I love my Metallica LE, one of the best Stern games ever IMHO. The Premium features rule, make the game so much more fun. But ... I'm not a huge fan of the hammer. Mostly because it, well, huge.

Honestly I did get pretty used to it after some time, but I couldn't help but wonder if making it smaller would work.

I did some prototyping and found that it really doesn't need to be that big to work at all. The ideal size is wide and tall enough to hide the arm and mech behind it, and no more. Still fits over the ball, but the shot to Sparky is much easier to see, no more guessing, and if you have the captive ball (and you should, way better than the block) you can see it more clearly now.

I've played games with a prototype installed no problem, I'm pretty certain this is going to work. I'll have fun testing it, that's for sure!

So the trick with the hammer is it needs to be hollow to hide the ball during the disappearing trick, and it has to be big enough to cover the ball with a little slop to cover wiggle of the hammer arm and the ball not centering properly. But that's it. If the ball is off just a little more it's a sphere, and the edge of the hammer striking it will shift it over just fine. I haven't even had that happen though, the magnet holds it pretty much in the same spot every time.

My experimenting found that nominal 1.5" PCV pipe was basically perfect, so that's what I used as the armature for my sculpt. I cut a section of pipe 3" tall, and drilled a 1" hole in the back to accept another piece of PCV, this with a 20mm inside diameter.

Over this I started sculpting using Apoxie Sculpt, which is a 2-part epoxy.

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My design is meant to look like wooden planks held around a wood core with iron bands, topped with steel spikes. Gotta keep it mean for Metallica.

I settled on 10 spikes going around, seemed like the right density. I printed a template to guide me in spacing them, and stuck them into the wet epoxy clay (to be removed later, leaving the indentations).

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Here's the top and bottom spiked up, with a Sparky for scale.

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I built a rough prototype before going all in, to test the sculpting idea, see how paint adhered etc. Here's the proto next to the in progress final design.

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Now the final design with initial base coating. Whole thing painted black, and then I started picking out the wood grain and details.

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Here you can see the base coats fairly finished. I sprayed a couple coats of Krylon matte poly in between major sections to protect the finish as I worked, didn't want to rub the acrylics off as I handled it. After that I'd do another layer of detail, like a black wash, or pick out edges in a lighter color, paint in some simulated wood grain, dry brush a lighter silver over the darker, etc.

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A shot in the sun, this is before some final paint. I didn't document it again after that until install, I was basically just taking pictures randomly to show the process, not trying to do a step-by-step tutorial or anything.

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Once the paint was done I sprayed it with more matte poly and let it dry. Then I used Gorilla Glue 2-part epoxy to attach the spikes (except the top one, that one screws on since I was able to do that easily). This is the real test, will the spikes take the occasional ball strike. If that becomes an issue I'll drill out the holes and get longer screws for the spikes and mount them threaded from the inside. I don't think I'll have to do that though.

Here's a close up installed. I used a shorter bolt to attach it since it's narrower.

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And a couple shots of it from further away so you can see the whole game.
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Working on it!

Thanks, got the rest of the pics up.

Let me know if anyone has questions or anything. Was a fun little project. For the record it's not the Metallica project I've teased before, just a distraction I got sucked into like the shooter rod. Can't seem to help messing with this game, I've got more schemes!

The epoxy on the spikes should be dry enough now, but I'm gonna let it sit for at least a few more hours before really testing that.

Didn't think to take a pic with the old one for scale. Makes it clearer I think.

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Yeah, that's the test, have to see if that's an issue. If so I'll just remove the back 3 or so, you really can't see them from the player perspective anyway. But I'll work about that after it's proven to be an issue, figured might as well go all out first.

I wouldn't put something like this on location, but for a home game I'm not worried. I took the ugly clear plastic off between the snake and the hammer too, I don't think I need it. See if that's true!

Thanks guys. I had fun with this one, and I really like how the game shoots better now. Have to see how the final one holds up.

I honestly wasn't planning on making more, they're pretty time intensive since they're made from scratch, and not from a mold or something. I'd probably have to charge more than people wanted to pay to make it make any kind of sense.

I dunno how serious people in this thread are about wanting one, but I've gotten PMs from people who do. I'll figure out what it would take and let people know the price, and if it's too expensive then no worries. I wasn't planning on selling these, it was just a personal project. I just have to be careful of my time, I don't have enough of it.

I made a little list to keep track of interest in case it works out.

In the meantime I'm going to do some extensive play testing!

Okay, I'm not happy with the strength of the epoxy for the spikes, just not secure enough.

I'm going to re-engineer it to be even stronger. This may end up being prototype 2, if I can improve the design. Need to research some parts.

I was thinking too, I may add to the paint. The hammer might be interesting with some graphic line art on it (maybe a stylized letter M, or could letter out Hammer of Justice, have to think about it), make it feel like it matches the feel of my shooter rod more:

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So if I'm rethinking the engineering and design I'll try and figure out if I could realistically do a small run of them for people who were interested.

If I like the way a graphic on the hammer works then maybe I'll do a custom painted one for each hammer I make, then no two will be the same. This would have to be some LE shit man, because I just don't have enough free time to do more than a limited run.

Anyone who's expressed interest just PM me, if you mentioned it in this thread I noted you already though. I'll just warn you, even though it will go a lot faster when I know what I'm doing and not having to experiment as I go, I spent time over 3 days making this, including letting things harden overnight before doing more sculpting the next day.

I just can't see being able to make these for under $200. So if that seems too expensive I'll totally understand. It needs to be more solidly engineered first.

I'll start working on that, I really like the way it plays, I want it working. It feels awesome to see more of the playfield, IMHO it's not just a cool visual mod, but one that actually improves the gameplay. Especially if you've swapped your block for the captive ball.

The nails might be too much, wouldn't want anything too jagged, but metal rivets could definitely work as an option. Still give it that "weighty" look without being so in your face like the spikes.

Someone has already asked me if I could built a no-spikes version if I do these, and I said that would be no problem. Since they're all hand built wouldn't be a big deal to work out some options I guess.

I'll keep it in mind while I work on tweaking the design.

Yup, well aware of the history, I'm from San Francisco, been listening to Metallica since before that shirt existed. To me the Dirty Donny art has nothing to do with Metallica, I would have loved it so much if they'd had Pushead do the pin. So I really don't feel bad changing it.

Honestly as much fun as it is to make up little mods like this and customize the look of my game, this is actually a functional mod first, and visual second. I really like how my LE plays better now with the smaller hammer profile, it opens up the sight lanes to the shots.

Heh, I've already talked to Tim.

I think what I would do is make a limited run of hand made ones, no two alike. And then let Tim work up a 3D printed version he could offer as a "mass produced" one that would be more affordable and he could keep it at an in stock item for any time.

So basically the Stern LE model I guess, but instead of being an artificial thing it would be because I truly can only make a limited run.

Honestly if everyone who's on my list actually wants to stay in I'm already approaching my limit.

Yeah, I'm going to explore options there. Now that I'm thinking of this as prototype 2 and rethinking some parts I see things that are bugging me and could be improved. I want to fasten the spikes on mechanically instead of with glue, so a metal strip is one option to use as a mounting surface. Have to see how they feel, they need to be thin to be workable.

Can you PM me so I don't forget? Visiting family for Christmas and don't have my Excel sheet here.

Nevermind, no need to PM, I'm home and remembered to add you.

I spent the weekend working on re-engineering this. Did some 3D modeling and some materials prototyping work after a trip to the hardware store. I think what I'm doing will improve the feel, make it stronger and more unique, and be doable as a small limited edition run of handmade ones.

I don't have anything I'm ready to show yet, but I'll keep this thread updated as I go.

Next step is to research getting some parts cut on a water jet I think.

Sure thing. If everyone on my list actually wants one then I'm just about tapped out on how many I can make I think. I'll try and accommodate everyone who gets on it though, and I'm sure some people will drop out, so not worried.

Got it. I'll try and make yours just a tiny bit more special than pingod's.

The other things I'm messing with will work on all games!

Heh. I'm still working on the other parts, don't worry. The electronic design is moving along (getting an assist from wolfmarsh on making PCBs thanks man!). Still doing prototyping and figuring out all the parts.

The truth is I'm taking a little break from the art because I just ordered a new toy. Getting a Wacom Cintiq tomorrow, and I'm really looking forward to using it to draw for this. So I've kind of stopped doing much until I have it set up, because I know I'll just want to redo anything with it.

I'm anxious to have something show, definitely not dropping this one. This hammer thing is going to be a limited run, I just can't keep up hand building a bunch of them. I will keep exploring ways to make a mass produced version though.

It's old hat to people like Rarehero, but I've never used one. So we'll see what the learning curve is like. Being able to draw directly to digital, with all the controls that a pressure sensitive input device gives you, just seems like too much fun. Probably should have done this years ago, I've always avoided tablets for some reason.

I'm good with a mouse, been using Photoshop for decades, but for straight up drawing there's just no comparison, mouse doesn't cut it. Even without the pressure sensitivity, though that's a big deal for really good stroke nuance.

I was drawing with ink on paper and scanning it in for this, but it's just too cumbersome, that's what pushed me over the edge to just spend the money.

Sweet. The 24 felt too big, I'm going to pair this with a 27" retina iMac, both on articulating arms. So I'll have a large super high rez screen to work on, I just needed the Cintiq to be big enough to not restrict my drawing while I have palettes and tools open. Will double as a handy low rez (1080p) monitor for the iMac too, which is nice for doing things like 300x250 banner ads etc. That stuff looks pretty crap on the retina screen.

I was going to get it tomorrow, but UPS just dropped it off. Sadly the DVI to Display Port adapter I need to actually plug it in is still out for delivery. So can't play with it until later. You enjoying it?

Yeah, it's really a functional mod for me, I really like shooting with it more open, improves the game a lot. Obviously I want it to look cool, but it's not just bling. I am working on blinging out the final production version more though.

I was talking with some friends of mine who might help me work out a mass produced version that doesn't involve 3D printing, I'm not convinced the quality is there for that, and they mentioned making a bracket for the Pro too. Certainly something we can look into after I get the initial hand made batch done and we see what kind of interest there is.

The biggest difference for me is the interactive lighting. Both the color changing inserts and the "color changing" GI. Which is red, blue and white, and each zone can be controlled separately. So for instance when you have one shot left to make cross multiball the GI shifts towards blue. Or during Fade to Black crank it up the whole game slowly fades to just blue light, getting darker as you play into the mode.

Obviously the spinners, those are fun to shoot.

And the snake jaw can close, not only eating a ball inside, but becoming a switch. So you can hit the closed snake jaw to trigger it to open. Fun to shoot, but also gives you a visual indication of where the snake status is.

My pleasure. I didn't intend for this project to turn into anything other than a one-off personal thing, but I'm enjoying figuring out how I can make a limited run. I wouldn't have explored things like have custom metal cut on a water jet for just one, but when you have multiple ones to do it starts becoming more practical.

I have a lead on a water jet place, gonna check that out shortly.

Got my Cintiq. Going to take some practice to get used to drawing on it, but I'm already loving it. Being able to sketch straight to the screen is awesome.

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So I tried to order a 3D print for a test of a hammer armature design from makexyz.com, what a weird site. They took my order, and then 48 hours later told me they weren't going to do it, and they wouldn't take my money. Uh, okay, thanks, but I wanted the print. I guess they farm it out to people and no one wanted to print it?

Never trying to use them again, that's for sure!

Hey Tim be happy to talk to you more about it, you didn't answer my last PM about the best email address to use. Get back to me, I've already started my own 3D sculpting!

I'm not sure 3D printing is the right answer for a "mass produced" version, I think casting is the only way I'll get something I'll be happy enough with the surface detailing, talking to some people about that already. I'm picky about things my name is attached to. But my plan is to 3D print armatures to sculpt over, and I'll need someone who can handle doing enough to cover this list that keeps growing.

I'm already at more than I had planned on making, but we'll see if everyone still wants to stay in when I PM the details.

Added. I'll commit to doing enough for everyone who's on the list, but then I'm gonna say that's it for these hand made ones.

Hey thanks. Except for breaking off one of the spikes (why I'm re-engineering it to not glue them on) I'm really enjoying playing with it. The size just feels much better on the game to me. I'll definitely try and work on a mass produced version that will be cheaper, with less features. The custom ones first though.

Perfect, emailed you a .stl to take a look at, thanks man.

I just can't seem to let go of it! I think it's gonna take something else coming along that I want badly enough to sell it to fund.

Done. My list is officially too long! All good, see if everyone actually wants it once I announce a price. Still working on that, I don't actually know my costs yet. Have to see what the 3D printing and water jet cutting costs me before I'll really be able to calculate that, and I need a sample 3D print to verify my water jet measurements before I can order that.

Made progress on that today though. Also, for the people saying "stop getting distracted!" I spent the rest of the day working on my other Metallica mod, getting closer to a fully functional prototype actually installed in my machine. So I'm multi-tasking, don't worry.

Well for the mass produced ones I think the only way it makes sense would be to mold the spikes in as one piece, and then just paint things.

So the way I see it (subject to change as I work things out) is this:

LE - Limited to a single run, each one hand sculpted and painted, with real metal strips and spikes. I'll sign and number the backs or something.

Standard - If we can make a mold work we'd cast them as single pieces, spikes and all, and paint them. Still be cool, just not as blinged out and personalized.

I honestly don't know if the standard version will work. I'm willing to try for sure, and I just wanted to be up front about such a thing possibly existing so no one would feel tricked for buying the more expensive version. I've got friends with experience willing to help me try and make it work, because casting isn't something I have any skills with.

Hey that's not a bad idea!

I don't think I'm going to use 3D printing for final ones, the quality just isn't there for me. Fine for prototyping or a framework to sculpt on top of (I am looking at that) but not a finished surface. If I did mass produce them the only real way to do it would be casting I think.

Once I have a final design made I'll give one to some friends to see if they can make a cast work. If that doesn't work out there probably won't be a mass produced one. So I'm just telling people that it might happen, but no promises.

Thanks. My friends who know more about that end of things seemed confident. We'd probably have to cast it solid and then route out the inside, short of injection molding I can't see another way. So would take a little material to do.

My plan is to build one extra one, unpainted but otherwise assembled, and send it to them to try and cast.

I just can't say for sure it will work. So no promises, but I will try for sure. My actual hand built list is getting long, so I won't actually be upset if some people drop out when I contact them with the price.

But anyone who's on it and wants to stay I'll commit to doing yours.

I'm still actively working on this project. I have a 3D printed prototype armature to sculpt on top of, and I think it's going to work great to ensure that I have consistent quality for a hand made batch.

I still need to get the water jet quote for cutting the steel, that's next on my list, and then I'll know what my costs will be for the project, and I can calculate the final tally for people on the list so they can decide if they're in or not.

Stay tuned.

If I figure out a mass produced version then getting one not painted is probably easy enough. For my limited edition I'll be painting, signing, and numbering them all and wouldn't sell an unpainted one.

3D proto. Will have hand sculpted wood, water jet cut steel bands for the top and bottom, and metal spikes. You won't see any of the plastic, but it will be black.

The mass produced one if it works won't have any metal.

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Heh. I actually decided last night to scrap the art I've done for it and start over. This is why I don't show work in progress! But I did that because I had an idea that would make it even better.

I kinda expected this to happen, I just got a Wacom Cintiq, and it's so much more fun to use, makes me want to do all the art with it. My friend is working on the electronics still, I'll have to tell him I just complicated his job slightly with my new idea.

So here's your teaser, was sketching notes for the new art last night:

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Thanks man! But I'll be taking advantage of your offer to help with the PCBs, you're being super helpful already for this project.

We're just rethinking some things on them, why I haven't gotten back to you with a schematic yet.

Just a quick update, some people wanted to know how this is coming. I'm still actively working on it, just hasn't been much to share, it's in the more slow "boring" dev phase.

I'm working with Scott Danesi (No Trash Cougar) on building 3D printed armatures for the sculpt. (Thanks to Tim Mezel for assisting too.) Just to emphasize this, the 3D printed part is just the "skeleton" for the 2 part epoxy clay and metal to go over, you won't actually see it. Just replaces the PVC pipe in my first model with something more consistent so that I can make these in a big batch. More expensive this way, but will save a ton of time, and that's the only way I can get all of these done.

Scott is awesome, super helpful, and really knows his 3D printing. I'd use him again for this kind of thing in a hearbeat, super responsive and a problem solver. Hit him up if you need something printed! Prototypes 2 and 3 are in the mail to me, might come today, we're just working on getting the fit perfect and cleaning up some edges and details. It's the base for everything, needs to be solid.

First one was good, just a little loose, and some holes weren't quite right. We'll nail that.

Once that's finalized I can take measurements off the final model for the water-jet-cut steel. I have that prototyped out right now in paper and steel, but it needs to be really precise to line up with 9 holes around a curved shape, so I don't want to have the steel cut until I know for sure everything is locked in.

I have a contact for water jet cutting I'll get a quote from once that's ready, if anyone has a hookup let me know though.

Once I have that quote I'll know the final costs and I'll PM everyone on the list with the price and details. Then people can decide if they're really all in or not.

All I can share for the moment, but feel free to ask questions.

Cool, thanks. I have several reasons for not showing things in progress, but definitely part of them is that shit just takes a while. You can see in this hammer thread, it's already 3 weeks old, and I don't have much to show since the first post. And yet I've put a bunch of time into it.

Delays happen. Or, like in this one, I come up with a better idea half way through it and just scrap hours and hours of art to start clean.

I know some people dig being in on the process, and following a project for a year etc. I prefer to just do it until it's done and then do a reveal. It's the Stern model vs the boutique one I guess.

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Hahah, never. I'm not afraid to scrap something and start over to make it better, but I like actually finishing projects.

Got the new 3D prints yesterday, didn't have time to test fit them, will do today, and then I'll know how I'm looking as far as being on track.

Yeah, Pro doesn't have the hammer. The other project I'm doing will work on all MET machines though.

Got the latest prototypes from Scott. Discovered some little issues we're going to fix, and I think the next ones he sends should be final.

The spikes are attached with screws now, so they have a mechanical bond instead of glue. Ball strikes or vibration won't be a problem now. They'll get a dose of red Loctite during the install too to be safe though.

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I am officially closing the list for the hand made hammers. I've hit the max point I can handle.

I will contact everyone on it once I have a final price and details, I'm actively working that out still. The bands where the spikes go around are still in flux (have some thoughts about them, metal might not be the way I go, still investigating), once I solve that I should know my material costs, and roughly how much work each one will be etc.

If anyone drops out because it's too expensive, or they don't like the final design, or just changed their mind or sold their machine etc then I'm willing to give their spot to someone else, but until then I'll keep it to who's signed up already.

I'm still planning on trying to figure out a mass produced version, but it's too early to say if it will happen or not. At the very least I won't investigate it further until the hand made ones are done, since I'd use one of those as the master for any potential casting.

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I just sent everyone on my pre-order list a PM. The final(ish) details of the project are in it, and a price, and how to sign up for a Google form with your name and email if you're still in.

I've hard capped this project at 30, I won't make any more than that ever. If anyone drops out I'm happy to let you take their spot, but that's the only way I'll add any more people.

I was talking with some friends at Arcade Expo about how we might be able to do resin casts for a mass produced one, they thought it was possible. See how that goes after I finish the hand made ones.

I've have a few drop outs, but also more people asking to be in, so anyone who was wait listed is covered.

As of now I have one free slot. This ended up being a little more pricey than planned, so I won't be surprised if I get some more free (and not offended at all to be clear!).

I'm going to just paste some details from PM I sent everyone here, if anyone is interested after reading it and seeing the price feel free to PM me and see if I have a free slot or not.

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Each hammer is going to be hand sculpted with a rock hard 2-part epoxy clay and hand painted, no two the same, over a custom 3D printed armature printed on a high end printer by Scott Danesi (No Trash Cougar). You might know him from his work for Dutch Pinball, he knows his shit, we've gone through 5 prototypes (so far!) to get things right. It will replace your stock hammer with the existing hardware, you'll only need a screwdriver and probably a pair of pliers to hold the nut while you turn the screw. I'll include full instructions with the package.

The top and bottom of the hammer will be wrapped in custom cut leather, that I will hand dye. I used to make watch straps as a hobby, and have all my leather tools and dyes still, I'll work up an interesting patina. The leather will be studded with 18 metal spikes, made with an alloy that's non-reactive to magnets, and fastened with loctited screws to ensure that they can stand up to the rigors of the game.

Each one will be signed and numbered on the back, out of sight of normal gameplay. I will never make these again for people after this run, it's a limited edition product. I was going to cap the number at 20, but I promised people in the thread that I'd honor everyone who asked in the beginning, and I ended up with 30. I really can't handle making more than that, it's going to be a big project, so that's a total hard cap, no more than 30 made.

These are going be a lot of work to do, and they're going to take a lot of time. As such I've decided that I'm going to have to charge more than I originally expected before I realized how much I was biting off. What can I say, I don't like half assing things, it's my nature to go overboard.

These are going to be $300, shipped worldwide.

I realize that's pricey for a mod, and will feel no offense if anyone wants to drop out. I do still plan on trying to make a mass produced version that's cheaper, without the custom stuff, no metal or leather etc. I can't promise it will happen, but I'll do my best. I won't spend any real time worrying about it until after the limited ones are done.

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I've had a couple people ask me if this mod will be compatible with what Pinball Refinery and Mezel offer for adding LEDs inside the hammer. Good question!

The inside of the hammer is totally hollow, more space inside it than the stock one actually, so that's not a problem at all.

Where it gets tricky is running the wires out where the sleeve fits over the shaft. I designed in just a little play there, better to be slightly loose as you slide it on than too tight and not fit (will be secured with a screw of course). But we're talking fractions of a mm. So the wires won't fit in there too, there's no "give" in the plastic like the softer, hollow Stern hammer.

To solve that Scott and I are looking at running a channel on the bottom of the sleeve that will fit the wires. So the plan is to have my hammer be compatible will existing LED mods if that's your thing. I haven't seen one in person myself yet, but I have the parts to rig one up I guess if I wanted to test it.

Since I can't attach images to PMs I'm putting this scribble I doodled for Scott in the thread so I can refer people to it, easier that trying to explain the post above if you can't visualize what I'm talking about.

Here's how the wires for an LED inside the hammer would be routed if you have the mod, or think you might want to add it later. You can do it yourself pretty simply with an LED strip, just buy it pre-wired from Comet even, or if you want really simple Mezel Mods has a kit with instructions.

My understanding is that the Refinery one just runs the wires out the bottom of the hammer. This will be better than that, no chance of the wires getting crushed between the ball and the hammer.

I can't recommend it because I've never tried it, but if you have it installed feel free to chime in with your thoughts on it.

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Oh that's just a rough sketch, it won't be that big. The wires are about 1.5mm thick, I exaggerated to make sure it was clear.

But that's also just the 3D printed part, you won't actually see any of the plastic from that, it's all being covered. It's just the armature or skeleton of the mod. So the channel will be totally hidden.

Hard to tell from that pic, but did you have to drill a hole in the back of your hammer to route the wire?

Anyways, all that kind of stuff will be unnecessary with this. Here's a look at the sleeve that slides over the shaft with the wire routing slot Scott and I designed:

Note the bottom where you can see a little channel.

Put your LEDs inside the hammer wherever you please, totally hollow, and then run the wires out the sleeve. Unlike the stock hammer you don't have to try and poke alligator clips or bare wires through a tiny hole, it's super easy to just run them out the opening since it's all open inside. The wires will rest in the channel when you slide it on so they can freely run back along the shaft to be connected to the game.

Also – I'm waiting to hear from 6 people still, and it looks like I'll have at least 4 slots open on this. I'm going to just go ahead and make the full edition of 30, so the extras will be available if people gain interest, first come first served.

Heh. I can respect keeping games stock. I like my games customized, so long as it's tasteful. It's part of the hobby I enjoy. When he realizes how much more fun it is to shoot with a smaller hammer he'll be sad though.

Ah, gotcha. Yeah, definitely looks like a drilled hole. No big deal, you don't even see it. But this will be a cleaner solution. If I was installing it I'd probably use a couple black zip ties to secure the wires along the shaft of the hammer too. Keep it tight and tidy.

I have some LED strips lying around, I can experiment with how it will look when I get a chance. Been a crazy week, my wife just had emergency gall bladder removal surgery, so I've been in and out of the hospital. She's fine and home now, so I can probably settle back in soon.

A little update. I still have 5 slots open for this. I haven't heard from 2 people, they may or may not be in, I'll send them a note later to check. I'm just gonna build them all, and whenever someone wants the last ones I'll have them.

Getting back on track after a crazy last week, hospitals etc. Scott has been working on the 3D prints in the meantime (the guy is so nice to work with, highly recommended if you need prototyping done) and I should get the first batch by the end of the week. I'll start sculpting on them shortly afterwards.

I just ordered a side of pigskin, once it arrives and I can check it for exact dimensions and any blemishes etc I'll lay out the cut file. I'm thinking that instead of die cutting the leather I'll have it laser cut, so going to try and experiment with burning some designs into the leather with the laser. Going to talk to my friend who's helping out, see what he thinks with the thin leather. If you know leather this is 1-2oz, so under a mm thick.

I've got all the spikes in stock now, and have been experimenting with some of the prototype 3D prints and some scrap leather I have lying around. Here's a couple pics just to give you an idea of my thought process, nothing finished, just feeling through what works. I burned some quickie lines into the leather with a soldering iron just to see how they would hold up under a couple layers of leather dye. I think the idea will work, subtle but nice touch.

Spikes for days!

Experimenting with the leather, nothing final.

Thanks man.

I've never tried doing a true "LE" before, it's not normally in my nature to try and artificially limit something. But this is just too much work to try and keep running as an ongoing project like I do with my translites. I'm really enjoying the process though. I hope to reveal a couple more tricks for it still.

That's actually the other thing I don't do normally, I prefer to announce something when it's done, I don't really do "in progress" reveals. Sort of fun for a change. I'll keep the communication alive, nothing worse than being in on a pinball project and then the creator goes radio silent, I think we can all agree on that!

I'm down to the last two slots, and then I'm closing it down for good, short of someone on the list dropping out for some reason.

Got the leather. Using pigskin for this, need something thin enough to work on a small scale and let the spikes screw in.

Just broke down the side into paper sized sheets for the laser cutting. This lets me choose the best spots from the leather, avoid any big holes and scuffs. These pieces will be tacked down for the laser bed and I'll provide DXF cut files and a PSD for the raster etching. The way I'm laying it out will create extras so even with picking the spots I can still weed out any pieces that are too blemished to look good.

I'll send these off today for the laser cutting. Should get the first batch of 3D printed frames today or tomorrow too. So progress should start cooking in these soon.

The pigskin side

Breaking it down into sheets

I have one free slot for this left by the way. And one where I still haven't heard back from the person, and if someone wants it for sure I'll give it away, I can't just hold it forever without some kind of response. So not sure about that one.

My 7 year old is home sick from school, so I paid her a buck to sort the screws and spikes into two bowls. Make it faster to assemble now. She was stoked to earn a dollar!

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Wait until she gets my 1099 and has to give up a couple dimes!

Just filled the last hammer slot. Short of someone dropping out when the money is due this project is all sold out.

I'll continue to update here though. I don't believe in starting a project in the forum and then taking it private. I'll do some updates over email too though probably.

Heading to post office now to send off the leather to my friend with the laser.

Hmm, excellent question.

Might have to take a piece of scrap and hit it with my soldering iron to see if I get hungry!

If you're on the list check your email you signed up with, sneak peek on progress.

I'll post some details here later.

First 15 hammers sculpted.

Initial laser tests on leather performed, making adjustments based on that. Progress rolling along. image.jpg

Sure, if someone drops out you're first in line.

Captive ball install is no big deal. I did end up taking my stock hammer off to make it easier though. Probably what pushed me to really do this project.

I'm not really focusing too much on the mass market version right now, but I was talking with someone yesterday about it. We're still looking at casting it, 3D printing just isn't high enough quality for a finished piece.

Got the rest of the hammer frames in. I'll start sculpting them this week.

Leather samples are on their way to me. Laser etched but die cut. Laser cutting didn't work so well, leather was too thick even at 2oz. Won't affect anything in the design for the most part, I may give the edges a treatment since they won't be fused by being burnt through. We'll see.

I orderd some black nylon screws today. I'm hoping they work with the spikes, would be a cleaner way to do it. Have to see, I think they're threaded for #4-48 which is a fine thread and harder to find. I'll still use red Loctite.

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There isn't a whole lot of threading in active contact on these, so I'm looking for maximum hold against an airball strike or the like. Remember my original design had the spikes epoxied to the sculpt, this is not designed to be taken apart. The screws are simply for mechanical support, not user disassembly.

I don't know if there's honestly going to be a quantitative difference between blue and red on this, but I'm going for max strength on principle.

Yeah, that won't actually do anything, that's just a mechanical hold for the 2 ply. Leather doesn't unravel, so the edge sealing is just about aesthetics for the most part. I don't even know that I'll do it yet, I have to see how it all looks as I put together a final piece. But I have a leather edge seal that I used for my watch strap designs, it's black and coats the edge to smooth and seal it out. Might try that.

If you look at that strap it has raw leather edges, and they're just fine. Beauty of leather, it's a great wearing material, and any minor damage it takes tend to add to the beauty.

This is thin leather, you won't even see much of an edge, it's really about the surface.

3/4ths of the hammers are sculpted now, doing them in batches, you can only sculpt so many at a time within the window of the two part epoxy hardening. Primer will be next.

In the meantime I should have leather samples tomorrow hopefully for real world fit testing and so I can adjust the etching after seeing it in person.

The nylon screws are going to work awesome. Tested with blue Loctite and worked great, but I picked up some red anyways. Really want these to hold up to any ball strikes. Between the Loctite, the cushioning of the leather, and the flex the nylon screws will have I'm confident these will be very strong.

Also the exposed screw heads inside are black and made of relatively soft nylon, so if you manage to hit a ball with one somehow or something there's no issue.

All hammers are sculpted. The handles are double wound with waxed nylon cord, and they're all primed with black automotive primer. I'll start on paint this week.

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You're getting the raw unvarnished process here, no fancy presentations on this one!

I basically feel like any company that doesn't update at least semi-regularly is being extremely lame at a minimum, and possibly even shady. I work full time (you just see me on Pinside so much because I have a job where I'm in front of my computer for 10-12 hours a day with lots of up and down time and multitasking) plus whatever time I spend on my mods. As well as having two kids and a busy family life.

If I can do it anyone can, they just choose not to.

I hope to have an update on the leather stuff I put in the last email update soon too. I won't post any of those pics to Pinside until they're more final though.

Thanks Joe, we are laser etching them, and my guy did tell me it smells pretty terrible.

Wasn't happy with the primer, so doing more coats with a better covering Rustoleum.

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Oh the reason I wasn't happy with the primer by the way was I did a test paint job on one, mounted leather (test scraps, not final) with spikes, the whole nine yards. Didn't take a pic since it wasn't final enough for me to feel like showing, but it was a solid preview before I decided the paint wasn't durable enough. I think people will be happy!

Leather etching and cutting should be happening today (thanks Keith!) so after the primer cures and I start doing real painting I should get final leather and then we'll be in business.

So I could start having final models in a week or so if things go smoothly. They'll all get a matte poly protective coat before the leather too.

Then I just have to decide if I want to open payments, and send them out first come first served as I finish them, or wait until all 30 are done and then mail them as people pay then.

Anyone have a preference?

That's an option, but right now I'm planning on giving them an edge coat in black. It's pretty thin leather, 2 oz, has to be to be able to run the screws for the spikes through it, so it's not a lot of edge to be able to stand up to burnishing.

Technically one person did pay me already, he asked if he could even though I wasn't taking payments and I said sure.

Given how people stagger their payments in it probably makes sense to do it that way. I'm going to be painting them in batches, so getting them out won't be a problem. Even if people paid up faster than normal no one would be stuck waiting more the a few days at most before shipping, this isn't some pinball pre-order nonsense.

Got some a production shot from the laser etching, looking great, can't wait to show that.

Just sent an update with some in progress photos to the email list, check your email if you're on it. I'll put some more pics in this thread when I get a little further along and I'm ready to share them publicly.

But the other news for people who aren't in on the LE run is that I took some time to sculpt what will hopefully be the master model for a mass produced version. I want to see what my friend Keith thinks of it first, he has way more experience than I do with casting, make sure I don't need to change anything to help it cast right, but then I'll show it.

Definitely trying to keep my word and make a cheaper version, stay tuned for more details as we experiment a little.

The focus is getting the LEs done first though, so I doubt I'll have much more to report on that front until after they ship out.

Just got the leather in the mail. Going to start dying them tonight if I can, getting close to having the first batch fully done.

Here's a look at the leather tops for the hammers, with a drawing I did etched in with a laser. I'm dying the outside and leaving the skull raw. I'll use a wood burning kit to write the edition number before the /30 on each one.

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Well on the plus side I'm covering the international shipping out of pocket, so you're getting a little discount!

Wait until you see how they fit with those thinner lids you printed me, it's perfect.

I'm on a mission to prove that people doing pinball projects are capable of communicating with their customers!

Seriously, it's not that hard. Anyone who says they can't take 10-15 minutes out of their week to send an email to the people supporting them is full of it. I work full time (in front of a computer all day if my Pinside posting wasn't a clue!) I have a family, including a daughter who's been home sick all week, and I do these projects at night or in my free time. Still find time to keep people updated. And I know from the responses I get how much people appreciate it, which just motivates me to keep doing it.

Now for a really long haul project a weekly update might be overkill, but personally I feel like if you're taking people's money you owe them to keep them involved. I didn't even take pre-order funds for this project, I'd feel doubly committed to updates if I had though. If you want to be secret and work at your own pace, hey great. Don't take money from people first!

I'm definitely going to explore it, but no promises on timeline or anything. I have some other things I've started that I really want to finish before starting anything new, this hammer project was a bit of a derail, didn't know it would turn into so much work when I posted this thread.

Doing some build testing before final assembly. Making sure everything fits etc. Shot it in slow mo because why not? Be over pretty quick otherwise!

Here are the die cut tops for the hammers, ready to go.

The straps will be dyed to match with their own laser etched design, show those soon, need to finish dying them all still.

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Happy to announce that this project is entering the final stage, the first 10 are done, and today I'll be cranking along on the rest of them, the other 20 are all prepped for final painting.

Once the limited edition ones are done I'll spend some energy on the mass market version if people are still interested in it.

Here are some test fit pics of the first one from last night. I'll post some better photos later.

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The rain is really not cooperating with wanting to lay down a coat of matte poly right now!

All 30 hammers have finished paint, I just couldn't seal them because of the rain. Tomorrow should be dry, so I'll spray the final ones. Then I can start assembly of the leather and screws. Probably the biggest PITA part of the whole process by the way ...

The majority of people are already paid up, so I'm basically going to start packing once my boxes and bubble wrap get here, should be Tuesday, I'm not far from U-Line, always next business day delivery.

Sun's back out in SoCal, all is back to normal, so just put the first coat of matte clear on the hammers. Will let that dry a bit then a second coat and they'll be ready to cure up so I can start installing the leather and spikes.

Everything is on track for the schedule I laid out, packaging will be here tomorrow.

Because updates without pics suck.

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It's windy out today!

Thanks! People are actually paying up faster than I expected (thanks everyone) so I'll probably end up packing them pretty much all up at once. Will take a little longer to start that way, but will get them all out faster overall. Might need a few days, but sending them out by the end of the week is my goal.

The ones I clearcoated today are ready for final assembly, so I'm really in spikes and leather land (sexy) for a bit more, and then ready to pack them all up.

I've decided to scrap all the work I've done and research an entirely new thermoplastic to 3D print the frames with. I'll be taking out several patents on the process, and while it may look just like normal plastic, be assured it's far superior in many ways. Unfortunately if you'd like to hear any details I'll require you to sign an NDA.

In the meantime I have artists working on artwork for a bowling themed hammer, a circus strongman hammer, and one that looks like the Red Queen's croquet mallet. Plans for the Ben Heck hammer have been scrapped, I heard that Charlie once listened to MC Hammer, and now that Ben is working with him I can't have that.

These delays are unfortunate, but I assure you that you'll be very pleased when you get the final product, in three years.

In the meantime everyone will get a form to pick their hammer color, your choices are electric green, electric purple, or electric pink.

Last 20 hammers have leather, going to start spiking them tonight. Packing supplies are here.

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I am going to try and make the cast version work too, so anyone who wants one that missed on on this will still have an opportunity for a similar idea. I'll start a new thread for that if it looks like it will happen. I've already sculpted the master model, just haven't spent any real energy on it since then since I want to get these limited ones out first.

I'm going to start packing them up today. I thought the rain might have knocked my schedule back a day, but I've made up the time.

Boom. HAMMER TIME. I need to take care of work stuff now, but I'll start packing up tonight.

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