I tried a bunch of different paints and inks, but I couldn't get anything but a smeary mess.
My idea was that I would have guide rails so that the wheel rolls straight, and roll it on the numbers.
I think it's still not impossible that I would be able to do that with screen printing, maybe I'll give it a shot at some point.

So, that experiment is a fail - will stick with the stickers for this run. Again, I think they look good as they are, I was mostly trying to save a little bit of time - but I'm not sure that would even have been the case had this worked properly.

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Let's put the stamping stuff aside for now - will get back to it later.

Let's keep going with the reels themselves - so, one of the pain points for me is sanding the reels. I had made a contraption using a motor for "auto sanding", but turns out that just setting things up, working through the grits, etc. is still a bigger PITA than doing it manually.
I realized that by sanding at an angle it is a lot more efficient, but still, very noisy and dusty and something I wish I could do without.

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So I decided to try moulding instead. I went for a silicon mold since AFAIK there is no reasonably easy and/or inexpensive way to do DIY injection moulding, nor to do it professionally at the scale I'm working at.
I picked a nice smooth reel and tried moulding that.

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Nice mould!

Let's try pouring resin now!

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Overpoured, so that will need to be sanded out, but if I can tweak it just right probably a lot simpler than sanding the surface smooth. Also, since this is not the face of it it doesn't have to be perfectly smooth either.

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Next update for this run is that I wanted to outsource the PCB soldering and add a fuse.
When I went to outsourced, I realized there were many warnings about my design that they had me fix before they would take it up. Nothing dramatic, but I guess my design is now cleaner. The soldering also looks better than what I do, so there's that added benefit.
As far as I know there weren't reliability issues, but that should make things even more solid.

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Next time I may try to go with surface mount components or even try to do away with the Arduino altogether...

Let's get back to the stamping stuff...
So I had the idea to design a logo that I could both print to the back of the clock itself and to the box.

I came up with this - you can guess the inspiration... I like to think of it as an homage more than a rip-off

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I saw the level of detail I could get with my CNC and stamp and saw that this wouldn't work for that level of detail. So I decided to order the design on one of those stamps:

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Double fail - I didn't embed the font so it came out all wrong, but I figured I'd still give a shot to stamping directly on the clock to see if that works. It doesn't - another smeary mess

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Again, the true answer would be screen printing, but for now I decided to settle for a decal. Pretty happy with this.

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More about the "Ayscrim Studios" backstory next.

The backstory for "Ayscrim Studios".

So a few years back I made this miniramp model while playing with my daughter and had her draw on it. She wrote "Ayscrim Delisieu" and drew an ice cream cone (Ayscrim being how she thought it was written, Delisieu meaning "Delicious" in a 5 year old's spelling).

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Shortly after, I build an actual ramp and christened it with the same name.

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Sometime later, my band and I had this song we were working on that didn't have lyrics, and somehow that popped up in my mind. The song is about some guy that used to like driving around with his gal to the diner and she'd go get ice cream while he gets black coffee.

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https://damntheluck.bandcamp.com/album/ayscrim-delicieu?fbclid=IwAR1V0Tv6wvd2IZMYIMgHFkLwnCzZCSxycNZjsKJPSnSRDZ_cM_Q006b6hog

And... finally... I was looking for a brand name for the clocks so that's what naturally came to mind again. I imagine the Gottlieb era pinball in some ice cream parlor and I think it fits the vibe.

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Here we go again!
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A few months ago I realized Instagram was not just about scantily clad ladies but that there were other interesting things.* I'm following a lot of illustrators, sign painters, skateboarding stuff, and people who built various stuff.
I figured my clocks would fit in the various stuff category, so maybe people would be interested in following.

I'm still not sure what I'll post in there and if it's all going to be cross-posting of stuff here, but if you want to find out, check this out: https://www.instagram.com/ayscrimstudios/

I've been pretty silent lately but the current build is coming along nicely, and I'm also working on a little side project with the help of another Pinsider. Stay tuned, I should have stuff to show shortly.

*Nothing against the scantily clad ladies, just that it's not ideal to have an app dedicated to that purpose when you're spoken for and that you have kids that always want to use your phone.

I'm going at this project in a very exploratory manner, trying to see how I can improve what, how much time I'm spending where, whether it's worth the trouble from a pure money standpoint (answer: no, as with most pinball-related topics there are many much more lucrative ways to spend your time unless you're named Stern) and if not from a labor of love, personal growth and so forth perspective (so far, yes).

In that regard I decided not to take preorder money so that I don't feel pressured to deliver and can keep exploring at will, but also so that I can leave myself some latitude in what I want to do with the produced clocks. So far the idea is still to mostly offer them to people in the order I took names in, although I may make a few exceptions for various reasons.
I currently have 55 people in the backlog (including the 5 people right above this post) - if you want to know your exact spot please PM me. Rody I'm sorry you would not make the cut for this run, but likely the next one. (Again, no commitments! )

Thanks for following and stay posted!

I decided to try the Gottlieb webbing for the clocks, and I like it.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CjDypP_gCuf/

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Got a nice package from Houston, TX today. More on this later.

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Working on a little one-off custom project.

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I'm pretty much finished with my little custom project. Just need to take some nice pictures and will post here.
You should be able to guess the theme pretty easily with this video
https://www.instagram.com/p/CjxpxNYgz5J/

Alright, here goes!
So I talked with robin some time back and he expressed interest in getting a clock. I enjoy doing "themed" clocks but don't want to mess with IP I don't own, and I'm not sure I'm quite ready to come up with my own original theme. So I figured I'd come up with a Pinside-themed clock in case robin would be interested in it (again, he just "expressed interest", never said he'd actually get one, let alone ask for a custom theme )
In any case I'm not sure this project would exist if it weren't for this site so I figured it was my little tribute.

For the font I went with a Kings & Queens inspiration, and the graphic behind it is an interpretation of the Surf Champ playfield.
Thanks to Atari_Daze for providing the translite print and the side stencils.

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Videos:

Yes, will make its way to the headquarters.

Not for next batch, but taking your name down.

Sorry, I've been alone with the kids this week so could not progress much but I have a couple that are all but ready to go.

Fresh one off the line!

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Crap. Just had to put in an order for packing foam, I'd forgotten about that part
It will be a few days until it gets here, then I'll be ready to ship a few units.
Cheers!

Alright folks! A rare happening lately, I'm home alone this weekend. This means I'll be able to work on the clocks!
As you can see I have a few ready to go and some more getting ready. Will message people in order, check your inbox!
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You are - pretty far down but I'm starting to have the process ironed out and may get a little help from my girlfriend in the next few months so I might be able to go a tad faster.

Wow that's beautiful. Indeed it would be an honor to see one of my clocks among this lineup! Will try to make it happen !

None! I can send a template if you want to make your own.

A little teaser of the next custom project I'm working on - picked up stencils today...
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FYI for the printing, you can call any local print shop and ask for a backlit plastic - the material will likely be duratrans. At my local shop they will print it for about 12$, and for 20$ extra they will mechanically cut out the holes for the numbers. You can also do it with a brand new x-acto knife.
I will send you the template so you can do it on your end.

One thing to notice though is that I have started putting a rubber/foam strip between the reel assembly and the wood panel to help protect it during transport and also keep it from sliding around without having to screw it in too tight.
What happens though is that when you have a translite the numbers sit a little too far back for my liking (I noticed it when doing the Pinside clock). I will correct that by machining the pocket the reel sits in deeper on the next iterations, but for this run I suggest you remove the foam strip if you want to put in a translite.
Without a translite it looks just fine.

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