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Covering a cab with vinyl instead of painting - good idea?

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deepblue:


--- Quote from: nitz on August 16, 2010, 09:32:20 pm ---And that Formica does look nice deepblue. But after seeing those pics of how authentic that DK blue vinyl looks, I'm having a hard time being swayed in any other direction! ;)

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Hey, go for what you like...I am almost 2.5 years into building my cabinet, and I've spent a small fortune on it. Given all the time and effort, make it how you want it!

nitz:

Yeah, I hear that! I picked up my cab in October 2008, so I'm approaching the 2 year mark already. And I've put more money into it than I thought I would!

It was basically a destroyed Robotron - having never seen a Robotron (hey, gimmie a break, I'm only 28 and there aren't a lot of arcades around here!) I actually thought it was a generic jamma cab for a long time until I saw some pics on here of someone with a Robotron that looked very similar to my cab. Put 2 and 2 together, sanded a little bit of the paint off mine, and yep, Robotron art underneath. For those of you worried that I'm maming a classic, don't. This thing had been completely painted over in grey, had a lot of damage done to the wood near the bottom, control panel was pretty wrecked, and none of the original robotron parts or art aside from what was painted over and the mangled CP were present. I don't like the idea of maming classics either, but I figure at this point, a restore makes little sense when basically the only thing left of the original cab is the shell and even that's not in great shape.

Anyway, I've picked away at it for almost 2 years, but life just keeps getting in the way! ;) I actually did have it running for a few months last fall, but then decided that I didn't like my control panel, didn't like the way the monitor was mounted, and hated the paint job. So I basically tore it up and am refurbing it the way I really want it now. My goal is to have it done in a couple months or so, but you know how that goes!

helpmebuild:

Well just looking at my invoice in my inbox, it looks like I paid about $80.00 USD for all of mine (I ordered the 36" Matt Black) and I ordered about 25' of it and that was more than enough. Id say just half that price if you don't want to order double or any extra. I also live in Canada and that was shipped (but in USD) so it was more than fair to get the desired look in mho.

opt2not:


--- Quote from: nitz on August 16, 2010, 09:32:20 pm ---And one sheet was enough to cover your whole cab? I was under the impression that it came in 8' x 4' sheets like wood in which case you'd need at least 2, maybe 3 sheets to cover a cab. But if you can buy $60 of laminate for your whole cab, then yeah, that's really not that expensive.
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Yeah, if memory serves, I believe it took 2 sheets to cover my cab.  Sides, Top, Kick, and CP front (the top was covered with plexi).
A small price to pay for a pro-look and commercial durability IMO.  But hey, I don't wanna tell you how to spend your money. ;)
If I do a non-painted cabinet again, I'd totally go with laminate.


--- Quote from: nitz on August 16, 2010, 09:32:20 pm --- Had a look at the Home Depot website (the Canadian one, I'm in Canada btw!) and a search for laminate turned up nothing of interest.

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I don't believe you'll find it on their website. Home Depot only stocks it store by store, it really depends. I've been told that they get local suppliers to fill their stock, and the chances of a certain store stocking it is completely random.

If you are in the Vancouver area, the Home Depot near Main and Terminal definitely has it.


wonderalex:

Finally - it's done. My bar-top has been covered with the printed vinyl laminate and well - I think it looks great.

The vinyl was MPI3000 with a durable laminate called Floorguard.

The application was actually quite easy, just patience, a straight-edge ruler and a very sharp knife.  My only caveat is to make sure when you order the material, insist on a long-lasting, permanent adhesive. I used a long lasting re-positionable (semi-permanent) adhesive because I was worried about messing up, now I worry about someone pulling it off  ::)

Anyways - the end result speaks for its self, doing this on a full-sized cabinet will cost more than a good quality laminate, but less messy and no need for power tools (router).   It cost me roughly $100.00 CAD to cover my entire cabinet  (a 48in x 48in sheet) and had I not printed extras and used less white space I could have gotten down to $80.00 CAD by printing on a smaller sheet.

A full-sized cab, like my Williams cab that I'm converting to MAME, would cost roughly $250.00 CAD if I print just the CP and the side panels (from top to bottom) - a kick-plate would add another $30.00 CAD - shy of $300.00 CAD (including taxes). A bit too pricey for me to cover an entire full-sized cab.

Cost wise - you're still better off with paint or laminate - but for apartment dwellers, those without power-tools or those who want full graphics this application will do fine, just be prepared to pay for the convenience.

Be seeing you,

WonderAlex


(edit: I forgot to mention - applying the vinyl laminate took less than 2 hours, and I took my time. - WA)


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