When most people show interest in starting an arcade cabinet project like this, they almost always pass through three stages of thought:

First Stage: "Hey, I could make one of those really easily!"
Second Stage: "What a minute... I need an arcade cabinet first."
Third Stage: "Screw this. Animaniacs is on TV."

... and most armchair-warriors and Slashdot-readers hit the third stage and basically give up without ever starting. Occasionally, someone builds up the gumption to actually hit the web and start hunting for arcade cabinets that would be a suitable shell for a cabinet project. This is the point where we lose a lot more cabinet-hopefuls, since some cabinets can be rather pricey. When the sole collection of your personal assets equates to $3.27, a well-chewed pencil, and the fuzz in your navel, you might as well forget the whole idea of embarking on a project such as this.

Cabinet projects tend to take up large quantities of both time and money. People usually have only one of these two items, but hardly ever have both. If you have both, be aware that most people in this world hate you for that very reason. If you don't have either of the two, well... welcome to the crowd.

Anywho, here are some pictures and descriptions of the arcade cabinet work that has been done to done to date.

Mechanical Construction