Hi
Does anyone have a template for pinball accents/custom lockdown bar art?
Similar to below for Stern and happy for it to be blank.
Cheers

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Not like that, but I did prototype a guns n roses lockdown bar art

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Good afternoon everyone

Would anyone have designed an adapter plate for spike 2 4" (pro and premium) to 5.5" speaker (LE)?

These adapter plates are super expensive and I don't see why it could not be printed

Cheers

Option 1: Purchase a speaker light kit and you can get a pair for $25 - http://www.speakerlightkits.com/5.25-SPIKE-2-Speaker-Plates.html

Option 2: Purchase a set alone for $50 (or for whatever price others are selling them for)

Option 3: 3D printed version - I'm not too sure about this. The plates are quite thin (maybe could be thicker) but my main concern are the welded posts that extend up on the inner side of them for mounting the speakers. I just don't know if a 3D printed part would have enough strength in these stress areas for the weight of the speaker, especially over time as the speaker panel gets opened and closed. Theoretically, the posts could be 3D printed, but they would snap like a dead tree branch with very little force. If you mounted metal studs, I still think they would snap the thin supporting plastic around them.

One of the axioms I've adopted over the few years I've been doing 3D design and printing is, "Just because you can, that doesn't mean you should." I'm afraid this may be one of those instances, but I'm always happy to be proven wrong. BTW, my other 3D printing axiom is, "Just because you can design it, that doesn't mean you can print it."

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Thanks, but I'm a DIY kind of guy. Plus I live in Europe, so shipment and tax will put the whole kit way higher than what I'd like.

I also have access to metal part manufacturing if needs be, although if I can I'd prefer the 3d printing route. I'll see how I can design one for my purpose.

Yes, shipping can be a bear from US. 3D design for these would be pretty simple, but you would probably need a pattern for all of the holes (maybe the current ones you have will serve as a pattern and you just need to make the center hole larger.

Will these work? https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3716733

Just a little side note: I never really heard any improvement upgrading the backbox speakers to something like a two way (coaxial) speaker. Just guessing, some of the companies must really compress the audio (Stern, in my case). Not sure about the the higher freqs, but I just don't think there's much there for the tweeter to do any good. Did it for Aerosmith and AC/DC. Maybe a couple of others, but not sure. Granted, my ears pretty much suck above 10KHz.

I designed some for the Spike 2 and SAM pins, but the biggest bang for the audio was an external sub. Perhaps every pin is different, depending the quality of the sound track and the guy doing the audio tracks.

Not quite what you were looking for, but I made these for 4x6 sized replacements.

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Those are good and the reinforced mounting points should work quite well. If anyone replicates they just need to be aware of their speaker depth given the extra thickness (would hate to print and install everything only for the speaker panel to not close due to clearance issues).

BTW, how about a photo from the front with everything put back together?

Yeah, the offset was needed to give enough clearance for the extra driver. That will vary a bit speaker to speaker.

It's pretty boring from the front.
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I pulled it apart since you were going to ask anyway . You can refrain from comment on my hobo captive nut workmanship thank you very much! Haha.
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What it would look like without the foam.
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That still looks pretty great!

I've never looked into it, but I'm curious - does the oval shaped speaker offer better performance than a round one? Or is it just form factor?

Paint those nuts black or 3D print a cap (maybe even go red to match your speaker coloring) and you're all set even w/o the foam insert. Well done.

BTW, since you mentioned it, I do notice the plastic stressing a little around the nut in your close-up (not really noticeable in your install pic). What infill did you use on the print? In Prusa Slicer (and I'm sure other slicers) you can add modifiers where you set a different percent infill. I do this on my mods that use screws where I may print the object at a lower infill, but have a fairly thick tube area around the screw holes and/or a block at the hole bases that are 100% infill.

Here is an example pre-sliced. The model is set at 25% infill but wherever the green blocks intersect will be printed at 100% infill (i.e. where my screw holes are).
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Here is the sliced version below the bottom infill modifier where you can see the standard 25% infill.
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Here is the sliced version at the modifier where the intersect area is 100% infill, but the rest of the model is still 25% infill.
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While not universal, in general round speakers of the same specifications and of similar size offer better quality, but on a pinball machine I doubt you can hear the difference even with a product like PinSound installed. I think the oval speakers were originally designed for depth limitations behind the backseat in cars, as you could install a speaker with a larger cone even if depth is limited by making it wider. Additionally, oval speakers give more area in the case of a 2-way or 3-way speaker to integrate all of the components, where it would take a much larger round speaker to fit the same elements inside of it.

When it comes to use in a pinball machine, I actually like the unique look of what RobF has done by going oval. The vertical mounting of them looks natural with the vertical rectangle speaker grill. He could have even gone a little larger, but I'm sure speaker depth was a consideration.

Bump..still interested in an upkicker model if someone has one.

It was form factor reasons. I was thinking the shape of the speaker grill allowed for more speaker drive area with oval speakers. I picked the cheapest ok speakers I could find and hedged a little smaller (4x6 vs. 5x10) to see how they actually fit. If I were to do it again, I probably would go round. I think they are sonically better. This was more a thought experiment. These are the ones I picked if anybody is curious; https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XBFM6CW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title

Do you know which is the off the shelf equivalent for the Stern upgraded speakers?

Yeah thanks for the thoughts. These are all great techniques. I am familiar with them and how to apply them with PrusaSlicer. What you see was a first quick and dirty print just to see if I got the critical dimensions right. The captive nut holes came out a wee bit undersized and full of overhang garbage so the nuts didn't really fit well. I sort of cheesed the fit by hard pressing and overtorquing to draw the nut in as much as possible. That's why you see the stress and distortion. In the end, it all fit fine and aesthetically didn't look any worse with the foam in there, so I didn't bother redoing it. I didn't make to sell (or even to show?). This is what lazy functional 3d parts look like. I did ask you to ignore the hobo job, haha.

After seeing how they look without the foam, I might try to print some prettied up versions. Like you suggested I could print a cap or face plate to the hide the hardware. My preference would probably be to print a solid bottom, then space for the hex nut, pause print, drop in a nut and finish the print around it, making it completely captured. I also wonder what it would look like if I gave the base a pattern instead of a solid face.

Oh and I should also add, I have had pretty good results by increasing perimeters around screw holes as an alternative to adding a ton of fill. I think it could be a good tradeoff of reinforced strength versus excess print material and time.

Very interesting. I like the look too! Even despite upgrading the speakers and receivers, most of my machines don't exactly sound like audiophile stereos, so I doubt I'd notice.. lol

The increased perimeters technique is an option, and I've used it on a variety of models (I'm sure it may very well work on your speaker plates). However, the particular model I showed was more of an industrial application and partial fill and even additional perimeters just didn't provide the same strength as the solid fill. These particular items are designed to be secured around a bar, and before I went to solid fill in the stress areas I kept cracking them when trying to get them tight enough to remain in a fixed position on the poles they were mounted to.

Yeah I agree, always more that one way to print a cat. Specific tricks used are very design specific. Lots of good stuff shared here!

Head over to PartsExpress and look up a 4" mid/full range driver. 4" inch speaker link: https://www.parts-express.com/speaker-components/hi-fi-woofers-subwoofers-midranges-tweeters/midrange-midbass-drivers-full-range-speakers/nominaldiameter/4

They should have something that tickles your fancy. I bought some before, but I'd have to look it up. One thing you need to be aware of is quite often the 'front' of the replacement speaker protrudes out the front of the speaker frame and would hit the grill. I could have printed a spacer (which I have done)...but last time I just ordered some hex posts. Screwed those on the speaker grill frame screws, set the speaker on the posts, then secured the speaker w/screws into the hex post. Didn't bother about the seal between the front and back - it still sounded OK. But wouldn't take much to print a spacer if you want it sealed. But at least the screw now no longer needs to be mounted in the spacer since the hex post does that. The spacer is just that - a spacer, but it a heck of a lot easier to design if you don't need to add screws, just clearance for posts.

Something like this for the posts (not the right ones).

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Sorry, I don't have all the part numbers in front of me, only have a few min to spare.

Edit: Whatever speaker you get, double check the mounting holes to make sure they line up w/the original speaker.

https://www.tiktok.com/@notorio3d/video/7027746682137808133?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1

So you can only buy two rolls of filament at a time? LOL
Nice set-up.

I'm trying this on the shop machine now, generated its first file and doing a 16 hour print.

I thought the upgraded LE speakers were 5 1/4" or something like that?

Oh, you're right RobF- sorry to the poster asking. I only had a few minutes to find the links and type a couple of comments before heading out and was thinking he wanted an upgrade to the standard speaker (same size). PartsExpress link is still useful tho, just need to look up the LE speaker style instead.

Hey all. I did a hard look thru thingiverse and came up empty. But I have a few things I need for a Shaq Attaq pinball.

I need the cam for the vari target unit.

I also need one of the gears for the basketball hoop motor.

And while I could probably buy something… need the speaker grill plate for the 8” speaking in the bottom cabinet.

Anything like that out there? I struggle to believe that vari target gear isn’t out there somewhere as it seems like an easy thing to scan and print.

Thx

Unless someone has the game I don't know how someone would even begin to help you, the gottlieb manuals aren't even available to reference what you're talking about because of IP. I've 3d modeled many parts from games because someone needed a replacement. Scanning a pinball part isn't the right way to go about it.

here is the vari-target diagram, you are missing the cam on the arm or yours is broken Pauz21 ? got a pic to show us what you have.

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It’s part 11535 from that diagram. The arm is there. It’s the cam (protractor looking gear) that’s broken in half. That’s what I need.

If it’s true size (scale ) in the book scan it draw the lines in 2D and convert it to 3D set the sizes and print it

We have several of the vari-targets that we bought as samples and I would be happy to send you one. We had to manufacture our own using a neat downward gravity twist on the mech. We might sell them next year, since no one that we know is presently manufacturing them. They would replace any of the old ones. Just pm me on what you need. Happy to help.

I have a good ME work buddy that has a CNC machine in his garage. Not the kind that's a glorified toy...but the kind that takes up the entire 3rd bay in his 3 car garage (and costs a lot more than a car)! Just bought it new a couple of years ago.

If you ever get to the point of having a decent file that can used for 3D printing, I know he would be happy to CNC one at a very reasonable price. Doing little stuff like this keeps his skills up using the software, plus he just likes to tinker. Is this just a a flat piece?

If someone that has one that they could measure the hole(s) distance, maybe you could scale the drawing and redraw in CAD software. That would assume the drawing is to scale. Edit: Just noticed you have the part, it's just broken.

Another option might be to get a CNC-3018 for less than $200 and make one yourself out of aluminum?

With cad file could also use a service like sendcutsend to laser cut it for you. I just had some parts done by them, fast, clean and fairly cheap, and lots of materials to choose from.

this.. i have a waterjet vendor i use. that part wouldnt cost more than $15 if you made a few sparea. ive used oshcut.com which is cheaper but because they torch cut you might have to sand off some burn marks.

Wow, they even cut titanium!

I could draw it up, put you would have to send the broken parts to me.

PM if interested.

Anyone know someone who can make a small run (say 10-20) custom plastic ramps?

This is replacing a steel subway ramp with plastic one.

Thx

Is the original piece plastic?

For TBL? I would so ist but i'm to gar away.

Never to far away

Looking for someone to make for the community.

First print with ABS and glass plate, ABS likes it hot! Love the flat surface.

255C and 105C settings. Lifted 15 minutes into program both times off the PIE surface. Flipped plate to textured side and didn't stick at all. Got a ball of plastic string for my trouble.

Going inside to watch Dune.

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Did some reading, going to up the plate temp higher and cut the print speed in half to see if I get better adhesion. Do you recommend an enclosure for printing with ABS? My buddy swears by his.

It's pretty much required. The chamber also needs to be between 60-70C to prevent warping. Sometimes the bed is enough to heat up a chamber, sometimes you need to add heat.

This. Also make sure your print fan is off.

Print fan is off.

Made a chamber, still doing it. Current print temps are 250/105C. Moved head up, moved head down.

Only thing that seemed to help was abrading the PEI sheep with 600 grit wet/dry paper and recleaning with alcohol. On attempt #6.

yea always sand PEI following with alcohol whenever things stop sticking. I sometimes go down to 200 grit because 600 grit doesn't always have enough bite.