Project:Retro Gaming Arcade

I've been toying with the idea to create a retro gaming arcade machine for many years. But because space is an issue, I never followed through with it. But hey - why not simply create an arcade machine that doesn't stand on the floor, and instead hangs on the wall. Or stands on a table. Or (as it now turned out) hangs on to an Ikea IVAR shelf?

For the arcade's overall design, I had two things in mind:

1. it should be as "retro" as possible (early 1980s retro)
2. I didn't want any screws to be visible (and also not use glue to connect the side panels to the horizontal panels, so to be able to later disassemble everything, for example for storage in the basement)

I soon found a website which has DXF/vector files from original Atari cabinets (amongst others), and I settled for Atari's "Space Duel" from 1982. Because I wanted to use a french cleat hanging system to attach the arcade to a wall, I decided to shorten the cabinet, so it creates less "pull" onto the screws. Positive side effect: it takes up less room space, too. Negative side effect: there's less surface area for the side graphics design.

All angles and fillets are truthful to the old Space Duel cabinet design. I did, however, make it wider (70cm) to allow for enough space for two adults. And also to have enough space for 2 joysticks + 8 buttons each + a spinner in the middle.

Cabinet Design

The entire cabinet design was done in Autodesk Fusion 360. Because I stuck to Atari's original angles, there's hardly any rectangular connections. Designing everything in Fusion 360 would later help me cut accurate miters. Our Workbee CNC Router of course also requires Fusion 360. And if I really wanted to achieve a "no screws visible" design, a CNC router was probably the only option.

Basically, the idea was to screw timber beams into the MDF side panels from the inside of the cabinet. And then use the timer beams to screw/connect the side panels to the horizontal MDF panels (again from the inside of the cabinet, so no screws would be visible from the outside).

CNC Router

It's been a few years since I had the induction for our CNC Router, and I've never really used it. Besides, the router has received an update with a new imrpoved interface, and I simply wouldn't know where to start. Big thanks and shoutout to Leo, who helped me transfer my Fusion 360 design for the sidepanels to the CNC Router on a long Saturday afternoon.

Hanging System (French Cleat)

My initial idea was to hang the arcade cabinet to a wall with a french cleat hanging system. After the cabinet was finished, I found an even better spot: "inside" my Ikea IVAR shelf wall. (The "custom Ivar french cleat" is fairly basic. Photographs to follow - hard to explain in words).