What's the best way to remove side art?

byteflip

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I've been working on peeling the side art off a Midway cabinet to get it down to the bare particle board. The first couple layers came off pretty easy with some Citrus-Solve, but that last layer is being super stubborn since it's glued right to the board. I've soaked it good, let the Citrus-Solve sit anywhere from half an hour to a few hours, and it still doesn't want to budge.


Anyone got any tips or tricks?
 
Heat gun and scraper. It will leave adhesive residue behind. Use Rapid Remover on the adhesive - 30 seconds set time and scrape and the adhesive is gone. Do another application of Rapid Remover if needed. Works really well. If you can hand peel off large chunks it can be more time efficient than using the heat gun and scraper for large pieces of side art, and can also take more of the adhesive with it so less to clean up later. But for stubborn stuff, the heat gun and scraper will get it off.
 
I've been working on peeling the side art off a Midway cabinet to get it down to the bare particle board. The first couple layers came off pretty easy with some Citrus-Solve, but that last layer is being super stubborn since it's glued right to the board. I've soaked it good, let the Citrus-Solve sit anywhere from half an hour to a few hours, and it still doesn't want to budge.


Anyone got any tips or tricks?
I agree with the other guy.

Nice Big Trouble in Little China avatar.
 
Thanks for all that chimed in on the thread. Ended up using the scraper to remove the citrusolve from the old vinyl. Then ended up stripping one side successfully. Took a little bit of elbow grease but it got done.

  • Vinyl artwork removed down to particle board
  • Particle board sanded with 120, 220, 320 and finally 400 gritt
I'll work on body work on the blown out edges tomorrow. Im hoping to get this project done by tomorrow and then ordering a full cabinet art work kit for Umk3.

Any suggestions for art work suppliers?
 

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Thanks for all that chimed in on the thread. Ended up using the scraper to remove the citrusolve from the old vinyl. Then ended up stripping one side successfully. Took a little bit of elbow grease but it got done.

  • Vinyl artwork removed down to particle board
  • Particle board sanded with 120, 220, 320 and finally 400 gritt
I'll work on body work on the blown out edges tomorrow. Im hoping to get this project done by tomorrow and then ordering a full cabinet art work kit for Umk3.

Any suggestions for art work suppliers?
Nice work.

XL Arcade has some good stuff. Szabo's also carries it but I wouldn't use him. It took me 6 months before I got artwork and it wasn't even correct. Tried to see if I could get a credit back since I wasn't gonna use it and I get no response.

Have you considered laminating the cabinet?

Here is my Midway cab I'm currently restoring after laminating. You get flawless results when applying the artwork due to the perfect surface.
 

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Nice work.

XL Arcade has some good stuff. Szabo's also carries it but I wouldn't use him. It took me 6 months before I got artwork and it wasn't even correct. Tried to see if I could get a credit back since I wasn't gonna use it and I get no response.

Have you considered laminating the cabinet?

Here is my Midway cab I'm currently restoring after laminating. You get flawless results when applying the artwork due to the perfect surface.
How thick was the laminate, you order it locally? Looks very nice.
 
Bought it locally. Wilson Art 1595-60. Vertical grade, so it's thin.
 
What do you use to adhere the laminate to the old MDF?
Wilson Art 600 Contact Cement. AKA, "the good stuff" as my carpenter friends say.

Roll it on the cab and your laminate. Throw your dowels down. Throw the laminate on top of the dowels. Remove and route.
 
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