The Enclosure

The Arcade Synth Controller enclosure is designed to be laser cut from 3mm thick acrylic. The .svg file below can be used on a laser cutter or sent to a service provider for cutting.

Enclosure Parts

Cut the parts from 3mm (~1/8") acrylic as shown. Finished surface side of material is place facing upwards for cutting.

Affix the Arcade Boards

Use M2.5 nylon standoffs, screws, and nuts to affix the Arcade Button boards to the base plate. The first board (address 0x3A) is on the left.

Note the orientation of the board so that everything else lines up later.

Affix the Tripler

Use the standoffs and nuts to attache the tripler as shown. Connect the STEMMA QT cable port to the Arcade Button Boards.

Rear Panel Buttons

Making sure the finish side of the back panel is facing out (so the MIDI out ports align with the holes properly) feed the reset and enable buttons into their holes, then thread on their retaining rings.

Plug the switches into their respective ports on the Feather Proto board.

Place the back panel notches into the base.

Side Panels

Place the side panel notches into the base.

Front Panel Buttons

With the finish side facing out, feed the three front panel arcade buttons into their holes as shown.

Thread on their retaining rings, then plug them into the fourth LED Arcade Button breakout board. Double-check that you've plugged in the LED cables and switch cables into their proper respective ports.

Top Layers Buttons

Sandwich the top panels together (NOTE: only the lower of the two has finger joint notches), then feed in the buttons, minding their yellow, red, green, blue ordering.

Thread on their retaining rings.

Joystick Attach

Unscrews the joystick topper and set it aside. It looks like an everlasting gobstopper, but don't eat it. It will last forever. And taste pretty bland.

With the interface pins facing inward toward the center of the controller (it won't fit otherwise!) feed the joystick stem up through the top panels, then screw them into place with the four M4 x 40mm screws and nuts.

Plug in the joystick wiring harness.

Plug in the Buttons

 

It's a plugging party!

Plug all of the remaining arcade buttons, following left-to-right order, into the LED Arcade Button breakout boards.

TEST: this is an excellent time to test that everything is working before you close things up!

Close the Case

Carefully close the case top, aligning the finger joint tabs and slots.

Fasten the six M4 x 80mm screws through the holes, using nuts to secure them at the bottom.

Joystick Washer and Ball

Replace the joystick's disk and ball topper.

Feet

You can use large rubber bumper feet to prevent the exposed screws from marring your desk, or get extra fancy and use four or even six M4 threaded keyboard feet as shown here.

This guide was first published on Jan 26, 2022. It was last updated on Mar 28, 2024.

This page (Build the Arcade Enclosure) was last updated on Mar 08, 2024.

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