Main > Main Forum

Covering a cab with vinyl instead of painting - good idea?

<< < (2/7) > >>

jholman76:
one word.... LAMINATE!

it may be more expensive, but it turns the "did you BUILD this?" questions into "Where did you BUY this??"

plus if you get counter-top grade, it doubles as a nice scratch-resistant surface!

joe

nitz:

--- Quote from: wweumina on August 13, 2010, 09:37:04 pm ---You are still going to have to sand back first.  Most vinyl coverings will still show imperfections on the underneath surface. It does look very good though.  One word of advice when applying is to apply diagonally.  Makes it a lot easier to avoid bubbles.

--- End quote ---

Ok, this is probably pretty noobish, but is sanding just to avoid imperfections showing, or is there another reason, like I won't get the vinyl to stick as well? The surface actually is pretty smooth, the paint job of what's already on there is ok, it's just that the color is probably about my least favorite color for an arcade cab - dark grey. Could I maybe just sand the odd little rough patches and be ok? I really want to avoid serious sanding if I can help it! If I had my own outside space to do it in, I'd happily have at 'er, but I don't and I really don't wanna drag my cab downstairs and try to do this in the alley with folks gawking at me, and then have to drag it upstairs again. Sanding or scraping more than a very small amount indoors isn't really an option to me as I don't feel comfortable about putting a bunch of fine paint/wood dust into the air for my wife and I to breathe in. If I figure I absolutely have to sand, I guess I'll bite the bullet and just get it outside somehow and do it, but I'm looking for a way to avoid it.



--- Quote from: jpresto on August 13, 2010, 10:12:04 pm ---I think i'm about to attempt the same. UAII cabinet. Going in an office so decided not to go the art route but wanted to spruce it up a bit. Lining the two top sides with vinyl fabric, possibly control panel as well. This is the distributor: http://www.unitedfabrics.com/do/productList?categoryId=3&p=39 Some great vinyls - one i'm going with is a square metallic pattern, tons of vintage patterns.

It's 54" wide, cab panels are exactly that. Should be thick enough that excess t-molding will cover it perfectly.

Not sure about process yet. Will try some sort of spray glue. May attempt to trim with razor or router. Plan on testing in next week or two on a sample. Will share my findings.

--- End quote ---

Would love to see how this works out!

As for laminate, I've thought about that and it probably would look awesome, but I've seen this mentioned on a few threads here before and everyone says it's really expensive. I don't want to cheap out on my refurbing (cheaping out and cutting corners on some stuff is part of the reason I need the refurb in the first place :banghead:), but at the same time, I don't have tons of money right now so don't really want to spend a ton on this if I can help it.


--- Quote from: wonderalex on August 13, 2010, 10:24:43 pm ---I'll be doing precisely what you're asking next week on my bartop and later on my full-sided cab - but I'm not using vinyl, rather I'm printing my graphics onto a plastic material (I forget the name in English - but it's not vinyl) that will be laminated with a ploy-carbonate semi-gloss finish.

--- End quote ---

I'm intrigued! Would like to see what that's all about and how it turns out!

Thanks for the replies guys, it's helpful! :applaud:

javeryh:

--- Quote from: nitz on August 14, 2010, 01:08:01 am ---Ok, this is probably pretty noobish, but is sanding just to avoid imperfections showing, or is there another reason, like I won't get the vinyl to stick as well? The surface actually is pretty smooth, the paint job of what's already on there is ok, it's just that the color is probably about my least favorite color for an arcade cab - dark grey. Could I maybe just sand the odd little rough patches and be ok?
--- End quote ---

Vinyl is VERY thin. - almost any imperfection will show through.  I sand brand new MDF before applying it and that stuff is smooth to start.  Laminate is more expensive but if you are going to have this cab for many years I think the difference in price is worth it over the long run.  Either way, I can't imaging building a cab and not having to sand.   :cheers:

jpresto:
The pattern/effect is hard to see onscreen, but I don't think I can find something like that as a laminate. Also, there are going to be textures people can achieve with vinyl fabric, like a faux leather - not my bag but could work.

It's going to be terribly fragile but going in an office with all vintage furniture, the vinyl should retro it up a bit (or more than usual, i suppose)

Is laminate that expensive? This stuff is costing about $120 for 3 yards.

nitz:

--- Quote from: javeryh on August 14, 2010, 08:02:32 am ---Vinyl is VERY thin. - almost any imperfection will show through.  I sand brand new MDF before applying it and that stuff is smooth to start.  Laminate is more expensive but if you are going to have this cab for many years I think the difference in price is worth it over the long run.  Either way, I can't imaging building a cab and not having to sand.   :cheers:

--- End quote ---

Alrighty then. I'm not going to make the mistake of not listening to more experienced folks, doing it my own way and then having to tear it up and start over because it looks like ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- and wasting effort and $$$.

I think I'm gonna check out my local fabric shop this week and see what they've got. Is there a particular type of vinyl I'm looking for? I was toying with this idea over a year ago and had a look there, but seem to recall that all the vinyl they had was much thicker than what I would want as I already mentioned. But I didn't look that hard (they've got a ton of stuff to look through), so I'll see what I can find.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page

Go to full version