Re: Remanufacturing FAQ

Well, that much of a FAQ would be a little to much for me, and I agree about the
part of a tech writer doing the job. You have a lot of good information here,
Steve.

Since this is a little bit too big to be in my league, I'll defer to someone
else to do the overall FAQ, and contribute where I can. There are several good
web pages that have appeared that has to do with game restoration which we could
draw from (of course involving the owner of the website!).

Whoever takes on this project, please let me know. I would love to be a part of
it!

-Commander Dave

"Ozdemir, Steven S, GOVMK" wrote:

> G'day folks,
>
> I think taking a person through all the steps to construct or repair a given
> cabinet would be an excellent way to organize the FAQ. Finding an expert
> who's built a "typical" cabinet from scratch would be the best source of
> information.
>
> By "typical", I'm suggesting that an easily constructed/repaired (from
> common materials) cabinet that requires easily learned techniques be
> selected from a pool of popular games. At times during the FAQ, the reader
> would be sidetracked to other popular games that require a different (but
> commonly used) restoration technique.
>
> Unfortunately, I have little experience in restoration, but let me use
> Robotron as an example. The FAQ would describe how to find the dimensions
> of the original cabinet (and make a "pattern" to cut wood to), and the first
> step is to buy plywood (instead of particle board). Another section should
> discuss stapling, screwing and tricks used during construction.
>
> An alternative would be to repair an existing cabinet...quite a bit of
> discussion on bondo, plastic wood, etc would be merited. At this point, the
> reader would have a cabinet to apply artwork to.
>
> Once the cabinet has been prepared (sanding, primer, etc.), stencils for the
> side are made from another source of information. Colors are mixed and
> checked...I'd suggest mentioning some quantitative way of determining when a
> person has the right color. I'd include a sideline about side art stickers
> even though Robotron doesn't use them. This also leads you into the next
> section (and any sidelines about legalities).
>
> Control panel art and marquees are more difficult, since the copyright
> issues seem to pop up more often. Up to now, you've been able to site
> sources of information without worry. But to point a person to a database
> of CP overlay or sideart scans might be risky. Perhaps it is best to assume
> that the reader can find this information on their own?
>
> Describing how to improve the scan to the point that it can be used for a
> control panel is probably several sections. Followed by another section on
> how to talk to a printer about what types of equipment are used in the
> remanufacturing process. Finally some sources for raw materials (and how to
> evaluate them) would be a good to include.
>
> Cabinet hardware (like coin doors, locks, joysticks, buttons or bezels) is
> going to be difficult to construct, so I'd focus only on restoration.
>
> I'd route folks to the appropriate arcade WWW site or Conversion FAQ for any
> internal electronics. There's already enough in this
> restoration/remanufacturing FAQ, and a line has to be drawn somewhere. Let
> folks figure out how to find and buy the equipment to wire the control panel
> from these other sources.
>
> Finally, have a tech writer involved as early as possible in the writing
> process...I can't tell you how much Doug J's contributed to the FAQs that I
> helped to write! I've found over the years, that it is better to work with
> a small core group of people (a tech writer and several experts) rather than
> to poll a community of people. Also, I like to have a bunch of reviewers go
> over the final product.
>
> Steve Ozdemir
> sozdemir@att.com
>
> ps - I'm drawing on some WWW sites that I've surfed across in the past. One
> guy showed in gory detail how he either restored or constructed a Ms. Pacman
> cabinet from scratch. I know of a few collectors who opted to construct a
> cabinet from scratch (and most said they'd prefer to start with a beat up
> version of their cabinet next time...an excellent point to make in this
> FAQ). Also there's been a bit of discussion over the years about how the
> high prices for arcade games is going to lead to knock-off market...much in
> the way that old classic cars are copied!
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Commander Dave [mailto:david@hiwaay.net]
> Sent: Tuesday, September 07, 1999 8:29 AM
> To: vectorlist@lists.cc.utexas.edu
> Subject: Re: Remanufacturing FAQ
>
> If we do this, would we be sticking to just the artwork type stuff or are we
> talking a full blown FAQ about restoration of a cabinet? I am assuming the
> first
> as a full blown restoration FAQ would be too huge a project to tackle at
> this
> time. Also, is there any procedures for creating a FAQ (like newsgroup
> creation)
> or is it more "start writing it and they will come" type deal? Any thoughts
> on
> getting started with this Steve?
>
> Anyone want to contribute possible topics in a "remanufacturing of artwork"
> FAQ
> to be fleshed out later? I can start keeping a list and create an outline
> (unless someone else volunteers...Anyone, anyone?)
>
> -Commander Dave
>
> A major one would be "legalities" for sure.
Received on Tue Sep 7 11:51:27 1999