alternative to t-molding?

[evilfuzzle]

Hey again everyone  .

 Is there an alternative to using t-molding?
my router broke on me and i can't find anyone who has one i could borrow, meaning i can't cut the t-molding grooves. i was thinking that i could buy t-molding without the t part (just the top) and just glue it on instead.

tell me what you guys think.

[Droler]

You can get wood veneer strips from any home supply store. They can be glued with wood glue or hot glue, but they are not as thick as plastic T molding for the most part.

[leapinlew]

You could buy an arcade cabinet and convert it - they usually have the t-mold slot already cut.

[borals]

You can also get "U Moulding".

As the name would suggest has an overlap at the top and bottom. Can usually get it from computer stores although it can be hard to find large enough.

I found some to do my 12mm CP, looks great.

[evilfuzzle]

i wish i could buy a cabinet but i live in australia and the are harder to come by at a good price. i askied around to amusement facilitities in my area for one for free but they dont have arcade games in their cabinets, just prize winning crap (skill tester ect) which isn't suitable. easier to make one

i will have a look into u molding though, it seems like a good alternative

[borals]

Where abouts in oz are you?

[evilfuzzle]

semi-rural Sydney (out in the sticks)

[borals]

Well, if you are willing to drive into the city to pick one up, there has been some great cabs on ebay at very reasonable prices.

There was 3 41" Megalo machines on there last week for only $400!

Keep your eye on ebay.

[evilfuzzle]

  ONLY $400! For most people this is reasonable, but for a poor 14 yr old like me thats like half a years pocket money! I am lucky to know of several very good places to find top quality free stuff (not just by the side of the road). basically 3/4 of my arcade parts so far come from people giving me them.

[borals]

Ahhh, point taken!

[severdhed]

how much t-molding are you talking about?  is this just on a control panel?  or for the entire cabinet? I had a small area on my cabinet that i needed to cut a slot for t molding, but i didn't have a router at all, so i used a dremel with a reinforced cutting disk.  it took a little while, but it did the job and worked out great.  if it is just a small area like a control panel, it shouldn't be a problem, but if you need to do an entire cabinet, i wouldn't recommend it.

[Zeno]

You can't just get a cheap laminate trim router?  It's not that expensive and you will be able to use it in the future.

[psychotech]

Just use a utility knife (a carpet knife...) and slice the spine off ..use good quality glue (contact cement, whatever) and your done...

(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=67842.msg701557#msg701557)
(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=67842.msg702040#msg702040)

Works for me

Then again, What do I know...

[evilfuzzle]

severdhed,
i plan to do the entire cabinet and i don't have a dremel i was getting one for my birthday in a week but i ran out of funds for my cab so ii couldn't get it.

i will probably do what psyco tech says, i will but some t-molding and cut off the spine. i went to bunnings to try an find some u-molding but they only carried red t-molding (i have to wait a week and a half to get the black stuff).

or i could look in to that laminate router, can you give me some more information about it?

[AMDman13]

Please don't use anything but authentic T-Molding! Nothing will come in as many colors or be as nice. Arcade cabs use T-Molding. If you building one you need T-molding to give it that realism.

This tool can be had for about 40.00 and is awesome.
http://cgi.ebay.com/CRAFTSMAN-All-In-One-Cutting-Tool-Kit---AC-Trim%2FCutter_W0QQitemZ360068410815QQcmdZViewItem?IMSfp=TL0807081551r31748

I use my Craftsman cutting tool more than most of my tools. I used this tool to route out my speaker area. More than enough HP for this 1 job of cutting through MDF. Make sure you buy the correct slot cutter and you will be good to go.

[vorghagen]

my router broke on me and i can't find anyone who has one i could borrow

I am lucky to know of several very good places to find top quality free stuff

I'm in Sydney and I have a router that I'd be willing to lend you if you'd care to clue me in on these good places to find top quality free stuff...

[evilfuzzle]

thanks for the offer vorghagen, thanks for the really kind offer but i wouldn't feel right borrowing something from someone i don't know ( I void warranties ). i think i will ask my close friends if i can borrow one.
 but i can suggest you look at www.freecycle.org in the sydney area,  freecycle is where people post up offers to a yahoo group of things they don't want anymore (good things ,for example, i have picked up a brand new electronic keyboard that was worth $250 from someone moving to china) you reply and they just pm you the location and you go and pick it up.
i also like to go to those "massive" clearences those shouty people advertise on tv after the sale is over and pick up ridiculously dirt cheap stuff or if you are really lucky you can catch them giving away perfectly good things for free  ( tv's, toasters, boxes of batteries, random electronics etc).
i also have friends who know people who have good stuff for free .i picked up 25 p4 1.5Ghz+ computers from a guy my friend knew in the Australian department of defence when the department he worked for upgraded their computers. i gave 22 of the computers to the charity mum works for who sent them to papa new guinea. i suggest you just ask your friends if they know anyone who could give you something, it took me long enough to ask and i probably missed out on amazing stuff.
alot of it this is just being at the right place at the right time (and knowing where to look).