Thank all! Im headed to two more material suppliers tomorrow to discuss supply. I have some things on order and will start building out the shop next week! Things are moving.......

Someone also messaged me about another item that could be done as well. Playfield stand-sticks; used in a lot of older games especially EM's. Not sure if this is a viable product for most, but Im considering it too.

Update: I have two sources for material. I'll be securing some stock within the next two weeks. Behind the scenes I am lining up about three sets of rails to work on. This will help me work out the process and any hold-ups I'm not immediately thinking about.

The shop is coming along but slow, Ive been gone the past few days. Still need to build my vent hood and an extra but simple router table. Instead of chamfering the edges Im going to ever so lightly rout them with a 45 degree bit. Will take the edge off but barely be noticeable.

The main thing I need to uncover is how well the dye works, how much is needed, etc. It's new to me and I want to make sure the colors pop after lacquer is applied. So that will take a little experimenting with too. Color is something I need to work on too, at this point I am working with black but once the process starts to flow I will look into adding more.

My goal is to be up and running as soon as possible, maybe at the end of this month or early January. Initially I plan on taking small runs of orders, thinking 5-7 sets at a time while keeping a list of everyones requests. This will help keep me efficient and sane! Thanks for the patience, looking forward to getting this going!

Vent hood is 99% finished, on to a secondary router table. Things are coming together, hope to have my stock of wood next week.

I have three sets of rails coming in about a week or so. These will be the first run to play with the stain, lacquer, and get an idea of curing time. If everything goes well, I plan to open to orders in early January. Thanks for your patience!

UPDATE: Vent hood is finished, compact router table almost finished.

I should be getting the first three sets of rails in the mail this week/early next week. Im also expecting the mill to call this week to pick up the first order of stock. I only bought a small amount but can repeat the order anytime. These first three sets of rails will be completed first but I feel confident things will go smooth. I think we should start a list of people needing rails. For the interim, please send me your info and game title and I will start a list! As the progression the other sets of rails starts I will be sure to post updates/pictures.

Thanks all for your patience!

Thats not a bad idea! Luckily Taylors last name went well with the name of the product lol! Ill have to think about that, thanks for planting that seed!

Bryan-Kelly, good point! But I think my name wouldn't lend to a good business model. For the record, Im Leon. Rails by Ibis may work??!! R. B. I.?

Chubtoad13, when doing a high end restoration the rails can be pretty obvious when screwed and sandwiched between a $900 playfield and $180 set of new shiny plastics. It does make the difference and a small investment towards an amazing looking finished product. Some games rails are bare, no color, and they can get pretty beat up. The black vinyl on a large portion of rails gets ripped, gouged, torn, worn, or just plain dull. This option can provide you with a color of black to match, or custom colors that would go along with your game. I have a set of purple for my Meteor, someone may want hot pink for Playboy, deep red for Gorgar. Its just am option to add personal flair to someones game.

Codered, if a set of FH rails comes in Ill post it in the main thread. I have not begun to think about backboards but its not out of the question. Some are fairly simple 3/4" ply with a beveled edge like BoP. Some are absolutely difficult like AFM. So I think Id be open to some backboards as long as they are simple, for the time being. Once my feet are wet, I can take on some trickier backboards!

Thank you Dave, thats nice of you to say! I appreciate the vote of confidence!

Quick and dirty router table is done, works like a champ for relief cuts! Vent hood for lacquer is done, working great too. Rip blade for the table saw is in, dust collection is installed, shop is ready for the most part. Im waiting to hear that the material has arrived and is milled to my specs, but that shouldn't be much longer. Im waiting on three sets of rails to arrive to do over the Holiday break, Im expecting that to go super smooth and will definitely post pics!

Ive already started a wait list for when things get rolling so if you are interested be sure to reach out and send a PM with your name, email, and what game(s) your interested in. In the beginning Im going to take on about 5 sets at a time then increase the production as I get my flow going. Looking forward to working with you all! Ill keep you posted on the progress........thanks for your patience!

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Elicash, send me a PM with your name, email and Ill get you on the list!

First few sets of rails are on the way to me! I will be posting progress pics once I begin! After that, I will begin taking orders in batches with the first few going to the ones who have reached out to me to get on the waiting list. The list is still ongoing, so feel free to send me a PM to get in line. At that time I will change the initial ad up top to reflect the cost-range and shipping info, etc. etc.

In the mean time, my first batch of white oak has arrived and ready to be ripped.
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Also working on making a tapered-flute jig. This one is going to be interesting! LOL! It will create the hole-guide for the ball rail at the top of the playfield.
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F-14 coming along nicely! All cutting is done on them and Im fooling around with the stain now. It's interesting stuff, its a concentrate in a small bottle that gets diluted with water or alcohol. It doesn't go on very dark(1oz to a qt.) so I have one coat on a test strip and once it dries I'll put down a second and a third coat and see how it looks. I want the black to be dark, so my other idea is to use a rattle can of black lacquer. Not my favorite choice as the cans can be expensive, theres lots of overspray that gets wasted, and it could drive the cost up a tad. Worse yet, it doesn't solve the other color options Im going to need. The pros about the rattle can is it needs two coats, can be applied back-to-back, and dries super quick! Unfortunately I can only find it in black and white. I have a few dye colors from another brand that I will try out next. They are not cheap either, this is a side of the industry I never knew existed until now lol. So if anyone has other ideas on 'dark/multiple-colors/stain', let me know!

I have a few on the wait list now and once I get past this first set I am going to begin reaching out to them. So if you're interested in a set of rails, please reach out by PM. Ill officially change the AD in a week or so two to be officially 'open'. I plan on doing 4-6 sets at a time. Thanks for your patience, really excited to be doing this for the collective!

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I agree, I just got the second coat on my test piece and its looking great! I think one more coat and I have the black formula down. What Ive thought about doing for other colors are, dishing out a small amount of clear lacquer in a glass jar and adding the color of stain needed in a smaller quantity. This way Im not dedicating an entire quart of clear lacquer to one color that could go bad over time.

dmacy, I have a donor set for F-14 so your golden! I can put you on the pre-list if you'd like. Just PM me your full name and email address and Ill get you down. Im going to 'open' for orders in about two weeks so you will be in the first run! Keep checking on the AD, I will have more info, cost, etc. soon. I am anticipating these to be just a tad higher in cost than before but I'll get all that info up soon.

Ill get you down on the wait list, just send me a PM with your full name, color for the rails and your email! Ill need your set of rails, I do not have that title in my library yet. Once Im ready to start your order Ill reach out and email you my address for the rails. Thanks!

For selfish reasons, Id like to get this set done for DK so I can go play it when his scratch build is done!

Yes please, just PM when you dig them out and I'll send you my address and send you payment for shipping. THANKS!

This is true about a lot of older Bally/Sterns, they are fairly simple for sure. Id like to still have a set for dimpling and routing hole locations. Id be happy to do a Dolly set for you, just send me a PM with your full name and email addy. I haven't played with mixing colors yet, but I dont mind trying to get a close match to the pink used on Dolly.

play_pinball, I agree about the dimpling and pre-drilled aspect, theres always going to be a margin of error when taking off 30 year old parts and replacing them with brand new repo-parts. I do feel that the underneath should be pre-drilled though, based on the fact that if it isn't, your going to be clamping them to the play field when installing them anyway. Most of the time they should line up pretty well and with the clamping, the rail should stay true to the edge of the playfield. The fear being, that some people may not think they need to pre-drill at all, and you run the risk of splitting the hardwood. The same goes for dimpling the top, it will split without a pre-drill by the owner. The dimples are just a suggestion because Im 100% positive most all of the plastics will not align. If a dimple is way off, it should more than likely be covered by the plastic anyway. I may offer the option to pre-drill/dimple or not pre-drill/dimple. It will be a matter of keeping things from getting confusing when manufacturing 3-6 sets at a time and whats tied to the customer.

As for the tappered-flute, yes, I made headway on the jig today. Im waiting for the right bit to arrive from Amazon before I can go any further. I think the set up will work well, I just need to make some tweaks and have a few practice runs on it before I lay down the real white oak.

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Yes, the staples truly suck! Ive also seen some play fields with a mixture of both screws and staples. If its preferred by most to not pre-drill or dimple, I certainly can eliminate that form the production.

LOL! That should be the title of the 'company'