Build Your Own Arcade Controls Forum

Arcade Collecting => Miscellaneous Arcade Talk => Topic started by: shilmover on October 07, 2007, 03:06:05 pm

Title: Wood Restoration... Bondo or wood filler?
Post by: shilmover on October 07, 2007, 03:06:05 pm

I have only seen one or two posts in the Wiki on this... 

From experience, would you folks recommend Bondo or Woodfiller to fill holes in the cabinet.

Aside from some small holes, there are pieces broken (corner, edges, etc).

Barry

Title: Re: Wood Restoration... Bondo or wood filler?
Post by: mcfreak on October 07, 2007, 04:10:23 pm

I have been trying both on my Asteroids restore.  The wood putty is nice for small holes, smoothing out rough edges and dries slowly.  The bondo is good for filling large voids but it hardens so fast it seems to be a waste.  I used it on one section where it was broken off and used wood putty fo rthe rest.

I am having a difficult time with bondo, getting the mix right with hardener, then applying fast...

Title: Re: Wood Restoration... Bondo or wood filler?
Post by: Paladin on October 07, 2007, 07:05:31 pm

I had a tough time mixing it also, so I went into the kitchen and 'borrowed' two plastic measuring spoons.  One is 1 tablespoon, and the other is 1/4 teaspoon.

I use 2 tablespoons of bondo to 1/2 of the smaller teaspoon (because we didn't have a 1/8th teaspoon) of hardener, and mix it in the cap that comes on top of the bondo.

This makes enough to fill several small holes, and do some edge repair before it hardens.  Any less would use such a small amount of hardner that I imagine it would be hard to get the mix right.

Title: Re: Wood Restoration... Bondo or wood filler?
Post by: TOK on October 08, 2007, 07:08:18 am

Bondo. My first cab literally had hunks out of the corners from being moved. The wood fillers I've seen aren't as hard when dry as the Bondo. As guys have said, you have to work pretty quickly with it, but I think the trick is to have your area prepared, and not try to get the whole thing done in one shot. Once it starts drying, it pulls and is hard to get down smoothly. Also, the real results are in the final prep... Lots of sanding.

Here are pics of a corner and side I did with Bondo. After sanding and paint, these large damaged areas are invisible. One other tip... Run your hand over the repair. If you can feel it, you'll be able to see it. The flat color of Bondo tends to hide imperfections that will be visible with glossy paint over them.

Rear corner:
(http://home.comcast.net/~tok/mamecab/images/pdcab_side2chip2.jpg)
(http://home.comcast.net/~tok/mamecab/images/pdcab_side2bondocorner.jpg)

Side:
(http://home.comcast.net/~tok/mamecab/images/pdcab_repairededge2.jpg)

Title: Re: Wood Restoration... Bondo or wood filler?
Post by: shilmover on October 08, 2007, 11:19:29 am

Nice!  That's exactly what I am trying to accomplish.  Thanks!  :notworthy: