Project: Ultimate Arcade!

[titch162006]

Agreed,

I'm sorry to hear it man, but like crazybillbob said you family and your surgery is what counts so put those first definately. All else can wait and i'm sure i speak on everyone's behalf that we understand that...

Good luck man!!

Titch

P.S. Maybe you should get a job fixing up comps, it would be frickin awesome. Lol

[Rankenphile]

I do freelance a bit, fixing comps and stuff, on site. 99% of the time, you end up at someone's house, usually an old lady, watching virus scans run and waiting for MS updates coming down over 56k modems (I carry a CD with most of the updates and tools I need, but still!). Not exactly exciting, and not exactly fun. I much prefer the freelance design work I get, but money is money.

It turns out that my job may be spared until at least the first of the year, but I'm not going to sit around and wait for the axe to fall, so I’ll be looking for other work over the next few weeks.

I do have more to show off soon, but I’ve gotta finish working on my resume and portfolio, as well as a few improvements in the barn where I’m doing all this mod stuff – I tore the old ugly cabinets out of the house this weekend, and will be putting them in the barn so I can actually get a little organized while I work on this stuff.

I’ve got my mini-mod just about ready to start posting pics – by the end of the week I will have updates, I promise.

[Rankenphile]

Got some progress today, but not a lot.

First thing I did was hang up these nasty old aluminum cabinets to free up a ton of desktop space - I tore these out of the house I'm working on. I'll tell ya what, when you're unsure if you're going to have a job and need to burn off some aggression, nothing beats taking a crowbar to some panelling in a house. Just make sure you're allowed to do it first, or the home owner might get a touch upset.

That said, I hung these ugly beasts up - definately needs some paint on the doors, but that can wait.

While my friend was preparing the wall and doing some other preliminary work, I got the rest of the first LED mounting box cut, assembled, glued and painted. It's not pretty, but it will be almost entirely hidden, so it doesn't really need to be. I used some spray silver paint to help reflect the light inside and brighten the light a bit.

This is entirely made out of 1/8" PVC board, called Cintra (I'm sure I've mentioned this before). I actually stopped by Skagit Valley Signs on my way home tonight and asked if they had any scraps laying around of it, and got to take home a armload for free, on the condition that I wouldn't make any signs out of them. Lol. If you need building material for things, I recommend stopping by your local sign shop and asking for their leftovers, lots and lots of places use this stuff, and for a hobbyist a three years supply can be had for next to nothing if you ask nicely. Very easy to work with, bends nicely, simple to cut, and you can't beat the price.

The only other thing I did was take the front panel for the Xbox mounting platform off and cut out the holes that I drilled earlier - it turns out that I will need to have them this way to get the controller cords through - a step I was hoping to avoid, but it turned out inevitable. I also sanded down the old paint so that I can paint over it smoothly. I'm still working on a better way to label this thing - I'll let you know when I come up with something.

This is all I got done tonight, and I might have some more time tomorrow, I'll have to see.

I'll keep ya posted.

[wingman358]

That LED light box looks pretty sweet. Good idea with the silver paint. Still can't wait to see it in action.

[Rankenphile]

The more I think about it, the less I'm happy with that LED box. It's just sloppy.

I'll probably let it go, for a testing piece, but I'm probably going to remake it. I have to make a second one anyway for the other side, so why not redesign it and make it right the first time.

I'm still mulling it over. I may have some time tonight to get some work done, but it's getting darn cold outside, and the barn isn't heated, so it's tough to keep motivation going. Plus, painting in temperatures hovering around 35 degrees (F) with spray cans isn't an ideal situation.

I'll keep ya posted.

[Crimson Sky]

You could try using silver or aluminum contact paper instead of paint--Silver paint tarnishes pretty quickly from my experience--enough to make me hate the stuff altogether. When I need a reflective "light box" these days I line it with that automotive foil trim material--a bit more expensive than shelf liner contact paper but its shiny like chrome--

just my 2cent, hope to see more soon!

[Rankenphile]

I've definately considered that. The silver is the least of the problems - you can't really tell from the photo, but the box itself is really assembled poorly - off-square, with ugly gaps, the dividers came out shorter than I had expected because it was cold and I was distracted while working on it, the cuts aren't even, the ends are off, and I'm just not really satisfied. I've got a much better plan, that will take quite a bit more time to do, and I've just been so busy lately I rushed it, which was a mistake.

I'll post more when I have it to develop. Thanks for the input!

(by the way, another great and cheap source for extremely reflective mylar is "Space Blankets", the mylar blankets they sell with camping supplies. You can get a huge sheet (at least 8'x8') for about $2 at most hardware or general stores. A little spray adhesive and careful application with a roller or squeegee, or even an old credit card, would work perfectly. I bought a few of them a while back and put them on PVC frames to use as reflectors for some outdoor photography. The fact that they were wrinkled worked well, as it sent out a reflection that was similar to a water reflection, which was perfect for the subject.)

[Rankenphile]

Okay, new rule. Rankenphile isn't allowed anywhere near a hardware store this close to Christmas any more. :p

So, I had to stop at the local Home Depot for some screws and a heat gun, because I wanted a heat gun... and screws. Imagine that. While wandering around the tool department, because one of the lower-ranked lackeys said that I'd find a heat gun there (wrong, it was in the paint department), I kept walking past a Ryobi scroll saw, on sale for a mere $99. Adjustable speed, comes with five extra blades, adjustable cutting surface that tilts up to 45 degrees... it was rough, man.

So... lo and behold...

I mean, it was calling me.

Scroll Saw: Come on, man. Think of the fun we could have together.

Me: Sorry, Ryobi. The holidays are coming, and I have to be responsible!

Scroll Saw: But... don't you want me? Don't you love me any more?

Me: That's not fair, it's not like that. Really. I just...

Scroll Saw:*sniff* Okay. I see how it is. Just go.

Me: Oh, Ryobi. How could I stay mad at you. You know how I feel when you look at me with those big puppy-dog... um... blades.


So, yeah. It was inevitable. I caved. And I'm glad I did. My camera's batteries died (again. It eats them faster than Vin Deisel eats babies!) so I couldn't get pictures of the progress I got done, but this thing ZIPS through Cintra in no time, in perfectly straight lines, very smoothly. I redesigned the LED box and started cutting it out, complete with dovetail joints to ensure that it is square, strong and clean.

I love you, Ryobi.

Scroll Saw: I love you, too, Rankenphile.


That wasn't the only thing I got. I got the heat gun, too. Check it!

Not only that, but I got the screws I needed (8/64x2 slot-head screws... you'll see what they're for soon), a bunch of very small spring clamps (they were like $.38 each, and SO cute! :p), and this:

The pic came out blurry, because the camera batteries were almost dead, so I went without flash, but in case you can't tell, it is electrical tape - in five different colors. Ooooh, so fancy. Hehe.

I wish I had pics to show of the LED box, but I only finished a couple pieces of it. I'm going to a punk show tomorrow night (Propaghandi is playing at the local university. Rock! ) so I won't get a chance to do much, and if the weather is nice I'll be working on the house most of the weekend, but after dark I should have some more time to get some more progress on this part of the project.

I'll keep ya posted.

[SaWBLaDe]

heh rank back in high school we had a saw exactly liek that and we only ever used it for cutting perspex it was f**king perfect for it although there were some people who never got the hang of it and tended to cut a bit crooked and constantly snap blades all i can say is take ur time always or u will be going through blades liek theres no tommorrow. also if ur looking for a nice silver or chrome finish that will last i suggest u try "avery" brand vinyl its the same stuff they use for signmaking and decals for cars so its sweet. i just baught soem for myself and if i can remember correctly it said it can last 5-6 years or something anyway when i use it on my mods ill try and get a camera from somewhere and take some pics for you. cheers SaWBLaDe. P.S i was going to buy one of those saws too lol.

[Rankenphile]

Appreciate it, Sawblade, thanks.

I worked in a print shop for nearly five years previous to my current job, and we used a lot of Avery labels. I'll take a look through an old distribution catalog, see if I can track it down. I still know a couple sales reps for Avery, I'll see if I can't talk them into shipping me a sheet or two of samples. As far as I know, they don't know I'm not still in printing. :p