How to install laminate on an arcade game - Atari Quantum Restore Part #6

[@pdxDavid]

I always screw up putting screen protectors on my phone. Can't imagine putting a full sheet of side art on a cabinet. Nice work.

[@Darryl603]

It looks great, John! I think if you were to get a laminate trimming bit with a bearing, it would eliminate the chance of the bit digging into the cabinet.

[@csamissy]

Thanks to John for posting this awesome video! It really helped me decide on an approach to repairing the sides of my Universal Cosmic Avenger. A few (hopefully) helpful tips...Suggest using a laminate router with a flush cut, laminate trimming bit with bearing. Also, make sure that the edges of your cabinet are as pristine as possible, as any irregularity (divot and/or bump) in the edge will be directly transferred into the laminate that you are trying to trim. I just finished trimming laminate and I could not be happier with how it looks!

[@shovelhedded]

Good on you for getting the glasses. Also, grab a bit with a bearing! It does a better job and is almost foolproof.

[@brandonevans9342]

Ikr

[@Johnsarcade]

+Sean Cooper The bearing bits are a lot fatter. But I will explore this.

[@shovelhedded]

The bearing is definitely bigger but the blade still cuts perfectly.

[@darthcode1]

Like Sean said, the bearing bit is the way to go. You won't have the problem of the bit digging into the bondo or any other soft spots that way.

[@verumserum]

+John's Arcade Game Reviews & Tech I second the bearing bit. Lowe's sells IRWIN Marples 1/2-in Carbide-Tipped Laminate Flush Trimming Bit www.lowes.com/pd_550730-281-1901041_0__

[@wmiekka]

I have a t-molding groove I have to redo with my router. I’m glad to see it can be done because I’ve been worried the bondo won’t be able to handle a router like wood can. Very encouraging to see that! :)

[@deralfenderson]

I'm glad those inner holes on the kick plate went well. I've got a very spatial mind, and if you think about things, when you are routing on the internal edges, you have to actually go clockwise to achieve the same cutting process you are doing by going counter-clockwise on the outer edges. Not nit-picking, just throwing out what my brain and some routing experience tells me. Keep up the great work!!

[@Johnsarcade]

+Deral Fenderson I got lucky. :) I never routed like that before so I was just guessing. It turned out great thankfully.

[@Johnsarcade]

Mac Donalds Yeah, this is true. :) I routed everything all wrong and in all the wrong directions and in general the stuff looks bad ass.

[@Darryl603]

I think it's a great idea to leave that one panel on the back of the cabinet untouched. Continue to do that for all your restores

[@jcarreon8215]

Great video John! I've saved 4 cabs from becoming scrap thanks to you.

[@Johnsarcade]

+Jcarreon82 awesome. Congrats!

[@realpumaoblivion]

Time to make this Quantum look awesome, another great video!

[@game_whisperer1606]

Great vid - was watching this one VEEEERY closely because I need to do this to a Stern Berzerk. Great job with the dowels.

[@Riz2336]

Getting close to finishing this project man. Good vid, I always look forward to a John's Arcade vid.

[@TortureBot]

Excellent video! I heard you say you've been playing the new Doom during viewer mail. I'm going to give it a shot in the next day or so as my brother-in-law bought me a copy for the Xbox One. I don't usually get the latest games but he does, and sometimes he hooks me up. I remember when the first Doom came out and I had a shareware copy of it on a BBS I ran in the 90s. That was a super popular download back then.

[@RetroAddicts]

Bondopallooza HA! I am impressed with your level of patience on these huge projects. Dude, that Computer Space picture with you ... too much lol.

[@Johnsarcade]

+Mame Addicts thanks! I'm trying. :)

[@tigheklory]

Really John you are the master now!

[@jmogler]

John you are truly an Artist. An arcade restoring God! I bow down to your mad skills. No one does it better. On a side note thats a serious pile of empty beer bottles you got in the corner there. You throw a crazy party last night?

[@Johnsarcade]

+Jmogler ha! Thanks. :) We are really bad at returning bottles. The pile up for months.

[@Shundi12]

At 1:39:40 my eyes were drawn to the beer :). The laminate looks great! Good job.

[@Johnsarcade]

+Shundi12 BEER!

[@Chudhole]

I've got three bare cabs. Selling me on the laminate no rattle can will get that look nice job!

[@SpiritsOfWarding]

I'm curious as to why you used bondo instead of wood filler? I'm starting to restore a few machines myself but I've always repaired particleboard with wood filler. I have one right now that is really chewed up like you were talking about and I really want to fix it the right way.

[@donnytucker]

Hey John, have you heard of the jedi alliance "church"? It's actually a cool 80's arcade and toy collection. You need to visit this place!

[@freddie9116]

John's Arcade, when doing the body work of the arcade cabinet, have you tried mixing in some fiberglass reinforcement filler into your bondo, It'll strengthen the bondo areas? I would try experimenting with filler that they sell in tiny little pieces of chop strand fiberglass to see if it helps, but you always want the bondo to be the consistency of peanut butter.

[@jpreville]

wonder if the bullet edge of bit that rides across the cabinet. possibly heated up the bondo to the point of sanding it.

[@delsarcade]

Also, and most importantly. For the inner hole routing, you need to go clockwise. Think about it, you need to move on the wood from left to right to allow the router to do it's work. On the inside holes it's reversed. So on the outside you should go counter clock-wise along the edge and on the inside clockwise along the edge (again, it's reverse theory). You don't want the blade direction rolling with your cut, always against it.

[@DamianReloaded]

+DeLuSioNaL's Arcade Actually, yes, you're correct. The outer sides are equivalent to their opposite inner side, so if you went left on the outer side, you gotta go left on the inner opposite side too.

[@TheBackdrafter80]

Just wanted to write the same thing. But i quickly looked, if maybe someone already noticed and wrote a comment. :) So very short from me as well: John, go counter clockwise on the outside and clockwise on the inside edges. ;)

[@iaindovey6878]

Loving your channel , very informative videos. Just a quick point, when routing the internal holes (coin door etc.) you should go clockwise, something to do with the blade cutting away from the laminate I think.

[@TortureBot]

I was thinking the same thing. If you think about it it's like you're going clockwise when you do it the way John did on the inside holes. You kind of have to refigure your thinking to make the blade cut like it does when you go counter-clockwise on the outside perimeter of a cabinet. But sometimes you can get it to work by going the other way although it's generally best to be pulling the router through the work and not letting it pull itself.

[@Johnsarcade]

+Iain Dovey Yeah, looks like I am still learning. :) Luckily I had no issues.

[@jaredzimney626]

Arcade Outsiders theme song! Woo!

[@Johnsarcade]

+Jared Zimney It was a Kill Screens song first. :)

[@jaredzimney626]

+John's Arcade Game Reviews & Tech Touche!

[@Arcadehollywood]

John, what type of bit are you using to create your t-molding groove?

[@bobbyjack8033]

excellent job bro!! pro tip.... you can't have enough black rustoleum spray paint! haha we love ya ;)

[@Johnsarcade]

+Bobby Jack Thanks, Bobby! :(

[@omegarugal9283]

Hey john, have you ever though about making a video of crt troubleshoting? you know, the most common problems and fixes, how to properly calibrate a crt, mods hacks and so?

[@Johnsarcade]

+Omega Rugal Sure, we can do something like that. I have covered monitors quite a bit here and there.

[@darthcode1]

How does your front panel attach to the cabinet? Do you need to put screws through the front or from the inside?

[@rebeccarainharrod]

"You don't want it to come on your finger when you touch it..." - a quote by John

[@deralfenderson]

That one stuck out to me too. I was watching, and the usual "That's what she said!" came flying out of my mouth!!

[@delsarcade]

Rewatching it, you probably need to use a bearing bit next time. My guess is that it's creating friction on the bondo and biting in. The bearing will roll over it and not create friction. Either that or go over it faster for minimal friction time.

[@jonjandran]

Just a note on the contact cement. You want it ALL to be dry. No wet spots at all. Stop worrying about it over drying. You have an hour once it's tacky to adhere it. Be patient with the glue. Anywhere that it was wet will NOT adhere properly. Years later you will be able to see slight bumps where it didn't dry. Believe me I know. :)

[@Johnsarcade]

+Jonathan Wild I think it worked great.

[@jonjandran]

+John's Arcade Game Reviews & Tech it worked. But I'm trying to give you advice that will make it work better and with less stress.

[@SuperApaxton]

I think its about time John added 8-12 more bracelets to the show.

[@Johnsarcade]

+ApaxGelfling I like this idea.

[@cbart1987]

john you may want to re apply some more tape lookes like some came off during shipping :)

[@Johnsarcade]

+cbart 1987 Ha!

[@triess2]

If you have to go counter clockwise on the outside don't you have to go clockwise when you're doing inside holes?

[@Johnsarcade]

+David Breaux Maybe? I never did that type of routing before. Luckily it worked out perfect.

[@triess2]

Well it looks great either way. Some of your games you restore and some you don't. What is your determining factor whether to restore or not to restore?

[@Johnsarcade]

David Breaux Just depends how far gone it is. This game was completely molested. So, not much to work with. I, Robot was mostly original so I left it mostly alone.

[@mihoshiproductions9809]

I think I can understand why you don't like any type of virtual pinball things. When you play an arcade game be it on mame, the real hardware, or an accurate port to a modern console, it's all roughly the same experience. You're looking at a screen moving a joystick and pushing buttons. The only tactile feedback is the feel of the joystick how smooth or textured it is and the feel of the molding seam. Same with the buttons, how they feel and press, but it's mostly you watching the screen. With pinball is nearly all tactile feedback. The pull of the plunger, the tension of the spring, and the vibrations the cabinet makes as the bumpers go off, and the flippers flipping. Pinball is a very physical experience because your hands are on the cabinet as all the action happens so you feel and see it which adds to the experience.

[@lamelama22]

+Mihoshi Productions I disagree about the experience being the same however you play a video game. that's often not the case at all. It definitely depends on the game and original hardware... Example: Asteroids - completely different on real hardware vs MAME or any port. Main reason, no one has accurately emulated the screen at all, and thus it looks / feels completely different (and thus most people play it very differently). It's extremely hard to accurately emulate a b/w vector CRT screen with it's varying brightnesses / glows and effective infinite precision (no pixels!). I even thought it might be just me, and made a friend who had never played it try both and they said it played completely different. Even playing something modern like NBA Jam feels so different on the real hardware (mainly because of the screen); but especially if you're playing with multiple people shoulder to shoulder versus sitting on a couch w/ controllers. I do agree about the differences with pinball (have friends that restore them), but I love virtual pinball when it's done right... no physical feedback required for me.

[@mihoshiproductions9809]

+lamelama22 I suppose it comes down to familiarity or preference. I've played Asteroids a lot on the Atari 2600 and MAME and had the chance to play it and Deluxe on an actual cabinet before a few times and the experience wasn't really all that different to me. Same with NBA Jam which i used to play a lot on Super Nintendo with a friend growing up on a 30 inch television with the snes advantage and also at a Namco time out Arcade a few times on a real cabinet and aside from standing up instead of sitting on a couch and feeling real arcade buttons, the total overall feel of the gameplay was comparable.

[@Zoltair_Jerry]

A little Subliminal messaging with the VGO intro music there John? :P

[@mrouse79565]

ok ty and atari classic is on steam now and keep up the good work

[@NathanRyerson]

Can't wait for BroFest!

[@fookutube501]

+Nathan Ryerson Hopefully unedited ,like 5 hours

[@dustypedrosi4516]

Really cool +Johns Arcade

[@VAX1970]

You need to get a better laminate trimming bit with a ball bearing follower

[@NoThanksnothanks]

John I don't understand, why laminate? Why not just sand and put the new artwork on?

[@TheDabeavis]

It's something he first did with his Jump Bug restore, it's a smoother surface to apply the side-art on than the MDF and it also makes the side-art pop with the white surface as well as making it more durable/long-lasting.

[@delsarcade]

Great vid John. Why not install the additional laminate on the spare kickplate reproduction that you have? Then sell it. People would buy it for a no-nonsense install. It can offset the expensive laminate costs. :-)

[@Johnsarcade]

+DeLuSioNaL's Arcade I might sell the spare wood when I am done. The spare kickplate is already melamine.

[@danab26]

it looks like glue maybe ran on the top when they put the cabinet together

[@TheGhostQuarter]

John the Bondoer, can he bondo it?! YES HE CAN! :D

[@josealqueres]

You should contact Discovery Channel with a TV Show about arcade restoration :)

[@yorgle11]

They'd bring in 4 other guys with bad interpersonal skills, oversized egos, inconsistent work ethic and hot tempers so they can have stuff to fight about. Add about an hour per day of "private" on camera interviews with each of them where they can be encouraged to bitch about each other. Without all that manufactured personal crap, it'll never fly. :) But seriously, I agree watching these game restorations is relaxing and interesting.

[@kenanderson7877]

whats the update on your camera that broke?

[@Johnsarcade]

+ken anderson check here kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y5-TaZyiaqilaqc

[@Johnsarcade]

+ken anderson check here kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y5-TaZyiaqilaqc

[@sockcutter]

Should have went clockwise on the inside edges.

[@jonjandran]

+sockcutter Yes clockwise on inside edges. Counter clockwise on outside edges

[@k0nidias]

Is it just that he's pressing too hard into the cabinet with the router? That's the thing that comes to mind when he keeps "digging in" to the cabinet. I feel like he's pressing way too hard into the edge. Even though it might be the bondo areas, it shouldn't be eating the cab up if it's just a light pressure as the router is passing by. I feel like I'd rather have to do a little bit of hand trimming/sanding of the laminate than having to try and fill in gauged out bits of it.

[@Johnsarcade]

+Konidias I dunno. The bit is designed so you can't dig into the cabinet. I think I hit a spot that just wasn't even?

[@Neffers_UK]

Almost two hours? This'll keep me busy later.

[@DLEEZY111]

i just listened to last weeks VGO and i felt suicidal.. you were out of control... good job with the cabinet!

[@Johnsarcade]

+David Snow Sorry. :)

[@DLEEZY111]

lol its all good, love to listen..keep up the great work bud!

[@byss43551]

Dig the Alligator Records t-shirt!

[@Johnsarcade]

+Tom Wawrzyniak Thanks! Finally someone with taste around here notices. ;)

[@CorinGatwood]

Hey John, i'm building a pinball machine out of scratch, there are some videos on my channel and I will be getting a playmatic fandango pinball machine soon as well. And if you're ever in the Houston area, you're welcome to stop by and check it out!

[@CorinGatwood]

Thanks man!

[@dale22usaYOUTUBE]

In the area of 14:45 you have a ladybug on your back.

[@Johnsarcade]

+Dale Heuer Eek!

[@EpicGarageSale]

laminate explosion 44:05 :)

[@RichardAllenSB]

1:26:20 FIVE FOUR THREEEEE TWO ONE!!!! LIVE!!!

[@minor0confusion]

watching you with power tools makes me feel uncomfortable.. like a kid with scissors :S

[@mrhwangify]

+minor0confusion Especially when he pulls off the router before the bit stops spinning

[@krowland7584]

johns a router bro now

[@mrouse79565]

sry joh having trouble playing back

[@Johnsarcade]

+mrouse79565 It's not 10000% processed. Check in a little bit?

[@Johnnyafc]

Me too 😭

[@fookutube501]

+mrouse79565 I thought it was my connection thanks

[@Johnsarcade]

+Fook Utube weird. works for me. huh.

[@sewashburn0529]

+mrouse79565 John reminds me of Max Headroom the way his face is twitching and his voice is choppy. Hopefully it is just a temporary thing until it finishes processing. I'll check again later. I did watch viewer mail though.

[@MikeSmith-rn8mj]

Stack of empty bottles? Looks like your typical Michigan garage. (Stupid 10c deposit). There are a bunch of other states ... but they aren't 10c.

[@Johnsarcade]

We are the worst at returning bottles. They sit in my garage for months before we do anything about it. :)

[@goahead2402]

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[@bneyens]

Just buy another camera... They are cheap. You drop WAY MORE on games, etc

[@TGamingFull]

Powdercoat

[@uhfnutbar1]

i have to download this video in a lower resolution just to watch it on my old xp computer , youtube has fk with the resolution setting again and i cant lower the resolution to 360p , its stuck at 1080p wtf assholes, i sware its a compsparesy between the software company's and the computer builders, maker are old computer obsolete as fast as they can

[@Johnsarcade]

+uhfnutbar1 still processing.

[@uhfnutbar1]

Mac Donalds Bit me ,

[@lionneko]

patch the back

[@Johnsarcade]

+Jon Davies I might. :)

[@lionneko]

It's just that one divot in the back is so big. I would fill it in even if it didn't get painted

[@restoregame3826]

папа

[@Scythe42]

Bondo Time! NOT :)

[@CaptAwesumNo1Zone]

Hey John you should wear knee pads when on your knees, not that I think your an old man but I don't want you wearing out your knees restoring with laminate Sincerely Your Mother

[@HaroldsStuff]

I wonder if he knows that Quantum is a shite game?

[@Johnsarcade]

+Harolds Stuff HA! SHHHHHHhhhhhh

[@goahead2402]

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