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February
28, 2004
I thought about using a a veneer on the sides, but decided for now to
paint the cabinet. The control panel turned out fine for me. I do not have a
spray system so applied the paint using foam brushes and rollers. These give
the finish a smooth feel.
I decided to apply one coat of primer, three coats of stove black
melamine paint and a couple of coats of a Poly Urethane to protect
everything.
A couple of tips:
1. Make sure the primer is "all purpose" that can be applied to MDF. Ask
the Salesperson if you are not sure. A coat of the wrong primer will ruin
your cabinet (apply some water to a piece MDF and let it sit over night to
know what I mean).
2. Use foam brushes and foam rollers. These produce a smoother look and
feel
3. For easy cleanup, throw used brushes and foam rollers out. Cleaning up
memaline will take hours and is very messy.
4. For easy cleanup of melamine paint on your hands, a couple of shots of
WD 40 works wonders...
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1st coat of primer |
| 1st coat of primer complete... |
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March 01, 2004
And now for the first coat of meline:
Tip: To make cleanup even easier, on top of using throw away foam brushes
and rollers, wrap your paint tray in plastic (I used a plastic grocer
bag) and pour melamine on top of plastic. When done, simply throw away the
plastic bag, leaving a clean pain tray!
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Paint the edges with the foam brush... |
| Roll all over with a foam roller... |
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All Done with 1st coat... |
| Done with the second coat |
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Now the third Coat with Rust Paint. I switched to rust paint because I found
the melamine paint too glossy. I really likes th look from the flat black
rust paint. |
| Install T-Molding March 28
- (Day 26) |
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Here are the tools I use for installing the T-Molding in the T-Molding slot.
a) A sharp knife
b) A rubber mallet (so as to not mar the T-molding)
c) 100' of T-Molding. I end up using onlyu 40' of the stuff for the
cabinet. The rest will come in handy for the next cabinet I build/restore or
for shelves I make down the road... |
| I used the 1/16 " slot cutter to clear the slot
around the cab. The was needed because I painted the slot edge when painting
the cabinet. I went around all the slots a few times to make sure the slot
was clear and ready t receive the T-Molding. |
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Hammer in the T-Molding using a rubber mallet. Line the spine (bottom of the
T) to the slot cut with the slot cutter and hammer in until you get to a
corner (inside or outside). |
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The spine of the T-Molding fits into the slot made with the slot cutter. It
fits quite snuggly and I used a rubber mallet to hammer the T-Molding in
place.
Go slow. Sometimes the Spine on the T-Molding twists, Just pull back,
re-align, and go again.
On my cabinet, I left the edges at 90 degrees. This necessitated that I
cut a "V" in the T-Molding at the appropriate spot (If you make your corners
round, you will not have to do this part...)
To "bend" the T-Molding around the corner, cut a V into the spine... |
| Notice here the right side of the "V" cut.
Nothing fancy, just about 1/4 of an inch out on each end (1/2 " notch in
total). |
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Here is a picture of the other side of the "V" cut out. This is important
otherwise the T-Molding will "bind" up when installing. |
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Fold the T-Molding over an keep hammering the spine in. Here is a picture of
the T-Molding installed around the corner. The cabinet is a little
dusty/dirty from the slot cutter and got a little "wash" before being set up
again... |
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Another situation where you will need to cut the T-Molding is on the inside
edge of a corner... |
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Once you get to the corner, simply make some cuts into the T-Molding so it
"curves" more readily. 3 cuts before and after the border should do the
trick... |
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The Lads playing a "fighter" type game. Geez. The young ones like playing
the "kill, shoot, kick" Double Dragon type games. I prefer the old classics
in 82-85... |
| A final picture of the cabinet with all
T-Molding installed and temporary graphics set up. I am planning on
changing the Control Panel to see how a piece of Vinyl I found will look
instead of the clear plexi-glass I have on the cabinet. Plexi does not give
it the look I am after.
I will attach the vinyl using 3M Super 77 Spray Adhesive. This seems to
be the good stuff as recommended by the guys on arcadecontrols.com
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