Putty?

[kuehnau]

I wasn't sure where this fell under so I posted it here. I got a cabinet from someone, the monitor was dead so I decided to take it apart for a mame conversion. I don't know what it was before but the cabinet had been heavily modified.

So I unlatch the control panel and I was truly impressed. The thing had like a dozen holes drilled into it at some point, the current layout only used 4 buttons per player, so to try and cover up the other holes they just put a thin sheet of plastic behind them. The plastic was all busted up so as soon as I took the controls out it fell off. From there they had just out some sort of generic control panel graphic over the top.

So I just took some peg board I had laying around and used some bolts to bolt it under the panel, better but having the edges of the holes on the top is bugging the crap out of me. Can anyone recommend a putty or something I can slap over the holes to get ride of the edges for any holes I won't be using?

I'll be putting some black elephant skin stuff I got over the top of the panel. It looks cool and I think it'll have a nice feel to the hands. I'll most likely use some contact cement on it.

[SavannahLion]

If it's wood, just outright replace it.

If it's metal, I've had success with using J-B Weld to attach a small plate of metal behind the hole, letting the J-B Weld cure. Then fill in the hole on top with more J-B and waiting just long enough to cure to work with but not so long that it turns its hardest. Ive only done this to fill in one or two holes here and there.

I know people do the same technique I explained above using wood (as you did) instead of metal as a backing (for me it works best with "flat" panels, I don't have too much incentive to "shape" wood on curves), spot welding new plates and using bondo instead of J-B. Don't use wood putty, it doesn't seem to stick well to metal, shrinks and is relatively soft.

I really like the look of metal panels but don't really invest a lot into their repair. So if there are too many holes I would say just take it to a local metal shop to have them bend/shape you a new one. 

[kuehnau]

Its actually a weird kind of panel, most of the ones I run into are just like a single plate that has been bent somewhere, this one is actually more like a soft edged triangle, with angled sides that kind of curve in. I was reading about other people using bondo, so I think that's what I am going to try. Since the metal is so thin, if push came to shove I could maybe just cut out some construction paper or something and put that in before I put on the new cover.

[jennifer]

    A pic would tell the whole story.... But if its a deep hole (1/4) or more Kitty hair (probably called fiberglass reinforced nowadays) Is awesome stuff, it comes in qts. @your local auto supply. Don't forget to stir the can first with a heavy duty stick before use (paint stick will break).... When mixing this stuff you need to use a stiff bladed putty knife and kinda cut and fold the hardner in, work fast in small batches dries really fast.

[DeLuSioNal29]

Car Bondo.  Works great and cures in minutes, not hours.  It's meant for metal, but also works wonders on wood for arcade stuff.

Only drawback, smells to high heaven.  Use a well ventilated area.

DeLuSioNaL29