Plexi alternatives

[Rok]

Not wanting to deal with plexiglass...I am looking for some alternatives. One I was considering was acrylic spray coating. Has anyone used this?

[Blanka]

Alternative for what? For your CP, Bezel or what?

[Rok]

Sorry. CP yes.

My CP is painted, not printed, if that makes a difference.

[ragnar]

Not wanting to deal with plexiglass...I am looking for some alternatives. One I was considering was acrylic spray coating. Has anyone used this?

Some people use Formica instead.

The thing though, you are going to have to use a router just as you would plexiglass.  Are you just trying to save money?

[ptinolv]

I personnally used envirotex (it is a coating) and i am happy about the result.

[Blanka]

What about using anti-grafitti laminate? Superthin, near invisible and it ads toughness and the option to wipe stains.

[bmb]

I was thinking of using this stuff...

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=261-618&source=googleps

Dayton VL218-BT Black Textured Vinyl Laminate 2 ft. x 18 ft for $16.   It's cheap black textured speaker cover material made for MDF.   I was going to put it over the CP maybe with a little extra 3M glue and tuck it into the T-molding.

I'm not sure how well this would hold up in a real arcade but should be ok in my basement.   I'm not crazy about plexi/lexan since black is just fine with me.  If I had some fancy artwork it might be a different story...

Any success or warnings on something like this?

[tommyinajar]

I personnally used envirotex (it is a coating) and i am happy about the result.

Any tips or problems with pouring?

My cousin used that on his bar and I thought it looked great. He said he got some imperfections (pinhole bubbles) that he only knew about. Otherwise I would think it would be great for CP's . You shouldn't have to account for the thickness when planning, like you would for plexiglass.
http://www.eti-usa.com/consum/envtex/envlite.htm

[spystyle]

Not wanting to deal with plexiglass...I am looking for some alternatives. One I was considering was acrylic spray coating. Has anyone used this?

I think actual anti-reflective glass would be cool for monitor glass

edit : oops I see now we are discussing CP LOL

[orchidius]

I was thinking of using this stuff...

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=261-618&source=googleps

Dayton VL218-BT Black Textured Vinyl Laminate 2 ft. x 18 ft for $16.   It's cheap black textured speaker cover material made for MDF.   I was going to put it over the CP maybe with a little extra 3M glue and tuck it into the T-molding.

I'm not sure how well this would hold up in a real arcade but should be ok in my basement.   I'm not crazy about plexi/lexan since black is just fine with me.  If I had some fancy artwork it might be a different story...

Any success or warnings on something like this?

I used this to cover my entire cab like some people paint or use formica. A word of warning though... It's NOT scratch resistant in ANY way!!!!!! I used a (new) creditcard to apply it on one side of my cab, and it scratched the entire side in the direction I gently applied pressure with the creditcard. The scratches aren't really noticable, but in the light, you can see them. Not a disaster, but I can only imagine what a hand with a ring would to to it during active gameplay...

Another thing is its weakness to imperfections in the wood... Due to its "thickness" the material shows ANY imperfections in the wood. I guess that's not a big issue for you, but beware if you're planning on using it on larger surfaces that potentially have any imperfections (even specks of dust show up).

The finish itself doesn't look awful if you happen to manage to get it all on without scratching it anywhere ànd if you're sure there's no way you can scratch it in the future ànd if you are willing to sand and resand (and thoroughly clean) the surface, ànd if the material you're applying it on is PERFECTLY flat, ànd you got a dustfree environment to apply it in,... Long story short, I personally wouldn't ever use it again unless in small projects that never have to be touched again or unless there's no alternative available (I absolutely couldn't get my hands on formica here in Belgium, otherwise I most certainly would've went for that).

[BadMouth]

Any tips or problems with pouring?

My cousin used that on his bar and I thought it looked great. He said he got some imperfections (pinhole bubbles) that he only knew about. Otherwise I would think it would be great for CP's . You shouldn't have to account for the thickness when planning, like you would for plexiglass.
http://www.eti-usa.com/consum/envtex/envlite.htm

There will be bubbles in it when you pour it.  No way to avoid that.
You can make the bubbles disappear by waving a propane torch back and forth across it while it's wet.
Not close enough to heat or burn it.  Supposedly it's the CO2 released and not the heat that makes all the bubbles surface and pop, so it might be possible to just use straight CO2 without any flame.  I've never tested that theory though.

I was horrified at the amount of bubbles when I poured my bar top.  The torch was like a giant eraser though.
With every wave of it, a 6 inch path of bubbles disappeared and the epoxy looked like glass.
Usually you let the epoxy run off the edges, but on my bar top it was corralled in and allowed to pool.
You may get less bubbles letting it run off the edges the way the instructions say to do it.

My bar has been used a LOT over the past two years and the top still looks great.

Cheapest place I've found to buy gallons is Jerry's Artarama http://search.jerrysartarama.com/search?keywords=envirotex

Some Lowes stores stock the small packages

[leapinlew]

I don't use anything. I have my CP's printed at Mamemarquees and they are plenty durable.

[drventure]

+1 on badmouth's comments.

I've used that epoxy on a desktop table (wood and tile) and it turned out great. Make SURE you have a torch available immediately after the pour though, because he's right. You'd gonna get bubbles, and they won't go away unless you use a torch of some sort.

Also, make sure you pour someplace where flying insects are not likely to get involved (or dust, drafts etc). because that epoxy will capture EVERYTHING that touches it. I had to pick a couple gnats out of the surface of my pour, one is still in there even now 

Finally, if you mix up a lot and have very much left over, be prepared for it to get VERY HOT, possibly even catch fire. Mine smoked but never caught fire. It totally melted the plastic bucket it was in though. Made a bit of a mess.

But I will say this. That stuff is TOUGH!

[ptinolv]

Any tips or problems with pouring?

Its is pretty much like badmouth says. I used it on a bartop that i built and my arcade cabinet.

You have to mix the 2 ingredients (of the epoxy) for about a minute before pouring it. At this time it has a lot of bubbles. After pouring , you have something like 20 minutes to make them all disappear with a torch. It works quite well and i didn't have any bubbles at the end. You need to always move the torch if you don't want to burn anything. On my bartop there is a small spot where the envirotex didn't spread evenly. I could put another layer but it is barely noticeable.

Also for the ones that want to use that for a CP, i advise you to make all the holes before pouring the envirotex(button holes, etc.). I drilled my holes after and it was separating the coating from the board (not a lot but few mm around the holes). In my case, the buttons cover this so it is not noticeable.

I have some pictures of it on the post of my arcade cabinet : http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=97506.0