You can re add a little clear coat for a temporary fix. Mylar the area. Pinball Pal used to sell film that would lay on the playfield without lifting off but not the adhesive of mylar.

Best solution is Cliffy
http://www.passionforpinball.com/

jd-slots4.jpg

Sometime yes, a lot of times no. All depends on where the ball guide ends on a certain(t) machine.

I just put a little mylar over the area. If it gets horrible after another 15 years I'll do something drastic.

BUT be sure to check where your ball gets dropped..plenty of game go right above and Cliffys work great! Have more than a few on my games.

nice.

edit: I apologize for my knee-jerk sarcastic reaction Law. I misread the intent on accounta I'm an oversensitive wiener at times

Someone needs to make a clear one of those. I like the protection it provides, but it looks so horrible

Nicer still!

A Cliffy is the best solution 1/ protects from damage 2/ covers existing damage and prevents further damage.
They look fine to me and would have been a big plus if something similar was used back in the day.

I think what TheLaw is saying is that sometimes an inlane drop will be about 1" up the playfield above the switch slot in an inlane, and it will form a dimple (and eventually a soft spot) about 1" or so up the playfield above the switch slot. In that case you'd want to put a circle of mylar there. Meanwhile in some games (like TZ and WCS to mention a couple) the ball drops right on top of the switch slot. When a ball drops right on top of a switch slot, the Cliffy protector is perfect for keeping the wood on either side of the slot from splintering.

Then there is the case where the ball drops 1" or less up the playfield above the switch slot, and bounces, and then lands on the switch slot, eventually splinitering the wood there, in addition to causing the depression (and eventually a soft spot) up the playfield above the switch slot (the ol' double whammy). In this case mylar and a Cliffy slot protector would be good.

The Cliffy slot protectors are a great product IMHO, they look great and the do not interfere with the ball movement over the slot at all. I think Cliffy made a great product here.

There's my 2 cents, or less. Maybe more, LOL.

C'mon, you have to admit that they don't match the artwork 100%....

And do note, I like a ton of your protectors. I have just never been able to get on board with the metal look in that area. Idk why. Just doesn't fit. Of course, could be me personally. I just think clear would be so slick right there!

cliffy is the only option for me in this regard. I have switch slot protectors on all my inlanes with ball drops.

I just think they cover too much of the art in these areas.

there is no art. just a black keyline at best. but, hey, whatever.

No need to take it personal. I order lots of your protectors for other areas. In that picture above for example it covers the black line and red areas. Being a small area there is a lot of coverage going on there.

Do you think it would be possible ever to create a clear protector?

Thanks again for all your protectors, these included as they do function quite well

welllll, isn't that mylar? The only plastic as thin as my Hyperthin™ stainless that would even remotely work is Mylar and that already comes attached on many games from the factory.

Sorry. I do though. Just me I do know you've got quite a few protectors from me James and I do appreciate it, thanks!

where did you want me to send the check, Nathan?

haha touche! Well played sir, well played. I suppose now that I think about it that wouldn't work too well.

Transparent aluminium?

"Hello, computer."

"Ah, a keyboard. How quaint...."

How does mylar help with the dimple? I guess it would help keep the art work in place, but do nothing about the small depression? I don't think the mylar is going to absorb any of the impact concentrated on a small point. Whereas the metal cliffy distributes the impact. However like you said, there is not much that can be done in that situation if it's 1" above the switch slot.

I am just getting my Bugs Bunny setup and there is most likely going to be a need for a cliffy on the switch slot because of the ball drop somewhere near the left inlane. I am going to take a closer look where it lands.

It doesn't help the dimple to go away, it just keeps things from progressing to a splintered mess. I had an old AFM playfield with mylar on the drops. The area under the drops was actually soft from years of balls falling in the same place. The wood beneath the mylar was splintered, and it actually felt like dust, but the top layer with art was held together by the mylar, as you noted.

I suppose you could try to fill the dimple with some clear and then put mylar over it to flatten it back out, but if the clear you used was too brittle, it seems it would break apart under the mylar.

There are thicker mylar circles that I've seen advertised for ball drops, that would do a better job at protecting the area than the thinner mylar. How much more it helps, I don't know. It would suck to have balls roll up the inlane and hang up on a thick mylar edge, but that may not be something that happens much, if at all.

Here's a picture...I'm getting out of here before Cliffy yells at me for saying his products are great. Tough Crowd!

// Error: Image 92297 not found // cliffy.jpg

I said I was sorry for the misread, Law!

Now all we need is Bird of Prey to put it in.

Just keep it heavily waxed, it'll probably be fine in the long run.

ROFL

the mylar beaver slit will work just fine in this situation.