Fluorescent T-molding

[Level42]

Anyone already seen the 3-bump fluorescent T-molding ?

Think they would be very cool an arcade cabinets

[lesserChance]

ooohhh, thats hot.  I think i want some. is it at tmolding.com?

[RayB]

ooohhh, thats hot.

[Level42]

ooohhh, thats hot.  I think i want some. is it at tmolding.com?

Nope....regretfully....btw t-mold.com doesn't have it either.....

http://www2.archpro.com/cgi-bin/worderc?confc=B2C

...is where I found it....it's available in the regular 3/4", not 100% sure if the other sizes are the same as the "regular" T-moldings, but I guess it is....

Only problem is, these guys are wholesalers, min quantity 250 feet.... I mailed them if they sell smaller orders but no reply yet....

But I've seen other messages here that they are actualy the source for both www.t-molding.com and www.t-mold.com, but please don't kill me if this is not true, only from what I read...

SOOOOO....if there's enough people around here wanting it, we might convince them to get it in stock ?

I am wondering if you would see the actual board through the apparantly clear plastic....but my guess is not, because it wouldn't make sense...

And I had one more crazy idea.......how about some string of X-mas lights behind these 

I want it in RED !!!!!!!!!!!!

P.S. Notice that the Outwater people notoriously mention it as flourescent. I'm not native English, but I'm pretty sure it's flUOrescent isn't it ?

[Nannuu]

Oh, they have purple too.  I know a lot of people have looked for purple t-mold.  The only bad thing is the three bumps.

[Level42]

Oh, they have purple too.  I know a lot of people have looked for purple t-mold.  The only bad thing is the three bumps.

Mmmm, well that's all about taste, indeed it would be cool if there was a single-bump (normal) version as well, but you can't have it all can you

I put up a voting on the www.t-mold.com forum:

http://www.t-mold.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=21

Apparantly I cannot vote myself (IP adress ?), can somebody test ?

Thx !

[quarterback]

Oh, they have purple too.

[Level42]

Oh, they have purple too.  I know a lot of people have looked for purple t-mold.  The only bad thing is the three bumps.

Mmmm, well that's all about taste, indeed it would be cool if there was a single-bump (normal) version as well, but you can't have it all can you

I put up a voting on the www.t-mold.com forum:

http://www.t-mold.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=21

Apparantly I cannot vote myself (IP adress ?), can somebody test ?

My guess is you need to actually register on the site instead of being a "guest"

Could be, but wouldn't make sense to be able to create a poll without login in and not be able to vate without login in ?

Also thought this fluorescent t-molding would stir some more comments/interest here ? Thinks it would look great on f.i. Knievel's Mame cab ?

[Knievel]

Oh yea, I need this...nice find. I would stick a strip blue of EL tape on either side of the t-mold slot and then bang this stuff over top of it.

Usually when visitors see my glowing CP for the first time they are mesmerized and end up whacking their heads on the cabinet. This would make the edges stand out, thereby cutting down on arcade-related injuries.

[Jollyrob]

I had that same idea, and was wondering if any clearish t molding existed, i was planning on trying some EL wire shoved to the bottom of the t-molding slot, than put the t-molding over that, problem i keep having in my mind though, is that EL wire would never be bright enough to evenly light the whole thing of tmolding no matter how close to the actual edge it were

[Knievel]

Ya the EL wire is too weak for that. The tape under either side would work pretty well though.
I inquired about clear t-mold when building the neon cab, the suppliers thought I was nuts.

[Mr. Bubblehead]

Oh, they have purple too.  I know a lot of people have looked for purple t-mold.  The only bad thing is the three bumps.

Yeah I saw that the other day, at first I wasn't to hip on the 3 bumps but I think I could live with it.  It would be unique I guess.  I need about 25' of the purple, if anyone else is interested maybe we could do a group buy of it?  Let me know.

[Level42]

OK:
What's the goal of T-molding:

1) protect sides of panels (for frustrated players and during transport)
2) look good

(For some, the priority nowadays (home use) is probably vice versa )

Now...the fluorescent T-molding serves both purposes BUT we want lights...

But EL tape behind t-molding is hard to install I guess and to dim. And using only EL tape would look great, but still hard to install and won't protect at all....

SOOOOOO.....I just registered my patent for:
EL - T-molding 

OK, who wants to manufacture ?

[Level42]

But that EL tape stuff is expensive and NOT available in red 

Looks great though (scroll down to the table with EL-taped edge....):
http://www.helpdezk.com/others.htm

(this link seems to only work with Internet Explorer)


Could x-mas light strings be an alternative ? these are cheap, pretty flexible and can withstand a bump or two.....but how to install :S....Also the light is less even of course...

but this looks promissing:
http://yajiayu.en.alibaba.com/product/50070455/50322370/LED_Rope_Lights/LED_5_Wire_Flat_Solid_Core_Rope_Lights/showimg.html

Maybe replace the T groove with a construction like this:

   (O

Where the ( is the panel and the O is the string....and then some glue ??

Mmmmmmm....let's first get my cab working like it should 

[clok]

Well I was on the site and it will let you order less then 250 feet (maybe I will get an e-mail back saying they cant). But I noticed it was farly cheap, 250 feet at the base price of $.21 is only about $65, that really isnt that bad. If it comes down to 250 feet required I may have some blue 3/4 that I would piece out.

Clok

[Knievel]

Minimum order is 250ft, I've got a sample-chain coming my way. I will post pics when it arrives.

I figure that even with just some foil-tape behind it this stuff will look cool.

And LVL42 the EL tape does come in red...I've got some here.

[Level42]

Minimum order is 250ft, I've got a sample-chain coming my way. I will post pics when it arrives.

I figure that even with just some foil-tape behind it this stuff will look cool.

And LVL42 the EL tape does come in red...I've got some here.

That all sounds great Knievl, very curious about your pics since the miniscule picture they have on their site don't help much...hope you can experiment a bit with the EL tape and stuff and make some pics of that too...probably hard though

[Level42]

Knievl, did those samples arrive already ?

I am so curious

[Knievel]

Nope, should be here this week.

[tribalredfox]

If the clear t-molding was actually frosted you might be able to use leds.  You'd have to router out some parts at the sides of the panel and put them at an angle.  It'd still probably make it look more like blue dots then giving it an even effect.  On the downside, the t-molding wouldn't be as firmly attached if you're removing the wood it's using to support itself.

A cheap route to take could be el-tape with just clear corner protectors that you get from Home Depot for like a buck.  Obviously, this would only work on cabs with straight cuts.

[Level42]

Well, Knievel will test the samples he'll receive with EL-tape and I am very curious what the effect will be. Individual LED's would be very expensive and a nightmare to install I guess....and indeed, just dots of light, no even spread which EL-tape will have. However we fear that the EL tape will not be bright enough for a good effect.

Let's wait for Knievel's results, he's done some fantastic jobs on illumantion of cabs, so I trust his testing results

[Knievel]

Got the samples yesterday. Really impressed with how vibrant the colors are. The blue one is much nicer than the regular blue t-mold, and a good match to the blue FX buttons. Same story with the red.

It's a busy week for me so I probably won't get a chance to do much testing.
Here's a look at the samples anyway, they got a little skimpy with the red..

[Level42]

Thanks for putting the pic up Knievl !!!!

Sounds like you will have some used blue t-mold for the Buy/Sell section soon

Indeed, exactly the color that I want they send you the smallest piece

No matter what you think of it: this is something REALLY different than the regular stuff. I like them, especialy the red 

They don't look very translucent though, or is that just the picture ?

So, do we have to order 250 feet, or are they a little bit like their T-mold: flexible

I really like them, wether back-lighting it will work or not. But still very curious how it will look...I wait patiently

[Knievel]

The red is really nice compared to the regular t-mold, which is more of a dark red.
250' minimum is what they're saying, I think they normally just deal with businesses.
Yea they don't look very translucent in that pic, here's one of the blue in front of a fluorescent light..

[Pik4chu]

Well, Knievel will test the samples he'll receive with EL-tape and I am very curious what the effect will be. Individual LED's would be very expensive and a nightmare to install I guess....and indeed, just dots of light, no even spread which EL-tape will have. However we fear that the EL tape will not be bright enough for a good effect.

Let's wait for Knievel's results, he's done some fantastic jobs on illumantion of cabs, so I trust his testing results

While it would be a pain, LEDs are only painfully expensive if you get them from way overpriced computer modding sites. I have a bag of 200 3V super bright blue LEDs laying around somewhere that costed me 15bucks shipped from a surplus store (online)

[Level42]

Knievl, that does look nice, but it's a whole lot of light you're putting through it there (at least is seems...)  Still, if you run an EL wire in the groove of the T-molding (probably have to make it a little deeper) that may work out quite nicely.....

The center is darker because there the T-mold is of couse very thick. So If you put the wire under it, it may come out that the light is quite even an the whole width of the t-mold. Or maybe we need a EL-wire/ EL-tape combo (gonna cost us... )

How long can these wires/tapes be without needing more connections/power supplies ?

[Pik4chu]

for wire. On a stadard 12v transformer that you would hook to a computer PSU the one I have on the way is rated to 50-100 feet or so.  Which should be more than enough

One place with cheap stuff is www.elwirecheap.com BUT you need to bug the crap out of them so they will ship in a timely manner but its good prices/selection and easy to find what you want.

[Level42]

Calling Knievl, any testing done ?

[Knievel]

Sorry nothing to report yet. I used my EL tape on another project so I have to pick some more up before I can do any testing.

[DaFoo]

I know it's been awhile now, but has anyone installed this stuff on their Arcade?

And if so does it look good, of goofy?

Thanks!

[Level42]

No but I'm coming close to needing it Wether it will backlit I doubt...too expensive for my project (at least for now). Knievl's pics look convincing enough though. I like it already without the backlighting.

So I am considering getting the full 250 feet of red. If anyone else needs red, maybe we can split ? I'm in Europe so if anyone could order the full 250, cut of their share and sent the rest over that would be great I can PayPal the money.

Knievl, do you think they will sell to end-users ?

[DaFoo]

Yes they Will I tried to order 60 feet of Green(the web site lets you), but they called and told me the minmum was 250.   So end user sales are not a problem.

I'm just afraid the triple bumbs will look goofy.   I know who cares, but gosh anyways I want mine to look nice. :-)

[Level42]

Well it all depends on taste. I personaly like it when something breaks with traditions... also: In arcades, nothing is left-away to draw attention to a game. So being different is ok, wether it's cheesy or tasty or not, doesn't really matter. That's why I like my LED lighted buttons on my CP. Don't know if there are original arcade cabs that feature these, but I'm sure they had used it if they were available 20 years ago. So I'm willing to take the "risk", it will be a whole lot better than my current dull black t-mold....

[Level42]

Well it all depends on taste. I personaly like it when something breaks with traditions... also: In arcades, nothing is left-away to draw attention to a game. So being different is ok, wether it's cheesy or tasty or not, doesn't really matter. That's why I like my LED lighted buttons on my CP. Don't know if there are original arcade cabs that feature these, but I'm sure they had used it if they were available 20 years ago. So I'm willing to take the "risk", it will be a whole lot better than my current dull black t-mold....

Gee...time sure changes things

[ChadTower]

Heh, I just read this whole thread with interest before noticing it was from 2005. 

Did anyone ever try this under black lights and is it still out there?

[SavannahLion]

Heh, I just read this whole thread with interest before noticing it was from 2005. 

Did anyone ever try this under black lights and is it still out there?

That link eventually ends up at Outwater's website. Just scanned their bog slow catalogue and I don't see any references to that molding.
http://www.outwatercatalogs.com/lg_display.cfm/catalog/Master_Catalog_Vol_42/page/29

[ChadTower]

Yeah, I tried that too.  Heh.

[usaf-lt-g]

Bringing this back from the dead. Called outerwear plastics. They are sending me samples of a "paintable" tmolding.

The fluorescent stuff is dead unless an order of 5000 ft was ordered. Which I guestimate would be aprox. $2000 of an investment in t-molding.

There is, however T-molding available in fluorescent green and orange (normal, not with the 3 bumps) available in 3/4" only. I've order a 20 ft roll for 10 bucks plus 9.95 shipping. This stuff is from another manufacturer, and I'm not sure where they source it from.

v2.globalwebcart/arcadeshop/

I also need some 5/8" stuff, hence why I ordered some samples of paintable t-molding. She suggested that Krylon may have a fluorescent paint available.

Has anyone had experience painting t-molding?


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