OPINIONS about painting/decals

ChrisWoodruff

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Jun 8, 2003, 12:00:13 AM6/8/03

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Here's the deal...

SCENARIO:
My Strange Science has a particle board cabinet with decals (contact paper?)
instead of paint. In the process of restoring it I pulled the ALL BLACK
sticker off of the front of the machine, figuring I can replace that easily
(it was scratched up, plus when I plugged the lock down bar holes, I needed to
paint or SOMETHING, didn't want to paint over a DECAL...)

PROBLEM:
Well - it seems that Black Contact paper is harder to find than I thought.
Only thing I found was a wood grain texture (meant to look like black painted
wood) doesn't look too bad, but on a pin?

So the way I see it, do I:
1 - Just go ahead and paint the front black? Since this is particle board
this will include a few steps to smooth the texture of the wood itself

2 - Keep looking for a BLACK DECAL? I just now thought about checking with
the ON-LINE decal makers (all black can't be too pricey)?

3 - Put this (wood grain) paper on until I can do something else (it wouldn't
be that hard to pull of again to do right).

I'm kinda thinking I should do #3 so I can finish the rest of the machine and
once I can do the RIGHT thing to do it - it would only take about 15-30 min to
undo all this...

Thanks all,
Chris

Lloyd Olson

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Jun 8, 2003, 12:06:40 AM6/8/03

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For something black that you could use, have you checked art and craft stores
? Art supply stores ? Fabric centers ? Doesn't really have to be a decal if
it's the right color and finish. LTG :)

ChrisWoodruff

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Jun 8, 2003, 12:23:11 AM6/8/03

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Well I was hoping for something self-adhesive...

I have tried:
Lowes (home improvement)
Linen N Things (kitchen, home stuff)
Michaels (Art Supply)
Target
Walmart
- there was a couple more that I'm forgetting... but finally
At Wallpaper Express I found the black that I am talking about. They had
"wood grain" or felt finish.

I kinda look around at the art store to see if something else made sense...
thought about using the white or clear paper and painting _that_ but I dunno -
don't think it would look good.

Thanks!
Chris

scottmax69

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Jun 8, 2003, 1:14:12 AM6/8/03

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It's out there. I bought some awhile back for a control panel on a vid. It's
kind of a satin black with a "sheen". (pause) I just went and found a roll
in the shop. If you think it might work for you,email me your address and it's
yours.

Scott
(Maryland)

ChrisWoodruff

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Jun 8, 2003, 1:30:43 AM6/8/03

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Thanks Scott - I'll email you if needed. You don't remember where you got it?

scottmax69

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Jun 8, 2003, 2:02:39 AM6/8/03

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I'm pretty sure I got this at home depot. If you want, check on it and if you
can't find it I'll be happy to send you what I have at no charge. Just passing
on what others in the group have done for me in the past.

Scott
(Maryland)

ChrisWoodruff

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Jun 8, 2003, 2:05:39 AM6/8/03

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Do you remember if it was with Shelf paper or somewhere else (another
department)?

scottmax69

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Jun 8, 2003, 2:32:52 AM6/8/03

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Yes, it was with the rest of the shelf paper.

Scott
(Maryland)

Bob Buzzotta

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Jun 8, 2003, 8:08:43 AM6/8/03

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ChrisWoodruff <cde...@pacbell.net> wrote in message news:<CFN377798...@news.sf.sbcglobal.net>...

Hi Chris,

Try these guys. I think they'll have it.

http://www.beacongraphics.com/prem.html

Bob
www.fishtoes.com

Dan Nikolich

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Jun 8, 2003, 12:41:18 PM6/8/03

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I had to redo a control panel on a vid and found a self adhesive black
material that they use to redo the sides of vending machines. I bought it
at a local distributor here, Colorado Game Exchange, and it was $25.00 a
square yard. It looks great and probably looks just like the stuff that you
took off the machine. It is also used for redoing the sides of video games.

-Dan

"Bob Buzzotta" <b...@fishtoes.com> wrote in message
news:37a3657f.03060...@posting.google.com...

Chris

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Jun 28, 2003, 5:30:06 PM6/28/03

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Thanks everyone for your responses. For completeness this is what I
did;

I could NOT find straight black contact paper (found marble patterns,
wood grain patterns, etc). I searched:
Walmart
Home Depot
Lowes Hardware
Michaels (art/craft supply)
Aaron Brothers (art/framing supply)
Wallpaper Express (they had one close)
maybe a couple of others, but that's basically it.

Ended up contacting an express sign company (Sign Gourmet was the one
I went to) and I picked up a piece a bit bigger than I needed for $5
(FYI: They had high and low gloss - the low gloss ended up being a
great match).

Color and sheen is a VERY close match, the only problem was the
thickness. Because the cabinet is particle board the texture of the
wood is not smooth. Plus I had patched the lockbar holes so those
spots were smooth. Didn't realize this would be a problem until AFTER
I put the paper on. I mean, it's not bad (it's not obvious unless the
light hits it just right), but in the future I would do one of two
things...

1) be patient and order the stuff for vid cabinets (see one of the
responses to this thread)

2) If I was to use this decal I would probably lay some contact paper
down FIRST (to smoothen the texture) then apply this stuff.

Well I'm keeping it the way it is for now. If it turns out I can't
stand it, it actually wouldn't be that tough to replace.

Good think about that decal material - since it WAS thin, it worked
GREAT to put over the cabinet corners where the black decal was
starting to come up. With this on there I think it will keep things
good for sometime.

Thanks everyone
cw

ChrisWoodruff <cde...@pacbell.net> wrote in message news:<CFN377798...@news.sf.sbcglobal.net>...