Using melamine coated particle board an option?

[eds1275]

My "real" cabinet is gonna ring in at about a grand on materials alone, and I was thinking for Christmas this year instead of the usual guitar lessons or toys or whatevs that I'd make 2 small arcade machines - one for my godchildren, and one for my nephews. It's just a thought right now. It'd be great practice, and wouldn't be a waste of time either since the kids would love it.

I have a box of misc parts that would be great for what I have in mind - some 15" lcds, some joysticks and buttons [x-arcade - everyone's gotta start somewhere right?]. One player each with 7 buttons, and then a USB port for adding a second controller.

White melamine is also dirt cheap, $14 a 4x8 sheet I think, and I THINK sturdy enough to last a few years. My nephews are 11 and 12, and my godchildren are 1, 2, and 6. So they will soon outgrow the small cabs I was planning on making. Easy godfather theme for one, not sure about the nephews.

Is melamine particle board sturdy enough for this task? I usually use plywood for my other build hobbies, never really used it. My kitchen cabinets are made out of it though and they seem sturdy.

[orchidius]

Funny you should mention this. I'm in the middle of my first build at the moment, and I had been looking for prelaminated wood like the kind you mentioned for weeks before deciding to go with MDF and cheap wallpaperlike self adhesive vinyl... All I could find were some narrow and extremely expensive boards in my local DIY store.

1)
Don't worry about the sturdyness of the material, I guarantee it will hold. As you mentioned before, for a couple decades, most kitchens were made out of the stuff. I'm not 100% sure, but I think even the original arcade machines are made out of it! The only issue this type of wood has when it comes down to wear and tear are the edges. Particleboard is NOT known for its sturdy edges... When not protected they'll start to wear down and crumble pretty quickly. The pre-lamiated particleboard is also laminated on the edges too though. That prevents crumbling to a certain degree, but will also wear down pretty quickly.

T-molding will however solve all of the above problems. It protects the edges from crumbling and it protects the edges of the laminate from peeling off.

2)
Another thing you need to watch out for when using this material is sawing. You'll get a clean cut as far as the particleboard goes, but the laminate will most definitely crack. Not all the way, but small cracks, enough to make it look like a complete failure.

This problem also comes with a simple solution though. Apply thick and broad paper tape where you want to make the cut, the kind you use to tape off corners when you're painting walls for example. Make sure the cut is in the middle of the tape (you just draw the line on the paper tape, extra easy ftw!), and make your cut. Something else that might work is sandwiching it between two other pieces of wood and sawing it like that, but that's a lot of hassle and I can't guarantee that it'll work.

I'm not sure what Turncades use as base material for their cabinets, but I once asked mameroom.com about their cabs, and they use the stuff on all of their products. You could send both of them an email to ask for additional info on the matter, never hurts to ask .

[eds1275]

Thanks dude.

   I'll give it a shot; cutting melamine is nothing new to me, but building larger things like this is, which is why I was worried about the strength of it. I suppose, now that I think about it... my street fight arcade machine was made out of that stuff too [probably a conversion from something else but idk for sure].

   I will make a template out of MDF and route out the design though, I'm pretty sure that can be done without chipping. I'll let you know how it goes; I'll be coming into some $$ next week so I'll be starting then I hope...

[BobA]

The melamine coated particle board or mdf is used on most of the cabs being offered as kits today.  The important part is fastening.  Some cabs kits use engineered fasteners and some just use screws and wood batons or screws and a kreg jig.   If you just glue and screw like mdf or plywood then the melamine surface does not let the glue soak in and make a good bond.  The surface itself is fragile so you are not glueing to the underlay but just to the paper thin melamine. You can also get around this by exposing the mdf or particle board where you glue by making the proper cuts and using different types of joints.

[eds1275]

I am gonna try out a few biscuit joints on it to see how sturdy that should be. Thanks for the tips!

[BobA]

Biscuit joints are a great option as they expose the base material for gluing on both sides.

[push2reject]

I like melamine board but it is not for everybody.  I’ve found there are a lot of variations in melamine board.  The thin stock you are finding is usually just for cheap closet shelves.  I have seen melamine facing that is paper and melamine facing that is true melamine and closer to laminate/plastic finish.  The quality can go in any direction.  I ended up ordering melamine from a cabinet shop cheaper than MDF was over at the big box stores.  I can actually order it in a couple of colors.  If you can’t find a good supplier you’re better off going with MDF.

[shan1784]

I bought a Tekken cab that was built in 1994 that is made of this melamine coated particle board and it's held up great...

[KuddlKat]

I made a control panel for a PC out of it, finishing with the woodworking last week.  I just used two 12x36" pieces... was hoping for black but I guess they only make them as white shelf-boards these days.

The cut edges chipped a little more than I'd hoped, but it still worked out nicely for my first build.  I kept as much covered with painter's tape as I could while I was working on it.  Most of the chipped areas were from blades coming out (drill, saw, etc) so the front fared much better.  The router did a great job with nice sharp edges overall, so no worries there.


{1 and 2 player select and coin (reject) button holes above trackball cutout.}



I was able to cut pieces so that exposed edges were to the back/bottom.  I might do a little paint touch-up later.

[eds1275]

nice job kuddlkat

   is that white t-molding or just iron on edge tape?I think I'll be going with black t molding on the one for my godchildren.

[KuddlKat]

Actually, it's just the original edges.  I didn't do anything with the cut edges, just designed it so that cut edges would be against other parts or at the rear.

In Home Depot, where the boards are I saw they had rolls of edging that were iron-on but figured that I'd make this nice, but not spend too much effort on it so that I'd be willing to rebuild it someday with MDF, plastic overlay and graphics.

I've never tried iron-on veneer edging, but I imagine that either I wouldn't do it right or there would be some reason it wouldn't stick well.

[eds1275]

it sticks well, and it's easy. it sticks really well actually. It's probably what the edges on yours are made of, even if you didn't iron them. I've made plenty of kitchen cabinets in my time and that  stuff is simple to use.

[KuddlKat]

Hmm.  Well, I'll give it a shot.    I do have a trim bit for the router.

[Rick]

it sticks well, and it's easy. it sticks really well actually. It's probably what the edges on yours are made of, even if you didn't iron them. I've made plenty of kitchen cabinets in my time and that  stuff is simple to use.

Agreed.  I only wish I had a router when I built my kitchen cabinets.  There is no end of chipping on mine.  Thankfully, touched up with paint and hidden behind doors makes everything look that much nicer.  (The 'good news' is that if I ever build cabinets again, I'll have that router - I'm buying it tomorrow.)

 

[NoBullMAME]

A couple of tips for cutting melamine.

First, go to OSH and ask for a bit or blade made or melamine. If you give you a blank stare get a carbide tipped bit with fairly small teeth. The main thing here is to avoid chipping.

Put masking tape over your cuts (both sides), press it down really hard, then make your line (see photo). If you get any tiny chip use a fabric pin (ask the old laidies in the craft section of Walmart), don't use a felt pin as it doesn't match black melamine.

For bigger chips use fingernail polish (if your melamine is white or black). If you have textured melamine you can wait for it to dry 1/2 way and then lightly press against it. It will leave a fingerprint, now move your finger and degrees and do it again. takes a little practice, but it will mimic the texture of the melamine.

Last, do a test cut first, so you can make sure you are not getting too much chipping.