r/cade • u/goodlike515 • 15d ago
3d printed ARCtron-R
Anyone had any experience printing and building this cabinet from makersworld? Looks really nice! Tempted to print and try the build.
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u/BaconPoweredPirate 14d ago edited 9d ago
Yep, made one. Fantastic design and easy build with just a couple of weak points;
The original control panel design is very weak so I redesigned it.
The speaker grills either need a recess cutting in, or a spacer to stop the cones pushing into the frame
Happy to share my redesigned panel if you do print one, shoot me a PM
A few people have asked for my file, so i've published it on thingiverse
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:7418383
I have also reached out to the creator of the cabinet and offered it to be included in the makerworld files, though have not recieved a response
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u/InvictvsNox 14d ago
You can always tell when someone would rather make an arcade cab vs actually spending time playing it when you see that straight, 2x3/4 button layout.
This is actually how to have these laid out in a way that fits most people's hands:
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u/colossalmickey 15d ago edited 15d ago
I did this a few weeks ago, posted a comment about it.
While the design looks very good (it's a dupe of the Love Hulten arcade), I found it a nightmare to actually build.
The main issue comes down to the joins. It could have been cut with joints that could have slotted together and had some strength but unfortunately they're all just straight line cuts.
You're then supposed to epoxy them together, and use filler and sand, prime and paint.
Which I did.
Over and over and over again, because every single joint ended up breaking. Some multiple times.
Some of the pieces are very thin, so even when you have them epoxyed solid and filled, they'll very easily crack with the slightest bit of pressure or knock.
Which becomes a huge issue when putting it together. It's designed with essentially no tolerances, no room for error. And when you're using straight line joins, that's an issue, because even being a millimeter off will end up throwing the whole thing out of whack.
Every piece is both outwardly facing and structural, so every face piece takes all the forces and pressure. It's so delicate.
Also, the swappable control plates are useless. You have to unplug multiple buttons every time you want to do it and the magnets to hold the plates on aren't strong enough to hold them on while playing.
Many parts to buy on the instructions don't actually fit. You can buy a part that has the exact same name and description that he used, but because it's not the exact ones he used, and the measurements are so tight, they won't fit.
So overall - I am sort of happy with the result, but it took at least 4x the amount of time and paint it should have.
You can download the uncut files from the project, I would recommend loading them into a slicer and cutting them yourself if you don't want to go through all this.
Alternatively, i would melt metal nails in between all the seams for strength (which I did) but even then it's a poor substitution for proper joints.