I never seem to document anything I build. I have learned a lot from the folks on the site, so I decided to try and share here for once. Hopefully this project won't take me forever. I figure that I will be more motivated if I post the project here.
I have held onto the Vs. guts from a converted upright DK cabinet than has since been restored, & picked up a Dr. Mario daughterboard for it. After lots of looking, I have given up for the time being on finding a Nintendo/DK cabaret cabinet to measure. I took measurements from this thread and vectorized the cabinet:
http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=136478&highlight=cabaret
I also have to give a shout out to a pair of projects that inspired me to build this cab. Phetishboy's DKJr cabaret custom build:
http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=197696&highlight=cabaret
& Tighe's custom Virtual Boy Arcadization:
http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=180916&highlight=virtual+boy
Dr. Mario was released in 1990, so I took some liberty with the cab to go with the time period. The Nintendo Super System cabinet also came out around 1990 so I borrowed some things like the 3/4" thickness white cabinet and the newer coin door. I feel that if Nintendo had made a dedicated Dr. Mario cabaret, it would have looked like this.
The local Menards had a $5 sheet of particle board with white melamine on one side and paper/phenolic on the other. Since I wanted a white cabinet with the inside painted black, this would make my job easier and it was cheap too! So far I have cut one sheet of parts on the CNC router. The remaining parts should be cut by the end of the weekend.
Here are some early pics:
Coin door is mounted to check the fit. There is a smudge on the board from the tape they used to hold the $5 sale tag which I will clean off. The mounting holes for the speaker are already pre-drilled on the back.
The inside of the side panels are shown here with the matching monitor/CP mounting structure. The dowels ensure perfect alignment and a rock solid connection when they are glued in place. The panels will be painted black on this side before it is assembled.
Here is the first batch of parts cut and ready for the remaining parts. The CNC router makes fast work of them.
I have held onto the Vs. guts from a converted upright DK cabinet than has since been restored, & picked up a Dr. Mario daughterboard for it. After lots of looking, I have given up for the time being on finding a Nintendo/DK cabaret cabinet to measure. I took measurements from this thread and vectorized the cabinet:
http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=136478&highlight=cabaret
I also have to give a shout out to a pair of projects that inspired me to build this cab. Phetishboy's DKJr cabaret custom build:
http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=197696&highlight=cabaret
& Tighe's custom Virtual Boy Arcadization:
http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=180916&highlight=virtual+boy
Dr. Mario was released in 1990, so I took some liberty with the cab to go with the time period. The Nintendo Super System cabinet also came out around 1990 so I borrowed some things like the 3/4" thickness white cabinet and the newer coin door. I feel that if Nintendo had made a dedicated Dr. Mario cabaret, it would have looked like this.
The local Menards had a $5 sheet of particle board with white melamine on one side and paper/phenolic on the other. Since I wanted a white cabinet with the inside painted black, this would make my job easier and it was cheap too! So far I have cut one sheet of parts on the CNC router. The remaining parts should be cut by the end of the weekend.
Here are some early pics:
Coin door is mounted to check the fit. There is a smudge on the board from the tape they used to hold the $5 sale tag which I will clean off. The mounting holes for the speaker are already pre-drilled on the back.
The inside of the side panels are shown here with the matching monitor/CP mounting structure. The dowels ensure perfect alignment and a rock solid connection when they are glued in place. The panels will be painted black on this side before it is assembled.
Here is the first batch of parts cut and ready for the remaining parts. The CNC router makes fast work of them.


