Quoted from ChrisLIX:Does it drop from higher height with those wireforms?
Same level as plastic ramps. And same drop location.
(Topic ID: 296354)
Linked Games
The Mandalorian (Pro)
Stern, 2021
Topic Gallery
Concord, CA
330! When you weld a wall gate on the wrong side of a rail its time to stop. Got 7 done. My wife motivated me with a statement. Nothing bad, but it was equal to telling a hitter “ hey dont strike out” as he walks to the plate. I had to get a hit tonight! Only 41 more sets to make!
Trying not to over bomb the forum, so I will keep jaming updates together.
First five long ramps done! Now the wife needs to go to target! Test fitting and playtesting.
I am leaving room for fine tuning on the points that go to flasher and ball return lane. I will include the hardware needed. Screws and washers. You will need to use a washer on both sides of mounts. The return guide screw point in tiny. For my bracket to be tight enough to go on it, they would not be adjustable. I will take pictures of everything and how you should install them with every set. Its easy to do. And here is a picture of height of rail.
First completed and polished wireform shown in two vise jig.
A73D8386-D4B4-4B30-ABAE-D5C07028A3F6 (resized).jpeg
6987ED44-1EB8-472B-8337-11B5B89D1A44 (resized).jpeg002B309F-17B8-460D-AE85-023E1D0B7744 (resized).jpegE01D2B81-58A6-4C2D-B199-D9D72E9B8FF2 (resized).jpeg
78657915-0917-4469-92DA-A6539CDC7DC9 (resized).jpeg602B769F-0C33-410B-BE86-5E1636461215 (resized).jpeg8A6706D5-9A8D-49AC-9FE2-C0D30C77EDBE (resized).jpegD7A2ADF8-36F2-4362-B0AD-F6BE97D6CDCF (resized).jpeg
785EF523-3B40-4322-AA55-5AD8B8E858C2 (resized).jpeg441F11C0-05D1-4F72-905B-128BBD630808 (resized).jpeg
Great idea on that additional attachment point at the transition from plastic ramp to wireform. That will really help strengthen that area I think.
Quoted from chuckwurt:Great idea on that additional attachment point at the transition from plastic ramp to wireform. That will really help strengthen that area I think.
Well funny you should say that. I had to do the same thing for the other ramp! Playtesting a set of forms I noticed it had some side to side movement. Apparently no matter how you try to build a template there are variances. So, I had to find a point at the front of that ramp and make another bracket. Please be patient. I need to figure out better connection point on small ramp at ball return lane. I had to invert the angle on the run I just made. I might have to get hardware for the front right sling so it has a stud that I could move bracket to left side. In progress. I dont want any issues for anyone. They need to be done right and I am torture testing them and I am finding things that need to improve or change. The long rail is good to go. I need to tweak the other into something more simple. See pictures for new bracket by horseshoe. I really think going to front sling with stud is the answer. I will keep updating as I get there. I dont want to send out anything until I have done my very best.
Well Jackass bent the right returns with wrong die. They are bigger. Apparently welding after midnight is not a good idea.
4D84467E-B84E-49E2-B56F-97E13D5006CB (resized).jpeg6251AAAC-C6A7-4860-9E95-E07A17B941FD (resized).jpegA6228CDD-C5A9-4AE7-A754-BB1E5243343F (resized).jpegE602033C-EDD1-49E2-B896-8969CB343D60 (resized).jpegFD2E1662-FFE1-4C04-9AB8-BF7345F35920 (resized).jpeg
B3D2EAA7-37AD-4C88-BFA6-D41F5A65D39D (resized).jpegNoticed that it sometimes seems to be hitting the end of the lower guard wire and then bouncing back in at one point. I think i only saw it once though.
If you open the youtube link on a pc. Full screen and while playing press the number "4" on the keyboard it will take you directly to the point just before it hits.
Keep hitting 4 for it to repeat.
Seems like the 'flatness' of the ramp is leaning downward toward the bottom of pf past the halfway point.
Bending the bottom mounting point up a bit should tip it back when tightened.
Maybe bend out the start of the guardrails 1/8 inch too.
Quoted from koops:Noticed that it sometimes seems to be hitting the end of the lower guard wire and then bouncing back in at one point. I think i only saw it once though.
If you open the youtube link on a pc. Full screen and while playing press the number "4" on the keyboard it will take you directly to the point just before it hits.
Keep hitting 4 for it to repeat.
[quoted image]
[quoted image]
Ramps are adjustable. They might need to be readjusted on a different game. I also added another center support or right ramp to cut down bounces. These work fine please see videos.
This thread is cracking me up on the level of the Pinball Amigos/ @pinballrockstar. Just need to really convince your retired welder friend to come do some late night welds. Although beers and an mig welder might not mix, so maybe that's a bad suggestion.
Quoted from Loganpinball:Good and bad. Good is I am tuning in sets in pairs and marking them to be sold together. Bad, it is alot of time to do so. And my welder just say I have had it.
[quoted image][quoted image]
Ill help chip in for a new hose!
There a few welding supply shops around my area hoping they have one in stock. Online ranging from 128 to 200. I go back to work Monday. Not worried about the costs. Its the time off to keep building sets. I cant do much until I get a hose. And next weekend I should be getting my stern altered TNA painted cabinet back, i got the back box already and thats going to kill next weekend swapping it over. I am bringing Mando, altered TNA and my Star Trek Discovery machine to Pinfest. I just polished the Discovery ship wireform. Oofa. Compare this to mandos wireform is just silly! Threw shirts under it to see the wireforms.
2195AD3A-40AE-40D0-8049-1E2360DE5642 (resized).jpeg550D3C21-E2A1-4011-A541-EB8E874E1A9E (resized).jpegE2755616-7C82-481F-9406-7659BDE0CCFC (resized).jpeg
Quoted from Loganpinball:There a few welding supply shops around my area hoping they have one in stock. Online ranging from 128 to 200. I go back to work Monday. Not worried about the costs. Its the time off to keep building sets. I cant do much until I get a hose. And next weekend I should be getting my stern altered TNA painted cabinet back, i got the back box already and thats going to kill next weekend swapping it over. I am bringing Mando, altered TNA and my Star Trek Discovery machine to Pinfest. I just polished the Discovery ship wireform. Oofa. Compare this to mandos wireform is just silly! Threw shirts under it to see the wireforms.
[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]
[quoted image]
That’s tight!
Quoted from Loganpinball:Ramps are adjustable. They might need to be readjusted on a different game. I also added another center support or right ramp to cut down bounces. These work fine please see videos.
That's fantastic. Seems smoother than some factory wire forms on other machines! 
Dark Saber edition ramp! This is artistic crap I like to do. Not for everyone, but its a little detail on the ramp that works for me. I put it along the side as a finer detail. On top it was too much it looks great and is not blocking the view at all of playfield much more than the block wall.
FBCAF6EF-D74D-45EF-92D2-829F2FA1FF2F (resized).jpeg65D0BFEC-7B4B-4ED3-B599-BBFF795AA7C7 (resized).jpeg4ADC7CD2-D860-4DE5-94DA-9B736D309B74 (resized).jpegE7C441E4-2D4C-4F3B-9E39-9E5961803210 (resized).jpegF3751FE4-3544-4241-837A-DF9A774BB26D (resized).jpeg
The Dark Saber mod doesn't really translate.
If it was laser cut out of flat sheet steel maybe it would.
I just think the ramps look great on their own.
looked neat on the bench... not so sure on the ramp. Maybe consider adding color instead of stainless?
The only way to know if something will work is to do it. Laser cut stainless plate shadow cut would be the way to go. Just like the ball drop mech in back.
Steel supplier laughed at another 250 feet order pick up. Got more argon and I am upgrading the hardware to fastenal screws and washers.
I think I want to tweak the ends of the ball returns. Stay tuned.
Quoted from Loganpinball:The only way to know if something will work is to do it. Laser cut stainless plate shadow cut would be the way to go. Just like the ball drop mech in back.
Steel supplier laughed at another 250 feet order pick up. Got more argon and I am upgrading the hardware to fastenal screws and washers.
Getting ready to ship the first five. I am happy with the brackets and shapes tuned in my game to sell.[quoted image]
Man this welding skill/hobby you have is badass. We are so lite on skilled labor in this country that I’m leaning towards a career change into something along these lines.
I am revising the ball drops to this 3 piece post support over a single. I was having some bounce backs with single posts on some of the sets. I am adding more labor time as a result and I bought better mounting hardware to be included with the ramps. Let me make sure I am done revising the ramps. This set is working great so hopefully this is the final tweak. This whole process has been a learning curve. I hope you guys understand I want you to be very happy with the ramps. And I want them to perform. I will need to adjust my price as a result. Let me make sure this is the final tweak and I will post where I need to be going forward. Its all about labor time, nothing else. Just tuning them in takes 20 minutes.
Heres a video with left ramp 3 post design. It is more solid and consistent. This ramp is not polished.
4248370D-DEE2-4C1A-88D3-2C995D3D2080 (resized).jpeg92B7DD6D-BB2B-4269-A254-1B9A37B5A659 (resized).jpeg
8524FC5A-D242-49BC-8CFD-877CE085998A (resized).jpeg4D6643A9-BAED-43D2-A7F4-C6A3898A7590 (resized).jpegQuoted from Ranhorton:Man this welding skill/hobby you have is badass. We are so lite on skilled labor in this country that I’m leaning towards a career change into something along these lines.
1301 coulumbus blvd Phila. Pa
Good luck !
Quoted from Multiballmaniac1:Stern. You made this guy work so hard for your mistake.
Its alot of tweaking and effort to get it done to where I am ok selling them. I dont want to rush out sets to just sell. I want them to be great. So yes thanks Gary! This machine does not warrant plastic ramps!
First set of revised ramps played great. Going to make another two sets to make sure they play just as good. I think “this is the way!”. The green zip tie means polished and played..
CEAA7153-181C-472A-A097-ED7B043E00CE.jpeg
Quoted from Deadpool66:Dying to put these on my game.
I am doing my best. I am sweating to death! Heres another rail together ready to tweak and polish.
F5607F39-0A14-41D8-A295-43CD667C8E23 (resized).jpegI will make detailed instructions for installation. Very simple, but if you need to adjust them you have to do it in a very specific way. Stainless is very pliable and is great to make shapes and they look great polished. The cost of that is they are not as sturdy as standard steel. If you need to adjust these wireforms at your house on your game you need needle nose pliers and regular pliers. You MUST bend at a point away from the welds. If you bend at the weld it is likey to snap off. All you need to do is go below the weld and force in needed direction with other pliers. You can wrap stainless rod around your arm into a circle. If you straighten it back to a flat line it is already weakened. I hope this makes sense to buyers. And I am fitting every set to my game, so adjusting should be minimal. Look at the pictures and see I am holding the rod below the weld and reshaping with my other pliers. I will help anyone that needs it.
5C481C5B-7CBA-4270-A982-F425A84869E1 (resized).jpeg7E9A32DE-DF68-4EFE-89EB-7A7063E658A4 (resized).jpeg
Quoted from Loganpinball:I am doing my best. I am sweating to death! Heres another rail together ready to tweak and polish.
[quoted image]
It’s humid as hell lately. Stay hydrated.
Two sets made, tuned and polished took me 8 hours. I learned that the each set is its own thing. My god man.. I did learn there is a critical ball drop opening diameter. Too big you get bad rebounds. Too narrow just doesnt work, there is a sweet spot. Today sucked. But, I have 2 sets ready. The previous sets are no good. I have to start them over. I had a support post on inside diameter of ball drop. The ball would strike that post over the rails and I think over time that would create issues. Now the posts are on outside diameter and the ball hits the entire round part of rail. Shitty day. Kicked my ass with these. Pictures are of set number 2.
25FD3F2C-DCBE-4705-BF49-E1E5FD00A8B2 (resized).jpeg7903EF9F-E354-4940-84B9-A1C18554DB61 (resized).jpegC74A69F7-83CE-4907-B6D5-F1535A7CF3AF (resized).jpegQuoted from Loganpinball:Two sets made, tuned and polished took me 8 hours. I learned that the each set is its own thing. My god man.. I did learn there is a critical ball drop opening diameter. Too big you get bad rebounds. Too narrow just doesnt work, there is a sweet spot. Today sucked. But, I have 2 sets ready. The previous sets are no good. I have to start them over. I had a support post on inside diameter of ball drop. The ball would strike that post over the rails and I think over time that would create issues. Now the posts are on outside diameter and the ball hits the entire round part of rail. Shitty day. Kicked my ass with these. Pictures are of set number 2.
[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]
Hang in there. Keep in mind, your "worst" work is better than anything else out there, and you can rest assured that there is a line of folks that would purchase those early rails no questions asked; knowing that they "may have issues over time." Maybe offer them up at a discount instead of scrapping them, to recoup some of your costs? We are all rooting for you! You are a skilled and dedicated man, for sure.
Quoted from blairan213:Hang in there. Keep in mind, your "worst" work is better than anything else out there, and you can rest assured that there is a line of folks that would purchase those early rails no questions asked; knowing that they "may have issues over time." Maybe offer them up at a discount instead of scrapping them, to recoup some of your costs? We are all rooting for you! You are a skilled and dedicated man, for sure.
Agree with the above 100%. I’d rather have a ball roll off a ramp once or twice during a game than have terrible plastic ramps in place. I do appreciate that you want them to be perfect before sending any of them out. I’m like that too. I don’t care as much when other do work for me or make something not exactly as I’d imagine it. But when I do something it has to be absolutely spot on. I have ocd issues or something. I’d imagine most of us, if not all, would be more than happy to pay a bit more for the ‘final end product’ to help you out with your additional costs and labor. Thanks for your hard work and dedication Jay!
Quoted from blairan213:you can rest assured that there is a line of folks that would purchase those early rails no questions asked;
For sure! Me included. Everything you’ve done to date has value, and there are a bunch of other cheap folk like me that would line up for a first run discount! And there are a ton of folk that will gladly wait to get your “perfected” ramps at a higher price.
Maybe you have accidentally expanded your market!
Start. Selling. Now!!
Quoted from Riefepeters:For sure! Me included. Everything you’ve done to date has value, and there are a bunch of other cheap folk like me that would line up for a first run discount! And there are a ton of folk that will gladly wait to get your “perfected” ramps at a higher price.
Maybe you have accidentally expanded your market!
Start. Selling. Now!!
I cut the ends up on the other sets yesterday. The constant impact point was a vertical line in center of those ramps. I was concerned that design would actually damage or pit the ball over time and thats not worth that risk.
This is a different type of wireform that I have never made before. The flat bar welded type causing a few things. First and foremost is the height of the ball on the rail. It sits very high and creates travel impact on the end way more than c chamnels. That is the learning curve with these. If they were c channels I would be able to bang these out like a machine. But, the lower rail does not have room for c channel type. If you look at my discovery rail you can see the return top rail does not even have to be above the drop hole. The ball even at speed just falls through. It was the possibility of damage to a ball long term that I was concerned about and the reason I cut them up already.
024775CA-543D-42B3-A86A-FD8C735A722B (resized).jpeg3DEEFDA1-2234-45D5-828E-D5D80B2F7725 (resized).jpegQuoted from Loganpinball:Two sets made, tuned and polished took me 8 hours. I learned that the each set is its own thing. My god man.. I did learn there is a critical ball drop opening diameter. Too big you get bad rebounds. Too narrow just doesnt work, there is a sweet spot. Today sucked. But, I have 2 sets ready. The previous sets are no good. I have to start them over. I had a support post on inside diameter of ball drop. The ball would strike that post over the rails and I think over time that would create issues. Now the posts are on outside diameter and the ball hits the entire round part of rail. Shitty day. Kicked my ass with these. Pictures are of set number 2.
[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]
I’ve been following from the start. Commend your work and dedication. My two cents would be take a closer look at your ball drop / catch loops compared to ones in other games.
Hope this puts you in the direction your looking to go. Keep up the good work keep it fun and you will enjoy making them! Best of luck freddy.
Quoted from freddy:I’ve been following from the start. Commend your work and dedication. My two cents would be take a closer look at your ball drop / catch loops compared to ones in other games.
Hope this puts you in the direction your looking to go. Keep up the good work keep it fun and you will enjoy making them! Best of luck freddy.
Thanks. I am trying a bigger die on the lower drop. We will see if this does better. The ones on discovery are big and they work great. Version # 4.. oooooofa
Going to keep adding pictures to this latest attempt to this post. I like the look of it so far
945
1015
1030
1105
1113 finished left ramp new design.
285D504F-FB5E-4D9B-8818-4115200B4DBB (resized).jpeg
CE9024D4-5C6F-4106-930C-6665692C4E72 (resized).jpeg
1DA03DAE-5F42-491D-A0FF-A4716D9315FD (resized).jpeg
D2BCEE11-30EE-42BC-B798-F5BD948BF551 (resized).jpeg
A6FC345D-B327-4E83-B3F0-1FEC1ACC07DF (resized).jpeg51C3FEB2-4865-4236-B85E-2428F0B0CB7A (resized).jpeg
CA35A284-3A2F-469D-AD0D-2C6D392329FD (resized).jpegE164C588-7CC2-45D2-A785-D4F055C44746 (resized).jpeg
Right rail new design
1115 start
1135
1145
1210 still need to straighten
1245 completed ( used preformed ball catches, blocking wall and mounts)
F710D621-D115-4428-99BC-59CF7D612A0A (resized).jpeg
95DFD3D1-9BF7-4BAB-84FC-DA92BD3E1698 (resized).jpeg1FDD3489-A831-4A5C-8BC1-7FB8AF2E9CA2 (resized).jpeg
8DB3227A-6E7A-462E-911F-B295B7D011CE (resized).jpeg
980B124A-5A0E-4650-864C-0A6707A373B4 (resized).jpeg
D654BD2B-76A6-41D9-92C4-8AACE7E65D76 (resized).jpegC5626442-8DB8-4A16-BCD0-FB4FE8A3CA17 (resized).jpeg
1C7B3F3F-4F05-4C92-A5ED-36E920A2D5C2 (resized).jpeg960B7B2C-9A35-4C0D-BB54-B2D10C0A4230 (resized).jpegTimelined build for my benefit and so you can see the time it takes to build them. This last version looks to be the best. They still can be fine tuned better, but they bolt on and look best of all of them. I am going to see if I can do anything with the ones I cut. I cut out the ball drops, I need to see if I can get them reshaped to this new drop circle shape. And I updated my template board.
Heres a video of this last version. The left ramp bolted on and needed no tuning. The right seems to need minor tuning. Either way these are way better for me to make. The tuning was a little crazy on previous versions.
Quoted from TheHive:Nice work on the latest Mando ramps. I’d love to see a video of your Discovery pinball in play! See that ball travel through all those wire forms.
Heres a video of it. Launch ball you have 3 shots. Soft plunge to pop bumpers, moderate plunge to right discovery rail and hard plunge to left discovery rail. And there is a vuk that is fed by rotating mech drop that fires ball back up to discovery ship, on its path there is a alternating mech so vuk goes left to right.
Code is none existant. Its been sitting since I tackled TNA redo. And led are too bright. Need ro lower the gi.
Quoted from Loganpinball:Heres a video of it. Launch ball you have 3 shots. Soft plunge to pop bumpers, moderate plunge to right discovery rail and hard plunge to left discovery rail. And there is a vuk that is fed by rotating mech drop that fires ball back up to discovery ship, on its path there is a alternating mech so vuk goes left to right.
Code is none existant. Its been sitting since I tackled TNA redo. And led are too bright. Need ro lower the gi.
Wow that’s impressive! Thanks for the video! How’s the play feel having ramps in TNA? It’s a game I’d love to get in my collection sometime. Adding ramps to it is an interesting idea.
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+!
