Laminate Suggestion

[Magnet_Eye]

Hey all. I want to try out some laminate. Anyone have any recommendations? They have some at my local hardware store, it was about $4 per sq. ft. Seems a bit pricey to me. What do you think?

Thanks!

[Tailgunner]

I ordered some black laminate this past week from Lowes. I got one 3'x8" sheet and a 3' x 10' sheet for $80 plus tax, which works out to about $1.50 a square foot. Sounds like your getting ripped to me.

[Madman]

I bought mine @ homedepot. 40.00 for a 4x8 sheet

[SNAAAKE]

I bought mine for $14 a sheet  
Okay thats a local wholesale place.

I suggest you open up yellow page and start calling places.
might find some local.

dont bother getting it online.shipping will be too much.  

[Madman]

14.00 for a 4x8 sheet? where you you live? what state?

[SNAAAKE]

14.00 for a 4x8 sheet? where you you live? what state?

NYC.
Yeah $14 for 4x8 sheets,plain colors(black,orange).
Here is the addy and #.

First Wood & Laminates Inc  
16 Eckford St, Brooklyn, NY 11222
Phone: (718) 218-7800

(read the 67 page faq,I put a link there too)

[MUKid]

You guys are lucky.  Neither my local Home Depot or Lowe's had black laminate -- only brownish marbley looking stuff.  It's as if they expect to sell this stuff to people who are making countertops and not to be people making arcade cabinets!!!  The nerve!!!

Anyway, I had to special order it and it was $2.50 a square foot.  Cost me $150 for two sheets of 4x8 laminate.  I was gonna get four and laminate the entire cab; well, that's out.  Guess I'll just paint instead.

[Tailgunner]

I had to order mine as well. I didn't bother with 4'X 8' sheets as the cab it's going on is only 30" at it's widest point and a 36" wide sheet minimizes the scrap. I did order one longer than the other to have enough laminate to cover both sides and the lower front panel as well.

[tmasman]

I saw something at the HD here in Mansfield, TX that made my jaw drop...
I'm going to use it on my cabs...
It comes in 4x8 sheets...
glossy white smooth finish...
$10 a sheet!!!
It's called tileboard.
They had one that looked like tiles & 1 that has a smooth finish.
The same type of stuff here...
Or search Google.com for "tileboard"

The only problem I can see is that it's just a little thicker that laminate (somewhere around 1/8" thick)...
It might cause a problem with the T-molding, but I figure I can get 1" molding & trim it down. That and it only comes in white.  But it will make the perfect surface to apply side-art stickers to.

I'm not sure how well this stuff would hold up on a CP, but I think I'm going to make a new laptop controller & test this stuff out before I try putting it on my SFII cabinet.

It's just about time for me to buy a table saw of my own so I can stop borrowing my friends...

[Wade]

I've been buying a bunch of laminate lately for a Virtua Racing restoration I'm working on.  So far I've bought plain white and plain black formica.

I've been going to a local cabinet shop.  In every case, they had "scrap" that was large enough for what I needed.  I think they still charge the normal rate per foot (or close to it), but since I'm only buying what I need (instead of a 4x8 sheet) it is saving me lots of money.  So far I bought a piece of white for (about 4x4) for $17 and a piece of black (1.5x8) for $15.

I'm learning lots of tricks to applying this stuff and I'm loving it.  I'll definitely be using it more and more in the future.  It's a great way to turn a tired cabinet into a gem!  And the stuff is practically indestructible once applied.

Check out some pics at:
http://www.newwave.net/~flanham/wlanham/arcade/restoration/

Wade

[soslo]

For those who are building a cab and want to have a black background, you may want to consider using melamine. I got mine in 4x8 sheets (actually 49"x97") for $37 each. That is 3.4" think.

It is basically particle board with black laminate on it. It is heavier than plywood and not as string, but it sure has a great finish...and costs about as much as the laminate alone.

I bought 6 sheets to do a couple of cabs - cool stuff.

[shmokes]

You guys are lucky.  Neither my local Home Depot or Lowe's had black laminate -- only brownish marbley looking stuff.  It's as if they expect to sell this stuff to people who are making countertops and not to be people making arcade cabinets!!!  The nerve!!!

Anyway, I had to special order it and it was $2.50 a square foot.  Cost me $150 for two sheets of 4x8 laminate.  I was gonna get four and laminate the entire cab; well, that's out.  Guess I'll just paint instead.

I had to special order all of mine, but Home Depot doesn't charge any more for special order than they would if they have it in stock (actually I might have paid like $15 shipping or something minimal like that).  What killed me was my choice of laminate.  I ordered three 4'x8' sheets of a solid color and they were about $40-$45 a piece.  I also ordered a single 4'x8' sheet of brushed aluminum laminate which cost $195.  This was all Wilsonart, so same brand...different product lines.  Perhaps you are paying $2.50/square foot because of your choice of laminate.