TOG site...atari vinyl??

cueball

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didnt this old game have the atari black and white vinyl? how thick was it? i am trying to find the cheapest source for black vinyl.. its a shame that cabinets arent only 24" deep as i found 18' rolls of 10 mil stuff it for like $20.
 
cheap is not a good idea with vinyl. there are differing levels of quality and cast vs calendared. You want the best kind out there to avoid shrinkage and have great adhesion. Yes you can get a black vinyl cheap as hell, but you won't be happy with what happens to it a year down the road.

/b
 
I emailed Rich about the vinyl. He has it, it is just not listed. Your best bet is to contact him through his site as that is the quickest way to get in touch with him...with that said...

@prOk- do you have any experience / thoughts on the vinyl that Rich sells and how it stacks up quality wise?
 
Rich is a pro, he uses the top quality materials just as I do.

He knows the difference between the brands and the manufacturing methods very well so you can count on the matte vinyls for cabs he sells being very good.

Rich can chime in if he wants to but I can pretty much tell you that you're not going to find 24 inch wide (or wider) cast black matte vinyl of any respectable quality for 20 bucks a roll :) In general the 30 inch roll I have cost well over 300.00 each in 50 yard length, pretty sure rich's costs are similar. Could I use a chinese lower grade calendared matte black to save money? yea, but I won't.

For those that don't know, do a websearch on cast vs calendared vinyl so you can understand what i'm saying and why it's so important to choose one type of vinyl over another. All things are not equal in the vinyl world.

/b
 
Rich is a pro, he uses the top quality materials just as I do.

I figured as much based on happy others have been with the vinyl...but thanks for chiming in!


Rich can chime in if he wants to but I can pretty much tell you that you're not going to find 24 inch wide (or wider) cast black matte vinyl of any respectable quality for 20 bucks a roll :) In general the 30 inch roll I have cost well over 300.00 each in 50 yard length, pretty sure rich's costs are similar. Could I use a chinese lower grade calendared matte black to save money? yea, but I won't.

Rich sells the 30" wide stuff by the foot, so it works out to be quite reasonable for us small-time users! :)
 
Hey i just picked up a few things at Rich's on sat, when i drove up to Portland. The vinyl is 36 inch wide. And i took a old pc. off my ROTJ and it looks exactly the same. Really good stuff. By the way nice guy, and i got to touch the original Star Wars cockpit art work now i can never wash my hands again ..haha and thanks Rich
 

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I used Happ's pica to replace the vinyl on my SW cockpit. Looks very nice, almost the same structure and it feels like very good quality. Easy to apply.

It's thicker than the stuff Atari originally used.
 
Hey i just picked up a few things at Rich's on sat, when i drove up to Portland. The vinyl is 36 inch wide. And i took a old pc. off my ROTJ and it looks exactly the same. Really good stuff. By the way nice guy, and i got to touch the original Star Wars cockpit art work now i can never wash my hands again ..haha and thanks Rich

That Oracal 651 is calandered and listed as "low cost" for "short to medium durability" use. Exactly what you'd expect an arcade game builder to select for a game they thought would last just a couple of years.

If this is the same stuff that Atari used for (f.i.) the seat of the SW cockpit, then it's pretty durable IMHO.

I'm currently in the process of replacing most vinyl on my SW cockpit (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=68094.msg1016416#msg1016416) and I wonder if the Happ vinyl will be sturdy enough for the seat. It looks to me Atari used some of the formica (very smooth) stuff on the backside and the regular vinyl that's used all over the cab on the seat itself.

I found this an interesting read about calendring vs.casting:
http://www.signindustry.com/vinyl/articles/2005-07-01-Avery-CastVsCalendered.php3

From that read (and some more) I think that casting may be required for outside applications that will have to undergo lot's of heat, cold and weather but is less important for applications indoors (and I think most people keep their cabs indoors).
 
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