Need Some Post Laminate Installation Help

quickray

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Hey All,

I need some advice on post-laminate installation work, drilling holes…

I recently laminated the front kick plate on a Midway NBA Jam cab. Came out great.

The problem I've run into are the holes that are on the front kickplate that hold the coin doors. I typically just take a drill and a piece of blocking, drill through the laminate with a very small bit into the blocking and then just make the holes match from there, gradually building the drill bit in size until it is the same size as the hole.

Problem is on this cab, the holes are in extremely tight places, places my drill can't get to.

So I'm looking for ideas on how I can get these holes drilled in the laminate into the right spot. Is there a super small drill that is made that folks have used? I suppose I can just guess where to drill based on where the hole is on the other side but I'd hate to be wrong, that would suck, as it is the front and that would be ugly.

Any tips?
 
Pictures?

I'm curious what holes on a kickplate would be so close to and edge that they can't be drilled.
This was the cab originally. It's not that is too close to the edge. My drill is just too big to fit in some of those areas, particularly the bottom section. The very top two for example I can't get to because there is a piece of wood running across the cab.
 

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Looks like the holes already there would be covered by the laminate.

I would place the coin doors and mark the placement of the mounting holes. There should some wiggle room but I would aim for the center of the marked holes and do a pilot hole with the smallest drill bit from the front of the cabinet.

Then take a look and see if the new pilot hole is in the center of the existing hole (looking from the back, inside the cabinet). If all looks good, step up the drill bit until you get the holes of the right size for the bolts.

p
 
Make a large paper templet on the outside and mark where all the holes are.
Then use it to drill them out from the front side, and router them out with a Dremel or trim router.
 
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