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210 key posts have been marked in this topic, showing the first 10 items. (Show topic index)

Quoted from yancy:
Holy shit, those pop bumper "caps" are genius. I'm considering doing my Centaur without any red plastic, and couldn't come up with a good bumper solution. Until now. I'd love to see what those look like when lit.

I was going to go with these chrome caps initially. They looked great but they just didn’t light up well enough. image (resized).jpg

Once I dug around and found my Centaur promo plastics I knew I could make that work.
Looks great with the clear bodies. I have some of those bright mods pop bumper lights driving them so I get the lit top and bottom.
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Quoted from yancy:
Noticed you stuck with the linear flipper mechs. Was that customer's choice or your choice? I've heard differing opinions on those, but I haven't heard the HEP opinion.

I have done them with either kit. It really depends on the conditions of the games.
If the associated parts are beat then the old style pre linear is best because they eliminate the need to slide through the nyliner. If the associated parts are good the linear kit is great from Pinball life because they will easily slide through the nyliner.

Do you custom make some of your plastics? If so, what exact material do you use? I make a variety of plastics by hand for various games as one offs for people who need them, but always looking to improve my materials as I'm currently using Lexan. It is strong, but a little too thick verses original plastics which I think are PETG, right?

Quoted from Mr_Tantrum:
Do you custom make some of your plastics? If so, what exact material do you use? I make a variety of plastics by hand for various games as one offs for people who need them, but always looking to improve my materials as I'm currently using Lexan. It is strong, but a little too thick verses original plastics which I think are PETG, right?

I don’t make my own plastics but I can reshape and repurpose existing ones.
I typically do this with a grinder then water sand and finesse the shape after the rough cut.

Centaur takes Manhattan
image (resized).jpg
I got an awesome gift in today from Mike R. This is quite nice.
Thanks!!

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OP
Quoted from High_End_Pins:
Centaur finished.

AMAZING WORK Chris

Chris, when you rebuild these Bally SS games, which particular lamp holders do you buy?

Quoted from hawknole:
I searched but could not find, what is the non-corrosive citrus based cleaner you use? Thanks in advance.

Duragloss 462 Ultimate Orange Concentrated Cleaner and Degreaser - 1 Gallon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J035OKE/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_6UjzDbF8DP47Z

Centaur plays great. Very little tweaking needed which is nice for a change.
The two things that most often fight me on Centaur are the orb kick out alignment and the roll over inserts.
It was a pain to change out the roll over inserts earlier in the process when prepping the playfield but it really paid off in the long run.
Wish we could get new playfields that use these not already ruined with too much clear in them but that remains to be seen so far.

Pack it up

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Going to ship it out with the chrome caps as well just in case the owner wants to change it up.
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Just noticed you put a powerball in the queen's chamber. I was planning to do that too. Great minds think alike!

Should make it possible to actually hit more than one or two drop targets via the doubler lane.

Centaur is packed up and ready to go.

image (resized).jpg

Quoted from yancy:
Just noticed you put a powerball in the queen's chamber. I was planning to do that too. Great minds think alike!
Should make it possible to actually hit more than one or two drop targets via the doubler lane.

Yeah. I initially did it to test the look then when I played it it worked so well I think I will be doing that from now on.

Chipping away at the Spirit teardown.
Every time I get into a groove on it I end up finding a needed part isn’t in my stock or decide to go a little deeper.
Here is a prime example. This doesn’t look like much but it was a chore.

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OP
Quoted from High_End_Pins:
This doesn’t look like much but it was a chore.

Oh, it looks like plenty.

Also working through the Radical ramps. These too are a chore.
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The flaps are rusted

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This one is a monster.

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First step after removing the flaps is pulling the decals off. These must be reused.
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Now to remove the glue without ruing the decal.
I like straight acetone for this B10F3757-A7AB-491F-B20D-3D82F64F071A (resized).jpeg
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Glue is off
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Now wash and dry 58B6F0D0-9420-4CA5-BA10-482D02FB7224 (resized).jpeg
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These are ready to reuse. 3443977A-BC6C-41E2-8904-49F717D7DA93 (resized).jpeg

Same process is used to clean the glue off the ramp.

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How to reattach?

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Ramp is flame torched,New stainless flap is riveted on ,decals applied and screws polished.
Ramp 1 is ready to go.

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No gloves for the acetone? I read the label the other day and got chicken and use rubber gloves. But man I hate rubber gloves. (And for anyone who hasn't researched it yet, Nitrile gloves won't hold up long to acetone).

--Donnie

Quoted from djb_rh:
No gloves for the acetone? I read the label the other day and got chicken and use rubber gloves. But man I hate rubber gloves. (And for anyone who hasn't researched it yet, Nitrile gloves won't hold up long to acetone).
--Donnie

It depends on how close my hands will get to it.
If I am painting or cleaning paint equipment then definitely gloves.
If doing detail work with it then I use the wadded up towels with just the soaked spot on the part I am working on and use the dry spot as a buffer between it and my hands because the gloves can make it really hard to do the detail work. Even worse you become oblivious to if it is on the gloves or not and could damage parts while holding them with saturated gloves.

Ramp 2 done with extended wiring.

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Ramp 3 this one has the largest decal set and they were not exactly placed that well to start with. Will be a process.

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Decals are off lots of glue to deal with.

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Repro parts are great, but I really appreciate these old-school restorations where you have to reuse decals, flame polish ramps, etc. Might appreciate it less if I was the one doing it!

Quoted from yancy:
Repro parts are great, but I really appreciate these old-school restorations where you have to reuse decals, flame polish ramps, etc. Might appreciate it less if I was the one doing it!

It’s just a whatever it takes mentality on most of these. If I can get a ramp,or a playfield or a plastic set it’s great. It keeps things moving.
If I cannot then it’s back to the dark ages of doing the best I can with what I have to work with.
The first ten years of this business were heavy on that side like 80/20.
These days it is more like 30/70.

Ramp 3 done.

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Wow, so there were no cracks or chips on those ramps after all those years of play?

OP
Quoted from High_End_Pins:
First step after removing the flaps is pulling the decals off. These must be reused.
[quoted image]
Now to remove the glue without ruing the decal.
I like straight acetone for this [quoted image]
[quoted image]
Glue is off
[quoted image]
Now wash and dry [quoted image]
[quoted image]
These are ready to reuse. [quoted image]

With the amount of machines you cycle through, you should scan the decals so they can be vectorized and preserved. I didn't have any measurements, but it was pretty easy to vectorize that skull so it can be made as-needed.

Radical_Skull_Decal.pdf

Quoted from cosmokramer:
Wow, so there were no cracks or chips on those ramps after all those years of play?

Look how thick the plastic for the ramps is. These are not 21st century paper-thin plastic ramps...

Quoted from yancy:
Repro parts are great, but I really appreciate these old-school restorations where you have to reuse decals, flame polish ramps, etc. Might appreciate it less if I was the one doing it!

I think back before Chris got in this business, I did like *one* full ramp restore using the above methods. Made a new flap and got all the stuff to re-rivet it back on. Pulled decals, ruined them because no patience, was lucky to find some NOS ones, flame polished the ramp, reinstalled. And now my rivet tools sit unused and I first talked Chris into going into this as a business and then I paid Chris from then on. He's got the skills and the patience and that's why he's got a waiting list.

--Donnie

Quoted from Pinballer73:
Chris, when you rebuild these Bally SS games, which particular lamp holders do you buy?

I like either the single or the two lead bayonet sockets from PinballLife

Quoted from cosmokramer:
Wow, so there were no cracks or chips on those ramps after all those years of play?

No cracks. A little spider webbing at the mounting points but nothing broken.
They do seem very thick compared to many other ramps.

Quoted from PinMonk:
With the amount of machines you cycle through, you should scan the decals so they can be vectorized and preserved. I didn't have any measurements, but it was pretty easy to vectorize that skull so it can be made as-needed.
[quoted image]

I don’t do well with scanning,printing,photoshopping or any of that type of thing. It’s just something that doesn’t compute for me.
I have a really nice thermal label maker that collects dust because I can’t seem to figure out how to get it to print any legible size or direction

Final radical ramps 4 and 5 are done.

image (resized).jpg

wow.. I would have feared acetone would have eaten or hazed the ramp. I always keep it away from all plastics as knowing which it reacts with or not can be tricky.

Were you able to source those ramp flaps? Those look too tidy for hand triming... at least my hand trimming

Just curiosity question ... how many times have you been doing this kind of work and got completely stumped on how to repair something or put it back together. And I mean really stumped like had to back off take a day or 2 and come back and deal with it. I know you always get it done no matter what but as I marvel at the details of what you do I cannot help but think how many times I would have just lost it and abandon all hope of getting something back together/fixed. Clearly its why I don't do this kind of work.

Quoted from GCS2000:
Clearly its why I don't do this kind of work.

It's not for everyone.
It takes years of expertise in multiple skill-sets and an obsession for perfection.

Quoted from pinballinreno:
It's not for everyone. It takes years of expertise in multiple skill-sets and an obsession for perfection.

It's a mindset. For me my motto is "If man can make it, man can break it, and man can fix it!" When you work around a similar product for years and years (carpentry, automotive, pinball, electronics, whatever) you just get a "feel" for how it was made, and the best solution for how to remedy the problem. From my perspective it's the overall CONSISTENCY of what Chris produces that has me tuning in every day to see what he's accomplished. Because I'm a purist I personally cringe at some of the liberties he takes with games, but there is no denying the quality and passion he puts into every machine.

If I could ask Chris, what does a "typical" day look for you hours wise? It would seem that you're putting in 12-14 hour days almost every day. And taking the time to photograph and comment on the steps along the way adds hours to your day as well.

Busy morning prepping playfields.
First a Mirco TOTAN 97936062-5609-42DC-9C5E-7C723B4CEADD (resized).jpeg
The inserts have settled. 3EEB64D1-0FB8-4898-BBB2-60689040A5F9 (resized).jpeg9E89959D-4C16-45D3-80FC-A25A65A81ADE (resized).jpeg3FF8908E-0CFA-4B3C-ADA3-945C44EC5B78 (resized).jpeg

I cut a section of clear out in a hidden area so I can better gauge the thickness and how far I am going.
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The clear is thicker than I prefer so I will aggressively shave it down.
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Then 320
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Then 500
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Then finally 800
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TOTAN is thinned down and releveled.

The gauge I cut is feathered in.

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Next is a CPR Fathom.
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It is a gold and that really baffles me.
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The issues are many and challenging.
First is insert settlement and graining. 80D8A728-8DDA-4DDD-91A4-F3AE1DC67B29 (resized).jpeg01A20C51-01D8-4B63-8668-61172B629354 (resized).jpeg
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The next is registration and gummed up roll over inserts.

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Most people seem really fixated on looks and will accept these as is or even worse with an overly thick additional clear.
It will look nice but it will never work right.

The issue is The button of the insert roll over cannot be placed in the insert
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Trying to file it open only cracks the clear so I just remove it. ED732DA4-21B4-4ADD-95E3-6CFDDD7A9898 (resized).jpeg

Now I can start working the file in but even that starts out very difficult. D058DE5C-03F3-4F70-A3A9-E704E6AE3092 (resized).jpeg

Now the button fits and works with room to spare. B5FB6898-8A76-4383-8CD0-F557FADF88C7 (resized).jpeg

Time consuming and tedious. They are all done.

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Now I can prep them for refinishing.

First a proper plastic cleaner 8E9E247A-6FA9-4A23-88C0-C252C4BED655 (resized).jpeg
Then a proper plastic primer BD5E38AE-1D63-416A-A4B2-4F6EFC082816 (resized).jpeg
The primer is applied after cleaning.

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Now I will sand the playfield.
Working the grain and insert rings out.

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Playfield is sanded and then cleaned. 45AFCB6A-39C6-4358-B3CD-07B7F6E902BD (resized).jpeg
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Now I can address the inserts.

The need to etch them means they should be refrosted.
I could do that in orange but it would not help with the registration issues.
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My solution this time around will be to frost them in dark blue. This will best cover the primer with minimal build ,it will match the playfield color scheme,and it will give me the ability to clean up the registration without a eye catching mishaping.
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Since this is a frosting it does not heavily cover or block light you can still see the art through the mask for example

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Roll over inserts are unmasked and minor black work is done to pull it together. 1D9AB7AC-8201-4043-9C98-6953D004D429 (resized).jpeg
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Now for the Radical playfield. I cleared it a month or so ago. AF7915CC-E79A-4753-909F-315AFC6C269D (resized).jpeg

There are some real minor issues with it but even minor issues can mean tedious repaints.
The biggest concern in the insert cracking in the orange area highlighted. EF7FA39E-ED54-4925-9011-A60A75BF49A1 (resized).jpeg
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Other than that just a little ground in dirt on the natural wood here and there.
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Playfield is sanded.

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OP
Quoted from High_End_Pins:
My solution this time around will be to frost them in dark blue.

Another great trick revealed! How does it look back lit since it is blue over orange?

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By High_End_Pins

5 years ago

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