Epoxy , 2 part clear coat , works perfectly. No need to redo

I did it once with a rattle can (I think it was non yellowing crystal clear rust oleum) and the second time with 2 part auto clear. Both worked very well. I still have the car on which I shot the 2PA AC and it still looks like the day I cleared it.

Made a quick and dirty airbrush paint shaker for my jigsaw

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I love it.

That looks way more effective than that spray can spinner thing everyone is so pleased with

Ingenious, love it!

For gapping flippers when rebuilding, installing etc I use a modified (expired) Gift card.

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Here's a jig I made to drill leg bolt holes after replacing a cabinet front panel. You can glue the three pieces of wood together and then drill from inside a good corner to get the spacing and angles correct. Then strap the jig in place and drill the new holes in the replaced panel from the outside. This worked well for me.

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3D printed cyclone sawdust separator: works like a charm!

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Bottle jack based pinball jack. Very convenient for leveling and removing/changing levelers. I have a tub ad-on for the rear legs.

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Ok That's cool! send the details on how to make that.
Mike

This is straightforward. Start with a cheap bottle jack such as amazon.com link »

Cut the flat uppermost part of the screw that is inside the piston. I cut a slot in the middle to be able to screw it out with a flat screwdriver in case it mistakenly get screwed all the way in.

Then get a 24" PVC pipe (https://www.homedepot.com/p/VPC-1-2-in-x-24-in-PVC-Sch-40-Pipe-22015/202300504 at $2.48) and two couplings (
https://www.homedepot.com/p/LASCO-Fittings-1-2-in-PVC-Sch-40-S-x-S-Coupling-429005BC/317625591 for 67 cents each) and you're ready to go. Cut a small piece of 3/4" thick wood and file a 1" channel in the middle. Glue it to the coupling. Cut the pipe so the jack + pipe + coupling + wood piece fits right under your front legs. Then cut a small piece of pipe and add a coupling so that the jack + 2 couplings + 2 pipes + wood fit under the back legs.

I recommend filing the end of the long pipe that goes into the coupling in the extension with sandpaper so the fit isn't tightened the extension is easy to take off. This is the part that is in white at the bottom of the pipe.

I added a couple of springs to automatically pull the piston back but that is not strictly necessary. You can push the piston back easily by hand.

All in all, you can get the basic version for $20 or so in 10 mins. I found it to be a lifesaver to level a game or change leg levelers. No more crawling under the cabinet and using my back to push the game up.

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Pinball recording stand. Holds a display-facing webcam (albeit a crappy one - might look into other options) along with a tilted holder (with cutout for charging cable) that holds my phone at the perfect eye level for the playfield view. Tested this out playing homebrew Undertale and it worked incredibly well; shame you can't say the same for the machine, which is going to need a significant overhaul to fix the game-breaking bugs I ran into.

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Looks interesting. How are you mounting the web cam?

There are two 90-degree arms attached to the top of the framework. The one on the left holds the phone at eye position, and the one on the right (sort of obscured in the photo but still visible) holds the camera, just out of sight of the phone so it doesn't interfere. It's a pretty standard desktop webcam that normally clips to the top of a monitor, so the arm just has a wooden block sticking out the side that the webcam clamps onto.

That said, it was built for a game that is technically capable of recording its own screen, so maybe I don't need to mess with the webcam after all.

After many events, my pin toolbox is looking sharp!

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I occasionally find a lightbulb, especially LED, unlabelled and away from its peers. I built this light bulb tester out of an old cigar box, with a wedge socket in one end and a bayonet in the other. Now, if I can't figure out if an LED is burned-out, or tell what color it is, I put it in my tester and flip the satisfying switch to find out.

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It looks like a rock star's guitar case after traveling to 300 gigs.

I was trying to figure out how to hold down the pair of coin door interlock switches on my AFM, then I saw the old box of lego...

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Custom made from a friend of a friend who does metal work

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Not for new sleeves but those pesky old ones that need a hammering

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Awesome! I would add a 2nd socket to each side. Sometimes LEDs look similar and you need to figure out which is warm white, sunlight, etc.

Very nice! But you need to lower current rating on the fuse...a LOT! The transformer would go up in flames long before that fuse ever pops.

Cool use of legos.
Don't those interlock's pull out?

They will but this would be useful on some games in a league or tournament play when you need the high power active to retrieve a ball and put on right or left held flipper in mid play.

Makes sense.

What amperage would you recommend?

Just doing some back of the napkin numbers, the output (secondary) is 6V at 500mA. So 6 x 0.5A = 3W. Converting that to the input (primary side): 3W/120V = 0.025A. But that's assuming there's no loss in the transformer (i.e. 3W in, 3W out), and that's not the case, but a good starting point.

So I'm not sure exactly what fuse you would use, but definitely something with a low current rating (i.e. 0.05A, 0.1A?). I don't know if you can even get that small of a fuse rating. Plus I don't know when the transformer wire actually would melt (you want to fuse to blow before the transformer is damaged).

Maybe look around on Amazon for a fuse assortment kit? Are you going to check incandescent bulbs too? Or just LED?

Sometimes incandescent, in those rare instances where the filament seems intact but doesn't glow under load. Mostly LEDs.

A 44 incandescent bulb is rated at 0.25A, so you should be OK there. And a 47 is a little less. So not sure what's going on there.

Getting back to the fuse size, you could maybe put a 0.5A inline the 6V side too since those are probably easier to get than a lower rated one for the primary. Then maybe change to a 0.1A on the 120V side to cover the transformer (still a WAG there).

Sorry - probably overthinking things.

I was terrified at the idea of hammering T-nuts into my new playfield so I made this puller for sinking the nuts in "gently". I used a 6200-2RS ball bearing (whatever I could find) and used metal-epoxy putty to attach it to a big flat washer around the OD so the inner race will still turn freely. An 8-32 screw (I used a Robertson head but a hex head would be way better), a couple of washers and a flattened T-nut (which was a nice fit to the ID of the bearing) and then I glued some felt to the big washer to protect the playfield. I used a screwdriver to pull the T-nuts down and once I got confident I gently used a drill to drive it. Be careful as it generates a ton of force and would be easy to over-clamp the T-nut and really pull it into the playfield.
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I'd just use a 9V battery and be done with it.
Its more than the 6V that the LED requires, but you're only connecting it for a second to see if the LED works and what color it is.

If you want to be extra careful, use 3 AA batteries instead of a 9V battery.

LOL, I'm the same way. Anal-retentive that I'll damage something. Then scheme up a fool proof plan to prevent a possible issue. All the while a Stern employee is bashing in maybe a thousand T-nuts a day with a hammer and never gives it a second thought.

That's actually what I did (battery operated), 3D printed a little case too. Had some extra new sockets laying around for a 44 and wedge bulbs.

Well, I underthought them, so maybe we'll average out at a good answer. I've got some 250MA fuses, so I'll start there. Thanks for the help!

Good idea! When I have time, I can advance the unit to "Cigar Box V2.0".

Include a cord strain relief on V2.0 too. LOL

Nice tool.

I have had problems with the tangs on the small t-nuts bending under as I tried to pull them down. I resorted to tapping the t-nut to make impressions for the 3 locking tangs and then drill them with a 1/16" bit and then pull nuts in.

Meanwhile, this very-low-tech left side playfield support bar made from an old broom handle.

I fastened a closet dowel socket to the bottom of the cabinet to keep the pole from sliding. I beveled the ends of the broom handle to appropriate angles as well.

The length of the pole was decided by what would work in both a Flight 2000 and a Flash. They both have playfields which flex enough to be scary.

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cottonm4 uses a kinked, single pole in the center to do the same job more securely, but my machines still use coins and coin boxes. And yes, I know, the idea of non-original parts or modifications to the cabinet horrify those pinsiders who do near-perfect restoration. I'm just trying to keep my head from being cut off.

I needed a better way to make wire form ball guides.

This way works OK. Just drill a hole in some wood, insert the .093 stainless steel welding rod and give it a pull. You can get 90 degree bends OK.

But if you want factory looking small radius bends you need a wire bender. Good wire benders are not cheap to buy. This is not my design. I saw this on youtube and figured I could make one, too. It works quite well. $3.00 worth of nut and bolt and a cut-off tool.

Any guesses?

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I think they are round metal post grabbers that can snug grip the round posts, so as not to spin,
as one can apply the fastening hardware on the other side of the playfield.

O Shape Pliers with wire cutter.

LTG : )

I feel that pain. One of my least favorite things about pinball is that issue.

This was actually made out of frustration after that yellow plastic fuse puller slipped out or broke too many times. There’s just enough slop on a tight grip to assure the glass will not be damaged if a fuse is to be reused.

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Fuse pullers. Modeled after the Utica 319 telephone pliers

Interesting maybe a new tool needs to be made.

I've used these with good results

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Same here. Jeweler's pliars.

What gauge wire can you bend with these pliers?

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I used these exact pliers for 1mm & 2mm 'Spring Steel Wire' from eBay.

They coped easily with the 1mm, the 2mm was a bit harder and needed a fair bit of grip pressure, but they got the job done.