Routing new front panel for Williams pin?

kspiff

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Anyone ever done this before? My FunHouse front panel looked like ass (giant lockbar holes, nails from an op's quick fix into the sides, chipped off piece on bottom rear where the track for the cabinet's bottom piece is, bite marks from the legs, etc.) so I pulled it off and plan to route a new one. But the side of the panel have a funky looking edge, sort of like:

_______
|_
_________\

Was checking Rockler and did not see any router bits that really match up.

Also - and not really expecting a reply on this question, but worth a shot - does anyone out there have a Bench Dog routing table? Any good or overpriced junk? With all the risky routing techniques I use I'm starting to think I better invest in a nice table while I still have all my fingers.
 
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Guess a ASCII pic isn't going to work. Here is a mockup of the profile I'm looking at.

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I might be able to do very shallow 45-degree cuts on each side and just route the piece the rest of the way off, but something about that much precision routing and cutting makes me think something will go wrong.
 

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Using a router to cut the recess is easy enough to do. Set the proper depth and chew it off both sides. For the angled edge that'll take a couple times on a table saw. Start off setting the table saw degree at much much less of the needed angle . Rip both sidess and attempt to see how it fits. Change the angle ever so slightly and repeat the cutting attempt to make each cut DUST - as little taken off as possible. Keep going till she fits proper. Quite honestly a table saw can do the whole thing if you don;t own a router.

Then you get the pleasure of doing the artwork! And you'll end up doing the whole cabinet because the front artwork will be much more vibrant than the rest ;)
 
Sounds about right. I sort of hoped there would be a commercially available router bit, but I guess I'll have to do this one as you suggest instead.

Cab art will be redone. Was going to just do the front and maybe do the rest some day in the future, but it'd be too much of a pita to take apart again (and a shame to have to do so once it is working).

Ugh, should have known, the left side of the cabinet has chipped off as well below the track the bottom piece slides into. And there are nails all the way along the bottom. Might need to route a new side piece as well. Freakin' nightmare of a project and the more I dig the worse it seems to get, but I know it will be in my collection forever so I better do a decent job. :p
 
I also have a FH and LOVE it. It needs a new PF which I'm NOT looking forward to that one. My cabinet is prolly an 7 out of 10 but I really want to do a 100% resto on it. New pf, new targets, new ramps and such. It's a crap ton of time and money but it is sooo worth it for this game.
 
Got a playfield swap in progress as we speak (along with new ramps, bumpers, a flipper rebuild, plastics, Cliffy stuff... I could literally list new shit all day that is going into this machine, it's ridiculous). :D Thank God I managed to get a weekend off a couple months back to hit the HAAG show and get a 2nd run IPB repro. Had I missed out on the last one they had I'd have been stuck waiting for them to make another run (next year I think?).

When all is said and done the machine should be nigh immaculate, but with the cost to obtain and the cost of all the parts the machine is set to end up around $3500. Sucks that the cabinet needs so much love, I'd really love to play a game soon. But if I take my time and get it done right I'm sure I will enjoy it much more in the end.
 
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