Raise your hand if you've ever sanded a Berzerk or other Stern bohemeth?

Nasty in what way? Hard to sand the finish or uncovering sloppy craftsmanship in the cabinet?

I have a Berzerk cabinet and from this and other Stern cabinets, it seems that they might have used a lesser grade plywood than what was use by Midway, etc.. I believe the finish is textured to cover up knots/crappy wood, in the same way that splatter paint finishes have been used to do the same.
 
Nasty in what way? Hard to sand the finish or uncovering sloppy craftsmanship in the cabinet?

I have a Berzerk cabinet and from this and other Stern cabinets, it seems that they might have used a lesser grade plywood than what was use by Midway, etc.. I believe the finish is textured to cover up knots/crappy wood, in the same way that splatter paint finishes have been used to do the same.

Crappy plywood, horrible paint... although durable .... horrible. Panel cuts (radius around the corners) are irregular. Also put together with very little (if any) glue and nails. The nails are funny, reminds me of a home-made job. Not to mention these cabs sit directly on the ground... no leg levelers! I'm going to be correcting that on mine...
 
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Gotta agree with that. I'm working on a Berzerk now, and it is by far the worst cab i've done - even worse than Q-bert. Not sure what paint they used, but when I'm sanding (random orbital), the paint seems to almost disolve into a powder then get grinded into the wood, staining it black. Lots of patches in the wood, and I had to replace the bottom of both sides because they didn't use leg levelers (added them). I'll be posting some pics of the restoration soon.
 
Gotta agree with that. I'm working on a Berzerk now, and it is by far the worst cab i've done - even worse than Q-bert. Not sure what paint they used, but when I'm sanding (random orbital), the paint seems to almost disolve into a powder then get grinded into the wood, staining it black. Lots of patches in the wood, and I had to replace the bottom of both sides because they didn't use leg levelers (added them). I'll be posting some pics of the restoration soon.

I'm actually doing the same... I've been excited to get to my Berzerk for a while... until yesterday... when I started to strip it... At the end of it, I looked like a chimney sweeper, it was quite comical!

I've decided I'm not taking the paint completely off... its really really tightly bonded to the wood. I'm afraid if I completely strip it I will be in for many many coats of paint and since the plywood is crap, the grain may actually split again later on damaging the new finish. Keeping that cement like paint may be the best way to deal with it long term.
 
Gotta agree with that. I'm working on a Berzerk now, and it is by far the worst cab i've done - even worse than Q-bert. Not sure what paint they used, but when I'm sanding (random orbital), the paint seems to almost disolve into a powder then get grinded into the wood, staining it black. Lots of patches in the wood, and I had to replace the bottom of both sides because they didn't use leg levelers (added them). I'll be posting some pics of the restoration soon.

The sides on mine had very minor chips due to no levelers. Actually, they had the little plastic button furniture glides, same as came on pinballs. They were hardly enough for the job.

What I did to repair, strengthen, and add levelers would probably be considered overkill, but here goes:

http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=152236
 
The sides on mine had very minor chips due to no levelers. Actually, they had the little plastic button furniture glides, same as came on pinballs. They were hardly enough for the job.

What I did to repair, strengthen, and add levelers would probably be considered overkill, but here goes:

http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=152236

That's well done! I like the sturdiness of it. I wouldn't call that overkill... I would call it just right!
 
Crappy plywood, horrible paint... although durable .... horrible. Panel cuts (radius around the corners) are irregular. Also put together with very little (if any) glue and nails. The nails are funny, reminds me of a home-made job. Not to mention these cabs sit directly on the ground... no leg levelers! I'm going to be correcting that on mine...

Ya know how a back door rests against strips/stops on the cabinet and should be flush with the back edges? On my cabinet, the wood strips are so poorly done that the back door sits flush on one side and about 1/8-1/4" in on the other. The quality is pathetic.

The sideart on mine is very nice, yet I'm still torn on possibly stripping and refinishing the cabinet, so I can 'improve' it by filling the divots from the staples/nails, correct the back door thing, etc..

The black paint on the front of mine is very rough and looks like crap (original) and it will get resprayed.

What's the general consensus for base coat of Berzerk, if spraying Rustoleum oil based paint - satin, semi-gloss, or gloss black?

Due to original finish being sprayed thinly over little, if any, primer - I think whatever sheen was original usually looks a sheen or 2 duller 30 years later. If you sprayed gloss over rougher wood, showing grain, etc.. it would look less gloss than spraying a really flat finish over a nice prep job, filling every imperfection in the wood.
 
You guys are taking this way further than it needs to go. I've done two Stern cabs. I used rubberized undercoating on one, and pour-in sand texture on another. Both paint jobs were rolled, to mimic the original texture even further. prOk advocates rolling plaster on the cab before painting to mimic the texture. In any case, this isn't fine cabinetry, it's a rough Stern cab. The next one I do I am using the spray on Rhino Liner kit.

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You guys are taking this way further than it needs to go. I've done two Stern cabs. I used rubberized undercoating on one, and pour-in sand texture on another. Both paint jobs were rolled, to mimic the original texture even further. prOk advocates rolling plaster on the cab before painting to mimic the texture. In any case, this isn't fine cabinetry, it's a rough Stern cab. The next one I do I am using the spray on Rhino Liner kit.

Understood... I'm not a big fan of the textured finish, so mine is going to be a more traditional smooth finish.
 
Understood... I'm not a big fan of the textured finish, so mine is going to be a more traditional smooth finish.

Interesting you say that, as the Pac Novelty games were in the same Stern-shaped cabinet, only made from particle board rather than plywood, with a light textured vinyl on them. That is how my Shark Attack was and that's how I am restoring it. Happ's textured black vinyl will fit the bill nicely on that one. Not perfectly smooth, but much much smoother and more refined than the Stern paint texture.
 
Interesting you say that, as the Pac Novelty games were in the same Stern-shaped cabinet, only made from particle board rather than plywood, with a light textured vinyl on them. That is how my Shark Attack was and that's how I am restoring it. Happ's textured black vinyl will fit the bill nicely on that one. Not perfectly smooth, but much much smoother and more refined than the Stern paint texture.

Light textured vinyl would be much better.

I have two Berzerk cabinets, one of them has a nice even texture to it (much like the Rhino\Linex finish) the other one is so ridiculously textured with some real gritty sand and h a glossy finish it looks absolutely horrible. I think you could actually injure yourself on the finish its so bad.

Unfortunately the better condition cab is the latter so I just decided to get rid of the texture all together. Purists may hate but with a re-stencil and new control panel I'm sure going to be pretty happy with the end result.
 
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