Melamine board VS MDF with vinyl

Tornadoboy

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 28, 2009
Messages
9,112
Reaction score
1,411
Location
North Attleboro, Massachusetts
Ok, now posting this under the right forum this time....

I need to re-do the sides of a Mouse Trap game (and probably a Battlezone later) and I'm trying to decide whether to go with white melamine board from Home Depot or just use MDF and later cover it with white vinyl? Melamine is almost double the cost of plain MDF but I imagine the prices gets closer when you add up the costs of getting the vinyl for the MDF.

What are people's thoughts? Which is most durable, easier to cut with a wood router and overall the better choice?

Also if I go with the melamine, will I have trouble gluing/attaching wood pieces to that kind of surface with the other panels and inside parts?
 
The original material was probably neither - if like Atari cabinets, it would have been particle board with a heat/pressure laminate vinyl on it. Closest you could replicate that is actual 3/4 particle board (Lowes has it), clear coat it, sand it super slick, then use adhesive white vinyl. Glue will not stick to the melamine or vinyl really..it needs something to bite to.
 
I guess I got my terms mixed up, I meant particle board, looks like MDF is different than I was talking about.

That's the way I was leaning, melamine would make things pretty and go a lot quicker but being that it's laminated on both sides it would interfer with gluing severly, and if the sides ever got damaged fixing them would be a bitch if not next to impossible. And while it's more work at least with particle/vinyl I can always peel it off and start over.
 
I guess I got my terms mixed up, I meant particle board, looks like MDF is different than I was talking about.

That's the way I was leaning, melamine would make things pretty and go a lot quicker but being that it's laminated on both sides it would interfer with gluing severly, and if the sides ever got damaged fixing them would be a bitch if not next to impossible. And while it's more work at least with particle/vinyl I can always peel it off and start over.

I have plans of scratch building some Atari cabinets for my restorations and have been going over the same thing in my head. While plywood made sense for some parts, I have decided against it, as it tends to warp. As crappy of a woodworking material particle board is, it seems to be the best to use with adhesive vinyl or laminate.
 
Melamine can be difficult to with without any experience. The top layer has a tendency to tear, scratch and chip easily if it's cut with the wrong saw blades. If your are looking for a nice finished surface like melamine, I'd recommend using MDF or plywood and applying a laminate (like Formica or plastic) instead.
 
I think I like Joeycuda's idea of using particle board, clear coating then sanding it for the vinyl, that seems to give me the most ability to tweak things as I go and gives wiggle room for any future repairs.

Any recommendations for a brand of clear coat?
 
Last edited:
Sounds like you made a decision, but just to add.....

Melamine has a really nice finish and is less work, but it chips really easy on the edges until you get the moldings on. You can get it with the coating only on one side from lumber yards. I get specialty melamine glue at the lumber yard as well that works really well.

You are correct that if you damage a side later down the road it will probably be really hard to get a good match on the finish. I know on the black melamine you can paint it and buff it to get a pretty close match.
 
I'd do particle board and vinyl on this one since the outside of a mousetrap is white in the inner is black. So to get the color scheme correct with melanine you would still need to paint or vinyl one side.

BTW the black pica vinyl that happ sells is a good match for the original vinyl that was used on this era of exidy games.
 
Back
Top Bottom