(Topic ID: 180615)

Game Room in Hell - A Multi-Year Project

By KingBW

7 years ago


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  • Latest reply 2 years ago by PAPPYBALL
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    There are 84 posts in this topic. You are on page 2 of 2.
    #51 7 years ago

    You should check out the popcorn machine thread if you are interested. There is some good info in it.
    https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/popcorn-machine-who-has-one

    #52 7 years ago

    RE: The multicade. That thing looks really cool. I imagine it's super pricey too though!

    I bought one (not this one) several years ago and love it but I have learned a few things that I'd like to pass on to you.

    1. I quickly found that playing console games like Super Mario Bros on the NES emulator with arcade controls and having to stand up was just not fun. These types of machines are great for MAME use but you may find that no one wants to mess with the rest. It's fun for a week but I quickly realized that if I want to play console games I want to sit down b/c those types of games aren't always quick gaming sessions. Plus the controls just don't feel right.

    2. You can actually make something like this on your own for a fraction of the cost that they are selling this thing for. There's just a PC in the back running a program called Hyperspin which is that pretty front-end that lets you scroll through systems and games. You can usually find Hyperspin hard drives online for $200 or so. Just pop it into a PC, set up your controls and you're in business. Search Hyperspin setups on Google and you can find tons. Ones that hook up to your TV and you play with using an Xbox controller or something to that effect (those are usually the cheapest setups that are plug and play...few hundred dollars usually). You can also find tabletop versions with real arcade controls which is great if you want to save on space. Those probably run around a grand. If you want one in a full sized arcade cabinet and want to do it yourself you just have to find a junk cabinet for $100 or less on Craigslist and throw a PC in the back of it with a pre-setup Hyperspin hard drive, hook up the monitor, and hook up the controls with something called an IPAC and your in business. You can custom design and print a marquee and side art, do LEDs, etc. But obviously all that requires some skill and some time.

    If you're sold on the plug and play aspect and the look of the machine then this might be your best route. Another alternative would be to look for a MAME machine on Craigslist. They come up in my area from time to time. Either someone who builds them for a living is selling one or someone who just wanted one and built one is now trying to part with theirs.

    If I had to do it all over again I'd still by my pre setup full sized machine but that's mostly because I was deadset on the design of the cabinet and didn't have the skills to make my own. If it weren't for that I would have just went with a bartop one for MUCH cheaper. I think my MAME build ended up being several thousand dollars.

    Either way, I recommend a MAME machine with Hyperspin. It's a great way to have many of the classics but just one machine. It won't play every game perfectly b/c you can't take into account everything like a vector monitor, special controls (Star Wars, racing games, etc). But if it's just a joystick and buttons game it'll probably play it with ease.

    #53 7 years ago
    Quoted from AtTheArcade:

    I have learned a few things that I'd like to pass on to you.

    Thank you for the input. I totally understand your comments and the options that you described. I'm still digging into it a bit and trying to understand how all that works. I looked up the Hyperspin hard drives that you suggested and got a little more out of it. I'll explain my logic with my initial thoughts on the topic. Here comes another long post ...

    I'm a pinball geek, not a video arcade geek. My interest and heart just would not be in to building my own multicade as I would rather spend that time working on pinball, my game room build, and whatever kind of cool technology I can add/build into my game room. I'm a 100% pinball guy. My wife is a 90% pinball girl, but likes to play (and sometimes drags me to play) some of the popular mame style arcade games (centipede, pacman, donkey kong, etc.) My kids, nieces and nephews are probably about 50-50. Some friends that have come over are not too into pinball and have said that they like arcade games. I can't force people to like pinball just because I love it so much, so I want those that like video arcade style games to have fun while they are over too. I would play a few mame games a week in the "arranged marriage honeymoon" with a multicade if I got one. Maybe that interest would increase once I own one with all those options, but I'm not counting on it - especially if it is just a mame gaming system.

    My son, nephews and nieces think that Nintendo, game boy, playstation, etc are their nostalgic era game platforms. I understand the point that it is not the same to play those in a multicade. I've seen that this particular model that I am interested in can adapt to have those old game controllers for control too. I have to investigate that because that would help solve the "not the same" kind of issues. I hope I can do that. Bar stools will be provided for that, but would need to determine the right height to buy for those once I get it (if I get this model).

    I have played Golden Tee with some golf friends. That would be a definite plus with this system for me. I would occasionally play that or the similar copycat games with those friends.

    I'm really interested in the visual pinball and here's why. My wife wants to travel the country in a motorhome on occasional trips when we retire. My thoughts are that by then, they may have a fold up "virtual pinball" game setup that I can safely take with me on trips. Camping ... meh. Camping and having 100 different virtual pinball games to play with me when I get bored ... better ... maybe. Having a multicade with visual pinball would help determine if that is a interest option for me for the future.

    Sound quality is important to me. With the 2.1 sound system in this particular one, I hope it sounds good. I know junk in = junk out though too, so hopefully the sound quality in the program on the popular games is pretty good. If I made one myself, I'm guessing the sound quality would not be all that great.

    For me, I would rather put the money towards another pin. Heck, I saw this multicade over a year ago and think it is the best I've seen so far, but have not seen it "in-person". Since that year and a half ago, we have bought 4 pins in the meantime. But ... I do want to think of others and their gaming interests, so I think it is time for a multicade. Some of my friends would really like it and enjoy their visit better. The one with all the extra gaming on it that I pointed out and interested me might be a winner.

    In the end, my interest is not there to build one. I'd rather work on my game room and just buy a multicade from someone that does love them and build many of them ... and that have already learned from their mistakes. Trying a demo of one of these in person will help "us" to make the decision. That being said, I want to also investigate if I can upgrade the software in the future with updated new games. I see that they keep adding more games to virtual pinball, so in a couple years, I may want to upgrade that software. Hopefully that is possible. Even if it is just buying another one of those hyperspin preloaded hard drives and plugging it in.

    Question ... do multicades keep track of high scores on various games? Or are those stats lost in a multicade?

    #54 7 years ago

    I 100% recommend having a multicade. My pins usually get more play but it's nice to have there as some people would rather play Donkey Kong or Ms. Pac-man than play pinball. I have Golden Tee on mine as well (with a cool light up trackball) and it's fun to play. There are two items in my collection that I never plan on parting with and that's my Mame cabinet and my GBLE (huge GB fan here).

    I was very interested in the console stuff and did play it a good bit the first month I had my setup but eventually I just locked Hyperspin so that it starts on MAME and console stuff can't be accessed.

    I do have a way to play all those old consoles in my gameroom though and it's actually a much better setup than emulation and doesn't cost that much to setup (when compared to these multicade setups). You can go on Amazon and buy something called a Super Retro Trio. It's one little console that has slots of NES, SNES, and Genesis. It also plays GB games if you have a Super Gameboy cartridge (pretty cheap on eBay) and GBA games if you buy an adapter. It also has the ability to play Famicom, Super Famicom, and Master System games. So while it's called a "Trio" it actually plays eight systems and I may be missing a system or two in there also. There's a flap on the front of the console that folds down and reveals one of the best features of this system over all the other multiple cartridge systems out there - controller ports for all the systems. You can plug in Genesis controllers, NES controllers, and SNES controllers. So you buy original controllers on eBay (or new repros) for each system and you have a way to play all those systems with original controllers. Now here comes the fun part...getting all the games. There's a product out there called an Everdrive. It's a cartridge with an SD card slot. You load that systems ROMs to the SD card slot and plug it into the console and you now have every game for that system. There's a cartridge for each system that you have to buy but once you have the setup done you have a way to play all of those games in almost the original way. The Everdrive cartridges work on original systems too so if you wanted to go a more expensive route you could track down all the original consoles instead of getting a Retro Trio. I have two game rooms currently. One has a pool table, a TV with a retro trio and lots of modern consoles, and a Mega Touch. The other is my "arcade" and has my MAME cabinet, my pins, and a CRT with an original NES, SNES, and Genesis hooked up to it all loaded with Everdrives. That freed up my arcade cabinet to be just arcade games and game me another way to fit more stuff into my game room since an old CRT doesn't take up as much space as an arcade cabinet. The games feel better on a nice CRT with original controllers and you don't have to worry about the problems emulation brings such as input lag. I found it nearly impossible to play Super Mario Bros via emulation because the timing was off between the button press and the action on the game.

    That type of setup isn't for everyone but just something to chew on. Emulation for console stuff just really let me down in just about every way (wrong controls, having to stand to play, games didn't play right, etc) so for me, this works better. It sounds like you're working on ways to solve some of the issues I had. And yes, you could hook up original controllers to your Hyperspin PC through USB. That gets tricky through I found. My Hyperspin PC would lost all the button mappings for the USB controllers anytime I unplugged them. So then every time I turned the arcade on I had to spend 30 mins setting up the button mappings. (Another annoyance that drove me away from emulation for console stuff). The arcade controls wouldn't give you that problem since they are always plugged into the PC.

    Still, at the end of the day it's what works for you. I wouldn't try and tell you that my way is the only way. I just want to share what my experience has been with an expensive multicade and you can use whatever makes sense to you and ditch the rest. I highly recommend a MAME cabinet but for console stuff my personal recommendation is the Retro Trio (or original consoles), original controllers, and Everdrives hooked up to a CRT (you don't have to use a CRT obviously but newer TV's can introduce input lag on those old consoles that were meant to be played on CRT's so a CRT is just more trouble free to me).

    You can add new stuff to it. If you are computer savvy you won't have any issues. It's just a Windows PC running a program called Hyperspin. If you exit Hyperspin you are back to Windows like a normal computer. Now adding stuff to Hyperspin is tricky but it's doable. You have to add games to certain folders and then edit config files so that Hyperspin knows those games are there. Then you need to add artwork files if you want Hyperspin to show pretty artwork when you select that game. It's a bit involved but it can be done. Hyperspin has a whole forum online with guides and people that are always willing to help. Hyperspin is a fantastic system but it's not the most user friendly thing.

    High scores do hold on MAME. When you load a game MAME tries to emulate it exactly like the original PCB. So if the original PCB held high scores, MAME will too. Some older games didn't hold high scores after you switched the game off though and those games will work the same way with MAME. You exit the game, the high score is gone.

    I think you'll love the system when you try it out in person. If you don't want to build something then buying a MAME cabinet is the way to go. It just comes down to who to buy it from. It's all pretty expensive though. The only cheap route I know of it searching Craigslist for someone that's getting rid of one they built or bought years ago but you probably won't find anything nicer than that one you're looking at. I imagine they go for 5k+ though. The super nice ones are brand new pinball prices.

    #55 7 years ago

    That's some good information - thanks! I'll bookmark it for later and look into it.

    1 month later
    #56 6 years ago

    We went to the Ohio show last weekend and picked up the Multicade I had my eye on that was about a half hour away from the show. This thing is fantastic! Well built too. Thousands of games and great sound with the sub included into the system. I think I convinced my wife to use our "temporary game room" as the final "Arcade Room". You guys convinced me that the sound from everything would be too loud for conversation or to watch sports. The sound levels in the "Arcade Room" would be too loud, so a separate room for pins and my multi-cade is a better concept. Now to re-configure my concept layout.

    I got a neon a few weeks ago too ...

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    #57 6 years ago

    Where'd you get the sweet neon?

    #58 6 years ago
    Quoted from PAPPYBALL:

    Where'd you get the sweet neon?

    Actually, I got it from Amazon ... the one on Ebay is a little smaller and I wanted the larger version ... 24x20 - the frame ... the actually neon is a bit smaller. Note that on mine the back leg neon tube is missing a slight bend compared to the one pictured on Amazon. I'm going to post a review about that, but I still think it is great.

    https://smile.amazon.com/Urby-Larger-Pinball-3-Year-Warranty-Best/dp/B01GBLEIHM/ref=sr_1_16

    #59 6 years ago

    Congrats on the multi-cade! I'm sure you'll be enjoying that for a long time to come!

    2 weeks later
    #60 6 years ago

    I acquired 2 more neon in an auction. I came so close to getting a digital jukebox too ... but the picture and description did not match the piece of junk when I showed up. They claim it was their mistake, but I think they screwed me over and gave my jukebox to someone who won all the other working jukeboxes. I was so psyched, then big time bummed. Oh well, move on.

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    8 months later
    #61 6 years ago

    It's been a while ... just an update ... a few changes have been made to the planned layout. As mentioned several months ago, I was going to have to strategize tacking over the lounging area/room that we were "temporarily" using as our arcade room. Well, guess what, my wife came up with the idea (with some of my steering) that the temporary game room will be the arcade/pinball room. YES! With the very limited time I had this fall, I started to change the plan and put up some of the paraphernalia in completed arcade room (and added a couple more pins). We had a party after Christmas and I put all of the game room games in the general area that my new plan would put them. The bar is not built, walls have not been removed yet, but we were just trying to get the "feel" of how it would work out. The necessary destruction has barely started on the main part of the basement.

    The video shows a walk through before the party started. Yes, still messy with "stuff" needing a home. Paneling will be drywall, the room behind the dart game will be the bar area, a few closet areas will be reduced or moved. Since that video we added a WOF pin where the F14 pin is and the F14 was temporarily moved into the main hall area until we figure out if we want to move one of the couches now, or later after construction.

    Work is keeping me busy weekends, so I will probably not make much progress until spring now.

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    #62 6 years ago
    Quoted from TheLaw:

    Well, i guess I'm going to have to be the one to say it; too much bar & not enough pins
    I what you're saying aboot the bar being so important....but that seems like a lot of damn space to only have room for 6 games. I'd love a fireplace n my basement.
    Don't forget some monitors connected to you TVs placed over your pins. Hate having to turn around all the time to check scores/plays etc.
    Good luck!

    That's actually a great point about the monitors!

    #63 6 years ago
    Quoted from KingBW:

    Actually, I got it from Amazon ... the one on Ebay is a little smaller and I wanted the larger version ... 24x20 - the frame ... the actually neon is a bit smaller. Note that on mine the back leg neon tube is missing a slight bend compared to the one pictured on Amazon. I'm going to post a review about that, but I still think it is great.
    amazon.com link »

    I like that one because its not what you usually see.

    #64 6 years ago

    On evenings, sometimes I fiddle with the paripherals. I bought a shadow box frame, added some black light LEDs, added moldings inside the frame to hide the LEDs, ran the wires through the side of the frame and vwala. All self contained. I gotta show Dirty Donny Dillies at one of the shows.

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    #65 6 years ago

    Lived in Michigan for about a year until this past October. Some people had suggested I go to Hell, but I never did go to Hell. But I have a feeling I will someday.

    I'm glad to read there's pinball in Hell.

    -1
    #66 6 years ago

    Who plays foosball?? Ditch it; and get another Arcade machine; I know you researched the MAME machine, but nothing beats a Dedicated; you could put another two cabs in that spot where Foosball is...Or, get a bubble hockey; I have an Ice Chexx...Gets mad play from guests; probably more play than my pins.

    #67 6 years ago
    Quoted from dsmoke1986:

    Who plays foosball?? Ditch it; and get another Arcade machine; I know you researched the MAME machine, but nothing beats a Dedicated; you could put another two cabs in that spot where Foosball is...Or, get a bubble hockey; I have an Ice Chexx...Gets mad play from guests; probably more play than my pins.

    Nothing eats up more room than dedicated arcade games. I use to have 20 of them. My multi cabs play all the hits people want to play with no need for the added real-estate of the big heavy dinosaurs....

    #68 6 years ago

    I started out with an all in one MAME machine, but I’ve run into to many cases where the ladies are into a game of Tetris and the guys want to play golden tee, or four ppl are playing nba jam and others are standing around for their turn to pick a game on the machine.

    My plan is to have 6 MAME cabinets. 1 for vertical shoot-em-ups, 1 for 6 button fighters, 1 for trackball and spinner games, 1 for 4 player games, 1 for steering games and 1 for lightgun games. A dedicated multi Cade for each kind of game. There will be some overlap of game titles, like Tetris and pac man will be on both on the vertical cabinet and the 4 player cabinet.

    But I find with one MAME machine that has 5000 games on it is overkill. It takes more time to pick a game then what you spend playing the actual game.

    #69 6 years ago
    Quoted from tamoore:

    Nothing eats up more room than dedicated arcade games.

    Quoted from Luckydogg420:

    But I find with one MAME machine that has 5000 games on it is overkill. It takes more time to pick a game then what you spend playing the actual game.

    I even had to take out my MAME set up being out of room. I'd like a small old cabinet refit at some point but the amount of games is always the big deal. I had the 10K games yada yada and it's just too goddamn much. Hell I banged it down a ton but I had to do it by using C++ and frikking editing the master list forever. Just becomes so much work setting it up and explaining it...even with a favorites folder.

    #70 6 years ago

    On the Foosball - My family in law play it and both of my adult kids are liking it more and more. As long as it gets played and people have fun, I'll have room for it. The end layout plan will move it out of the arcade room and put it into my football hall of fame. Less noise will be there for the Foos enthusiasts to concentrate. Plenty of room.

    On the Multicade -

    Quoted from TheLaw:

    Just becomes so much work setting it up and explaining it...even with a favorites folder.

    Totally agree. Wish it was simpler. I still have to go through and setup some favorites that are common mainstream for us 50+ year olds in my social group. It seems pretty monumental to set things up the way you really want it. I still want to get into the menus and remove a few games that I know don't work correctly, or try to fix them. I need a Hyperspin manual/tutorials. I watched about 3 YouTube videos that didn't do me much good. But ... when a guest asks if I have some obscure game that they use to play, and we find it, that smile and excitement to play that obscure game is worth it to me. A few people left and later asked me where I got that multicade after they saw all of those obscure games on it (as well as the mainstream popular games).

    Quoted from Luckydogg420:

    others are standing around for their turn to pick a game on the machine.

    It is not super popular with my extended family and friends (a surprise to me), but there is usually one or two people that will play it on a party night. Pinball is the top attraction for addiction attraction. Plenty of room for this currently in the Arcade Room. I still have room for 4 more pins in that room before something (other than couches) has to go. If (when) I get to 10 pins, and they stop multiplying, the weak will get kicked out. That's the plan currently.

    Quoted from bbhenry2000:

    That's actually a great point about the monitors!

    I agree and will need to come up with a new plan now that I have a dedicated "Arcade Room". Gotta watch for the glare on the glass on the pins though. I'll have to pay attention more in arcades, bars, etc. for more ideas.

    The first "to go" will be the weight machine (my wife has claimed she will start to use it regularly for the last 5 years ... I keep begging to sell it), and the air hockey (daughter insists on us keeping it even though it hardly ever gets played - she plans to move out within a year ... hehe)

    Order of popularity with family and friends over the last 4-5 parties/events in the last year:
    1. Pinball
    2. Billiards
    3. Foosball
    4. Multicade
    5. Dart machine
    6. Air hockey
    (7. Weight machine )

    Thanks for the input ... it keeps me thinking ........ ... Is it time for another pin? On the hunt ...

    Bottom line ... plenty of room for everything for now (except that darn weight machine that never gets used ).

    8 months later
    #71 5 years ago

    Well … it's been 8 months since a post, so I guess I'll give an update on the snail paced project. I had knee problems for the last 4 months … since the VFW show in May. Make sure you stretch you hamstrings and ACL muscles if you are going to do a marathon of pinball playing and take some breaks or you will regret it for 4 months.

    I've worked on gathering most of the game room "toys" to a make sure our revised plans will work out. We now have 9 pins, and still have room for 1 or two more in the arcade room (the couch will get scrapped and replaced with a pub table)

    The dart board was upgraded … the old Arachnid Mark Darts #14 wedge doesn't register and someone that used to work on them from out of state believes it is a ground issue. I tried cleaning and wiggling things with no luck. I don't have the steady hands, eyes, tools, or know how to take the trouble-shooting any further, so it will be sold as is for someone to troubleshoot and fix … or part it out for profit. We like the new(er) dartboard anyway. We got a shuffleboard table as well. Yes, a lot of wall space, but it is good fun social gaming.

    Lots of walls to tear down, move, or replace old paneling with drywall … still a long road ahead.

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    #72 5 years ago

    For my future bar, I acquired three 12 foot long sections of bowling alley lanes for the bar top. The backs will need to be secured together (besides just the angle iron pieces on there now), cut down to size, refinish the top surfaces and use them as either the top of the bar, or maybe the base of a shadowbox type of a bar top. Plenty of time to think about and plan that.

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    #73 5 years ago
    Quoted from KingBW:

    For my future bar, I acquired three 12 foot long sections of bowling alley lanes for the bar top.

    Pretty cool. As a bowler, I must say those lane sections are fairly new. The dark lines are breakpoint indicators and weren't "required" on lanes until about 10-15 yrs ago. Very nice!

    #74 5 years ago
    Quoted from GLSP3022:

    Pretty cool. As a bowler, I must say those lane sections are fairly new. The dark lines are breakpoint indicators and weren't "required" on lanes until about 10-15 yrs ago. Very nice!

    That's good to know, thanks! I thought they were older that the ones with the little arrowhead triangles - real old. Or do the arrowheads still exist too (none of those were in the pile to choose from).

    #75 5 years ago

    Following this for inspiration, keep up the good work.

    #76 5 years ago

    The arrows are standard on all lanes. They are about 15' down lane and used for aiming your shots.
    The breakpoint lines are a more recent addition (40 ft down lane) and are used by high tech bowlers to judge where the ball is turning on the lane. They can be used to adjust ones "entry angle" into the rack of pins. This stuff is very important to scoring well in the game.
    You can see these lines in the attached pic.

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    #77 5 years ago

    Speaking of Bowling alley's - I watched some guys with a fancy machine finishing the alleys . I asked them what kind of wax it was putting down ( thought it would be good wax for pinball machines ) . Said it was oil not wax .

    #78 5 years ago
    Quoted from GLSP3022:

    The arrows are standard on all lanes. They are about 15' down lane and used for aiming your shots.
    The breakpoint lines are a more recent addition (40 ft down lane) and are used by high tech bowlers to judge where the ball is turning on the lane. They can be used to adjust ones "entry angle" into the rack of pins. This stuff is very important to scoring well in the game.
    You can see these lines in the attached pic.
    [quoted image]

    Interesting ... good to know. I only bowl maybe once a year. Those lines will be gone once I re-finish the wood. There were some imperfections, some marks, and a few scratches in the top coating from them removing it from the bowling alley. They said that the black lines are just lightly painted. One idea was to put some arrowheads back on the surface and use plastic shot glasses as a ball and the shuffleboard bowling pin accessory for a bar top gimmick. Not sure about that as the pins would fly on both sides of the bar.

    Quoted from TenaciousT:

    Speaking of Bowling alley's - I watched some guys with a fancy machine finishing the alleys . I asked them what kind of wax it was putting down ( thought it would be good wax for pinball machines ) . Said it was oil not wax .

    According to the guy I bought it from (a wood reclaim shop) the coating is a type of polyurethane or acrylic that can flex with the wood. These pieces just have angle iron under it about every 5 feet or so to hold it together. The wood alley is "supposed" to flex a bit. I will probably stain it close to a normal bowling alley color (like it already is), then put several coats of polyurethane on it. I will still want to attach the arm rail along the edge in a way to still help to hold the outer edge together. Still have a year or so to think about it as I need to tear out walls, rough frame, electrical, etc. first. I saw the deal and grabbed it. My wife hopes I complete the basement before I die (what does she know that I don't) so that she is not stuck with getting rid of all this gimmicky stuff.

    #79 5 years ago

    In case anyone is curious about what the under side of a bowling alley lane looks like, see the pic below. The black is a type of paint (not a tar) that likely is supposed to keep out the moisture from below. The lighter wood strips are just thin pressboard that is glued on. The angle iron is screwed in at about 4 places across the lane. I will remove the pressboard strips, and put on some 1/4 inch plywood to help hold it together before cutting it.

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    #80 5 years ago

    KingBW Watch out for the nails....there are lots in there, more than you would think

    #81 5 years ago
    Quoted from eh97ac:

    kingbw Watch out for the nails....there are lots in there, more than you would think

    Yes, the reclaim shop guy advised for me to use a carbide tip blade, take it real slow, and have some spare blades ready on hand. He showed us how easily they fall apart and all the nails in some small leftover scrap pieces that they were throwing out. Any other or different advice for cutting through the lane?

    #82 5 years ago

    Ditch the bar in your plans, will make a lot more room for Pins!

    3 years later
    #83 2 years ago

    The collection of games (quantity) is at or near completion. I started knocking down a few walls and had a few parties to try out some layouts. Still more walls to knock down to expand an area for a bar. More old stuff to purge, but I think (hope) the next year will show more wall and bar progress now that we think our game room "stuff" collection is pretty much max'd out. Video attached was taken before a party and before more renovations/remodeling.

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