(Topic ID: 147691)

Making a play field protector for my Stern Big Game

By cottonm4

8 years ago



Topic Stats

  • 10 posts
  • 6 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 8 years ago by cottonm4
  • Topic is favorited by 4 Pinsiders

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#1 8 years ago

Got me a Stern Big Game on 11-25-2015

The play field is not bad but it is not a 10. Most the paint wear is around the inserts. The paint is checked all over from age ( in the art world it is called alligatoring ). Considering the kid I got this machine from owned it for 16 years and never changed the ball I'm surprised there is any paint at all. And some of the inserts have sunk quite a bit.

I am not ready to take on the expense of clear coating so I thought I would try my hand at making a polycarbonate play field protector.

Between cleaning it up and replacing flipper points, EOS switches and coil sleeves, today is the first day I have gotten to play it.

The play field protector seems to be working well. Sunken inserts and worn paint are not obstacles. The ball moves swirly and smoothly across the protector.

Here are some pics.

The bingo cards are not as trashed as some pics of other Big Games I have seen.

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But close up you can see the checked paint and insert wear.

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Another close up of the checked paint.

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and another

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I work it hard to get this crappy paint cleaned up. It is not perfect but it is much better.

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Here is the overlay being final fitted.

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Peeling the overlay

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Here is the cleaned up and polished table without the overlay

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And two pics with the overlay laid down.

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As I said earlier, this is the first day I have been able to play this pin since I got it. It plays like a dream.
Although, it all play better once I get the flipper rebuild kits installed.

Thank you for reading.

#4 8 years ago
Quoted from barakandl:

I work for a printing company and they have computer controlled routers and what not. I bet if I had the cut file, i could have protectors made. I assume you made some sort of vector cutting file for that??? I should look into this.....
Andrew

Actually, It was all layers of file folder paper, tape, and hand cutting with a Dremel Tool. The 2nd one (if I make a 2nd one) would be better than the first. There are some rough cuts.

I'm not quite finished. The next part is to remove the five star-rollovers from the PF and replace them with new ones. The rollovers have to be raised .030 to match the .030 thickness of the polycarbonate.

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#9 8 years ago
Quoted from markp99:

Where did you buy the material? How much?

I got it from a local plastics supply house. The trade name is Macrolon, which we all call polycarbonate. The other trade name most all have heard of is Lexan. I had a piece cut to size; It cost me $38.00 carryout. The stuff scratches easily but other than that it is indestructible.

Google: Macrolon. It does not appear to be expensive online but you will have shipping costs.

I have two hard location points to keep it in position but for everywhere else it floats to allow for any contraction or expansion.

I used .030" thick. With the right cuts it lays flat with no flex; I suppose .040" would be better but I was afraid I would start having performance issues with the ball hitting slingshot and stuff. With .030", I have had to adjust some of the switch points to compensate. And it causing my pop bumpers to act a little funky because the bumper skirt is sort of hidden, so now I need to come up with a solution to jack the bumpers .030.

#10 8 years ago
Quoted from chuckwurt:

Wow! This is great. Nice work. As you mentioned, my cards have the typical wear (not terrible, but not nice like yours). I have just covered them with Mylar for now, and keep my game waxed regularly until I can decide what route I want to go to get mine restored the rest of the way.

Thank you. I have read all your posts on your Big Game (if you think your cards look bad you should look at the one for sale on Ebay right now). I like your LED setup. In one of those posts, someone talked about the spinner plastic having problems with the teardrop breaking off. I took that to heart and made a protector from some scrap. I have already had a ball bounce up and hit that plastic with such force that it popped one of the rubber hold-down buttons off, so I can see how that teardrop could break.

Here is what it looks like.

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