Arcade Game Laminate
This article is in no way meant to give an exhaustive account on how to repair a missing chunk of laminate, or what type of router bits should be used, or what type of adhesive, etc. There are plenty of places to find such information, such as coinopspace, byoac, or even search the RGVAC archives in Google Groups. It has already been covered, extensively, so search. I am simply throwing out a little “history” on laminates as I seem to get one or two emails per month asking the question, “What laminate did you use in the plans for the Ms. Pac-Man cocktail table?” This simple question has a not so simple answer.
- What is a laminate?
Taken from Wikipedia, “A laminate is a material constructed by uniting two or more layers of material together. The process of creating a laminate is lamination, which in common speech refers to the placing of something between layers of plastic and sealing them with heat and/or pressure, usually with an adhesive. Examples of laminate materials include Formica and plywood. Formica and similar plastic laminates (such as Pionite, Wilsonart or Centuryply Mica) are often referred to as High Pressure Decorative Laminate (HPDL) as they are created with heat and pressure.”
Important to understand what we’re dealing with first and now you’re asking, “How does this relate to arcade games? “ If you’re already an avid collector you know this answer, if not, many classic arcade games had laminated sides instead of paint. Why? It was cheaper. You could buy the crappiest particle board or plywood sheets and cover up all the imperfections with a nice sheet of thick laminate. Laminate was produced in large production runs which kept its price low and made it an attractive alternative to a full scale painting operation. I’d even speculate that many of the builders responsible for early arcade cabinets were cabinet makers by trade and using laminates was second nature to them. Hence the arcade cabinet name. Most of the major arcade game manufacturers used laminate, if not on a full size upright cabinet, then on the cabaret or cocktail versions of the game. Laminated games were everywhere during the hey-day of arcades.
- Repairing or replacing laminate
Laminated cabinets were not meant to last. Any avid collector has had his or her fair share of broken corners, swollen sides, gouges and dings. Repairing this damage is relatively easy; getting your repair to match the rest of the cab is another story. You either need some excellent faux finish ability to paint up your patched area, or you have to find a replacement piece of laminate. Good luck. When I took on the restoration of Tapper CT #300, it had a major chunk of cabinet damage, gouges and a crack in the particle board. I was pretty sure that #300 was one of, if not the last Tapper CT made and I wanted to do a good job. I stripped off all the laminate and prepped the cab for new material. Oops, that was a mistake. After searching and searching for an exact match I discovered that it just didn’t exist. I talked to suppliers, distributors and even the sales people at Wilsonart. The answer I got was the same. Product runs from the 80’s became obsolete and once the stock ran out, that was it. It’s probable that manufacturer’s, like Bally Midway, bought out the entire remaining inventory of a color because it was discontinued and heavily discounted. Once they used it up, that’s it. Many of the dies, glues or other materials used in manufacturing the laminate would change over time. Running another batch of laminate now, to match the various 80’s wood grains, would be costly and not 100% guaranteed. Even the material I used a few years ago on the Ms. Pac CT seems impossible to find now that Home Depot stopped carrying it.
So what does that mean? If you have to do a complete arcade game in laminate, either a new build or a restoration, find a color, pattern or shade that you like and go with it. Don’t stress over a slightly unmatched bit of laminate. Don’t fret if your beautiful restoration project has English oak color laminate sides instead of plain medium oak. Slide the cabinet between two others and you won’t even know the difference! Well, you might know, but you’re guests never will. Happy gaming.
Tags: laminates, repair, restoration, wood grain