Playfield glass tracks snapped into place without any issues.

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Side rails temporarily in place.

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The joys of assembling plated reproduction parts….

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The playfield hooks wouldn’t fit into the lock bar receiver. I had to file some of the chrome plating off to get the parts to fit. That will need to get reworked

Moving on…..

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With the receiver clamped in place, I can now use my punch tool to mark all the mounting holes.

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Arghhhhh… the coin door hinge doesn’t fit correctly. More filing work.

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Ok, got everything assembled. Looks good. The coin door will need some tweaking, but mission accomplished. All missing holes have been marked out for drilling.

This game is going to pop with all the brass. I’ll have to wear gloves just to play the damn thing

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12 cubic yards of mulch.

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Let the fun begin….

Progress…

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It always looks good for the first few months

I’m going to be hurting by Sunday. Getting older sucks!

I’m not 100% sold on the “all” mirror brass trim package. I like the coin door, but was thinking about mixing in some powder coated parts. I saw this picture and started pondering alternatives.

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I’m curious what you guys think, so added a pole to the thread. Let me know if you think something else would be better. Thanks.

Brutal day…..

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I just have to water in the fungicide and fertilizer, then the spring yard cleaning is done!!!

I need a stiff old fashion. Maybe two

Back to pinball

It’s time to drill the lock bar receiver and side rail mounting holes. This is always a risky venture when using a hand drill. ALWAYS, ALWAYS use backing boards when drilling through holes! This prevents blow outs and splintering.

My process is as follows:

1) Drill a pilot hole with a small drill bit.

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This is why you should use backing boards.

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2) Camp a second backing board on the opposite side of the cabinet (the side we just drilled the pilot hole from).

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Yes, you can never have enough clamps

Now use the pilot hole as a guide for the final drill bit.

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Here is the finished product.

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No cleanup required.

A few years ago I noticed that Stern started beveling the front corners of their cabinets. I thought to myself, “That’s a great idea.” In theory, that should keep the lock bar from digging into the cabinet when you nudge the machine.

So, I decided to emulate that with my cabinet

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The pencil line shows where the bottom of the lock bar will be once it’s installed. It looks like I need to sand a little bit more.

I clamped some plywood scraps to the cabinet to act as guides. Slow and steady, this step is irreversible.

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In addition, I decided to round off the corners to ensure the lock bar will not touch the cabinet corners.

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After filing, I hand sanded the corners with 320 grit paper.

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Here’s what it will look like when the lock bar is installed.

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I also added a chamfered bevel along the front of the cabinet to protect the paint work.

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Different looking, but I like it. Now I can shake and nudge the sh!t out of the game

Final coat of primer on the back box.

I have a few spots to touch up, but the real work is done. I’m happy with this

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Here are some close up pictures of the corners.

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Here is the hand sanded bevel for the back box lock.

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Here are some pictures of the cabinet after the final coat of primer.

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It was more work than I wanted, but worth the effort

Nope, just patient and methodical.

I’m a wood worker, when I have the time. I hate the finishing work, just boring and tedious stuff.

I’d rather build two cabinets than paint one

Cabinet conceptual artwork layout.

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Fun with photoshop

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Hooray, I found another wood working project

It’s time to reproduce these trashed playfield rails. Yes, I could sand and putty them, but where’s the fun in that?

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I have some poplar scraps left over from other projects, so the material is free

It’s Milling Time…..

1) First, I will joint two perpendicular sides of my lumber. This produces two reference sides that are perfectly 90° to each other.

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2) The stock material is 3/4 inches thick, so I use my Incra ruler to mark out the desired finished rail thickness (1/2 inch in this case). Now I will plane the wood, using the taller side that was jointed in step #1 as my reference guide, until I shave the wood down to my pencil mark.

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My planer produces about 3 inches of snipe on each end of the rail. Here’s what snipe looks like.

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You can see where the material thickness varies. This is where the cutting head scallops the wood as it enters and exits the planer. One day I’ll upgrade my planer, just need to rob a bank first

3) Now I can rip the rail down to the correct height on my table saw. This time I use the smaller side that was jointed in step #1 as my reference guide.

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Rinse, lather, repeat…..

Now my rails can be cut to length with all sniped sections removed. Perfect time to test out the new miter saw

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I think you’re right, just had to get one corny dad joke in for the day

It’s time to drill the GI light holes in the rear playfield rail.

Nothing better than a Forstner bit for a perfectly drilled hole.

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Setup
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The voyager is a great drill press. It’s loaded with cool features (VFD, no belts, digital depth stop, etc.). If you’re in the market for a new drill press, give this one a look.

Easy peasy.
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So, how do you reproduce this cut?

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With a router of course!

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To square off the rounded router cut, I use my band saw and a chisel.

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A little sanding and this rail is complete.

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You get the gist..

All the rails are ready for paint.

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Sorry for geeking out in the wood shop, but it’s not every day I get to use 7 power tools for one project

Thanks, I just hope my playfield turns out as nice as your Rollergames.

At my old job, I used to have access to a full blown machine shop; we had a lathe, mill, break, sand blaster, welding machines, plasma cutter, you name it. I don’t miss being on call 24-7, but I do miss that shop

I would take my parts to work and sand blast them on my lunch break. Those were the days….

Nowadays I have to play with strippers!

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Let’s see how well this stuff works.

Before:
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Just paint it on with a brush, let it sit for 5-10 minutes, and wash your parts in the sink.

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Lastly, I rubbed the apron down with mineral spirits to remove any residue left behind from the stripping gel.

After:
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A little light sanding should remove any rust. Overall, I was impressed with how easily the CiriStrip removed the paint.

I’m thinking the swatch on the left is the best match.

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I’m going to get the cabinet, apron, and playfield rails over to the paint shop for sealer and base coats tomorrow. Then everything will be ready for airbrushing.

The cabinet will get sprayed with a two part urethane sealer. This is required to ensure the base coat will stick to the primer

Primer:
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Sealer:
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The base coat will be a two part automotive paint as well.

I went to HD and picked up 20+ different swatches. This way I could match the maroon color featured in the playfield art. I’d rather give the painter a swatch than my playfield

I have a few items to address before I get the cabinet and backbox over to my painter.

First, I want to seal the bottom of the cabinet. I like to use General Finishes Arm-R-Seal for this. I use this stuff all the time, great product. It’s an oil based urethane “wipe on” top coat. You just rub it on and sand in between coats.

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I usually go with a satin finish.

Here is the bottom of the cabinet after two coats. The effect is more pronounced on hardwoods, but it still makes the plywood grains pop a little. Most importantly, it provides a nice durable finish to protect the bottom of the cabinet - no dirty fingerprint smuggles

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Lastly, I decided to re-mask the cabinet interior.

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Tomorrow I can say goodbye to the cabinet and backbox for the foreseeable future. They will get painted crimson red, air brushed, clear coated, and buffed/polished to a mirror finish.

I stopped by my powder coater’s shop today to pickup some swatches.

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I think “Gold Vain” matches the brass nicely, but not sure how the black will look against the cabinet.

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I’m still exploring my options, so nothing is set in stone yet.

It’s been an iterative process over the years.

I started out, like everybody else, refurbishing old beaters. Then I purchased a few NIB cabinets from Doug Huse. At that point I realized the massive difference between a “Restoration” and a “Reproduction.” Once you go the new cabinet route it’s really hard to go back to Bondo and wood filler.

Next, I found a local cabinet shop willing to build stuff for me; I just had to do the finishing work. This pushed me into Festool and ultimately into woodworking. Finally, after years of collecting tools, I now have the means to build my own cabinets. It’s the ideal solution.

Unfortunately, there is no escaping the sanding, but you can certainly minimize the finishing work by starting with a new cabinet.

It’s the painting work that drives me crazy. I need to build a nice spray booth, but then I lose the floor space in my shop. If only I knew the winning lottery numbers

I think it’s just a matter of preference.

Today’s project is all about saving space.

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A new window sill and a little paint, then this wall will be complete. No more tripping over bikes in the workshop

Unfortunately, I’m stuck with the bikes in the garage. I’ve tried to move them inside, but the wife always moves them back.

At least this way they are off the floor.

New window sill.

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New window sill and cleaned up plantation shutter installed.

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Painting work complete.

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My next shop project will be this plywood storage cart.

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My current wood rack has a huge foot print (8ft x 3ft). The vertical storage unit cuts this in half, which gives me room for another tool station.

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Here are some progress pictures of the cabinet concept art.

Right Side:

#1a
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#1b
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Which image is better, 1a or 1b?

Left Side:

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This is still raw, but you get the idea.

To keep the artwork package consistent throughout the game, I’ve decided to have Medusa depicted with legs and wings on the cabinet. This matches the original art featured in the backglass, which is accurate to the Greek mythology of the Gorgons.

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Updated Right Side:

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Updated Left Side:

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I matched Perseus’s helmet on both sides of the cabinet and simplified the artwork, less is more. The photoshop images are only being used to establish spatial relationships. Ultimately, the artwork will be hand sketched and then airbrushed.

The cabinet has been painted and is now with my airbrush artist.

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I like the red color

This will look nice sitting next to Fathom.

I came home today and found all these boxes in my workshop.

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It looks like my wife has been shopping.

New patio furniture assembled.

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I don’t even want to see the bill for all this stuff, just need to get it out of “MY” workshop

Thank you for not down voting them

I could patch, sand, and repaint the original backbox light board, but where’s the fun in that?

Let’s make a new one

In a previous thread, I documented how to reproduce a lighting panel using a track saw, drill press, and a hand held router. This time let’s put our big boy pants on - it’s CNC time!

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My buddy Mr. Walz was nice enough to let me clock some time on his machine.

Cutting in process:
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Cutting complete:
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For shits and giggles we decided to use a 1/16” bit and add dimples for all the score display board brackets.

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Yes, I powder coated the brackets - why not

The CNC has a 4’x5’ bed, so a playfield isn’t out of the realm of possibility. I actually hadn’t thought of making a custom pin, but thanks for planting that seed

I have a TOM, SS, TAF, IJ, MB, EBD, and TZ in the restoration queue. Plus, the Medusa I started 7 years ago

It would be awhile before I could tackle a custom pinball project of that magnitude. Never say never, but I certainly have my hands full at the moment.