Sunday 27 December 2009

Another Hiatus Leads to More Brainstorming

Well, this year has been a slow one for us. I have tinkered around with a few ideas lately but haven't put anything into actual motion. So far, this year, we moved one playhouse, built a few laptop stands which are still sitting in storage and I built a desk for my son (see previous post).



However, I looked back at the idea of building a retro jukebox computer cabinet for my family room in the summer because I have always wanted a jukebox. Even though it would only play digital media files and not actual records, it still would've served it's purpose. The ironic part about all this is that I just recently stumbled across other craftsmen who are already building something that is similar to what I was designing (without prior knowledge of what they had been doing). The item I am talking about is something called a 'Mame' cabinet. 'Mame' is an acronym for a front-end program that allows you to play old school arcade games on your PC. There is also other front-end type programs that will give the PC an exact feel of an arcade machine if that is the sole purpose of that machine. The front-end software also doubles as a jukebox program which is what I was really trying to do in the first place.

Not only did I find the plans available for free to build the basic cabinet, there are also plenty of accessories available to add that finishing touch to your project including joysticks and coin slots. I ran the idea by Chris and he seemed very enthusiastic about the whole idea. During my Christmas holidays, I'm going to sit down and work out the details and see if this is a feasible project for the new year and if it would be something that people in Edmonton would be particularly interested in. If not, Chris and I would both like to build one for each of us and use them to show off our talents.

I'll update on this as things progress.