Particle-board/melamine edge repair?
Pete Ashdown
painting up melamine and/or side-art? Most of what I've seen in rebuilds is
stripping off the side-art and bondo-ing a new edge. If there isn't side-art
available or the damage is just in the black/white, it would be nice to have
an alternative.
--
Pete Ashdown pash...@xmission.com http://pashdown.org Salt Lake City, Utah
XMission Internet Access - http://xmission.com - Voice: 801 539 0852
Jeff
> Are there any decent how-to's on fixing the particle-board edge and/or
> painting up melamine and/or side-art? Most of what I've seen in rebuilds is
> stripping off the side-art and bondo-ing a new edge. If there isn't side-art
> available or the damage is just in the black/white, it would be nice to have
> an alternative.
> --
>
You could just repair the damaged area and not remove the entire
decal.
Either cut a matching piece of particle board and epoxy it into place
or if the damaged area is not too big, just clean and remove any loose
debris and build it up with two or three applications of Bondo.
Carefully sand the repaired area and spray with matching paint.
Don't forget to tape off the side art or you'll regret getting the
Bondo or spray paint on the good art.
Jeff
scottz29
> painting up melamine and/or side-art? Most of what I've seen in rebuilds is
> stripping off the side-art and bondo-ing a new edge. If there isn't side-art
> available or the damage is just in the black/white, it would be nice to have
> an alternative.
> --
>
> XMission Internet Access -http://xmission.com- Voice: 801 539 0852
What do you mean by "the black/white"? You also lost me on "painting
up melamine and/or side-art" ... perhaps if you told us which game you
were repairing, it would help. Also, what kind of damage are you
repairing? Water damage? Physical damage? A picture is worth 1000
words.
I've replaced particle board before, never did the bondo thing to fix
major damage. Once the damage is too great, there's nothing for the
bondo to hold onto. Just cut the damaged portion out, and replace
with a new piece of the same size. Use a biscuit joint, along with
wood glue, to join the sides. Sand and repaint, or whatever. No need
to touch sideart to fix an edge. ???
John Robertson
> Are there any decent how-to's on fixing the particle-board edge and/or
> painting up melamine and/or side-art? Most of what I've seen in rebuilds is
> stripping off the side-art and bondo-ing a new edge. If there isn't side-art
> available or the damage is just in the black/white, it would be nice to have
> an alternative.
What we did recently was repairing a European pinball (NOS) that had
some chips in the particle board cabinet.
Oddly enough I had just been in my local Cole Lumber hardware store and
picked up some bottles of Cyanoacrylic wood glue (both watery and gel).
Got to the shop spotted the cabinet damage and we flipped the cabinet
upside down on a padded dolly, then squirted the watery 'glue' onto the
chipped area, then clamped (plastic film in between clamp faces and
wood) and let set overnight.
The watery 'glue' seeped deep into the wood chips and when squeezed in
the clamps made a great bond! The wood now appears to be stronger than new.
I would seriously consider sealing valuable cabinet edges with this
product as it really strengthens the materials edge.
I have before and after pictures if anyone is interested - will post
them to Flippers eventually...
John :-#)#
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Pete Ashdown
>On Aug 9, 8:24=A0pm, Pete Ashdown <pashd...@xmission.com> wrote:
>> Are there any decent how-to's on fixing the particle-board edge and/or
>> painting up melamine and/or side-art? =A0Most of what I've seen in rebuil=
>ds is
>> stripping off the side-art and bondo-ing a new edge. =A0If there isn't si=
>de-art
>> available or the damage is just in the black/white, it would be nice to h=
>ave
>> an alternative.
>> --
>What do you mean by "the black/white"?
The background of the side-art, usually black or white.
> You also lost me on "painting
>up melamine and/or side-art" ...
Many cabs have a melamine layer on top of the particle board. On some damaged
cabs, it is peeling off, but then has good side-art on top of that. How can
you make the transition from repaired wood to melamine seemless?
> perhaps if you told us which game you
>were repairing, it would help. Also, what kind of damage are you
>repairing? Water damage? Physical damage? A picture is worth 1000
>words.
Most of my cabs are dry. If there is water damage, I usually don't even try.
For example, I've got two Space Duels that have decent art, but a variety of
problems around the edges. I have a real nice Star Castle that has chipping a
pieces missing all around the front, but the side-art is fine.
>I've replaced particle board before, never did the bondo thing to fix
>major damage. Once the damage is too great, there's nothing for the
>bondo to hold onto. Just cut the damaged portion out, and replace
>with a new piece of the same size. Use a biscuit joint, along with
>wood glue, to join the sides. Sand and repaint, or whatever. No need
>to touch sideart to fix an edge. ???
This seems to be the best strategy, but when the sideart is full-side like
Space Duel, what to do?
James Sweet
>> I've replaced particle board before, never did the bondo thing to fix
>> major damage. Once the damage is too great, there's nothing for the
>> bondo to hold onto. Just cut the damaged portion out, and replace
>> with a new piece of the same size. Use a biscuit joint, along with
>> wood glue, to join the sides. Sand and repaint, or whatever. No need
>> to touch sideart to fix an edge. ???
>
> This seems to be the best strategy, but when the sideart is full-side like
> Space Duel, what to do?
I cut/chip out the damaged particle board, patch it up with Bondo and
then prime and paint that section. Fortunately most games even with full
side art have a solid background color border, which in the case of
Space Duel is white. There are a lot of shades of white and you probably
won't get it perfect, but with a bit of care you can make it look pretty
good. I've replaced pretty good sized chunks of cabinets that were
missing with this technique.
If the cabinet is laminated with formica, you can usually peel it back
enough to cut out the damaged wood, then glue it back over the repaired
wood. On a couple of cabinets I've replaced the formica on the front of
the cabinet since it was just solid black. I used a tracing bit in a
router to cut out the opening for the coin door. In one instance, the
cabinet face was not originally laminated but I did it to cover up the
damage that was there and you'd never know by looking at it.