Cool, appreciate the complement Jay.

I like them too and am going to incorporate several of Mike's restoration processes into my MB restoration that starts real soon. I am also buliding his playfield rotisserie this weekend.

Mike is simply amazing! I know these videos must take a lot of time to do, but watching them is a real treat. I put them up on my 42inch and sit back with some popcorn and watch them like a movie. This Monster Bash is work of art.

The funny thing is that the videos take almost as much time to do as the restoration does. I'm just glad that you guys are enjoying them. My wife thinks I'm crazy for making videos, documenting how I clean pinball wires harnesses or buff metal parts. Maybe I am

Nice work! I regrain my metal but never polished them like that. Working on a fully chromed out afm....might have to give it a try!

Thanks for sharing

Nice restoration and great videos.. I have enjoyed watching them all and have learned a few tricks.. Not to mention inspired me to restore my own pin someday.

Keep the vids coming!!

I'm planning on doing a restoration on on a Whirlwind. Where are the plans for the rotisserie?

Looking good.

thats what I call a high end restoration

I actually got the idea from another mike on RGP. He posted a thread with instructions and a BOM for the rotisserie, should be pretty easy to find – just search DIY rotisserie and it will pop up. My local HD doesn’t sell black iron pipe, so I used galvanized piping instead. The only thing I changed on his design was the addition of some unistrut on the sides to help stabilize the rotisserie. You may not need to do this if you follow his directions regarding pipe material. At some point I’m going to remake my rotisserie, using square tubing that I’ll weld together. For the price this one does the trick though.

Love these videos. Very nice work MikeD!

Agreed! GREAT WORK Mike! It does NOT go un-noticed!

I have personally bookmarked these for future use in my restore / shop-outs

Mike is on my favorites on youtube also.. Love this stuff.. love how everyone picks from the best and adds their own tweaks, gives me great reference for my own hobby restores i can bang out (one every 2 years or so! lol) I wish more quality restores like this were on youtube - Chris H has put a few on there also to show what a master he is and the level of stuff he does is just mind boggling.

I agree that these videos are great. Like I said I'm hoping to do a restoration on a Whirlwind (start small in case I screw it up!) and these types of video are very helpful to a noob like me.

Mike D is the next Chris Hutchins... And he's not afraid to show you his tricks and pics of his games. Great job Mike!

Really ? So Mike is going to quit his job and build pinball machines for a living ?

Mike does great work but he is not the next Hutchins and neither am I !!! Chris is in a league of his own !

Jim

+1

I've got to agree with Jim. This is a hobby for me not an occupation. Not to mention, Chris has done hundreds of games (more high end restorations than anyone else in the pinball community - maybe even more than all of us combined). Truth is, Chris sets the bar and everybody else just plays catch up. I wouldn't even be restoring games if it wasn't for Chris's work. I think that is true for many, if not most, of the guys restoring pinball machines today.

Plus, I'm a better chemical engineer than I am a pinball restorer, so I don't think I'll be quitting my day job anytime soon. I do love tinkering, so I'll always be restoring one machine or another, but not to pay the bills. I honestly don't know how Chris does it; that make his efforts even more amazing to me. I appreciate the high praise, but I've got a long long way to go before I'm the next Chris Hutchins. Lets revisit this topic after I've finished another 100+ machines and I'm 60 years old

I love seeing everyone's work. There is room in this hobby for the professional and home restorers - each does great work. Mike you are one of the best "home-gamers" around - nice job.

Scott

Love the detail on the MB figures, I am going to have my wife do something like that. It will be a winter project for her.

I’m really pleased with how well they turned out; Bob did a fantastic job. Now I’m going to have to do the same thing with my Martians on AFM.

Nice quality videos. Enjoying the flash footnotes/commentary.

My first pin, a Hurricane I took to this polishing level on every screw, nut, washer, and guides. Burned through a whole buffing wheel with just that one pin.

Mike, Thanks for taking the time to make these videos! I watched all of them last night and picked up some good tips

The big polisher/buffer you used to polish the metal guide rails outside - where do you pick one up and how expensive are they?

In the past I've gone as far as using the scotch brite pads but now I'd like to go to the next level.

I bought mine from harbor freight, think it was around $75 and the stand was another $25. I get the rouge from Sears (I preffer red). You can tumble stuff with great results, but it takes a lot longer. The only down side to buffing the zinc plated parts is that you have to clear coat them to keep the metal form corroding in the future (not an issue with the guide rails though). Plus, there are limitations on what you can buff; some parts are too intricate to get into all the nooks and crannies with a 6” buffing wheel. Be carful buffing the larger guide rails; keep a good grip because that wheel will yank stuff right out of your hand. You also will want to wear some good shoes, eye protection, gloves, and a respirator (otherwise you’ll be picking black stuff out of you nose for a few days – not good).

It's been AGES since the last vid and AGES before that one. Is the restoration on hold? I've been really enjoying the videos.

I’ve been waiting on the playfield, so I’m at a standstill for the time being. I should be getting it back next week and then I’ll have to wait awhile for the clearcoat to setup prior to reassembling everything. I figured I’d wait and edit all the video footage once the machine is complete, so it will be a longer video like the cabinet one. Unfortunately, the wait continues

Good news though, I snagged a TZ for my new pin project

I finally got my playfield back today and it's absolutely stunning. Big props to Brian at HSA for the stellar work. Now I can get back on the restoration, so new videos should be coming soon.

Here is the latest:

I know, a 12 min video on T-nuts is crazy..... I'm hoping to get everything on the bottom side completed this weekend.

loving the play-by-play mike. although, it kind of scares me the amount of work that I have cut out for my self with my first restoration

Curious, what sort of camera are you using? I'd like to find a decent camera to do some youtube vids of a few things for a blog I'm working on, as well as some ROM installation vids for my site. But, I don't want to spend a lot of money!

Mike love your restorations, but the t-nutting technique is a major waste of time. It looks like you are more likely to "F up" the PF with that crazy spinning tool instead of just hammering in the t nut the rest of the way, especially on the underside on the PF!

What are you worried about when it comes to tapping in a t nut on the underside of PF? I always just use a socket, usually a deep 1/4" drive 10mm as a "punch" and hammer in all my t nuts both sides. I know Honda uses a silly t nut tool as well but I'll never understand why?

I've been pulling mine in for awhile. Was using my own method for awhile, but Jim hooked me up with one of his t-nut tools. I've had problems hammering them in, sockets slip, prongs get bent, etc. I get more nervous about the ones going on the artwork side of the field, though

Really ? Why did I get slapped around ? I am sure that, I do a lot of things you don't and will never understand ! Craftsmanship and quality is something you don't get rewarded for on a pinball community !

I have lots of things brewing right now and don't share anymore because of people like you !

Jim

Hi John,

My wife used some of our credit cards points last year to get the camera (gotta love free stuff). Anyway, I suspect it isn't to expensive. It's a Samsung Varioplan HD camera.

Well, here is the latest:

I don’t typically like to hammer anything on a playfield if I don’t have to, especially one that has been cleared. The standard larger 8-32 t-nuts pull in easily without the teeth bending back. These 0.5” base t-nuts on MB are a different story though. I found that hammering them in was necessary in order to get things started. However, the teeth bent back when hammering sometimes as well. Most people that clear coat playfields (HSA, etc.) would probably advise you not to hammer the t-nuts in, especially on the topside of the playfield.

The plate I used actually never got that close to the playfield surface, just the camera angle in the video. To each their own though. I don’t think there is necessarily a right or wrong way to do this stuff, just a matter of preference. Now, please quit using a picture of my wife as your avatar

Well, I've tried to shoot some more videos over the last few weekends, but the weather is ruining my lighting every time. I think I'm just going to finish the game and then shoot a video covering the highlights once I'm done. Anyway, here are some pics of where I'm currently at:

Screen_shot_2012-06-25_at_8.49.58_PM.png Screen_shot_2012-06-25_at_8.50.36_PM.png Screen_shot_2012-06-25_at_8.50.55_PM.png

Mike, it is looking awesome. You went with the same color scheme I put on my flipper bats as well (red / green). Really looks nice offset with the sling plastics.

How do you achieve that mirror shine on your metal - that's insane. Does it hold up during use or does it show marks pretty quick?

Scott

The metal is so shiny it looks invisible. It's like stealth technology.

Hi Scott,

No secrets or shortcuts, just a lot of time on the buffing wheel. I documented the process in one of my videos, can’t remember which one though. Basically, I re-grain the metal and then go to town on the buffing wheel. After I clean all the jewelers rouge off, if I’m not satisfied with the results, I’ll buff some more until I’m content or just tired of buffing. I’ve had pretty good results with my buffed guide rails; they seem to hold up better. My TOTAN still doesn’t have any trails, but I’m using gold plated balls which might have something to do with that as well. I’ve done this on a few machines now and the only one that has shown questionable results is CFTBL. However, that was just a “why don’t you let me shop this out” job I did on my father-in-law’s machine, so I didn’t clean anything on the bottom side of the playfield. I think that’s probably why the rails are already getting dirty, but he wanted the machine put back together as quickly as possible.

If you think about it though, the ball trails are actually polished lines in the metal. So, if you polish the entire guide rail the trails should blend in and be less noticeable. Usually it’s the dirty you see in the trails that makes them stand out like a sore thumb.