Great topic idea!
I'm working on a cab for a 6803 Motordome. It wasn't beat to hell like some of the 6803 cabs but why not build a new one?
Fortunately for me I have a cousin about an hour away with a stellar wood shop, he did most of the heavy lifting as far as cutting the large pieces then I went out and picked up a nice little hobby table saw the other day and that has helped tremendously.
I can now cut wedges and have used it to build a prototype leg hole jig which I took inspiration from here:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/clearly-insane-part-ii-bingo/page/5#post-4483320

Jig needs a little more work, I drilled these holes free hand rather than with a drill press. I hope to make a permanent jig today.
Anywho, just some progress pictures. One thing to state, FORSTNER bits are your friend!! Scored a nice set from Lowes, 14 piece set, and the guy matched the HF cost 30ish USD!

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That’s fantastic work! But what about decals?

Ah, fear not... I got mine from Retro Refurbs. I had actually scanned the originals and was re-creating them in Photoshop and was preparing to find a printer when I heard back that R R offered them.

A couple of tips I have come up with after doing over a dozen cabs...first I have tried to make similar jigs to drill corners holes for leg bolts after assembly and found out its easier to do before assembly with a half round router bit. Mark and route each side seperatly before assembly for a perfect hole...

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You should also use a corner joint for strength, a locking miter joint is the strongest option but takes some practice and requires a large router table...

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A standard slot bit (with template) will take care of the glass and lock channel for the top of the head...

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I built this little jig to hold the corner braces so I can drill leg holes...

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Forschner bits are perfect for start button and flipper buttom holes...

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Sorcerer cab...
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Virtual cabs...

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WPCs...

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Cosmo you still making cabs?

Yes but my delusions of retiring on a pile of pinball cab cash has been replaced with the ability to build one or two a month as time allows...

If you get ready for orders lmk. My IJ cab is, well, showing her age.

Cosmo,

About the locking miter joint... What about a Festool Domino joint?

How much do you charge for a cab?

mrm_4 Do you have a link to the 3D guide that jim5six made?

They won't answer this or give some obscure answer. Why? Because it's too much and they're low key embarrassed.

Sleeve insert worked out? I'm debating adding sleeves to my wooden one.

I dont think that is the case, it's not much less than the VP cabs, but it's the shipping that is the issue.
cosmokramer did extensive investigation and if I recall shipping alone was almost as much as shipping an entire pin.
Unless one is buying them local or by a truckload, its almost not feasible to be a supplier.
I think that is why Matt started this thread so those of us willing to endeavor will have the tips and tricks of the experts.

My prices are listed in the marketplace, no secrets here.....however, my turn around time is slow

Make the tool a double hole tool so the spacing cant get messed up. I would also like the 3d stp files

My big hurdle so far has been finding the full 3/4 birch plywood. My local places dont have it

If you measure it, it will be .7

Ive been arguing with the mechanical engineer at work about it
He thinks its not a big enough difference to matter.

I'm not at all suggesting they aren't worth it. It's a lot of work that goes into these and I know shipping is ridiculous. Just pointing out the costs to make these is not worth it for a lot of us.

They look really high quality, but you are probably right about shipping. It would make it too high

Compare it to an older pinball cabinet.

Hey noob, lighten up. Seriously?

Not trolling, just concerned ocd engineer here

Drilled new 5/8" holes for steel inserts with a 1/2" ID, hope to finally drill holes in cab this weekend. If only I had a router table like Scott!
Will post results.

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I will post the corner hole guide on thingiverse today and post the link here when its done.

-Jim

here is the link: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3348794

Hope this can help other people.
Thanks,
-Jim

Got the leg holes drilled and have transitioned to body filler mode. If I do another one of these, I will certainly find out if my cousin has a router table for the leg bolt holes. The jig worked fine but do believe those who have done this before me like Scott know what they are talking about!

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I have enjoyed reading this thread. Lots of good info. in here. I am impressed with the way to managed to make your wedges, but that is too much work. Is is probably too late at this point in this conversation, but if you are going to be doing cabinet work you need a table saw. Either a hobby saw as another posted talked or hit up craigslist or the pawn shops for table saw.

There are a lot of good used table saws. All over the country it seems. Some are good. Some are junk. You need to study the table saw market a little bit.

I remember when a 2 x 4 was actually 2" x 4". Then it went to 1 7/8" x 3 7/8". Then 1 3/4 x 3 3/4. Now we are down to 1 1/2" x 3 1/2". Will we see 1 3/8" x 3 3/8" ?

This lumber shrinkage is now to the point that the stores have finally had to make note of it on the shelf labels: 3/4" actual size 22/32". The difference is minor, but if you are not expecting it.....

Router table is only needed for the miter joint (I also use it for the groove for the bottom panel but I can do it with a dado blade on a table saw also)
The leg bolt holes are routed using this simple jig I made. This was supposed to be just a prototype but it worked so well I have not made the 2.0 version yet...

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After I finish my TOM cabinet I will try to get some pics of it in use...

That's how we did the current cab I'm working on - dado

That's a good prototype!!

I'd rather paint touch ups and clear playfields, cab work should be left to the experts. I think I'll only look for projects with solid cabs from now on.

Before we moved to our current house, I had a very nice woodshop with a cabinet saw. That thing sucked up a lot of room and cost a bunch. I would look at a good track saw next time or a panel saw

I bought and old Mikita table saw at pawn shop. I'm having a ball with it. It is a small portable saw. The nice thing is that it lightweight and I can pick it up and move it at will. The bad thing is that are are no safety feature, like a riving blade. And there is no dust collection so I have to wear a mask when using it.

I want a better table saw. This is a video of portable table saw comparisons. I think I am going to go for the Hitachi.