NES Final update

Heyo everyone!

Here is the last post on my NES project, I posted links to all the steps and a link to a video on YouTube if you'd like to check that out. The project was super fun and would love to make more stuff. I need to give my Dad a huge shout out for all the help. This probably would have turned out like a complete wreck without him. Anyways here is one final shot of the completed table with glass and all.

Video is HERE!

Here are links to all the steps of the project:

Update I

Update II

Update III

Update IV

Update V

Thanks for following along!

NES Update #5

Heyo fellow pale kids!

Im super excited about this update because im basically finished! All I need to be 100% done is the glass for the top! I will probably have one last post on this project once I have the glass.

So everything was slowly winding down to the end and there are just a bunch of small things to do. I threw on the paint for the trunk, did a nice two tone paint job :p

I but some wood blocks on the inside of the walls of the lid so I can put a lid on the back to hide all the buttons and wiring. It will look soooo much cleaner and finished with this backing.

And here is the backing. Cllleeaaannn.

Like I said my previous post I said I was to get the decals from a professional place and thats what I did. Im very very glad I went that route because they look amazing! Once the decals were on I clear coated the whole thing and it was time to start putting things together!

I put the hinge on and put a chain on so the lid doesn't go flying back when its opened.

And here are a few shots of the finished product, minus the glass. Enjoy! I'll post one more blog about the table then ill be moving on to new projects, hopefully just as cool :P

While you're ogling and awing at the table give my pals The Forerunner a listen!

NES Update #4

Hello everyone,

I'm back with another installment of Project NES. Its been so much fun building this table. Slowly watching this thing look more and more like an actual controller. Anyways its been getting down to all the odds and ends of the build, just trying to make sure we do all the little things.

We routed out a groove on the box so the hinge could sit flush. We are using 4 feet of 1 and 1/16 in. hinge. Its small but long so it will have enough strength to hold the weight of the lid.

I've been debating wether or not to actually put this little detail on the table. I really had no clue why it was on the NES but after a lot of thought I decided i wanted it so we quickly chiseled out the little groove.

I actually like it! It gives it a nice "original" touch.

I threw on a couple coats of the light grey paint.

The dark greyish/green that goes in the middle was difficult to find. No paint stores could colour match it because the area on an actual controller was to small. Finally after a bit of searching Cloverdale Paint said they would just keep tinting paint until the could match it. I brought it home and put a few coats on and was so worried. The paint looked really, really green. Despite being worried about the colour I masked it off and painted on the black.

I didn't want to leave the masking tape on over night while the first coat of black dried. So I set up my computer and watched a little CSI and also watched Gone In 60 Seconds while I waited for the paint to dry. After it dried I did a quick sand and threw on another coat then peeled of the tape. I Was very, very, very pleased with how it turned out! The dark grey looked perfect!

I was going to make my own stencils for the A, B, Start, Select, and Nintendo, but I suuuuck at cutting out the letters. I'm going to get them professionally done. I'd rather have them done right then take away from all the work done to the table by crappy letters. Once I get those decals done ill clear coat the whole thing put it together and start playing! While the decals are getting cut you should listen to the wonderful tunes of And Then There Were None.

NES Update #3

Hello, Hello, Hellooo!

I'm back with update number 3 on the NES coffee table. Again this isn't an original idea and you can watch a video of where I got the inspiration to build this right here, here, or here. The dude who built that beautiful piece of arts name is Kyle Downes and you can see more of his stuff on his blog here.

So the build continued with the construction of the bottom half of this coffee table/trunk. We used 1/2 inch MDF to build the 48 x 21 x 16in box for storage and whatnot.

A quick shot of the top and bottom halves together.

We then cut the holes out of the A, B, Start, and Select buttons. After a bit of sanding we also finished making the buttons for the NES as well.

Since this table is actually going to work with a NES console we needed a way to make the buttons work. My dad had an idea of using some switches that he has at work. The switches are "momentary" switches and only make a connection when pushed down, as soon as the button is released the connection is lost. Here I show just the Start and Select buttons, but every button on the table has one of these switches.

With the D-Pad we drilled a small hole into the bottom of the it so it would have a pivot point since this one button needs to rock 4 different ways. To make the pivot work we used a ball stud my dad also had at work.

All the buttons needed a way to return back to the proper position once they've been pressed. we drilled bolts into each button and threw on a couple washers and springs and voila!

The most confusing part about making the buttons was the D-Pad since it had to rock 4 different ways the system we used for the other buttons wasn't working. After a bit of idea tossing we found that removing the springs altogether, just for the D-Pad, worked the best.

Once all the buttons were made it was time to mount them and wire them.

One thing that Kyle did on his table was add a plug onto the chord so he didn't always have the chord dangling around when he isn't playing. The only thing i didn't like about it was the way the wires just hung out of the side of the box. It just wasn't as nice as I thought it could be. I wanted to do the same thing with the plugs but clean it up a bit. I cut the chord from the original controller and added a plug to it. Ill show you how I mount it and reconnect it in a paragraph or two :p

We then soldered the wires to the pins on the NES board and mounted the wiring harness to the underside of the table.

Back to the plug! I mounted the "female" side of the plug on to the side wall of the table at about the same point the chord would come out of an actual controller. On the rest of the chord that was cut from the NES Board I wired the "male" part of the plug. So when i want to play games with the table all I do is plug in the chord into the table and start playing!!!

The next post will be in a week or so, I have to fill and sand and fill and sand some more then get some paint and paint 'er up! so I may only have one more post on this subject. I already have a few other projects in mind. Well I'm off to fill and sand, and while i do that you should check out some music from my pal Josiah James!

NES Update #2

Gondor Primulon bloggers.

So Im back with the second NES post and things are coming together great! Im so happy with the way its turning out. My dad has been a huuuge help in this project. He has pointed out easier ways to do things and throwing out ideas on what we could add or do different. Im beginning to think he is more stoked on this than I am! So when I say "We" it means my dad was right there helping me.

Here I got some 3 1/2 inch MDF base board to make sides to the controller. Im eventually going to build a box and the controller will be like a lid to a Chest/Coffee table

We noticed the center part of the controller with where the "start" and "select" buttons will be was recessed a small bit so we took the router and got to work eating away at the inside of the center space.

We quickly learned the router was our best friend and used it to cut out the hole for the D-pad.

As well as bevel the sides as well to give it a cleaner look.

With most of the construction done minus cutting out the holes for the Start, Select, A, and B buttons it was time to start preping the box for primer and paint. I started filling in cracks and what not with filler and will sand it smooth once it dries.

I cut out the D-pad and it was horrible! I wish I had a picture. We took out our good friend the router and got to work. It turned out great!

I cut out the arrows for the D-pad from some more of that 1/8 inch hardboard stuff. I glued this piece to the D-pad and did some sanding and routing.

And this is what I got! It looks great, I couldn't be happier. I put some more filler in the arrows and ill sand it to give it a cleaner look.

I am also going to do the same thing with all the edges of this controller.

There you have it! Well on our way to having a giant working NES controller!! Ill update probably on the weekend some time since we need to get a couple different tools and pieces to accomplish things we want done. Well that is happing you should check out these cool dudes! Lydia

A Little NES with that?

Hello Blogging world....

Today I bring you something very, very awesome, exciting, Amazazing(Quote from "The Benchwarmers")! and yet its still warming and pleasant to the heart. I felt condemned to do this project inspired from this video . Yes, yes, yes, I will be building a giant NES a.k.a Nintendo Entertainment System a.k.a the Original Nintendo (for you young'ns) controller/coffee table. I will be posting my progress over the next while...im really not sure how long this will take me. Anyway, here is some of the progress I have already.

I first decided to draw up blueprints so I had a rough idea of exactly how big everything needed to be. My dad gave me some calipers so I was able to measure the exact length and distance of each part of the controller in millimeters. I scanned a picture of my NES controller and blew it up a little bit so i had a little more room to write and it would be more clear. I then just multiplied the numbers I got by 100 and I found my new measurements in centimeters.

Next I got to work on the very top of the coffee table. I got a 5/8 inch piece of MDF and cut it to size. I then cut the shapes of the buttons and the border of the controller from 1/8 inch piece of hardboard.

Thats all I have done for now. Im currently waiting for the glue to dry :P

ill post more after a few steps are complete so im not posting little dinky short blogs for every single step. So be sure to follow along with me on this Legen....wait for it...those of you who are lactose intolerant guard yourself...Dairy...Legendary ride.

Be sure to check out this awesome band as well!!!! A Current Affair

Peer Pressure

Hi...again.

So I think I need some sort of catch phrase when I start a blog. At least something better than that flaccid attempt.

Anywhoooo..Tonight we had a few hours to kill before we went back to my pad to kill more hours with deep conversation about NES games and funny emails. Oh what a rock-star life I lead. Ty, Jason, Joe and I all headed over to "Little Whistler" as we like to call it. It's a brand new development in Garrison with a Cooper's foods and a bunch of free, empty real-estate. There isn't a whole lot to do there but they do have a fountain type artsy thing...

(Doesn't Ty just look the cutest!)

As you can see...its fancy. And us being the cool duders we are, we decided we wanted to parkour the crap out of that place! There is a fairly large gap spanning 10-12 feet from the huge block on the right to the bench on the left. Jason had been eyeing it out and eyeing it and eyeing it out. After a while Ty and myself began to "cheer" Jason on, he was even doing practice run-ups and jumping of other areas estimating the distance. He was constantly asking us if we thought he could do it and we believed in our buddy! He was ready! He could do it! Over and over and over again he was going over it in his head, kinda like the Owl City song Fireflies does. Everything was set, the cameras were rolling, the crowd had hushed and...............BAM!

He chickened out after an hour and a half and just ate a sad looking piece a pizza....

LATER!!

Check out these dudes!! Sleep For Sleepers