He used to....

Until they all beat him in games, were ceremoniously hit, then all left town in a chuckwagon together.

Wife at checkers, and beer chugging.

Kids at hopscotch and nosepicking.

Dog.......clearly at pinball.

I’ve never understood taking frustrations out on the machine. With my typical lackluster skill at play, I’d be bashing the glass all the time if that was my practice. Why stop with the glass? Why not remove it, grab the flippers, and show THEM how frustrated you are?

Well that's "technically" not allowed in tournament play

greatwichjohn -- Yeah, the drunk posting is never a good idea.

And yeah, in a fit of frustration, pretty much everyone has done something they wish they hadn't.

But to make it a habit, and "brag/post/ask" about it? C'mon man.

There's a lockdown bar about two inches below where these guys strike the glass. I don't get it.

So is this thread a round about sales pitch? I'm confused...

If it is, not the smartest IMO. Who would now be inclined to choose him to do business with lol. What if you upset him during a transaction

Are you kidding me!?!? Only psychos hit the glass. I have PDI glass in my machine and if someone hit it they would definitely be getting a talking to. Side story, Back when cactus canyon first came out me and a few of my buddies would go to the arcade to play pinball. One of them was an angry pinball player and when he lost the game he picked up the front of the machine and dropped it. It destroyed the wood that the legs bolt into. He was only an angry person when playing pinball for some reason.

That's a crappily made body right there unless he picked it up 4 feet.

So, according to this guy, verbally stating "I'll pony up if I break it" makes it ok to beat the crap out of someone else's pins. What a crock of shit. This guy sucks.

Adding a new pinsider to my list of people banned from my home.

Say he will come to my house and beat on my games
I say you are not welcome
Now says he’s really not that mean to games, only sometimes
I say still not welcome

FYI: I’ve never mistreated someone else’s game, location or home. I respect their property and try to play better.

Were you the guy we saw at TPF this year who hit the glass on MM when you drained ball 3?

Many overblown comments- Yes, yes, yes.... broken glass sucks and one should probably not get overly agressive with someone elses property... but if its my game- I am playing well and competing with a buddy- and a ball shoots right down a side lane or STDM- damn straight I might hit the lock bar.

How many times were PF glass broken in the 70’s in bar environments? To me thats the real Q- cause if it was rare then the chance of you actualy breaking glass this way is pretty dang low.

There- I said it and I don’t even know John

Ever see a game with a pristine glass and cabinet and a chewed up playfield? Check inside the cabinet for small, even tiny remnants of a broken glass.

In my experience, breaking a playfield glass will do more damage than just the cost of the glass.

I have definitely smacked my glass or LDB or wall (or or or) on an occasion of frustration from time to time. Key word being "MY". I would never even think to do that with property that wasn't mine.

Right, because a ball flying off a wireform because the shot was TOO clean is poor play, and not an issue with how the game is set up, right?

Damn, you guys really should rub a few brain cells together every once in a while. Not everything that happens with a pinball machine is due to 'poor play'.

That said, don't think it's a great idea to beat the hell out of everyone's games. Doesn't matter if you pay for the glass....let me tell you after cleaning up a game with broken glass in it...those playfields are never the same, even after being completely cleaned and re-cleared. There's tiny glass particles all over the place and they DO scratch up the new clear. No way to get 100% of it out, and it's not obviously visible to the naked eye.

*edit* I beat the crap out of my own games, and never had anything break. The broken glass was from a shipping disaster.

You cannot hide the truth so easily! “shipping” disaster..... yeah.... sure?

This times 1,000. Shattered playfield glass basically turns to “sharp dust” that damages your game for years after. The OP saying he would replace the glass doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface (pardon the pun) of the damage this event causes.

Anyone who pounds on glass post drain in my league (after a warning) gets banned for life and other tourney directors in the region will be informed of any player who doesn’t respect the property of others.

Totally not the "pounding on a pinball machine" thread I was expecting/hoping for.

Mmmm...ok

Honestly, I was expecting a lot more torches and pitchforks. This was a fairly mild response, all things considered. It seems most people were able to restrain themselves.

I've heard of people still picking out splinters of glass from a game up to a year later, no matter how thoroughly they've vacuumed. It's tough to get it all without a complete tear-down.

You're absolutely wrong about this.
Vacuuming will only get the larger parts of broken glass and there will be fine particles stuck in every part of the machine.
No matter how clean you think you got it with vacuuming and wiping it down it is not good enough.
It may look like you got it all with a shop vac and a wipe down, but you won't.
Over time little pieces will work their way onto the play field and act as an abrasive when they come in contact with the ball and ruin the play field etc.
The machine will require a complete tear down and shop job and everything little part will have to be wiped down and cleaned etc.

I just went through cleaning the broken glass off and out of a cocktail arcade game that was damaged in shipping.
It is a huge and I mean huge pain in the ass.
Small pieces of glass and glass dust were on and in every last part of that game.
The machine had to be totally taken apart not only vacuumed but every part has to be dissembled and wiped down.
My hands were covered in cuts etc from doing this (even wearing gloves).
Oh and did I mention glass splinters.
Those are real fun and sometimes if you can't get them out with tweezers don't work their way out for a while.

Not trying to drag this out, but your nonchalant attitude about this is something I just can't understand.

Installed playfield glass has no exposed edges. It would take a fair bit of doing to break it - anyone ever seen this with bare hands?
I've never seen installed glass break, but I've witnessed a lot of pounding on it.

I can't fathom this fallout of magic glass particles that are uncleanable and invisible. If its too small to see wouldn't the scratch it makes be invisible too?

How do we even breathe in a world where tempered glass has broken? Surely our insides are full of glass dust just by being on a planet where glass exists.
Pound away I say. If the glass somehow breaks you found the magic weapon of WW3 - glass dust.

A wise man (actually a wise talking puppet head) once said "Hey, it's only pinball! Shoot again, Bucko!"

Yes. I agree. You need to pull out the leaf blower in my experience and follow up with a couple coats of wax and a final leaf blower blast.

I feel self conscious tilting someone else's machine, even slightly, to the point where I will wait to see if they do it themselves before I do. Hitting the glass? Never.

If I'm playing someone else's machine, likely I will have seen them play on it first. Then it's kind of monkey see, monkey do.

Nudging and a little shimmy here and there to influence the trajectory of a ball in play is as much a part of the game as the shooter rod and the flippers. A machine that can't withstand that isn't built well enough to be worth owning, and most definitely not worth operating in a public venue. On the other hand, there is nothing to be gained from banging on the glass, or for that matter anywhere on the table after the ball is drained.

May god have mercy on your soul you evil bastard.

Probably a better response would be “jeeze guys you are right, I’m a changed man now. I won’t beat on anyone’s games anymore, thanks for showing me how wrong I was.”

You can't bargain with the devil man.

JFC....... you must be a YUGE fan of Diamond and Silk. All mouth, no thought, no substance.

Vacuum the playfield? Hell no. It would be playfield removed from cabinet and air compressor nozzle at about 100 psi.

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How do you plan to remove the playfield from the cabinet without using a shop vac and vacuuming up most of the glass first?
Serious question.

Guys, you're overthinking this. Don't forcefully strike any part of the machine - especially the damn glass. Ever. Period.

I even cringe when I see people performing a slap save on machines. I guess that’s part of the game but for me that’s rough to see.

I think there are two types of pinball players/collectors-those that see the games as a very expensive fancy toy that should be treated with care and deeply coddled. Then there are those that see the games as being built to be abused for years in bars and arcades, smacked, pushed and prodded to convince the ball to track nicely to the correct spot. The reality is that you can be in the latter group and will rarely if ever have an issue, and any issue you have is easily fixed. The other fact is you can be in the former and the same stuff mostly breaks.

Some people buy the latest truck from Ford and have the thing detailed and clay bar 3 times a year, others take it hunting and beat the crap out of them- they even get scratched! End of day, both drive down the road just fine.

Would it piss me off a bit if I really broke the glass, or if a friend did- a little. But I would clean it up and play on.

Nothing wrong with either use- just dont expect everyone to agree because there really are at least two ways of viewing these games. I personally view them as ruggidized beasts designed to extract cash, they can take an occasional smack in exchange for being quarter hungry.

Agreed. One day he’s going to pound the glass on a machine whose owner is a firm believer in old school man against man and get his ass beat...and rightfully so.

Has anyone here attempted to cut Plate Glass on their own? I have a sheet and thought about using it for something but whatever I use it for will likely involve cutting it to size so was just wondering if it's possible.

Depending on the thickness it can be done as a DIY but it's not really "cutting". There are several types of scoring devises that can be used to aid you. If you buy cut to size glass from a hardware type store that's all they do. They have a diamond blade that rides on a rail and they score it several times and then they have a device that applies even pressure to both sides of the score and then it's snapped at the score. Doesn't always come out perfect though and some pieces have to be scrapped.

1. Is this in reference to Pinburgh 2013?

2. My pinball glass (tempered) has shattered on occasion when I take the machine Outdoor hot tubbin’ during snowstorms. Maybe it was something I said, maybe it was the rapid heat shift.

3. Under no circumstances snort that broken glass. I’m like 0-4 on that. Suitcase it instead.

Go to the hardware store a pick up one of these. Use a straight edge and you will have to put some pressure when cutting, after it's scored, snap it along the score line. Or just take it to a glass shop they should be able to cut for you, if they are nice it will be at no charge! Takes less then 2 minutes to do.

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Thx guys, I have a couple of glass cutters, I just wasn't sure it could be cut other than in a shop. I'd say it's close to 1/4" thick (EM pinball glass) so I'll score it a few times and then use some duckbill pliers to snap it. I don't really know what else to do with it other than toss it so I'll try to cut it and use it else where.