Defender Restoration - Problem with wood

[wakerlet]

All,

I'm looking for a little advice regarding a couple of Defender cabinets I picked up over the weekend.  They are in great shape with the exception of the front bottom panel.  It appears that the bottom portion of plywood is starting to de-laminate and come apart (fan).  It is only on the front panel and not on the sides of the cab.  

Is there some way to halt/stop this from getting worse?  I've considered adding a kickplate but I'm not sure I can get it fabricated in the correct size.  I'm open to any suggestions.

Thanks,
Todd

[fredster]

There is a product called wood hardener you can get at lowes or home depot.

They use it to stop wood rot. It's like a tough polyurathane coating. You can paint over it.  If it's not too bad, you can just fill it with wood putty and put some primer over it.

The other way is to just replace the bottom piece of plywood. Cut a piece on a table saw and overlay the coin door and coin bucket cutouts.  Put some primer and paint it back up.

You might consider drilling some holes in the bottom with a 1" spade drill and covering it with screen.  That helps it ventilate and keep the moisture down.

[mahuti]

If it's all lumpy, I would just sand it down smooth. Don't get it wet, and it shouldn't really get any worse.

[Zakk]

Here's an idea, if it's splitting apart, remove the entire piece of plywood, take off the outer layer, and glue it with clamps to a fresh cut piece of ply.  That way you get a good piece of wood, with the original artwork.  Touch up the paint as needed!

[mahuti]

In this case, there isn't any art on the lower panel of the defender (if it's the original setup)

[Zakk]

ohhhh yeah.... that's right!  there's that little kickplate thingy there.  And as a matter of fact I sanded mine down smooth and painted it due to damage!  Duh!  

[wakerlet]

Zakk, mahuti, and fredster,

I'll take a picture tonight of the affected area and post it tomorrow.  I'm sure one of your suggestions will work but I'd be interested to know what you thought once you see it.

Thanks,
Todd

[wakerlet]

Okay guys, here is what I'm dealing with.  What do you think?

[paigeoliver]

Ok, I have dealt with a lot of stuff like this (and have now owned 5 Defender cabinets).

Several options.

#1. Replace the entire peice of wood. (Harder then you might think).

#2. Wood putty. Not tood hard, although it is never going to look perfect unless you are VERY experienced with that sort of thing.

#3. What I do with lower cabinet damage. I make kick plates, I make them on all 3 sides if needed. Just go to a big hardware place and find an appropriately sized piece of aluminum trim of any kind (I have also used wood trim). Use a hacksaw to cut it to size and then paint it black and install it on the cabinet.

Lately I have also been putting corner protectors from Bob Roberts on ALL my new projects. Lets face it, the bottom of these cabinets get JACKED up. The 3 in one combination of corner protectors, a kick plate in front, and corner trim at the bottom of both sides will prevent damage and hide current damage.

Well done trim always looks better than damage. I have had plenty of game EXPERTS over at my place, and have never had so much as a mention of any of my "non-original" trim.

[OSCAR]

Here is a previous thread about replacing bottom the bottom edge of a cab:  http://www.arcadecontrols.org/yabbse/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=16970;start=msg134607#msg134607.  Since this post, I have updated my Centipede restoration page at www.oscarcontrols.com/centipede which has more info, too.


I also used the black corner protectors that Paige mentioned on my Stern/Time Pilot cabinet.  They work pretty good if you want to hide the damage rather than fix it.  On an elcheapo/generic cab, that probably makes more sense.  The bottom corners of cabs take a real beating because more often than not, the leg levelers are sheared off or missing altogether.  Here is a pic of the corner protectors on my Stern cab.

[Zeitgeist]

Bondo works great if you know how to work with it.
That's what I used to repair the edge damage on my DK Cab that was left out in a mud puddle.
It' easy & cheap, but still a lot more work than putting on an edge protector or kickplate.
As far as the "fanning" of the wood plys, you can simply used a good wood glue, a straight 2x4 & several C clamps to bring it back together 1st.
Good luck!

[wakerlet]

paigeoliver,

Can you take a picture of a cabinet with the kickplates and corner protectors on?  I'm trying to picture how you put the trim and corner protectors on the sides of the cabinet.  Did you overlap the trim with the corner protectors?

"...The 3 in one combination of corner protectors, a kick plate in front, and corner trim at the bottom of both sides..."

Also, thanks to Oscar (Kelsey) and Zeitgeist.  I think you convinced me to get the protectors.

Later,
Todd