During the week of the Rocky Mountain Pinball Showdown I was wandering around, trying to get as good a deal as I could from the different vendors at the show (buying pinballs is a prime example, no shipping). While perusing the floor I ran into John Detweiler (aka Sir Tiltsalot) and his new Playfield Rotisserie where I was expecting Pinrestore to be. I had already bought myself a Donnie Barnes Rotisserie so I wasn’t that excited about Johns. As he handed me the flyer and showed me the rotisserie I was a bit more interested. I then started to play, throughout the day I would come back to the John’s example, and I admit, I was impressed by the look of the rotisserie. At that point I decided to get one. I mean, with new playfields being created, I would need a second rotisserie, right?

As soon as I got back home, I sent John an email telling him I wanted one of his rotissiriies. After a wait I finally got mine.
MiscPictures/Restoration/RotisierrieTilts/IMG_8051.JPGMiscPictures/Restoration/RotisierrieTilts/IMG_8065.JPG

My first impressions of the packaging was that I was surprised that the entire rotisserie was inside of one box. The box was sturdy, and as I shook the box, you could not hear any rattling or loose parts. So, like a kid in a candy store, I eagerly went about opening up the box.
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Opening the box revealed that John had firmly packed the rotisserie in packing materials, as well as included all the miscellaneous parts and instructions in a separate envelope
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As I continued to open up the package I found that all the parts of the rotisserie had been tie wrapped together. Remember how I said this package didn’t make *any* noise when I shook it. Johns excellent packaging work can be credited with that.
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Inside the parts packaging were the instruction sheet, a parts sheet, clamps and tighten down screws.
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At this point, I just wanted to start ripping it apart to see how well it would hold the Playfield that I’ve had out of a machine, well, since forever, my TZ playfield (planning on repairing and clear coating it, but, well, life got in the way)
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Taking the wiring snips, I removed all the tie wraps and completely ignored the instructions that John had sent (not to bright on my part).
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I did find that I really like the way he built the sliding base with the tightening screws. The construction felt very sturdy.
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After a few issues, I was finally able to get the rotisierrie up and looking like it was ready for a playfield
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So now is the time of truth. I grabbed the TZ playfield, and started putting it into the rotisierrie. At this point I realized that this really isn’t a one man job, with either my Donnie Barnes or Tiltsalot rotisierrie. Eventually I had the Playfield in place.
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My initial impressions were:
The lack of paint made it look very industrial (and shiny, and I am attracted to shiny things, or I wouldn’t be in this hobby)
Very utilitarian
Well thought out

If you are in the market for a Rotisserie, you can’t go wrong with this one.

And if you wonder about the build quality of the rotisserie, take a look at this.

I just found via RGP that Allen at Treasurecove has created these Label kits that are *custom* made for your pin.

So, when I go from trying to be a CARGPB to a Anal collector, then I’ll be ordering up a mess load of these.

A discussion recently came up on what the perfect Workshop looks like with one, two, three, and four different workshops.

What does yours look like?

Just thought I’d announce that shaggy and norm have released another dvd

Subject: Announce: TOP8 now available

The latest “This Old Pinball” TOP#8 is now
available from
http://marvin3m.com/top

This new DVD video is over 2 1/2 hours
long and covers EM ball bowler and
shuffle alley repair, restoration and history.
Over 20 different coin operated bowling
games are shown being played, in
addition to doing a full restoration of a
1963 Chicago Coin Grand Spare Lite
ball bowler. Cost of the video is $8.

There is a free video trailer available in small
(modem) and large (broadband) formats.
Also a MPG version for non-windows
users. The trailer is about 2 minutes
long and will give you an idea of what
TOP8 is all about.

Also there is an informational page on
TOP8 at
http://marvin3m.com/top/top8.htm

Thanks!

Buy some dvds.

It’s for a good cause.

With this Gameroom Planner that allows you to spec out the gameroom/home theater you’ve dreamed of.

Oh my goodness.

I really want one of these Lifters

Bruce Nightengale is selling a Pinball Lift that goes with a Sears ATV Jack. Part of me is interested, the other just wants to wait for the Harbor Freight dolly to go back on sale.

Also avialable at http://www.pinballlifter.com/

After a rather horrific experience when I locked myself out of my T2, I’ve decided to get a little lock pick set  should be interesting to see how it works out..

Chris Redinger made This Mod for the harbor frieght dolly.

Gleaned from RGP:

FYI guys, I just by chance spoke to the manager at the local Harbor
Freight by me when I was inquiring about the availability of the much
talked about harbor freight hydraulic lift. They are out of these
lifts but she ordered me one and will call me when it is in. She said
she would gladly match the web price of $99.99 and that I can use my
20% off coupon to boot. I said really? She said sure. $80.00 plus
tax. She said it didnt matter if the coupon expired before the unit
came in because at the time of order it is all good.

I got the coupon by signing up for their email list. You-all might
want to try this also. The coupon is only good for “store purchases”.

I printed out a copy of everything just to make sure I have my ducks in
a row if there are problems.

So what are you waiting for?

Here’s a nice little pinball table at Harbor Freight Part #43542-1YEA

A link to a possible pinball Lift

Here is a Link to instructions on how to ship a pinball machine. Good info if you are sending other than Via NAVL

Here’s some more advice from John Wart via RGP:

Here’s a list of what you will need:

1) Sturdy pallet, big enough for the pin to fit on
2) Stretch Wrap - big roll, 20 or 24″ wide - typical length is 1k feet. Costshould be $15-25
3) Cardboard - get a refrigerator box from a store in town, most will give you one. If you have a distributor nearby, maybe they have a Stern box you can use.
4) Some sort of straps. I have a bander as I use mine regularly, some folks use ratcheting straps. They are cheap at the Harbor Freight store!
5) Insulation - this is optional as you can use cardboard layers for this step too. Either work fine.

These steps assume you have a machine with a folding backbox.

1) Remove glass from machine, remove balls from machine. Remove anything loose from the lower cabinet (manuals, spare bulbs, parts etc). Remove shooter or handle, depending on machine title. Wrap balls and loose parts up
and place in cashbox. No cashbox? Put them in a cardboard box. Replace glass and lockdown bar. Latch lockdown bar.
2) Remove power cord, or secure it if not removable. If removable, put cord in box/cashbox along with the cover that goes over the power cord, and any hardware. Open backbox and remove wing nuts/bolts if installed. Make sure
all boards are secure, if not, tighten screws. Replace backglass/translite, lock backglass. Put keys in cashbox or box.
3) Fold down the backbox, making sure to put some sort of cushioning between the backbox and the rails, either the insulation or some cardboard. Remove backbox latch (these seem to get torn off all the time) and place in cashbox. Shrink wrap head to lower cabinet.
4) Lock coin door, Place keys in cashbox/box. Remove back legs, put bolts in cashbox/box. Lift game up on the rear and remove the front legs, putting bolts in the cashbox/box. Shrink wrap the game again, making sure to get the
coin door area. Place machine on pallet. Stretch wrap cash box or box securely to machine where you can find a spot. My favorite spot is on top of the head, but if the machine has a topper, you may have to wrap it to the belly of the pin, along with the legs.
5) Skin the machine in cardboard. Stretch wrap again, to hold the cardboard to the machine. The first layer of stretch wrap will keep the cardboard from
rubbing the pin and scuffing the cabinet to death.
6) Strap the pin down to the pallet. Secure is important, but don’t let your straps cut into the pin either.
7) Label the game. Include such things as ‘fragile, handle with care, do not remove from pallet, and contact info for both the shipper _and_ the recipient in case the trucking companies tags come off the pallet.

The supplies you need will add up to $50 or less - considering the price of a decent machine, it’s cheap insurance. If you are likely to be shipping
more later, your cost goes down per machine since you can use the stretch wrap roll for more than 1 pin.

I probably forgot something, but I’m sure a few other folks will chime in :)

Good luck, and have fun!

–john

–
http://www.myhomegameroom.com

Here’s a nice little Lift for pins.

Over on on RGP Joe’s Pinball posted a new tool called a PinPan

Tempted… I’m very tempted….