Swelling on front/bottom of Robotron

joeycuda

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I have a Robotron cabinet, stripped of all parts, and my next video game restoration project:

The sides, back, top are fine, and are 3/4" plywood. The front panel is the fiberboard stuff. The bottom 6" is swollen.

Now..if I'm going to restencil (have gamestencils set), do a full repaint, cut new back door panels, etc.. it has to be done right.

I will not sand that stuff down, the swollen material has to come out.

My 2 options are -

1) Cut across front of cab, along bottom edge of lower door cutout. Cut replacement panel from 3/4" MDF. Replace, using Titebond, biscuits, etc.. I am concerned that after filling, repainting, etc.. the seams will crack eventually. But.. it will be 2 small seams to try and hide

2) Remove entire front panel and cut replacement from 3/4" MDF. No seams, but front fits into dados in sides. It's also attached to the coin box. Since I wouldn't be able to actually put the cab back together as factory, without cracking the sides apart, this seems pointless.

I have repro tinted glass bezel from Phoenixarcade, marquee, rebuilt control panel, working boardset..everything to build a like new Robo upright.

Thanks for any input-

Joey
Madison, AL
 
2) Remove entire front panel and cut replacement from 3/4" MDF. No seams, but front fits into dados in sides. It's also attached to the coin box. Since I wouldn't be able to actually put the cab back together as factory, without cracking the sides apart, this seems pointless.

Why would the sides crack apart?..is it not possible to cut the front part out but keep the sides in-tact?

Also, how original are you trying to keep this? You could use plywood on the front instead of MDF?
 
I just restored a Robotron cab so I can kind of sympathize with you.
EDIT: First off NO MDF - use plywood. Re-reading this yes I agree with prOk be faithful to the originality.
I've seen quite a few cabs that match your option #1. You could see the patch work. Besides, the paint is expensive as hell and with this particular shade of silver don't roll it. You need to have this cabinet sprayed. Rolling turns out ok but trust me when I say rolling this color is not the best way to do it. If I ever had to do another Robotron I would spray it and I've rolled quite a few cabs. Anyway good luck on your resto.
 
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If you care about accuracy and faithfulness of the restoration replace material with the same material. Robo was mdf on the front. You can cut vertically right down the middle to remove the old panel, just measure well so you know where to re-cut the coin door hole.

MDF does puff up when you get it wet but seriously, who in a collecting scenario is going to get it wet and beat it up like an operator did?
 
I'd have to pull the sides apart to put a panel in, fitting into the dadoed side panels, as originally constructed.

I do care about accuracy and I'll take the time to do it right. I have the proper tools to do it.


The patch/seam won't affect anything but the black area, but to clarify - it will all be sprayed, and I'll be using the gamestencils stencils - end product should look very close to factory finish, minus overspray and fuzzy edges.

Plywood, to me, wouldn't be a good choice, as it would be jointed up to the old MDF which is smooth. Plywood would require a bunch of heavy build primer and sanding. MDF sucks to get wet, but like Brian said, it won't get wet. MDF, like plywood, is dimensionally stable, so less worries about pulling away from seam, etc..

I could cut down the middle to remove the old front. I could make a perfect replacement piece by transfering tracings of the coin door openings, then rough cutting, then cleaning up the cuts with a spiral upcut router bit.

My concerns with removing front-
1) Front panel fits into dados in sides. Without busting cabinet apart (prying sides apart) I can't get it back together that way. The front panel/sides joints would be butt joints. However...with the angle block pieces behind + pocket screws + glue + accurate cuts, the seams should be impossible to detect from outside cabinet.

2) I'd imagine that in addition to front fitting into dados, they shot staples through the joint. How much damage will I cause pulling it all apart?

3) The front panel is attached to the coin box contraption. How easily will the front panel separate from that? Must be staples or glue..

I did replace the lower front on my Defender, yet it was much less involved. I did that in plywood! Looks good, but I could do a better job now, with a cabinet saw and MDF.

I'm REALLLLLY leaning towards just extracting the entire front. It will be more work, but no seams and front of cabinet would be flawless. I'd give both side a few coats of Zinsser sealer, prime front, and black.

Just worried about how messy removing the front will be.
 
Here is what I did to mine:

http://gaming.metahugh.com/?cat=10

I had the same problem and I used a 7" block plane and removed the bad MDF. One thing I would do the next time is apply some wood hardener and then scrape away the puffed out parts and then use the plane to level it.
 
Yours turned out really well.. dig the website. I also have a Burgertime - great job you did there.

My before is like yours was on the swelling, maybe a tiny bit worse.

I'll post an update when I get into it, hopefully in a couple of weeks.


Joey
 
I'd remove the entire front. I'd cut the old piece out right down the center with a saw. Wiggle it and the dados will most likely fall out. I just did this on my ms pac galaga reunion cab and it worked really well. I have done both of these (MDF and finished plywood) and both came out pretty good in the past. It all depends on the quality of the prep work involved. good luck !
 
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