(Topic ID: 37517)

Flame Polishing - My Procedure

By mmuglia

11 years ago


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  • 36 posts
  • 20 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 10 years ago by BLACK_ROSE
  • Topic is favorited by 23 Pinsiders

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    #1 11 years ago

    I responded to a post letting someone know that I could flame polish their ramps for them. Since that post I have had about 20 PMs asking if I had a video of the process I use. Unfortunately, I do not have a video of the process. The process that I follow can be found below. If you have not done this before, I would recommend starting out on an old/broken ramp or playfield plastic set to practice. I have had great success following this process, and others that have seen my games with flame polished ramps and playfield plastics were always in awe.

    Anyways, this is the process I follow:

    CLEANING AND PREP

    1. Remove the ramp

    2. Clean the ramp thoroughly with dish soap and water

    3. Dry off the ramp with a lint free towel

    4. Hold the ramp up to a light to make sure it is clean

    5. If the ramp is not that bad to begin with (minimal ball lines and very light surface scratches) proceed to Flame Polishing. If the ramp is in rough shape, proceed to step 6.

    6. I'm not sure how many people do this step, but if the ramp is very cloudy and has deep ball lines in it, I will lightly clean/scuff the ramp with a scotchbrite pad. This helps to smooth things over a little so less flame polishing is needed.

    7. Repeat steps 2-4, then proceed to Flame Polishing

    FLAME POLISHING

    CAUTION: If the ramp is not perfectly clean before you flame polish it, the dirt will melt into the plastic during flame polishing and it will be there forever!

    CAUTION: Never leave the flame in one spot when flame polishing. Always keep the flame moving across the ramp. Leaving the flame in one spot will create bubbles in the plastic or completely destroy the ramp. If you start to see small bubbles appear, stop immediately and allow the ramp to cool.

    CAUTION: Excessive heat can warp the ramp and make it difficult to re-install.

    NOTE: I always flame polish the top of the ramp first. The underside normally only needs minimal polishing.

    NOTE: I use a BernzOmatic Heat Shrinking Torch Head (model #: 1791545) that can be purchased at Lowes or Home Depot for $39.99.

    1. While holding the ramp up to a light so you can see all the scratches, position the torch head approximately 6-7 inches from the ramp and begin moving back and forth across the ramp surface. The scratches will quickly disappear before your eyes...like magic.

    2. When the top side is done, hold it up to a light and look for any small areas that may need to be flamed again. Allow the ramp to cool for a few minutes then repeat step 1 on those areas.

    3. Once the entire top side of the ramp is polished, allow the ramp to cool for about 5 minutes.

    4. Repeat step 1 for the underside of the ramp. If your ramp has decals, go around them. After doing the top of the ramp you will learn how quickly the flame polishing process goes, and how much area gets covered by the flame. Keep your distance from the decals and you should be fine.

    5. Allow ramp to cool for about 5 minutes

    6. Now that both sides of the ramp are flame polished, hold the ramp up to the light and see if any areas need to be lightly flamed again. Flame polish again as needed.

    You will know if this process was successful because you will have a hard time removing the smile from your face. I think I stood there and looked at my WH2O for about an hour after I installed the flame polished ramps. I could not stop smiling because they looked that good. The ramps really do look better than new ramps once they are polished. Once I had this technique down pat, I started flame polishing everything. I just finished flame polishing the playfield plastics on my 1978 World Cup. The shine like a clean piece of glass!

    I hope this helps. Good luck, and remember, keep the flame moving.

    Mike

    #2 11 years ago

    Awsome for sharing that. I already did a few but your outline will help perfect my techique further. I never thought about a lint free towel...DOH!

    #3 11 years ago

    Video of things going horribly wrong would also be appreciated.

    Thanks for sharing your method. I'm still too much of a chicken.

    #4 11 years ago

    I just bought back my WH20 and was debating whether to buy new ramps or flame polish them. They are in pretty decent shape so I think they will clean up nice. Thanks for this.

    Mike
    www.HabosArcade.com

    #5 11 years ago
    Quoted from RCA1:

    I'm still too much of a chicken.

    You'd be amazed at how much they can take...it's really quite a bit. Look up BR's flame polishing vid as watching BR do anything calms my nerves for some reason. When you hear aboot it sounds way more scary than it is.

    #6 11 years ago
    Quoted from RCA1:

    Video of things going horribly wrong would also be appreciated.

    #7 11 years ago

    Crash you are way off the mark. Poster specifically asked for flame polishing. Flame Shinnin' is completely diff'rent

    #8 11 years ago

    Hi!

    My pin hasn't got ramps, but thank you, for share this with us. It can be useful for a lot Pinsider.

    Nave a nice day!

    #9 11 years ago

    "This here's flame shinin'! Makes your ramps all purty like! Now you need is a big ol' torch to git the job done!" *WHOOOSH*

    #10 11 years ago
    Quoted from Crash:

    » YouTube video

    I love Hank. Makes me laugh every time.

    #11 11 years ago

    Silly question but where can I get a lint-free towel? I use micro-fiber ones for everything and they work well for me but thats just cleaning....the ramps must be spotless before they get flamed.

    Thanks for posting mmuglia. Its nice to see it written down. Hank is my idol and mentor but I think I favor your tried and true method for this procedure.

    #12 11 years ago

    3spog3.jpg3spog3.jpg

    #13 11 years ago

    Excellent tutorial, Mike. I'm experienced at flame polishing and picked up some tips from you. I love the add of a Scotch Bright pad.

    For those wanting a video there are several of them out there already if you Google. Just follow Mike's written directions afterward.

    Thanks Mike.

    Kim

    #14 11 years ago

    I always laugh when I see one of those "You're doing wrong" pictures.

    #15 11 years ago
    Quoted from Mr68:

    Excellent tutorial, Mike. I'm experienced at flame polishing and picked up some tips from you. I love the add of a Scotch Bright pad.
    For those wanting a video there are several of them out there already if you Google. Just follow Mike's written directions afterward.
    Thanks Mike.
    Kim

    You just have to be careful and not get to carried away with the scotchbrite pad. I only use it when the ball lines are really bad. When I don't use it on bad ball lines, you can still see the line when you're done, then it's pretty much there forever. The scotchbrite will really dull the ramp, like taking sandpaper to paint. But don't worry, the flame will bring the shine back quickly.

    #16 11 years ago
    Quoted from mmuglia:

    If your ramp has decals, go around them.

    What about freezing them off & reapplying with 3M 467 MP (so the entire ramp would then be polished)...is it worth these extra steps?

    #17 11 years ago
    Quoted from NM:

    What about freezing them off & reapplying with 3M 467 MP (so the entire ramp would then be polished)...is it worth these extra steps?

    My experience tells me it is not worth it because the plastic is not scratched under the sticker, so why go through the trouble of removing and reinstalling the sticker to flame polish plastic that has never been touched by anything. If the sticker is already lifting or damaged, that's a different story and I would remove the sticker.

    #18 11 years ago

    I'd like to share an experience I had with flame polishing.

    I was making some 5 sided boxes (4 sides and a top) from acrylic to be used as cake stands. I trim up the edges on a router table with a special plastic cutting bit. The bit leaves some very slight chatter marks on the edge. I found that if I went over the edges enough times with a torch, I could get the chatter marks to disappear (8 to 10 times with some cooling time inbetween). But when I glued up the boxes, I was getting micro cracks at the joints. Turns out the heat was putting stress into the acrylic, which was being released in the form of cracks when the cement was applied (the cement chemically melts the acrylic...more of a weld than a glue joint). I've even read that extreme temperatures can cause the cracks, but have seen no evidence of it.

    Am I against flame polishing? Not at all. It is an industry accepted way of polishing acrylic. I am currently bidding on a job that will involve polishing the edges of pieces of etched acrylic. But I will be getting the edges as smooth as possible using varying grits of sandpaper (down to 1000 grit) before applying the torch. I've since stopped building the boxes, simply because the required sanding time to avoid the cracks made them unaffordable.

    The moral of this story, if there is one, is to use as little heat as necessary to get the desired result, and if you have any deep scratches, work them out mechanically before reaching for the torch.

    My 2 cents, if its worth that much.

    #19 11 years ago

    A video of the flame polishing process can be seen in This Old Pinball, Episode #4: "Pinball Ain't Dead, It Just Smells Funny": http://www.pinrepair.com/top/

    Highly recommended to all those who are not familiar with these repair and restoration videos by Clay Harell.

    Randy

    #20 11 years ago

    CAUTION!!! I have been flame polishing for many years now and I just have to add one very important item. Ramps manufactured before 1990 seem to be a different plastic and VERY sensitive to heat. I have ruined many ramps flaming them on games before 1990. On a Whirlwind I was working on as soon as the heat touched the ramp it folded in half. It was a very costly mistake as the set of ramps were around $300. So if your going to try the flaming method try it on later games or find an old ramp to start on.

    Paul G.

    #21 11 years ago
    Quoted from rplante:

    A video of the flame polishing process can be seen in This Old Pinball, Episode #4: "Pinball Ain't Dead, It Just Smells Funny":

    Also think it's in episode 3 Lost in the Zone

    #22 11 years ago

    I've always used a chef's torch, like the small hand held ones for making creme brule. Much harder to get hot spots and works really well. Plus, cheap to get at walmart or wherever.

    #23 11 years ago
    Quoted from PinWizard:

    CAUTION!!! I have been flame polishing for many years now and I just have to add one very important item. Ramps manufactured before 1990 seem to be a different plastic and VERY sensitive to heat. I have ruined many ramps flaming them on games before 1990. On a Whirlwind I was working on as soon as the heat touched the ramp it folded in half. It was a very costly mistake as the set of ramps were around $300. So if your going to try the flaming method try it on later games or find an old ramp to start on.
    Paul G.

    DUDE, I am so glad you told me that. Otherwise I would've gone on to ruin a set of EATPM ramps... +1000!

    #24 11 years ago
    Quoted from jrivelli:

    I've always used a chef's torch, like the small hand held ones for making creme brule. Much harder to get hot spots and works really well. Plus, cheap to get at walmart or wherever.

    I also use this torch. Bought mine at Radio Shack.

    Another tip I'll add is to hold the ramp with your bare hand on the spot to be flamed. If you feel too much heat has transfered to your hand, lay off of the flame. Warm is OK and expected, hot is not.
    Like the man said, keep that flame moving.

    #25 11 years ago
    Quoted from PinWizard:

    Ramps manufactured before 1990 seem to be a different plastic and VERY sensitive to heat.

    Very good information. Thanks for the warning.

    Quoted from TheLaw:

    Also think it's in episode 3 Lost in the Zone

    You may be right.

    #26 11 years ago

    How about the Domes on an F-14? Can you polish those up the same way?

    Thanks for your time.

    #27 11 years ago
    Quoted from Mottwally:

    How about the Domes on an F-14? Can you polish those up the same way?
    Thanks for your time.

    Depending on the type of plastic and the amount of heat, you can flame polish just about any plastic. Like I said, I flame polish my playfield plastics.

    #28 11 years ago
    Quoted from mmuglia:

    Depending on the type of plastic and the amount of heat, you can flame polish just about any plastic. Like I said, I flame polish my playfield plastics.

    What's the procedure tweak on those in relation to the artwork (example: standard WPC pin)?

    #29 11 years ago
    Quoted from NM:

    What's the procedure tweak on those in relation to the artwork (example: standard WPC pin)?

    When you say artwork, I assume you mean the artwork that is printed on the playfield plastics. If that is correct, you only flame polish the top of these plastics, and you do it quickly. Typically these plastics aren't really that bad. They may just have some hairline scratches from cleaning them over the years. If you are looking at them closely while flame polishing them, you will see the scratched disappear very fast, so don't over do it with playfield plastics. And don't freak out if they warp a tiny bit while polishing. For me, they've always straightened back out perfectly as they cool. To give you an idea how long it should take, a slingshot plastic should take about 5 seconds to flame polish. Like I said, don't over do it, and as always, keep the flame moving.

    #30 11 years ago

    For those who maybe gun shy at attempting this procedure. If you have a broken ramp that you are replacing, hang on to the damaged ramp and screw around with it . Great way to understand the best and worst of flame polishing

    #31 11 years ago

    +1 for chef's torch. I have several propane torches but they tend to be too powerful.

    Anyone have the nerve to try this without removing the ramp to touch up minor scratching/hazing? With the right technique and a smaller flame, I would think it is possible, but you would obviously need to be pretty confident in what you were doing

    #32 11 years ago
    Quoted from jrobinso99:

    Anyone have the nerve to try this without removing the ramp to touch up minor scratching/hazing? With the right technique and a smaller flame, I would think it is possible

    I have and it worked just fine.
    But this only makes sense when doing minor work as you suggested. Full removal and Mikes instructions are normally best.

    3 months later
    #33 10 years ago

    Don't do it on a WW. Just did it tonight. Mistake.

    #34 10 years ago
    Quoted from seshpilot:

    Don't do it on a WW. Just did it tonight. Mistake.

    What happened? I've flamed WW ramps before...no issues...turned out great.

    #35 10 years ago

    Water World ramps?

    #36 10 years ago

    My Flame video ............ More to come !!

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