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I have a mechanical skee ball machine and thought it would be a nice touch to add the "Winner" light/marquee atop the rolodex tin/cover, like you see in some older arcade photos. I cant seem to locate one so if anyone out there has one they could measure and possibly add pics that would be great, I will try to make one.
Thanks
Steve
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I started on the metal fabrication. I think it's at good starting point. It's a slow process since I have my right arm in a sling with a broken collar bone but managing to get stuff done... I'll keep posting as I go.... (yes that's a shuffle alley puck on top keeping it in place as I take pics)
thanks
Steve
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Looks good. Do you have a way to drive it?
Originally I believe that these Skee Ball machines were entirely mechanical. The only electrical feature was a bulb in the head to illuminate the score. The Winner light I'm familiar with looks like a kit that was added later. It required some pins and switches to be added to the scoring mechanism and box of relays and such to turn on the Winner light once the score reached an award level. I imagine that later games might have come with this installed. Does your game have any of that extra, electrical stuff?
/Mark
Restoring quite a few of the mechanical Skee Balls, one other electrical device is
the ticket dispenser which triggers off of the flipping number score wheel that has
small metal pegs which help drive the wheel. Longer pegs can be put in desired positions
which triggers a micro-switch that activates the ticket dispenser and also the winner
light. I believe another relay box was later added for the Winner light..
Things are shaping up quite nicely Steve. Good job.. (T)
@mopar (or anyone else), I always assumed that the ticket dispenser with its metal pegs was also a later development/enhancement/addition to the basic game. Do you think ticket dispensers were always available on the mechanical model?
Thanks guys... Yes, this is totally mechanical and after I completed the restoration I then added the light for the score. No other electronics were in it when I got it. My thought was exactly a micro switch being triggered by the flipping number score reel. Something like how a score motor cam works on an EM pin but longer pins, I'll give that some serious thought. When I complete that, I'll post again...
thanks
Steve
Steve, what's the bottom front of your machine look like. I'm pretty sure that
the 50s machines had the ticket dispensers. Inside the back door, there should
be a two digit number that refers to the year of your machine..
The first mechanical Skee Ball was built in 1909, and physically it did have some
differences, but mechanically, it was primarily the same until the last one built in
1974. So at the beginning, it had no ticket dispenser, but I'm pretty sure by the
50s, it was added.
It wouldn't surprise me if your machine was ordered not to have a dispenser..
Might your scoring mech have numbers on one side. These numbers are where
the longer pegs whould be placed for a ticket to dispense at that score. You can
see the switch stem that the peg momentarily strikes to trigger the dispenser.
It's not seen in the pic, but there's another switch that breaks that circuit at reset
so when the pegs travels through the dispensing switch, it's not dispensing out tickets..
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Seems like we think alike 
mopar ... This is the reason I always thought the ticket dispenser and winner lights were added later:
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The base of the scoring unit is a solid cast piece of metal with sturdy gears, levers and such. The bracket over the top that hods the switches is much cheaper bent sheet metal with zip ties holding the wire in place. Also the plate on the left side with the pegs is in two pieces and bolted on to the main plate that holds all of the scoring flaps. Maybe they came from the factory this way but the switches and pegs seem like an afterthought.
Yea, the second plate holds in the pins. That's how the shorter pins can be replaced with
the longer ones, and vice-versa. I still believe the dispenser was in use when your machine
was manufacture..
I also think that perhaps there were additives, but at a certain year, it was pretty much standard
at factory unless ordered special. For sure the early 60s, but I'm thinking in the 50s the dispenser
was in use. I had maybe a dozen of the mechanical Skee Balls, and all had ticket dispensers, but
all may have been from the 60s and 70s. I'm not sure if I had any from the 50s. I learned about
the year being in the back door after many were gone. Only now have two. 1966 and 1970.
I do have 3 extra front 10' alleys. Maybe someday I'll stumble across some 4 ft. back portions..
Question about the numbered plates in the pic that 
MarkG posted... the outer plate is a 2 piece setup with the numbers label. Just like my outer plate but with holes for the longer pins. Now, am I seeing it correctly that the inner plate also has a label on it and if so why. Also another question, how do those longer pins stay in place and not work themselves out since there is no 90 degree bend like the shorter pins
I had forgot, but the inner plate does have the numbers on also..
As you'll see in the pics, the outer plate holds the small rods going through
the flip numbers in position. The plates are in 2 sets so they can easily be
removed. Once removed, the rods can be slid out. I pulled one of the longer
rods slightly out in one of the pics..
And since the camera was out, I took a pic of my next project which I just
began on this past Monday. It's a "Pull-a-Way Merry-go-Round by Game Time
from the 30s/40s. It'll be going down below at the pond with the other vintage
playground equipment the I refurbished..
Sorry for throwing that in here, but it has been a great Summertime hobby for me..
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Ok, I think Im done. I have it set to light up at 250 and higher. After making a mounting bracket for the micro switch, I tried a handful of different micro switches but each one I tried was too stiff and the score reel was unable to trip it "on". So I made my own switch from extra leaf switch parts I had from my EM pins. The switch also has a piece of fish paper that will insolate the contact of the metal hanger pin and the switch when completing the circuit. I also needed to replace the shorter hanger pins with the longer straight hanger pins from 250 to 450, this would keep the circuit completed. the circuit opens when score reset to zero.
note- If somebody has the exact micro switch part number that is used, I can try and locate one and see how that works
Again, Thank You, everyone for your help,
Steve
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