic feel. If you are building your own control panel, I’d say it’s crucial. Otherwise, after a few play sessions, the paint would start to rub off around the joystick and button area where your hands rub.
That being said, if you value your life, don’t lacquer it inside. It’s a very strong and toxic smell. I did it in my garage with the door closed (I was afraid dust would blow in) and could have passed out several times.
It’s looking really great. Of course work has picked up for me as well, or you’d see me posting more often.
Thanks for still visiting,
Donovan
Foxx,
No problem. I already commented back on Worklog 04 with links to the downloads mirrored on this site.
I’ll go back and update the complete guide with those links as well since quite a few people have been asking for it.
Donovan