Roscoe, IL
Oh no. What a small world, i literally just pm'd him today asking for diner rails. Crap!
(Topic ID: 105198)
Linked Games
Addams Family, The
Bally, 1992-
Attack from Mars
Bally, 1995
-
Bad Cats
Williams, 1989
-
Bram Stoker's Dracula
Williams, 1993
-
Checkpoint
Data East, 1991
-
Doctor Who
Bally, 1992
-
Fathom
Bally, 1981
-
FunHouse
Williams, 1990
There are more than 8 games linked to this topic.
Click here to show all linked games
Click here to show all linked games
Topic Gallery
I made my own after no response...
It's easy. Buy a table saw and a drill press and you are good to go. Buy the oak boards at Home Depot.
For those who say "I don't want a table saw and a drill press...". If you are into pinball, you will be using a table saw and drill press for other things.
Money up front... Yes. But then independence.
For those that just want stuff to show up in the mail, can't help you...
Sorry to hear he is no longer doing rails. I waited to hear back after he said he might come back. I finally needed a new set to complete my Bally build. I bought some used ones from a different game on Ebay. They would have worked. I cut them up to match. But at the end of the day, they had holes drilled on the tops that my painting black did not fix. Still visible. A nice person here on Pinside pointed me to Pinball Life that had the black rails for sale by the foot. I needed 1-, 2- and 3-foot pieces. I cut them to the proper length using a Miter hand saw and box. Clamped the rails in place and predrilled from the bottom of the PF. I needed to notch 2 pieces due to interference by the third flipper and the shooter lane gate.
DSCF3262 (resized).JPGDSCF3265 (resized).JPGDSCF3267 (resized).JPGQuoted from bayoubilly70:It's easy. Buy a table saw and a drill press and you are good to go. Buy the oak boards at Home Depot.
Do the oak boards you buy from home Depot come fairly close to the actual size or are you cutting them from a larger board? Been looking for oak boards but not sure what to buy.
The Home depot board are in the hobby wood section. They are 1/2" (True) by a nominal dim like 4" (3.5" Actual):
You really need to select a straight piece(s). I usually by the 4" or 6" width, then run it through the Jointer, then rip on the table saw to 1-1/8". after you rip the first strip you may need to go back to the jointer again as the material can get out of true because you release some of the inner stresses.
Finishing is a hassle but i like the solid oak rails much more that the finger jointed pine with wrapped vinyl. You will need to be careful putting screws into it - you need a good pilot hole drilled first.
Quoted from codered9394:Do the oak boards you buy from home Depot come fairly close to the actual size or are you cutting them from a larger board? Been looking for oak boards but not sure what to buy.
No I buy a larger board and cut it to spec. The reminder goes for the next game
Quoted from BobLangelius:The Home depot board are in the hobby wood section. They are 1/2" (True) by a nominal dim like 4" (3.5" Actual)
Good info. Thanks
Quoted from bayoubilly70:No I buy a larger board and cut it to spec. The reminder goes for the next game
Thanks
London
I’ve also just made some of my own from Oak for my Addams Family restoration.
I did exactly what’s been mention. I bought a cheap table saw and cut the oak down to size, and finished with in gloss black. Really pleased with how they came out.
1CD4C904-2730-4FE4-BD26-99135EE372AF (resized).jpeg5CBC948B-1AFE-43EC-8CF6-7FB6A491F35D (resized).jpeg8B759331-320D-4411-BD34-E442670B4F04 (resized).jpegB0892C4E-E1C4-458C-AA74-CC52CC47EBCE (resized).jpeg
AFCA1A00-742B-456D-B147-0E3AD64FA4EC (resized).jpegDEE62EC9-72CF-459C-8DB9-04B8FAEC0547 (resized).jpegF9561821-CF99-4F5C-9240-5BBA76E1CF94 (resized).jpeg 2 weeks later
I have seriously been considering taking the reins on making rails to fill this need. I have done carpentry as a hobby for decades. My concern is dividing the faithful on here. In no way would I want to step on Taylor’s toes or try to be a Taylor 2.0 in someone’s eyes. My second concern is not initially having the stock of rails that Taylor built up over the years. This would mean the buyer would need to send me their set. Because I live in the south, weather would allow me to work all year around. I also have a career, so this would be a side gig. Plus it will take a little time to get my system down to a science, source materials, build my stock of colors, etc. I’m asking the faithful to let me know their thoughts, private PM preferred. If the feeling is as mutual as my drive to take this on, I would begin prepping, ultimately notify pinside in a separate thread that things were up and running. Anyway, all of your thoughts are welcomed!
Quoted from ibis:I have seriously been considering taking the reins on making rails to fill this need. I have done carpentry as a hobby for decades. My concern is dividing the faithful on here. In no way would I want to step on Taylor’s toes or try to be a Taylor 2.0 in someone’s eyes. My second concern is not initially having the stock of rails that Taylor built up over the years. This would mean the buyer would need to send me their set. Because I live in the south, weather would allow me to work all year around. I also have a career, so this would be a side gig. Plus it will take a little time to get my system down to a science, source materials, build my stock of colors, etc. I’m asking the faithful to let me know their thoughts, private PM preferred. If the feeling is as mutual as my drive to take this on, I would begin prepping, ultimately notify pinside in a separate thread that things were up and running. Anyway, all of your thoughts are welcomed!
Honestly, TaylorVA has been MIA for 9 months, and he hasn't made any rails for over a year and a half. I hope he's ok, but with no communication from him about his rails, I think you're in the clear for fulfilling the need if you want to take it up. Even if he does return at some point, I think there would be plenty of room for two people to share the workload. There seems to be more than enough demand for new rails. The biggest hurdle is probably getting rails to use as templates from all the games.
Quoted from ibis:I have seriously been considering taking the reins on making rails to fill this need. I have done carpentry as a hobby for decades. My concern is dividing the faithful on here. In no way would I want to step on Taylor’s toes or try to be a Taylor 2.0 in someone’s eyes. My second concern is not initially having the stock of rails that Taylor built up over the years. This would mean the buyer would need to send me their set. Because I live in the south, weather would allow me to work all year around. I also have a career, so this would be a side gig. Plus it will take a little time to get my system down to a science, source materials, build my stock of colors, etc. I’m asking the faithful to let me know their thoughts, private PM preferred. If the feeling is as mutual as my drive to take this on, I would begin prepping, ultimately notify pinside in a separate thread that things were up and running. Anyway, all of your thoughts are welcomed!
Yes, do it. Literally nobody is doing this, at the moment.
It would be nice if Taylor's rail collection could be passed along to somebody if he realy is getting out of the business. It was just over a year ago he did my Cyclone rails and requested to keep the originals. So it didn't sound like he was looking quit. I hope everything is okay with him. I only got to meet him briefly, but he seemed like a very nice guy.
Quoted from ibis:I have seriously been considering taking the reins on making rails to fill this need. I have done carpentry as a hobby for decades. My concern is dividing the faithful on here. In no way would I want to step on Taylor’s toes or try to be a Taylor 2.0 in someone’s eyes. My second concern is not initially having the stock of rails that Taylor built up over the years. This would mean the buyer would need to send me their set. Because I live in the south, weather would allow me to work all year around. I also have a career, so this would be a side gig. Plus it will take a little time to get my system down to a science, source materials, build my stock of colors, etc. I’m asking the faithful to let me know their thoughts, private PM preferred. If the feeling is as mutual as my drive to take this on, I would begin prepping, ultimately notify pinside in a separate thread that things were up and running. Anyway, all of your thoughts are welcomed!
There is definitely a need for those skills/abilities in this hobby. Have the customer send you their originals make two sets keeping one for your library. I'm in need of a set for EATPM.
He lives pretty close to me-ish, if anyone knows how to get in touch with him, I'd be happy to take a road trip into VA and pick them up and preserve them.
Taylor is a good guy. I don’t think he would have any issues <I hope!> if you did. He was a huge asset to the community and as well to me. I would use his rails for the Playfield swaps I do. I think I have 5-6 under my belt now.
Quoted from ibis:I have seriously been considering taking the reins on making rails to fill this need.
I appreciate everyones thoughts and feelings on this, I've had some private PM's stating the same sentiment.
For the record, I ordered and received a beautiful set of rails for my Meteor restoration, so I too have done business with him. He's a good dude, so like everyone else, I too hope he is doing OK.
Secondly, there is no question I would need people rails to make templates(if they want originals returned). If Taylor is retiring from this, I would be happy to pay him for his stock of original/hand-made rails if he wishes to do so. I would also entertain purchasing any of his jigs if he made them.
With all of this being said, I would need some time to perfect the system. Maybe in the interim collecting 3-5 initial orders, knowing I am using these orders to set up my gear, lacquer station, sanding bench, etc., the customer would allow me some patience unit I can get things up and running smooth. My immediate need will be to source the oak stock. This week I will begin locating the source and pricing. I'll keep everyone posted in the next week or so on my progress. Thank you for your patience, Im excited to dive into this!
It's probably not too relevant, but here down under alot of us make our own anyway. We use Tasmanian Oak which comes in a very close profile to og and just needs a mild skim.
I've made quite a few sets for others as well. I just do each set by hand on the bench and finish in a variety of ways depending on what I am doing for the game.
I've even looked at powdercoated steel custom channel, like in BSD and White Water on some games as the factory stuff in some titles is a poor design. Medieval, MB and Fish Tales come to mind where I changed the design alot for more support on my restores.
Good luck with the new venture there is certainly a need to replace those factory fingerjoint pine ones imo.
Quick update, I am researching two suppliers of stock, white oak in two thicknesses. As mentioned in this thread a majority of rails are .5 inches but some are .75 on the back side(top of the playfield). Oddly enough a lot of those back side rails are not hardwood at all, looks like poplar(or some other soft wood) on the set of 6MDM that I have. That size seems to be found on a lot of older SS games.
Ive started sourcing dyes as well as tints. The tinting is interesting for at least the color black. Taking a quart of clear brush-able lacquer and turning it into black is attractive to say the least. Quick, no aerosols(black lacquer is available in rattle cans), no major clean up(HVLV guns) are all positives. If other colors are popular this would be a nice way to circumvent large amounts of a certain color that would be needed.
Dyeing wood is also being investigated. Seems dye goes a long way, easy to mix/apply, and a few nice coats of clear lacquer on top produces a nice product. Lots of color options can be mixed as well and product has a long shelf life. I appreciate everyone patience, Im working toward an initial 'practice run' to test everything out. May be a few more weeks as I prep my shop and figure out other details that Taylor already did over the course of many years. I may reach out to a few on here to see if they would like to send me their rails when the time is ready. Thanks all! I'll keep this updated as it progresses.
Quoted from monkfe:Hmm...that seems to be an ad...not sure you can comment on it...maybe start a thread in the restoration area?
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/pinball-rails-reproduction-rails
Ya I wasn't trying to start an Ad but wanted to keep the topic in the same area as this, so it forced me to start an ad? People are commenting though and it can be renewed. If it should be moved later I can, just not sure where? Maybe Restorations but thats not a place to sell service.
Try posting here
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/forum/pinball-parts-for-sale
Quoted from ibis:Thats exactly where I posted. It required me to place an Ad.
When this thread was originally started, you didn't have to have a linked ad. Since then, it's something the site implemented - can't have a topic here that's NOT linked to a for sale ad. So things like this have to have a linked ad, or post it in a different subforum.
Maybe the "Parts manufacturers -> New parts announcements" forum.
I was given a heads up to check out my thread.
-
Sorry I have been absent from Pinside and this thread, but my life took a turn in which keeping up with this “hobby” job became impossible for me.
During the pandemic sourcing material immediately became an issue and because of that I was unable to properly keep up with orders. Because of persistent supply chain issues and a nonstop deluge of emails for new orders I had to make the difficult decision to end my business. There is simply not a way I could ever catch up on orders so I simply stopped taking them.
If you believe you have an outstanding order with me, one in which I confirmed by email, please send me an email to [email protected] and I’ll do whatever I can do to make you right. Please include something in the subject to let me know it’s an outstanding order.
Please understand that I cannot take any new orders.
I want to thank everyone for the support over the last 15 years and hope that the last couple year and a half have not undone all my pinball karma.
-Taylor
Quoted from TaylorVA:I was given a heads up to check out my thread.
-
Sorry I have been absent from Pinside and this thread, but my life took a turn in which keeping up with this “hobby” job became impossible for me.
During the pandemic sourcing material immediately became an issue and because of that I was unable to properly keep up with orders. Because of persistent supply chain issues and a nonstop deluge of emails for new orders I had to make the difficult decision to end my business. There is simply not a way I could ever catch up on orders so I simply stopped taking them.
If you believe you have an outstanding order with me, one in which I confirmed by email, please send me an email to [email protected] and I’ll do whatever I can do to make you right. Please include something in the subject to let me know it’s an outstanding order.
Please understand that I cannot take any new orders.
I want to thank everyone for the support over the last 15 years and hope that the last couple year and a half have not undone all my pinball karma.
-Taylor
Good to hear from you. I think everyone will be happy to know you are doing ok. All the best to you.
Quoted from TaylorVA:I was given a heads up to check out my thread.
-
Sorry I have been absent from Pinside and this thread, but my life took a turn in which keeping up with this “hobby” job became impossible for me.
During the pandemic sourcing material immediately became an issue and because of that I was unable to properly keep up with orders. Because of persistent supply chain issues and a nonstop deluge of emails for new orders I had to make the difficult decision to end my business. There is simply not a way I could ever catch up on orders so I simply stopped taking them.
If you believe you have an outstanding order with me, one in which I confirmed by email, please send me an email to [email protected] and I’ll do whatever I can do to make you right. Please include something in the subject to let me know it’s an outstanding order.
Please understand that I cannot take any new orders.
I want to thank everyone for the support over the last 15 years and hope that the last couple year and a half have not undone all my pinball karma.
-Taylor
I can honestly say that all we want is the best for you. Take care of yourself, and if you can, preserve/forward the templates you have, so others may continue your legacy. 
Thank you Taylor. You helped me out years ago when I was green with my Funhouse and making me a new rail that I muffed up. As I started doing swaps for friends that extended into more friends, you always came through. Thank you! Wish you and and your family well wishes.
- Dave and Heather
Quoted from Coyote:When this thread was originally started, you didn't have to have a linked ad. Since then, it's something the site implemented - can't have a topic here that's NOT linked to a for sale ad. So things like this have to have a linked ad, or post it in a different subforum.
Maybe the "Parts manufacturers -> New parts announcements" forum.
ForceFlow What happens when the ad expires after 60 days? Does the forum automatically close? Maybe there's a better forum for
ibis to start his new post in.
Quoted from bluespin:ForceFlow What happens when the ad expires after 60 days? Does the forum automatically close? Maybe there's a better forum for ibis to start his new post in.
Yes, the thread will close unless the ad is renewed.
New parts announcements would probably be a best place for a thread.
Reply
Wanna join the discussion? Please sign in to reply to this topic.
Hey there! Welcome to Pinside!
Donate to PinsideGreat to see you're enjoying Pinside! Did you know Pinside is able to run without any 3rd-party banners or ads, thanks to the support from our visitors? Please consider a donation to Pinside and get anext to your username to show for it! Or better yet, subscribe to Pinside+!
