At first blush this looked OK but now that I dig into it I see a basket case.

Can someone share some information about what this is supposed to look like and a bit on how it works?

Thanks

Homer Bar (resized).jpg

Yeah, checking it out on ipdb it looks like a different layout of the same generation game.

All switches on mine are identical, the copper parts anyway. They add that spring steel for some reason.

Can't anyone snap a pic of a properly restored switch assembly?

Speak Easy Card Bar (resized).jpg

I would really like to know what a stock "Spring Steel Finger" on the HOMER bar (is that Moe's ? - ) looks like.

I imagine that these pictures show a stock one, although the bottom edge is jagged and I assume something has broken off. The finger is 0.25" wide.

Check out that little "bar" on the end - I assume this helped hold the flyaway targets up once you knock them. Talk about a manufacturing feat! I don't know how to reproduce that.

If someone could post a picture of a stock one I'd appreciate it. I've ordered a roll of 0.015 shim steel to reproduce a bunch and I can send you some if I can figure out what they look like.

mcb

Spring Steel Finger (resized).jpg

Finger with Dime (resized).jpg

Now we are getting somewhere! Don't you just hate it when you buy a used car that someone has hacked on the electrical system?!? YUK

I may take the stainless out and see how the copper parts work, then make some decisions.

Latest update: Took out the "customer hack" spring steel. My copper contacts were really in excellent shape based on some pictures I've seen. Some others were globbed with solder in an attempt to repair them.

So with some adjustment 4 out of 5 worked really well. The one that didn't ("O" of HOMER) had parts of the locking mechanism worn away. I'll attach before and after pictures.

I'm going to try to repair this one to look like the others but that will be problematic. The material is a flexible plastic and I'm not sure JB weld will stick to it. Going to give it a try though. I'm supposed to be getting files so I can 3D print ones.

As an aside I think that the "flyaway" feature is pretty unique in pinball and respect the guys (and/or gals) that made it up.

Ah, about time to have a Flaming Moe followed by some Duffs to celebrate the HOMER Bar!

Good Flyaway (resized).jpg

Bad Flyaway (resized).jpg

Initially I thought I needed to reproduce these stainless parts and ordered 0.015" shim stock. I later learn that these are a hack added aftermarket. But in the process I learned what the best way would have been to cut them out.

Visiting my local water jet cutting store (I've done a bunch of that in the past) I asked about cutting the shim stock. The 'expert' there said that since the stock has been rolled for shipping it wouldn't lay flat on the bed and the little pieces would get blown about. He'd tried it before with poor results and at $230 an hour for cutting it is an expensive gamble. So I'd discounted that approach... until -

I talked to a welder fab guy I know (yes he wears a pokadot hat : - ) and he said that the way to water jet thin stuff is to sandwich it between some other stock, like 1/4" Masonite and jet that. Have to slow down the feed rate just a bit over what just the metal would take by itself. Sounded like a killer idea to me.

So I'm convinced you can fab any copper contact parts fairly easily without too much expense. I'm good at DXF file generation so I could move forward with this but a normal person would want to recoup some of their expenses and you end up with a couple hundred contacts.

Question for you: If Marco sold these contact pairs what would you be willing to pay for them? I ask because a possible approach would be to sell the remainder of them to Marco (or whoever) so they can list them on their web site.

I put 'JB Weld Steel Reinforced Epoxy' on the damaged flyaway shown above. See the raw picture below. When it dries completely (24 hours) I'll take the Dremel tool to it to shape it like it should be. See how that works.

I tried it yesterday with some Loctite Gel Epoxy and it seemed to be going OK but as I ground it to shape the epoxy heated up and just turned soft and fell off. OK, no harm no foul. Try something harder and let it dry completely this time.

When you just look at the glob it looks grey but under the scope you can actually see pieces of steel. Hard to get a good picture of this.

Patched Flyaway (resized).jpg

Guess I'll make this if I need them and contact Marco directly.

No, lost energy for GS. I could also never get the CAD files for the "HOMER" targets, sigh