Vinyl Question

[MacGyver]

I'm about to order about 30 feet of VE209R (black pica vinyl) from VEII (Venders Exchange International Inc),  I was wondering if anyone else here has ordered from them, and how hard the vinyl was to apply to MDF.  I was mainly concerned with its thickness and whether the T-molding I ordered would cover the vinyl ok, since I plan on using the vinyl on both sides of the MDF in places.  The T-molding is standard 3/4 inch, but seeing how I'm here in Germany the only MDF I can get is in mm (18 or 19).  Also, what kind of glue should I use, 3M spray glue or contact cement.  How much prep should I do to the MDF, sanding? primer? what grit of sand paper.  I looked everywhere for vinyl and only found VEII and Happs, and the happs is almost twice the price.  It comes in 49" wide rolls, and I read here somewhere that the happs comes folded.

Here are the places I've found:

http://thisoldgame.com/Partspages/VinylsPg.htm
http://www.happcontrols.com/vending/acesor/49057200.htm
http://www.veii.com/parts.html (Have to d/l a 40mb catalog, page 240 & 291) lame for 2008, I know.


I would love to go with laminate, but I've never worked with it, and I think the thickness would be a BIG issue compared to the vinyl.

Thanks for any help in advance. Also if you have any better locations with better prices, can you please post them.

[ghettodish]

3mil seems to be the thickness of those vinyls.

If you can get to a Paint Dept at a local hardware store you will find plastic dropcloths that are 3mil thickness.

Glossy photo paper for your printer is 9mil.

Those should give you an idea of what thickness you will be working with.

[Turnarcades]

I'm unsure if vinyl applied directly to MDF will work very well. As it is made of sawdust, it can be difficult to obtain a smooth enough surface without bits or dust spoiling the smoothness of the vinyl or stopping the adhesive sticking properly - particularly at the edges. Although you can swab the surfaces down with white spirit to remove most dust and overlap the vinyl at the edges to tuck under your T-moulding, you may still experience a bit of peeling over time, particularly at the 'bitty' edges that don't have the same minor surface 'gloss' the faces of MDF seem to have.

[MacGyver]

Thanks for the reply, I was trying to figure out a comparison, I couldn't understand if they meant millimeters or what. The glossy paper comparison is great. Do you know if those are the only sources? Is one type better than the others?  Is it like shelf paper?
Is vinyl what is on factory cabs?

Sorry for the twenty questions, but I'm trying to get everything completely sorted out before I start.  You should have seen how long I spent sourcing and picking the rest of the equipment.   I spent 2 weeks building the Mala gamelist (3459), all working parent roms only, no clones, unless it's parent wasn't working, removing of all weird numbers and version info from their names, and putting certain Daphne and Dice games into it and the batch files to know what emulator to use. I just found that crazy Polybius clone, I might have to add it.
Hell it took 3 weeks to find a 27" TV that would remember the power state and channel when unplugged and plugged back in.
Thanks again.

[orion]

I doubt the thickness will be an issue. I covered my last cab in vinyl because I couldn't find any black laminate locally and the cost of having some shipped was more than I wanted to spend. I used vinyl that I bought at a fabric store in remnants. It was like $3.00 a yard and I picked up about 12 or 15 yards of the stuff. I used 3M 90 Hi Strength Spray Adhesive, like this.. http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=2449 You will need 3 cans of it to cover an entire cab. Don't use the Super 77 as it doesn't seem to stick for more than a week or so (I tried that on part of it first) I figured out a meathod that gave me really good results. The first thing I did was hang the vinyl and used a steamer on the back side of it to get out any creases. You want to apply the 3M on both the cab and the back of the vinyl. The 3M adhesive has this plastic piece in the nozzle that makes the spray come out in a stream and kind of thicker. Leave that on at first and spray the perimeter of the cab that way (the section you are working on at the time). Then take off that nozzle and thoroughly coat the rest of that section of the cab and the backside of the vinyl you are using. The stuff gets tacky in about 5 Minutes and you only have between 5 to 10 minutes of working time with it. Apply the vinyl to the section of the cab and try not to get any creases in it. For the last step you want to take an iron and set in on high. Take a wet towel and place it on the cab and iron the vinyl flat. The wet towel will prevent the iron from melting the vinyl and will produce steam. As the vinyl cools it will tighten up quite a bit and will look pretty good when done. I am very pleased with the way mine came out and it is a very cheap way to resurface a cab... not a substitute for laminate but looks good none the less.