Restoring Donkey Kong Jr Cabinet

Jtoney

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I found a deal on a Donkey Kong Jr cabinet but it was in rough shape. Some of the edges of the particle board are missing or falling apart.

What would be the best approach on trying to salvage as much of the cabinet as possible? Sure, I could just make new sides but that's not really what I want.

I've seen people using wood hardener to restore but that's pricey. I am planning to use bondo as well.

Suggestions would be welcomed.
 

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I've repaired blown out particle board on the rear of US nintendo cabinets before by grinding down the blown areas and gluing 1/8" hardboard to the inside of that dado cut as a backer. I ended up having to trim the back door about a 1/8".

My only concern with yours is that it is WAYYY worse condition than the one i did.
 
Particle board Ninty cabs SUCK. I've seen great results using wood hardener and clamps on plywood but it doesn't work nearly as well on particle board. There just isn't saving particle board once it starts to flake off like that.

Hopefully others can chime in with a better outlook that I have but I think you'll be replacing a large portion of the back of that cab.
 
I don't have any detailed pics of what i did.

In the first pic you can see where i was sizing up a strip of hard board (the brown strip) into that dado. The second pic shows the strip glued in and i began to fill and blend the missing areas in.
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Ill sand it and repaint
I guess that means full repaint, not spot painting. Assuming so, I don't see why you'd try to salvage as much of the side as you can. Cut back to solid wood, glue in a new piece. It seems like more work but it's not assuming you have the tool and skill - or a friend who does.

I know you were looking for a different answer but cutting back even just an inch or two should be enough. You'd then bondo and sand to get it flat but you will have a solid and clean edge. Trying to harden and bondo the crumbling stuff will just result in a mess and it's likely going to come off when someone tries moving the cabinet.

I hate cutting cabinets but sometimes it's the right answer.
 
Do the templates exist for constructing a new cabinet? The reason I ask is that there are some areas that I'm going to have to cut a lot off and I fear that when I pull it off I'm going to lose what's there and I won't have a way to create another piece. I found some water damage that I want to get rid of completely where the wood has swollen. I want to leave as much original as I can.
 

I'm a sucker for lost cause restorations. I have several cabs that other local collectors didn't want to tackle.

However, that is really rough; IDK if it can be saved.
 
That cabinet is a lost cause IMO. Better to find a good donor (like something converted to a horrible game, but has a good cabinet) and use the guts from this one to restore the other converted cabinet.
 
I haven't owned a particle board nintendo - is it plywood aside from the sides? If so, I'd clean, bleach, and repair all the plywood, but cut 2 new sides from furniture grade plywood. You could still keep a lot of the original cabinet that way.
 
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