Subject: SafeCracker Shop Pictures
From: “Steve Schukei”
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Just finished out shopping a Safecracker. Here are some before and after
shots, along with very brief commentary.
http://www.1stcreditmc.com/pinball/photos/categories.php?cat_id=82
Steve Schukei
CARGPB 24
From: “Lou”
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Re: remote battery holder
Nice look. I’m a great believer in this style of remote
battery holder. I use wood dowels - here’s a
page describing them in detail:
From: “pincredible” =
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: almost finished, FH restoration
whew, this restoration stuff is too much like work! ;)
http://webpages.charter.net/jmross/fh.html
thanks for lookin’
Jer
From: “John Wart, jr”
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Re: Opinions on building a PF Rotisserie
I didn’t make my own, but I use the one I bought on a folding table.
I typically have 2 tables set up while I’m shopping out a pin.
The first table has the rotisserie and room for parts. As assemblies come
off, they are put on the table. The table is nice, because there are times
when you need more tools to remove an assembly than you have hands for - or
when you will need to set down your nutdriver to use 2 hands on 1 assembly.
The second table has the new parts that will be used (flipper parts, coil
sleeves), soldering iron and cleaning stuff like mean green, steel wool,
sandpaper, bleche wite, freeze spray to remove ramp decals etc). Not
everything gets cleaned on this table, of course. Some metal parts that get
regrained go upstairs to do in a sink, anything that fits in the tumbler
gets tumbled, ramps get cleaned with warm soapy water in a bathtub once I
freeze the decals off of them etc.
Everything gets cleaned on top of a nice towel as it moves from the
rotisserie table to the other table. Once the mechanism is rebuilt, I either
bolt it back to the playfield in the rotisserie, or set it aside on the
“clean” table. The 2 table approach works for me and allows me to be lazy -
I can put a nice chair between the 2 tables and sit while I work if I
desire, or can stand between them too.
The tables I got are those new fangled ones that are plastic instead of
wood. That’s nice, because the chemicals have no chance to permeate wood if
they get spilled, and it wipes clean very easily.
–
http://www.myhomegameroom.com
From: “BWAGNER5150″
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Re: Coin Door Paper Insert for Coin Reject Button
Hi Mike, check out Mike’s Arcade. They have graphics files with the
inserts & they’re great. I use them on vids all the time. Here’s the
URL:
http://www.mikesarcade.com/arcade/labels.html
Ben
From: Rick Swanson
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Good website for home powdercoating info
I found this site
http://www.eastwoodco.com/jump.jsp?itemType=CATEGORY&itemID=458
and watched the instructional video
about powercoating at home. I thought
it was sort of neat so I’m passing it
along for those who might be interested.
–
Rick Swanson
Morristown, Tennessee
CARGPB6
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: CLEANING TIP: The Gonzo Wonder Sponge (TM)
(No, this isn’t a joke. I picked up a few of these about a year back, forgot
where I bought them, and finally happened across them again today.)
I’ve found a really useful “thing” for cleaning black pinball dust from the
bottom of playfields and from wire harnesses: the Gonzo Wonder Sponge. The
“sponge” is made of a rubber-like compound that grabs and holds soot, dust,
dirt, etc. The sponge is used dry; when it is saturated with dust you can
wash it with soap and water, let dry, and re-use repeatedly.
The Wonder Sponge is made by the same folks who make Goo Gone. Our local Home
Depot stocks these by the tack rags; you can also buy them online at
http://www.gonzocorp.com/homeprod.htm.
FYI,
Joseph “Tony” Dziedzic
From: “Karl”
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Re: Tuchup Help needed
> flemmel@online.no wrote:
> > I trid that kind of tape on a white spot to see if the paint flaked and
> > it did
Cliffy wrote:
> then you cannot mask at all. >
Once again I must respectfully disagree Cliffy. One could sand the PF
with 600, shoot one or maybe two thin coats of (auto) clear. It has a
nice way of “soaking in” and bonding the cracked (but still adheared)
art. Sanding will have knocked off the loose stuff. After a quick 12
hour (or so) drying, scuff it up again, possibly with a DA sander if
you are VERY careful not to break through. This will give a very nice
surface to mask, air brush, hand touch-up, whatever you want…. Then
after all touch up, “slather” it with nice thick auto CC. Then you will
have enough thickness to sand it all perfectly flat without breaking
through, graduate up to 1,500 or 2,00o grit, buff, polish, looks like
glass! Credit to Arizona Bruce for this and many other great tips and
techniques.
As for the tape it self, They have blue plastic painters tape in auto
body supply stores. It is $6-$12 per roll and I’m way too cheap for
that. I spray foot powder onto a PF glass, tape electrical tape onto
the glass over the foor powder, cut it into strips lenth wise, bam!!!
Low stick flexible tape almost free! You can even adjust the low stick
by how much powder you spray. This one was all Karl! :)
Note: This is not a campaign for favorite CC product, I’m just not sure
how/if it would work with other types of clears. YMMV…..
GodSpeed, Please keep us posted.
Karl.
From: “beaver”
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: I built me a pinball coffee table
I have a spare populated Space Shuttle playfield and decided to store
it in a coffee table:
http://www.edcheung.com/album/album05/pinball/furniture.htm
The untold story is that I have a wife that has enough confidence in me
to allow me to cut up a piece of her matching living room set. Ama
lucky guy.
Edward Cheung
From: “DWGoett”
Subject: Re: I built me a pinball coffee table
www.pinventions.com
my buddy gets the carcasses of my parted games to build things.
he has a spiffy new logo - don’t know why he’s not using it.
Dan
From: someotherguy
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Repair: missing ball guide wire
OK, I know this isn’t rocket science but it’s a problem that comes up from time
to time and I figured I’d take a few pics while I was dealing with it.
On this Pharaoh, I didn’t realize the ball guide was missing until the ball
bashed out a GI bulb : )
From: someotherguy
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Repair: missing ball guide wire
OK, I know this isn’t rocket science but it’s a problem that comes up from time
to time and I figured I’d take a few pics while I was dealing with it.
On this Pharaoh, I didn’t realize the ball guide was missing until the ball
bashed out a GI bulb : )
www.someotherplace.com/pgb01.jpg shows the missing guide & gi socket
www.someotherplace.com/pgb02.jpg making a mockup w/mechanic’s wire
www.someotherplace.com/pgb03.jpg bend up a new one from an old guide
www.someotherplace.com/pgb04.jpg chop ‘er off with the Dremel
www.someotherplace.com/pgb05.jpg disco : )
From: “beaver”
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Re: Verathane: Where to buy online?
This is where I bought my three cans from (price has gone up):
http://www.doityourself.com/store/6538623.htm
Feel free to ask about how to use it. Some write-up here:
http://www.edcheung.com/album/album05/pinball/playfield3.htm#clearcoat
If my page takes a while to load, you may want to hit “reload” for it
to go to the right anchor (images will be cached, so it will not take
long the second time).
Edward Cheung
From: “Otto” <>
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Re: Best table for Playfield Rotisserie?
Sawhorses. Allow you te get up close and personal with the Pf and they fold
up and put away when finished.
Otto
CARGPB11
My web page: http://home.bellsouth.net/p/PWP-Ottoslanding
“Danny” < ..
>I planning on getting a BAA Playfield Rotisserie for Xmas. I don’t have
>much room in my workshop for it, basically a space formerly occupied by a
>pin. What do people recommend for a table to support the rotisserie?
>Would a table-height chrome wire shelf work fine? Someone mentioned in
>another post using a plastic table for it. Any links or details?
From: “Les Ismore”
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Re: any suggestions for a “shopping cart?”
Stevebo,
I use the automotive tool table, adjustable height, rolls easy and can
hang over the work if desired. $39 at Northern Tools, but I have seen
them at $29 - Harbor Freight may be one store. Check out the following
link for a picture and specs. I hope the link works ok –
On Mon, 5 Dec 2005 10:54:36 -0500, John Wart, jr
> I quickly realized that I have a ton of work to do on boards alone. I have a
> half dozen or so WPC and WPC-S project games that need all the usual board
> fixes done and some that need more advanced stuff.
>
> I’d like to build some sort of a rig I could put near my workbench to easily
> pop boards in and out and test them. Ideally, the rig would be small enough
> that I could tuck it away somewhere when I’m not using it.
I’ve seen people use a backbox from a donor game for this, usually with
various extentions and bits and pieces bolted on to the sides for various
things.
I went a different way and built a cabinet to house everything I wanted
in my test bench. It’s not perfect, and there are a few things I’d do
differently, but it’s worked out pretty well for me overall.
> I noticed in the TOP 7 DVD that Clay has built his own test rigs for
> DE/Sys11, WPC and several other generations. I’d like to do something
> similar, if I could figure it out.
It’s not really all that complicated. It gets harder if you’re trying
to generalize some of your test gear to multiple types of games, but
still, you’re dealing with a few basic needs:
1) Display(s) - gotta be able to see what’s going on here. If you only
need one type of game (DMD, etc.), then a mounted display for that
kind of game is pretty straightforward. If you’re doing multiple
types of games, or supporting games with 6- and 7-digit displays,
then it gets a bit more complicated.
2) Lamps - you’ll need something to act as your controlled lamps.
Depending on the game type(s) you’re dealing with, your lamps may
be matrixed, or may be direct controlled. You’ll need to wire up
a harness, and something on the end to light up. Some guys use
#44 lamps and sockets. To save space, I used LEDs on mine.
3) Solenoids - Plus any associated bank switching relays or anything
like that. Again, you need something here. Some guys, like Clay,
use a solenoid to provide the same kind of load the game will. I
just used a bunch of LEDs. I have yet to see a board that can drive
a LED that can’t drive a coil, but I mainly work on Zaccaria boards.
4) Sound - You need at least a speaker. You don’t need much here, so
a cheap PC speaker can be a donor, or you can buy a cheap speaker
from your favourite local discount source.
5) Switches - While I like Clay’s setup with 64 individual switches,
most of the time I’m just checking to ensure that the game can see
all 64 of them and am not troubleshooting a complicated multi-switch
problem where I need more than one closed at a time. I’ve designed
(but not yet built) a simple circuit I can plug in to the switch
matrix connectors that will simulate a switch closure for each of
64 switches running in a loop.
If you generalize your connectors, you can use much of this for various
game eras and types. The switch matrix works pretty much the same way
on pretty much all pins, so a general 64-switch box with a ribbon cable
output and some connector options will work with WPC as well as other
games.
Playfield posts with wood threaded studs make good board mounting
hardware. I found some knurled brass thumb-nuts that fit the machine
threads on the studs so that I can fasten the boards in place. I also
added some ground strap coming off the edges in places to provide a
convenient place to attach the ground lead of a ’scope or logic probe.
I’m also adding some additional test boards and features based on things
I’ve found to be useful, ideas borrowed from other guys (Leon, Clay,
Steve C., etc.), or that I just think would be helpful. Some of this
isn’t done yet.
Dedicate one set of known-good boards to your test fixture. That way,
you can swap in a single unknown board and know that the other boards
are not a source of the problem. Don’t use these boards for your other
games, or to loan out to a friend to get his game running. Keep them
for your bench. On mine, I’ve fitted the commonly changed sockets with
ZIF sockets (ROMs, processor) so as not to have to keep prying chips
out of machine-pin sockets. I’ve also changed all solder-in jumpers to
either DIP switches or to individual machine-pin socket pins with some
wire jumpers that can be inserted.
For mine, I have only one display mounted, but I have a front panel
selection switch setup so that it can be any of Player 1/2/3/4 or
Ball/Credit. I’ve seen other guys mount complete individual displays,
but I was trying to conserve some room in the bench so I didn’t do
that.
For power, get a computer power cord socket and use that. That way,
you can unplug it without having a cord laying around getting in the
way. It’s also handy to mount an inexpensive switching power supply
to provide +5/+12 for test instruments, tools, and whatever. I mounted
banana jacks on mine for this. A convenience 110V outlet might be nice
to have, too, if you need somewhere to plug in a ’scope or similar.
I made up some ’scope probe holders to mount on there for when I have
to set a probe down.
One really simple thing I like to have on mine is the little lamp in
the upper right hand corner that lets me know if the power is on, or
off.
> Has anyone made anything similar? Any tips/tricks/suggestions to make the
> project successful? Pics of your work?
http://www.zaccaria-pinball.com/temp/testbench/im001635.jpg
http://www.zaccaria-pinball.com/temp/testbench/im001636.jpg
http://www.zaccaria-pinball.com/temp/testbench/im001637.jpg
http://www.zaccaria-pinball.com/temp/testbench/im001638.jpg
My original idea was to make this as something I could pick up and move
out of the way when not in use. In retrospect, that didn’t work out.
It’s pretty much always set up and often in use. It’s also too heavy
and awkward to pick up and move easily, even with the trunk handles
on the sides. My new idea is to build a cart bottom for it, mount
it on wheels, and gain some storage space for my spare known-good
working sets of boards. It’ll be enclosed, with doors, and something
to hold the boards so they’re not just banging around loose in there.
Whatever you make will be a reflection of how you’re going to use it.
It will likely change over time, as you use it and find shortcomings
in your original designs and ideas, or come across new ideas that you
wish you’d thought of in the first place.
> Enough patience that I could ask
> enough beginner questions without raising your ire? I have a lot of
> questions on the subject.
Ask away. Don’t spend more time building the tool than you plan to
spend using it. You can see on mine that I etched boards for the lamp
and solenoid outputs. I wanted to learn to do that anyway, and it seemed
like a good first step before doing the more complicated board for
the switch matrix tester.
