Please count me in for a set.
(Topic ID: 205552)
Linked Games
Seawitch
Stern Electronics, 1980
Topic Gallery
You're currently viewing posts by Pinsider pinheadpierre.
Click here to go back to viewing the entire thread.
1 month later
Quoted from Orbian:How many of you would like a Ball Gate included with your sets? How many would like to see it as a stand alone item and would purchase it separately? See post 22 and 33 on page one for more information and pics.
I'd like to see it included. Heck, if I'm replacing the guides with new shiny material it would be nice to have the ball gate match (and perhaps improved performance - wise).
Quoted from Orbian:I want to make this perfectly clear because some people may not have referenced the Fathom post regarding these guides before committing to buying. The guides are all 100% stainless steel. The flat metal guide face is natural finished, meaning it has a slight grain to it. These are made this way so that they can be offered at a reasonable price. If you want them shiny like the originals you have to do that yourself or find someone with a buffing wheel that could do it for you.
If they were made from mirror finished stainless they would be very expensive. If they had the slightest blemish people would be complaining. I personally feel at the current price point they are a great value. Considering what plastic toys modified for your game sell for.
If I polish them with a buffing wheel, how close to mirror shiny do they get?
Quoted from j_m_:that depends on the time you take and the level of effort that you want to put into it
have you ever used a buffing wheel before? if not, I would suggest watching a few youtube video before doing so. improper use can cause damage noly only to the part but to your yourself if you're not careful
Thanks - that second video was helpful. I have polished old ball guides, side rails and lock bars before. It seems like in order to get a mirror finish on the new guides I would essentially have to go through the same process I would with the old original guides? If so, I'll need to consider what level of finish I want for the final look and weigh how much work getting new ones would actually save me. Is that right or am I missing something?
Quoted from cottonm4:Ball trails in stainless are easily polished out.
I took one of the pieces I got in the mail and hit it with the buffing wheel. It did polish up nicely. The scratches polished up, too. This look may work for some of you. But if you want mirror finish you will need to sand with progressively finer grits of sandpaper---sort of like that 2nd video. Only you will have to do it all by hand because your parts are already roll formed and the rivets are installed. You will not do any machine sanding on that. It is all hand power, baby.
Plus, for the largest piece, the ball inlet guide at top of the play field, for safety's sake you need to make a wooden jig to screw it onto, otherwise you risk having the buffing wheel grab it, bend it, twist it, and throw it across the room and possibly make injury to you.
Can they be mirror polished? Sure. And I will have to do that. But I figure 4-5 hours of my time for each set. Figure $20.00 an hour, I would have paid a bit more for mirrored units.
The construction quality is simply fantastic ! The way the rivets are set on the backside very clean looking. If you have no problem with grained surface you will do fine.
Could you post a picture of the one you hit with the buffing wheel?
3 weeks later
Quoted from Orbian:The ball guides are finished! The price on these will be $85 I'm looking at the 15th of June to start taking orders and ship. I will post a link to the web site when they are up.
Do I understand correctly that you'll have a purchase system on a website? You're not doing a direct PayPal order system here?
Quoted from Orbian:There has never been a direct PayPal order system here. People are always referred to the web site when it's live to place their orders. We give private PMs so everyone that did pre-order can get their order placed before everyone else can place their order. Some people pre-order and when the guides are ready don't ever follow through. Two weeks after the last ramps were released people still had not placed their orders. Since it is a limited run Kerry doesn't want to get stuck holding stock when other customers are wanting to buy.
Gotcha - thanks.
1 week later
Didn't get a PM about ordering but saw that there was a live purchase link for the ball guides, so went ahead and ordered.
Honestly didn't look at them with a super critical eye. My originals are really grooved and tarnished so I figured this was one of those things that would save me a bunch of time to buy rather than repair. My Seawitch isn't even set up at the moment. I'm saving these and crossing my fingers that greatwichjohn comes through and delivers the last piece I need to complete my project - a new playfield.
Promoted items from Pinside Marketplace and Pinside Shops!
Clermont, FL
You're currently viewing posts by Pinsider pinheadpierre.
Click here to go back to viewing the entire 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+!
