Tuesday, June 12, 2007

MORE Progress Pictures

Nothing much to note here regarding the construction or anything. I was able to install the front panel which contains the coin door (and is hinged on the right for access to the computer) as well as the pink t-molding. At first I was put off by the pinkness of the t-molding but after I popped in the control panel and hung the marquee and sideart with some tape it looked really really good - the buttons and some of the coloring in the marquee and sideart match the t-molding just like I had planned.

One note about the t-molding installation... it definitely wasn't as easy as it should have been and that was my own fault. Throughout the finishing process the cabinet was very wet due to wetsanding the lacquer finish. A lot of this water spilled over the edges and I had to continually wipe the spills up with a rag. A lot of the water also came into contact with the unprotected edge of the cabinet where the t-molding slot was located and severely weakened the MDF. When I went to put on the t-molding, it didn't necessarily want to follow the slot I had routed when I was hammering it in with my rubber mallet and there were a few spots where it made it's own groove - off center.

It was an easy fix - all I had to do was remove the t-molding, straighten the slot out with a flathead screwdriver, carefully align the t-molding with the slot and hammer it in again. My previous experience was that t-molding was super easy to install and didn't require careful attention. I won't make that mistake again!

I definitely do not think this will be a long-term problem or anything - the t-molding really fit snugly into the slot (without glue) and went deeper than the water damage on the surface of the edge so it had something to cling to in there. I just wanted to point it out in case someone decided to try my finish.

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