This page is going to be devoted to a table of the running costs of various projects as I get to work on them.
All suppliers are listed with suburb and state (state and country for international suppliers).
All prices are listed in AUD, unless otherwise stated.
Arcade Cabinet 1.0
2011-04-02
This is it. The v1.0 of our arcade cabinet. It's still a work in progress, so the parts list and costing will be updated as we go along, and hopefully completed soon, but probably over the next month or so due to work and family commitments and so on.Some parts are recycled from other projects, but where possible the costing will be listed.
Here is what we have spent so far:
| Item | Where From | Quantity | Cost (ea) | Cost (total) |
| Fluro Light 16W 350mm | Bunnings (Woodville, SA) | 1 | 40.00 | 40.00 |
| Coin Mech 12V Electronic | eBay (e.amusements, NSW) | 1 | 23.99 | 23.99 |
| Postage | eBay (e.amusements, NSW) | 1 | 12.00 | 12.00 |
| Cam Lock 16mm | Bunnings (Woodville, SA) | 2 | 9.68 | 19.36 |
| Continuous Hinge 305mm | Bunnings (Woodville, SA) | 2 | 9.91 | 19.82 |
| Continuous Hinge 610mm | Bunnings (Woodville, SA) | 1 | 14.61 | 14.61 |
| Handle Metal Prestige | Bunnings (Woodville, SA) | 1 | 3.74 | 3.74 |
| Knob Plastic Prestige | Bunnings (Woodville, SA) | 1 | 4.18 | 4.18 |
| Spray Paint Black | Super Cheap Auto (Pt Adelaide, SA) | 4 | 3.45 | 13.80 |
| Cold Cathode 30cm 2 pack | Jaycar (Adelaide, SA) | 1 | 22.95 | 22.95 |
| Perspex UV2 Clear 705 x 560mm 705 x 127mm | ABCO (Rosewater, SA) | 1 | 85.00 | 85.00 |
| Paint 1L Black Paving | Paint Supplies (West Lakes, SA) | 2 | 25.00 | 50.00 |
| Scraper # 38mm Plastic | Mitre 10 (Port Adelaide, SA) | 1 | 1.25 | 1.25 |
| Body Filler For Timber | Mitre 10 (Port Adelaide, SA) | 1 | 8.50 | 8.50 |
| Screw Caps Black Plastic 100 pack | Bunnings (Woodville, SA) | 1 | 5.86 | 5.86 |
| Hinge Butt 70mm | Bunnings (Woodville, SA) | 4 | 1.52 | 6.08 |
| Screws Chipboard 8-10x30mm 500 pack | Bunnings (Woodville, SA) | 1 | 13.20 | 13.20 |
| MDF ~ 2400x1200x18mm | Dry Creek Builders Yard (Dry Creek, SA) | 4 | 15.00 | 60.00 |
| T-Molding Red | T-Molding.com (Connecticut, USA) | 60 ft | 0.37 USD | 21.95 |
| Router Bit Cutting Blade and Arbor | T-Molding.com (Connecticut, USA) | 1 | 28.00 USD | 27.68 |
| Postage | T-Molding.com (Connecticut, USA) | 1 | 25.00 USD | 24.72 |
| Premium Button Red, Blue, 2Player | OzStick (Croydon South, VIC) | 7 | 2.40 | 16.80 |
| Zippy Joystick Red | OzStick (Croydon South, VIC) | 1 | 12.50 | 12.50 |
| Coin Mech CM03 Coin Mech | OzStick (Croydon South, VIC) | 1 | 27.50 | 27.50 |
| Postage | OzStick (Croydon South, VIC) | 1 | 12.50 | 12.50 |
| Premium Button * Red, Blue, Black, 1Player | OzStick (Croydon South, VIC) | 10 | 2.80 | 28.00 |
| Rectangle Button * Red Illuminated | OzStick (Croydon South, VIC) | 1 | 3.00 | 3.00 |
| Zippy Joystick * Red | OzStick (Croydon South, VIC) | 1 | 14.50 | 14.50 |
| I-Pac2 Encoder * + USB Cable | OzStick (Croydon South, VIC) | 1 | 62.50 | 62.50 |
| Wiring Kit * | OzStick (Croydon South, VIC) | 1 | 18.00 | 18.00 |
| PCB Mounting Kit * (plastic feet and screws) | OzStick (Croydon South, VIC) | 1 | 2.50 | 2.50 |
| Postage * | OzStick (Croydon South, VIC) | 1 | 12.50 | 12.50 |
Total | $688.99 $547.99 ^ | |||
* Recycled parts from previous projects. Listed to show the price of the parts when I bought them, but not the current price.
^ Price of materials not including recycled parts.
~ These MDF sheets from Dry Creek Builders Yard where seconds, with some damage on the edges and marks on the surface. The damage was not enough to interfere with the project (it was accounted for and cut out of the excess material) and made the material cost less than half of buying from the next cheapest suppler.
# With more thought and planning this wouldn't have been needed. When doing a test asembly we didn't plan our screw holes properly which is what needed to be filled in.
1:1 Model
2011-02-05
This project is for a 1:1 cardboard model of the intended finished cabinet. I think that it's a great idea for anyone to try, especially if you don't have much experience in building on this scale (and for many MAME cabinet builders this can be their first project of this type). The reason for the build is to figure out the position of your elements, screen marquee, control panel, etc. Basically it lets you test everything before you commit to buying materials and making mistakes! Just remember that a cardboard model and the real cabinet differ mostly because on a cardboard model you don't need to account for the thickness of the material, but the MDF you do.| Item | Where From | Quantity | Cost (ea) | Cost (total) |
| Cardboard many sizes | Radio Rentals recycle bin (with permission) (West Lakes, SA) | Lots | Zero | Free! |
| Gaff Tape Nashua | Jaycar (Gepps Cross, SA) | 1 | Unknown Left from other projects | Free! |
Total | $0.00 Free! Nix Nada Nill | |||
This is just the 1:1 model. So basically it has nothing in it other than cardboard and gaff tape. People say "if it can't be fixed with duct tape, it can't be fixed" people are wrong! If it can't be made/fixed from gaff tape it cant be made!
Control Panel
My first project is to build a simple little Control Panel to be attached to a PC via USB cable, independent of any cabinet. Just to be clear this is just a test project, it will work but it won't look like anything special when it's finished.
| Item | Where From | Quantity | Cost (ea) | Cost (total) |
| MDF 2400x1200x18mm | Bunnings (Woodville, SA) | 1 | 31.00 | 31.00 |
| Spade Drill Bit 28mm | Mitre 10 (Port Adelaide, SA) | 1 | 14.99 | 14.99 |
| Dulux Spraypac White, Black | Mitre 10 (Port Adelaide, SA) | 2 | 8.99 | 17.98 |
| Wood Screw 4G 12mm | Mitre 10 (Port Adelaide, SA) | 1 | 3.99 | 3.99 |
| Sandpaper P800 | Mitre 10 (Port Adelaide, SA) | 2 | 1.95 | 3.90 |
| Premium Button Red, Blue, Black, 1Player | OzStick (Croydon South, VIC) | 10 | 2.80 | 28.00 |
| Rectangle Button Red Illuminated | OzStick (Croydon South, VIC) | 1 | 3.00 | 3.00 |
| Zippy Joystick Red | OzStick (Croydon South, VIC) | 1 | 14.50 | 14.50 |
| I-Pac2 Encoder + USB Cable | OzStick (Croydon South, VIC) | 1 | 62.50 | 62.50 |
| Wiring Kit | OzStick (Croydon South, VIC) | 1 | 18.00 | 18.00 |
| PCB Mounting Kit (plastic feet and screws) | OzStick (Croydon South, VIC) | 1 | 2.50 | 2.50 |
| Postage | OzStick (Croydon South, VIC) | 1 | 12.50 | 12.50 |
Total | $212.86 | |||
It should be noted that these costs are higher than they needed to be. For example, the MDF sheet I bought was 2400x1200x18mm, most of which won't be used for this project. I could have bought a much smaller one (at a lower price) but I have other uses for the excess. Also I'm sure some more looking around would reveal places selling basic items, such as MDF at a lower price, but I was busy the day I bought it.
Also to create a 2 player Control Panel would work out significantly cheaper per player as the encoder can support 2 players, and some of the buttons would be shared.
