Part 1 – 17/02/2026 –Design and making of the first panels
A while ago, I was given some arcade machine parts. This consisted of two original arcade boards and an arcade machine control panel. The boards were in need of repair, and the control panel needed a good cleanup. But the end goal was to build a cabinet that would eventually use these components if at all possible!
Doing a bit of a look around on the internet, I found an example of a cabinet that was using this control panel. It looked a bit different to the standard cabinet design with some nice angles on it, so I have decided to use this as my template and try to replicate this cabinet.
The first step was to work out some measurements and knock up a 3D model to make sure everything was going to fit together correctly. I always use SketchUp for this simply because it’s what I got used to and find it quite intuitive to use.
After this, I took one of the side views and exported it as a PDF. Using Adobe Reader, I then printed it out to scale across several sheets of A3 paper and taped them together to give me a template to transfer onto 18mm plywood.
Now that the template was transferred, I cut out the first side, smoothed all the corners and then clamped it onto the second sheet of plywood to get an exact copy. After cutting the second side out, I clamped them back together and once again sanded the round corners to make sure everything matched perfectly.
So that concludes the first part of this build. The next step will be to make some of the internal panels and turn this flat cabinet into a 3D object. If you want to keep up to date with this project, then subscribe to updates, and i’ll put out a notification whenever this project is updated!
Part 2 – 22/02/2026 –Making the cabinet freestanding
I’ve had a spare couple of hours over the weekend, so I concentrated on cutting some of the joining panels and also the small riser that is at the bottom of the cabinet. T
I’ve joined all the panels together using a pocket hole jig and screws. This way, it will keep the outside panels nice and tidy without visible screw heads everywhere.
The cabinet is now a freestanding unit and is really starting to come together.
The next stage will be to build the part where the coin mechanism will go. I know it’s easier to have a button to add credits, but I want this to mimic the real experience as close as possible.
But, instead of using coins, I’ve managed to grab some official SEGA tokens off one of the Facebook arcade groups. So these will be my currency of choice.
Stay tuned for more updates!
Part 3 – 01/03/2026 –Adding the control panel, coin slot and preparing for the display mounting
A few more hours in the evenings spent working on the cabinet, and also a bit of time at the weekend. The first step was to start building the front of the cabinet. There were quite a few angles to cut for this one, but having all the measurements on the 3D model really helped out here. After marking out everything and then cutting it, assembly was quite straightforward.
At this point, I decided mount the control panel next so I could make sure that everything was at the right height and aligned properly.
Everything is looking good so far, so I continued and added the support where the marquee will go, and also the front panel for the display mounting. I will need to remove this again once I’ve measured the actual CRT display. This panel will have clear Perspex fitted to it and the bezel graphics at some point in the future. The CRT display itself will be set a couple of inches back from this panel.
The next step for this session was to fit the coin door, and since the vinyl wrap had also arrived, I decided to wrap that panel just to get an idea of what it was going to look like..
Finally, I got around to setting up my mini CNC machine to start experimenting with the speaker grills. I knocked up a quick design and set it to cut on a scrap of wood. I think it turned out pretty well and is probably what I will use on the final design.
So that’s it for this session. Next, I will be looking to start routing out the slots for the t-slot moulding, and possibly wrap the side panels. Then it will be concentrating on mounting the CRT tube.