how to: cabinet copying for cnc reproduction, or with a pattern bit and a hand router.
I've finally started on a guide for copying arcade cabinets for cnc reproduction. The software i use for vectoring the cabinet pieces is Partworks 2.0 made by Vectric. It's a stripped down version of artcam pro, i'm pretty sure you could use artcam pro to get the same results.
Here's our victim, a rough mostly empty Krull cabinet.
This cabinet has tennon joints used in it's construction, which is common with midway, Exidy, williams, and some other companies. Tennons are routed slots on the side of the cabinet, typically 3/8" wide. Your game pieced in the center like the game top are routed on the ends, 3/8" deep. When we make a toolpath to route the ends of our panels, we will route it at .400 instead of .375 (3/8") so our parts fit without having
to force them in place.
The first step to copying a cabinet is to strip it of all metal parts, wiring, everything but the wood. Next we will take pictures of it from every angle, inside an out. 3rd, we are going to take a contrasting color sharpie (silver works well on black) and trace the edges of the parts where they touch the game side, and do the tracing on the game side. This will give us reference to the parts orientation. This mainly concerns the tennon, since your part has the routed pocket on the ends, you need to know if it goes in with notch up or down. Also, it will show us part placement from the edge of the machine, so you know how far forward or back, up/down to put it for final placement.
Once all that is done, it's time to dismantle the cabinet. I prefer to tear off a side, and leave the rest standing for the time being. Look at both game sides to determine if there's any difference in the left/right sides. In the case of this game, they were identical, with the exception of the bolt holes for the back door hinges. So, we will take the side with the hinge holes, we can delete them off the mirror copy we make when we do the other side.
I use a large flatblade screwdriver and a hammer. Start by stripping out the blocking inside the cabinet on the side we chose that that had more detail than the other (hinge holes in this case) Make sure you used a sharpie around the blocks, thier placement matters sometimes, so they don't interfere with interior parts.
Start with the edge and tap the screwdriver in, and pry back and forth, move around the entire side to loosen it up. Once you have it fairly broke loose, you can smack the side with a hammer to get it completely free. In this case it's a ply cab, if it were particle or mdf, you can accidentally hammer a hole right through it, so best to use a screwdriver for particle cabs to get the side all the way free.
Here's our side completely removed, and the rest of the machine:
More later tonight...
I've finally started on a guide for copying arcade cabinets for cnc reproduction. The software i use for vectoring the cabinet pieces is Partworks 2.0 made by Vectric. It's a stripped down version of artcam pro, i'm pretty sure you could use artcam pro to get the same results.
Here's our victim, a rough mostly empty Krull cabinet.
This cabinet has tennon joints used in it's construction, which is common with midway, Exidy, williams, and some other companies. Tennons are routed slots on the side of the cabinet, typically 3/8" wide. Your game pieced in the center like the game top are routed on the ends, 3/8" deep. When we make a toolpath to route the ends of our panels, we will route it at .400 instead of .375 (3/8") so our parts fit without having
to force them in place.
The first step to copying a cabinet is to strip it of all metal parts, wiring, everything but the wood. Next we will take pictures of it from every angle, inside an out. 3rd, we are going to take a contrasting color sharpie (silver works well on black) and trace the edges of the parts where they touch the game side, and do the tracing on the game side. This will give us reference to the parts orientation. This mainly concerns the tennon, since your part has the routed pocket on the ends, you need to know if it goes in with notch up or down. Also, it will show us part placement from the edge of the machine, so you know how far forward or back, up/down to put it for final placement.
Once all that is done, it's time to dismantle the cabinet. I prefer to tear off a side, and leave the rest standing for the time being. Look at both game sides to determine if there's any difference in the left/right sides. In the case of this game, they were identical, with the exception of the bolt holes for the back door hinges. So, we will take the side with the hinge holes, we can delete them off the mirror copy we make when we do the other side.
I use a large flatblade screwdriver and a hammer. Start by stripping out the blocking inside the cabinet on the side we chose that that had more detail than the other (hinge holes in this case) Make sure you used a sharpie around the blocks, thier placement matters sometimes, so they don't interfere with interior parts.
Start with the edge and tap the screwdriver in, and pry back and forth, move around the entire side to loosen it up. Once you have it fairly broke loose, you can smack the side with a hammer to get it completely free. In this case it's a ply cab, if it were particle or mdf, you can accidentally hammer a hole right through it, so best to use a screwdriver for particle cabs to get the side all the way free.
Here's our side completely removed, and the rest of the machine:
More later tonight...

