Moe
Please add me to the list for GnR ramps. Are you making the complete set of ramps for this game?
(Topic ID: 150775)
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Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends, The
Data East, 1993-
Austin Powers
Stern, 2001
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Black Rose
Bally, 1992
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Champion Pub
Bally, 1998
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Comet
Williams, 1985
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Demolition Man
Williams, 1994
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Doctor Who
Bally, 1992
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F-14 Tomcat
Williams, 1987
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10 months later
3 months later
5 months later
Quoted from Freeplay40:Maybe. Actually have a set of the Demo man ramps a friend loaned me. Will have to wait for the larger heater though.
That would great. These ramps aren't available anywhere else and I'm sure there would be interest from others as well in buying a set.
3 weeks later
2 weeks later
1 month later
Quoted from Freeplay40:I actually have a a set of Demo Man ramps here. Believe one is too large for my current setup.
Seems to be an obvious need for Demo Man ramps from all the requests. Perhaps you could consider making all those that do fit your current setup?
Quoted from Freeplay40:I'll take a clos look at the Demo Man ramps as soon as I get the Pinbot stuff rolling...
You beauty!
2 months later
2 months later
Quoted from TechnicalSteam:Hope your new heater is on the way. I think many of us would help crowdfund. Not sure it would get your there.
This is a great idea and a way that we can further support Mark's contribution to our hobby. What do you think Mark??
1 month later
Quoted from Freeplay40:About a week ago I saw a post by Dayhuff……
"Looking for the acrylic part # 03-10008 that catches the ball in RFM. Mine is broken and makes the game unplayable. I'll take new or used as long as it's in good condition. HELP!!"
If I see something that I think I can pretty easily help with, I like to try. I asked John to send me the pieces he had from the broken RFM ball catcher and I would try to make him a replacement. I think this will work for him...[quoted image]
That's great Mark, well done. I'm sure others will need this part as well.
7 months later
Great news Mark, that you will be soon turning your attention to the larger heater. Speaking of which, have the Demo Man ramps now fallen off your radar? I understood it that this set of ramps were one of your first priorities with the new setup?
Quoted from Freeplay40:I just took a close look at the three ramps I have for Demo Man. The largest ramp appears to be made out of .118"/.125" plastic. The two smaller ramps appear to me to be made out of possibly .100" plastic.....at the very least the two smaller ramps appear to be made from a thinner plastic than the larger ramp. I would like to make to make these with .150" plastic, but could offer them also in .118". For the two smaller ramps I would make those in at least .118". They also appear to have been formed on male molds which is how I would do them as well. So if your ramps are suffering cracks at the entrances' lower edges, a thicker plastic would help strengthen those.
The difference between .150" and .118" is only .032"....or roughly 1/30th of an inch...../not much at all, but certainly greater strength. If you were to measure for instance the outside width of the entrance walls, in total the result with the thicker plastic could increase that measurement by about 1/16".
I agree, the thicker material will be a bonus and ensure the new Demo Man ramps last much longer. Yes, you need to manipulate the ramps to get them all interwoven when reassembling the playfield, but if you do it in the right order it won't be a problem. Really looking forward to these being made sometime soon.
4 weeks later
1 month later
Quoted from Freeplay40:First formed and finished masters for Black Rose....[quoted image]
Great job, welll done. This will make some BR owners very happy.
1 week later
Quoted from Freeplay40:Well, I do have the donor ramps here, but like many, some are too large for the current setup. Just need to build the heater so I can do the larger ones. I do intend to do them, just can't say exactly when.
Do you think you'll ever get around to assembling the new heater and equipment you need to make the larger ramps?
3 weeks later
Quoted from Freeplay40:So...busted my ass today cleaning out one of my mother's rentals. So tonight I was just going to take it easy....Then I got another email from Dave (Electronics engineering whiz extraordinaire) about my new heater set up. We have had a few exchanges this week. He even sent me detailed schematics on how to set it up including digital controllers. After a couple exchanges tonight, he says, do you have a minute to talk? I called him and we talked through everything concerning my new heater and how to set it up. I like to figure things out myself, and what I had designed would have worked....but long story short I am total confident with what I need to do and what I need to incorporate into my design to make a first class digitally controlled heater. Can't thank Dave enough.
This is just what I needed to kickstart my ass...
Excellent news!
11 months later
2 weeks later
Quoted from Freeplay40:I have the three donor playfield ramps, but I do not have the Cryoclaw or the Subway. Is there interest in the Cryoclaw and the subway?
Yes, I'd definitely like to be able to purchase a complete set. Both the Subway and Cryoclaw ramps suffer from cracks and splits. All the ramps on this game either suffer abuse from the ball or previous owners tightening down screws too firmly on metal support posts. Go hard, go all the way!!
1 month later
1 month later
Quoted from Freeplay40:Yes you are on the list. Don't know how much the postage will be until I actually have the ramps. Whenever I can I try to ship in boxes no larger than 18" x 12" x 6" so I can ship First Class. Sometimes it's cheaper to ship in two smaller packages vs one larger package.
Perhaps a group buy/shipment for Aussie Demo Man ramps might be a worth while. I'd be happy to co-ordinate/distribute once here in Australia. Please let me know if I can help once you are in production on these.
Quoted from jardine:I'm in for a group ship! In Victoria as well so could even come pick up if you are ok with that?
Great, I'm sure we could work something out when the time comes. Hopefully other Aussie's will be interest too.
2 weeks later
7 months later
Good to hear you managed more time for you, but glad to see you're still interested in producing your quality ramps. I was one of the first if not the first to enquire about the possibility of a Demo Man ramp set. Still very interested in buying a set for my game. Good luck getting back into it and we are all looking forward to your future production runs.
5 months later
Quoted from Freeplay40:Demo Man Ramp Update.
I have completed all 6 molds needed to replace all the vacuum formed pieces on Demo Man. Today I successfully formed 5 of the 6 pieces, the only exception being the large right diverter ramp. I will need to form this one on my larger machine which is currently set up to run the Comet Center ramps. I hope to form the Comet ramps tomorrow and then form the last Demo Man ramp next.
Some of the ramps were quit challenging to make molds for due to the elevation changes and the Cryo-Claw was the most difficult.
Once I have all the pieces formed, I will hand finish all pieces to test fit in my friend's game.
I was given pretty decent original pieces to make my molds from, however I found that virtually all of the pieces were cracked and quite fragile. I will make all 6 pieces with plastic thicker than the originals and I do not anticipate any fitment problems.
Will post photos soon.
Thanks to all for your patience!....Mark
YES! Awesome news Mark.
Quoted from Freeplay40:First 5 of the 6 Demo Man pieces had finished today. Will form the right Diverter ramp either tonight or tomorrow. With the NW Pinball Show this weekend, I likely won't be able to test fit the pieces in my friends game until early next week.
[quoted image]
Looking good! Thank you for following through with these ramps. I hope they are good sellers for you. Any idea on the price of a set as yet?
2 weeks later
Quoted from Markharris2000:PotC has one huge ramp which has been unavailable for years. I saw one recently for $320, and then it was gone next time I saw it. The machine is probably of the age (2006) where the ramp may be wearing/cracking for a well-played machine and it has 7 attachment points which are always subject to breakage. Matt at BackAlley is considering making the ship hull which is also a wear part and unavailable, but a repro ramp would be welcome by at least a few folks I am sure.[quoted image]
Wow, has that all been formed from one sheet? If so and it's not possible to achieve the same result with several pieces, I doubt any after market ramp producer will want to tackle that one.
Quoted from Freeplay40:Felt like taking a break to, reflect!
The art of vacuum forming or vacuum forming 101. We use different thicknesses of plastic based on what the originals were made of and then we can select a different thickness if it will improve the ramp. Ramps are formed on either male molds or female molds. On a male mold, envision a ramp upside down. When the heated plastic is pulled down over the mold, the plastic first contacts the top of the mold which is the bottom of the ramp. Then as the plastic is drawn down over the rest of the mold it will thin as it is stretched into the recesses of the mold. On a female mold, envision the mold upright and when the plastic is draped over the mold it first contacts the top of the ramp and then is pulled down into the ramp shape, again, thinning as it does so. While some ramps can only be formed on either a male or a female mold, some ramps can be formed either way. A good example of ramps that can be formed either way are the Hook Rufio ramp and the Comet Center ramp. The Rufio was originally formed on a female mold and since the ramp is pretty deep, the plastic thins a lot as it is pulled down into the ramp. This is why they all fail at the start of the turn from the lower entrance. Male molds simple put more plastic on the bottom of the ramp and most importantly, male molding results in thicker plastic at the lower edges of the entrances....again a common failure point.
In the case of both the Rufio ramp and the Comet center ramp, I not only reverse formed them to male molds, but also increased the plastic thickness from .125" to .150". Bottom line is these ramps are much stronger than the originals.
My current project is the Demo Man pieces...6 of them! I was initially able to form all 6 pieces in two pulls on my large machine. Everything formed successfully, although the Cryo-Claw piece is difficult due to its shape and must be positioned adjacent to the subway ramp in order to form correctly.
So I ran a bunch of them. Then begins the finishing process. Due to their shape and elevations the three playfield ramps and the Cryo-Claw must be completely hand finished. Since I have so many pieces to do for Demo Man, I start with the most difficult which for me are the Large Right Diverter ramp and the Cryo-Claw. Yesterday I moved on to the center ramp and today the left ramp. Both the Large Diverter ramp and the center ramp came out beautifully.
As I began to finish the left ramp, my first thought was that I might lower the price on it. Then I discovered that due to the shape and depth of the mold, it was not forming as I hoped it would. The plastic thinned excessively on the inside of the exit. Too thin for my liking. So now I must reform them on the smaller machine one at a time and use a "plug" to assist the forming. Using a plug during the forming process enables me to force more plastic to a particular area. Just formed one and rough cut it out and took a photo to demonstrate the effect plugging has to resolve a forming issue.
In the attached photo is a closeup of the left ramp exit with the first formed piece on top and the latest assisted pull (just rough cut out) that demonstrates the improvement at the exit. I circled in red the corresponding areas.
[quoted image]
Looking at that ramp shot and considering the plastic you form your ramps from is much stronger than what WMS used way back when, do you think the thinner left wall would be a problem? The ball would only contact the left side on the exit if it was rolling slowly with minimal force. Traveling at high speed, with more force it should hug the right wall of the ramp before exiting onto the wireform. In theory of course.
Quoted from Freeplay40:What I was most concerned with was the thickness for the mounting screw.
That's a very valid point.
1 month later
Quoted from Aus911:Hi A big thank you to freeplay40.
I ordered a full set of Demolition Man Ramps and got them sent to Australia, they arrived very fast in perfect order.
And I must say they are better than I could have ever imagined, they are perfect!!!
Thanks again!
Cheers
Ray
I agree with this sentiment. Ray and I ordered a set, Mark combined our order for shipping and our order arrived very promptly.
The quality of Mark's ramps is excellent. Demo Man ramps have been NLA for a very long time, a very big thanks to Mark for the effort he put into making the whole set, very much appreciated.
9 months later
3 months later
1 month later
Freeplay40 how are you progressing with the JD ramps?
3 months later
Good luck Freeplay40 we're all cheering you to this finish line.
3 weeks later
1 week later
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