Yup - certifiable nuts. After many fits and false starts, this project is fully funded and off the ground. I have a master carpenter to help with the fine fitting and cuts and a high learning curve for everything else. The idea is to do a 100% acrylic case, back box and playfield. I have all the materials for everything but the back box. That will come later depending on how the rest of it goes. The "donor machine" is a Sonic Super Straight. I picked it up for a song as an easy project. It's 100% working (or rather it was before I disassembled it!) and a pretty fun game. The casing is made of particle board that got wet at some point and has disintegrated. I've already done box repair and large stencil painting so I thought I would challenge myself to do something different. Having been inspired by a shoddy case and a clear acrylic PC case kit I built for the wife some time back, I set off on solving all the details of a project of this magnitude. (IE - you can't staple braided ground wire and light sockets to acrylic.) I also did a quick search and found that the Pacific Pinball Museum has done 3 of these. So knowing it can be done, I got busy...

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Laying out all of the pieces on a sheet of 3/4" acrylic. Going with all the same dimensions as the original wood casing to avoid modifications for coin door, flipper buttons, etc if the thickness were different. The various parts will be rough cut here to make it easier to move around. Then they'll be taken to work where we have an oversized table saw with a 14" industrial MTCG blade for the final sizing and corner beveling. Then they'll come back home where my carpenter has built me a jig for laying the pieces into a perfect 90 degrees for "welding" the corners. It all goes well that'll happen in about two weeks. First I have to add all the little bits and pieces to make the case the same. Graphics will be (hopefully) etched into the sides for a different look.

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Took a lot longer than I thought. The cutting was very slow going and I had to give my poor 25 year old B&D sabre saw breaks so as not to overheat it. I sourced plastic cutting blades from TAPPlastics.com that didn't work worth a hoot. Did much better with a Porter-Cable down cut laminate blade. It made nice smooth cuts with no melt and refill. Just had to go slow so as not to make the saw jump out of the slot.

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Early experiments in mounting play field pieces. 1) A few screws together and close to the edge with no cracking. 2) Cutting a switch slot. 3) Drilling insert holes with a spade bit. Success.

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Also found I could solder the lights up while already mounted to the play field piece without marring the plastic. That will help a lot. Tried using clear silicone to secure lights normally held down by staples. Worked very well but looked like ass. Will look into other options.

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True, but I am adding 75 pounds to an already heavy machine that will be supported by 8 bolts.

I wish! LOL

True. Side pieces are 53"X20".

1) To me, the making is the fun part. Even if I could afford to get everything cut/assembled/etc I wouldn't. Just having it is not the point.
2) I was having a couple of local plastics fab shops working me up an estimate just for fun when I found out what the materials cost was. Eek. Besides, having never made a pin case before I doubt they would get it right the first time.
3) This is the next step. Having done successful pinball cabinet repair/rebuilding and machinery repair, I am moving on to duplicating an existing machine. After this is a re-theme or a custom one off.
4) It's fun!

This is how I'm doing the plastics and the playfield as well. This was done using a clear waterslide decal and the results aren't too impressive when held up to the light. I thought about doubling it for better results. I'm going to opt for stenciling and painting with black paint. The plastics will be image reversed and painted on the bottom side. The play field will be painted on top and then either clear coated or mylared.

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Stencils cut with the Silhouette Cameo.

Taking any and all advice and thanks for the tips. I know the sabre saw cut better the longer I used it so it makes sense that the same would apply for drill bits. I did get some bits made for drilling plastic but I'll reserve judgement after my experience with the sabre saw "plastic cutting blade." I have attempted "flame polishing" on some of my practice pieces. I do NOT have the touch! Will take a lot more practice to get that down... I am experimenting with regular bits, plastic bits, spade bits, hole saws and flush-cut router bits. We'll see who wins. I have had my first crack incident. Fortunately it went where nothing was affected. Could have been disastrous. Still worried about all that weight on 8 bolts.

Okay, screw the paint. In another test, I wanted to see how sandblasting the plastic would look for doing the side art work. I must say, it is quite awesome. The picture does it no justice. But when side lit by color leds, I believe it will be pretty cool. Will do this for the plastics as well and possibly the playfield.

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Sooooo, I'm thinking that leds will work for the lighting in an old EM? You have no need to fool a transistor into staying latched so wouldn't they just work? Or would I still need a resistor to keep from blowing them out?

Must. Have.

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Huge day yesterday. Final cut all the lower cab parts including 45s, bottom piece slots and the top slots for whatever you call the plastic doohickie that holds the glass in place. (Glass guides?) Anyways, lots of fun was had, a few curse words were exchanged and all evidence was properly disposed of before the boss returned late in the day. It's about to get real up in here.

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Then there's this thing...

There it is...

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My carpenter buddy came up with this here jig to hold two pieces of the body at a good 90 with the joint down for gravity. I can get the sections aligned and clamped into place before completing the bonding process. Now all I have to do is practice a whole bunch 'til I'm good at it...

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Practice... practice... practice...

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Well, the topper's almost ready! LOL Just add some LED lighting and it'll be sweet. Actually this is my first attempt to do a corner melding. Many, many more practices to come. Also, my portable, home made sand blasting box seems to work just fine.

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Using this stuff. Pretty awesome so far.

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Umm, lemme see if I can finish the proto first, then we'll talk. LOL

Table saw. It looked really good until it passed by the backside of the blade. Had access to a high end jointer which we did use for the flat edges but doing the 45s on them was difficult to do well. I will be block sanding them to make a much better joint.

I'm thinking the clouding/crazing is due to the high humidity we still have going on here. If it doesn't get any better with later tests I'll be switching. Also, no flame polishing for me.

My wife has a clear acrylic computer case I built for her from a kit. Part of the inspiration for this project. I agree... It's awesome when it is clean. When.

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Didn't get a lot of playtime this weekend, but a few items were worked on. It's been quite awhile since I played with a router and longer since I worked plastic. I'm starting with the simplest and least visible pieces. Hopefully I'll get better as we go along. Item #1 is the bottom of the lower casing. It was previously sized and cut with the other major pieces so I'm down to the hole where the on/off switch goes and a couple of air slots that are located under the two cross pieces that support the bulk of the machinery for the game. Step one was to drill the switch hole with a hole saw bit. Step two was to make a starter hole where I traced out the opening. 1/2"

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Next, clamp a guide piece to run the router against and carefully run the length of the marked area.

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And....voila! Or tada if you prefer. Now, to add supports, the switch mount piece, etc, etc, etc...

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Wrote to the PPM several times when I first considered doing this and never heard back from them. Lexan was my first choice, having worked with it to make boat windscreens and such in the Navy but it is quite cost prohibitive. The acrylic I have is heat press formed vice extruded and will hopefully hold up to the abuse.

Regular bits seem to do just fine in the router. I did go with a laminate bit in the jigsaw. It out cut everything else.

It's an existing machine. (Super Straight by Sonic) I'm merely replicating all of the support in clear plastic.

The piece I purchased for the playfield is "Acrystar" which is a cast acrylic polymer based on methyl methacrylate. The testing I have done is promising, but does not replicate a steel ball traveling at whatever speed a 70's era Williams flipper can fling it at. I've priced like sized lexan and it is doable. Meanwhile, the material I have is very easy to work with and quite flexible. I tried to overstress and crack it but that still doesn't tell me if it'll take shock loads.

I considered that route. I also looked into doing a S/S frame (I'm a welder) to support all the structure and covering it with a thin, cheap plexi but in the end I decided whole hog is the way to go. Nothing really new here, just different material and different glues.

Yup. Lexan is a brand name, like Kleenex. That particular piece was a freebie given by a friend that was sadly too thin for the playfield so it went to the bottom piece and will be in a few other places as well.

Replicating the on/off switch mount. Hole saw for the large circle then routed out to the proper depth. Regular bit for the remainder. Some edge polishing next.

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OK. Deep breath, and lets start on the coin door piece. First, we'll drill some pilot holes for the door and the plunger.

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Next, we'll jigsaw out the major portion where the coin door goes.

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I am acquiring the acrylic locally as shipping makes getting it elsewhere too expensive. (It's freaking heavy!) Fortunately, I have a local vendor who has competitive pricing. The 3/4" sheet to make the case was just over $15 per square foot. My plan is to do the side graphics with sandblasting and light it up w/LEDs.

Now, I'll mate the new with the old and take a 1/2" bearing router bit and clean out the remaining material. This is my "C-N-C"... cut an' copy. AKA lo-tech.

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Last on this part is the hole for the credit button. Regular bit all the way through then a 1" spade bit to recess the button. Ready for graphics!

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I purchased these in several sizes and so far I am reasonably impressed with their performance. Designed "for acrylic and polycarbonate materials." So far I have found that duller is better. The more I use the jigsaw blade the better and cleaner it cuts.

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Trying to use as much original hardware as possible, but still wrestling with what to use where the GI lights were stapled to the back of the score mount and the underside of the playfield. Not sure exactly what you are refering to but I take all suggestions! Pictures are good too. I like pictures.

Sandblast like the little test topper earlier in the post. And while I have you on the phone... 1) What kind of glue would you recommend for the inserts? 2) I'm considering sandblasting the P/F design as well and then covering with mylar. Any thoughts on that?

Yer killin' me, Smalls!

Another small piece completed, but good proof of concept for mounting and polishing. (No flames here - 220grit, 500grit, 1200grit, buffing wheel.)

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Gotcha! Looks good but may be oversized for what I need. Great suggestion!

Yeah, there's a pic way back where I tried hot glue and clear silicone RTV. It was up to the task but looked like crap. My favorite solution at this time is to go with small S/S screws. Just a ton more drilling and screwing. The pieces for that will be the last produced so I have time yet to explore other options. Meanwhile, if anyone wants to know where to get really good ground braid for a really good price, I found it.

Slow week in the progress department. Between work and honey-dos, not a lot got done. I managed to test fit the plunger and start button to the new piece. Like a glove. Next, I completely disassembled the coin door to make it as light as possible while fitting and drilling into the new piece. Boy, does it need cleaning. And 5 pesetas for a game? That must have been a long, long time ago!

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Slowly but surely. Spent the week playing with my new LED strip lights from superbrightleds.com I was attempting to see how well it would light up the graphics that will be sandblasted into the sides. The results were less than encouraging. Did more research and found that depth of cut is key. Since I am merely sandblasting and not carving or gouging I thought that I would not be getting the depth required to cause the images to light up the way I had hoped. Eventually I remembered that one of my test pieces was done with aluminum oxide instead of the cheap playground sand I used elsewhere. I put the LEDs up to it without even polishing the side and BAM!! The graphic popped like a weasel with new springs. I also discovered that it is true that graphics reverse printed on the inside of the case will look much better than ones blasted onto the outside. (And, bonus, it will make it much easier to clean the machine.) Should get around to doing this to the coin door piece this weekend. The rest of the past week was eaten by work and new acquisitions. (2 Space Invaders. It's a disease. There is no cure.) Pics to follow...

Ok, so here's my unscientific test results. (No LEDs were harmed in the making of this presentation.) Pic 1 is the topper test sidelit by the LEDs. As you can see, the sandblasted portions don't really carry the light at all. Pic 2 is a practice sample blasted with aluminum oxide, blasted side out. Pic 3 is what I'll be doing. Same piece, blasted side in. I think it looks the best of the three.

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So here's the raw and cleaned up images of the coin door graphics. Once I reverse the image I'll cut it on the Cameo to get my stencil and prepare to apply it to the piece.

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Progress, slow but steady. Constructed my redneck engineering sandblast cabinet today. The ones locally available are not only too small, but not free. I hate not free. This one cost a large cardboard box that my new upright freezer came in, a roll of duct tape, a small piece of plastic and a few hours time. Tested this evening with sifted playground sand on the bar lockdown mechanism. Works. I'll load it up with the good stuff tomorrow. (Aluminum oxide.)

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Cut the stencil tor the coin door piece today as well. Should get time to blast that tomorrow!

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If you look way back to the beginning, I tried to do decals with just black lines and hated the way it looked. After considering spray paint, I decided I would do the sandblasting for all graphics. (Case, plastics, P/F and B/G.)

Agreed. My setup is near airtight. I use a half face respirator and then let it settle before opening up and evacuating the chamber.

OK, finally, some pay off. Took a 4-day weekend but I finally feel like I am actually getting somewhere. I swear it is all I can do to not rush this 'cause I only get one chance. So here's the coin door section with the mask applied on a makeshift stand I whipped up. Turns out the stand was too tall for my home baked sandblast cabinet and I ended up just propping the back with a 2X4. Anyways, I did the initial blast then pulled it for an inspection.

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Here's the result. I identified a few places that were not blasted properly and marked them with a Sharpie. It makes it easier to see in the blast cabinet and I just hit it until the black is gone.

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The results...

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To tell the truth, I'm starting to impress myself. And when I added the LEDs...

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Yup. Just doing a little proof of concept test with a trial strip and some duct tape. The strips I intend to use are incredibly thin and bright and should be easy to hide. http://www.superbrightleds.com/cat/flexible-strips-and-bars/

You can buy in bulk length and then customize to need. These have copper pads every 3" where you can cut and solder in leads.

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Not sure which ones you are talking about. A pic or catalog link would be good... thanks!

Yep. I have done it but do not prefer it. You can cool it with water as you drill, just be sure to clean and dry immediately after. Low/med speed, light pressure always. Let the drill do the work, never force it. Whatever I have in the chuck of the press, it's just a slow, steady process. Pressure makes for chips/cracks.

Will look into this...

http://www.harborfreight.com/portable-abrasive-blaster-kit-37025.html Cabinet was free. The blaster was a couple bucks. This one actually works pretty well, as you can see. Performs with my home garage pancake compressor. I get about a minute of spray time to a minute of compressor run. Shooting with the 70 grit aluminum oxide.

Still undecided...
1) Three colors on cabinet(left side, right side, coin door), fourth for P/F and fifth for head.
2) Color changing all around.
3) Blue lower cabinet, green playfield, red head/ back glass.
Leaning towards #3. The point of the color here is to highlight and accent, not grab your attention. Always taking suggestions...

That's exactly what it is. Mostly won't be seen. Yep, a couple of minutes of wet sanding with each grit successively until that level of scratches are gone. (Using a block where I could to keep it flat.) Then the buffing wheel with polish for that extra shine. I happened to have an old bench grinder I hadn't used in years so I pulled the grinding wheels and got a couple of buffing wheels. One leather and one cotton. Makes polishing the metal and plastic parts extra nice and easy. I was actually surprised with the ease of this. And thanks.

Been a rough week or two with cooler temps than normal and lots of work at work. Overtime is a good thing and I never turn it down. Today's goal, weather dependent of course, is to finish the blasting of parts for the cabinet sides and plastics. Took a lot of work to get the artwork ready. Now I just have to bring the images up in the Silhouette software, reverse and size, and cut.

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The plastics.

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1) Mr Forstner, I like the cut of your jib. Or the jib of your cut. Or... hell, you make a nice hole, k? Flipper button.

2) Ready for grit media impalement. Aim for the shiny spots, k?

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Plastic set - check.

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Side panel. Hard to see the blasting results with the paper still on the outside, but you get the idea...

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Gonna need more LEDs...

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"Some assembly required..."

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OK. First dry fit-up today and all looks well. Meanwhile, I have more practice pieces curing in the jig. Trying to figure out why I am getting so much of a crazing effect. That'll make for ugly corners.

Kitten approved, as you can see, so I've got that going for me.

Thanks for all the compliments and encouragement. It helps a ton!

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On the other side of the garage... (yeah, it's the same side but I needed a segue...)

1) A little tuning and a lot of cleaning and this will be transferred to it's acrylic counterpart.
2) Every label in this sucker is bi-lingual. Smarter than me.
3) Multi-national service outlet. Two prong or two blade - no problemo!
4) I've seen worse. MUCH worse.

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Joey! Yeah, I actually have watched a lot of his videos. I can relate to them much better than some of the "pro" website how-to videos. I think the problem I'm actually having is called "clouding" and it is due to our high humidity here. May have to due the major construction inside.

Got it. Thanks. (Hard head here... tough to penetrate.)

"HEPing," huh? Had to look that one up! No, staying classic with a few updates. Color LEDs lighting the side artwork and soft white LEDs in the backbox so as not to blind the players. Probably some thing in the case to light up the machinery and such. I considered clear flipper bats and clear posts, but concluded that I had to have some contrast. Then I saw these - ebay.com link: itm

Sold. Still considering options for the flippers. Other than that it will be all original. The idea for me was that anything wood would be turned to clear plexi. Casing, back box, playfield, etc. Also doing the backglass, transition and guides. It's all starting to shape up now, but March is coming fast and I've got 4 other machines to prep for TPF. Wish me luck!

Light work weekend. Finished grooming over the machinery and spent some time compiling a list o' stuff to order for the other 4 machines I'll be bringing to TPF to be played and hopefully sell. (Thanks, PBR, you guys are the best!) Managed a little garage time and finished routing the slots for the machinery platform supports, the back box support and the coinbox back stop. Also finished cutting out all of the corner blocks, platform support blocks and playfield supports. Picked up a new piece of polycarbonate for the playfield. (See, I can listen!) Now all I need to do is dress all the corners and prep for final assembly. Meanwhile, working on the back box support collar and stripping inserts from the old play field. Getting ready to service the 4 score assemblies and credit counter. Whew!!

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OK, EM gurus. How do I repair this? In my navy days, I would have just filled the sucker with hot lead! Do I just heat it up and melt in some solder?

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Still progressing, slow going at this point. Down to polishing up all the cab pieces before final assembly of the lower cab. Even though most of the corner marriages won't be seen thanks to legs and lockdown bar, it still has to be a good, solid joint that can take abuse without cracking. Going to add in cab protectors for a little extra flex and may need longer leg bolts. Meanwhile, still cleaning score reels and stepper motors etc, etc, etc.

Eh, it's been done. LOL

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"Tanked." I like the show too but this was a horrific idea. Ugly don't begin to describe IMHO.

Finally, a good productive day. The spousal unit is down hard w/ H1N1 so I was free to work uninterrupted while she slept off last nights puke fest. Thanks, whoever invented Tamiflu. Today was my second dryfit test with the machinery supports and coinbox back stop added in. I also threw in all the angle braces and machinery platform for fit, trim and drilling. Everything looks excellent. A little more dressing on the corners and we will assemble the lower cab.

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The next trick was to figure out how to duplicate the spiked T-nut / bolt system that secures the machinery platform to the supports. Thanks to the helpful folks at Ace, I got that covered.

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That same trick should work for the head bolts, just a little bigger version. I'm finding that for every accounted hour on this project there seems to be two hours of unaccounted time for stuff I am not anticipating. The lower casing has been the beast I assumed it would be and then some. I sincerely hope that once it is assembled, the rest will flow a lot easier. It will become more about taking stuff from the old and putting it in the new. Once I get the case filled in and the machinery transferred to its new home, I'll be duplicating the score board while building up the back box. After that, just the play field! Easy, right?

Last item today was to affix the playfield supports to the case sides. So far, so good.

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I like to hedge my bets, so I went ahead and added screws to the playfield supports. It's pretty heavy, with a large rack of relays and the bonus score motor.

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First, of course, I did a dozen or so tests to find the maximum drill bit width allowable while maintaining grip of the screw and structural integrity of the part. Any good fabricator knows you always test it first. You'll know the hole is too small when...

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I am taking copious amounts of notes for my own future reference... I am also categorizing as such because the difference in size and material. (Acrylic vs polycarbonate, extruded vs cast, etc., etc., etc....) I can be a li'l A/R, but it makes me a consistent ass instead of an unpredictable one!

You would have heard me scream.

Done. Glued up. No looking back now. Whew! Guess I'd better get started shining up the legs...

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Thanks! Nice references. The second one works great but the first just gives a good starting point. Most wood (even "hard" woods) will compress, to a point. The plexi, especially the cast kind does not. If the hole is too small, either it cracks, or if polycarbonate (like Lexan) the friction will heat it until the screw is stuck and you snap the head off. Not wanting any of that in my project, I start big and work my way down. (Wastes less screws that way.) It seems to be a fine line between too big to give grip and too small to work. My bit set breaks down to 64ths and I'm getting better at making educated guesses. But testing never hurts.

Option two. You can tap the acrylic but one over tightening and you're done. (Drill bigger, thread again, etc.) As for self-tappers, I believe they would work, but length is key here. The drilling tip would end up emerging from the other side of the plastic. Also, trying to remain as original as is reasonable, fasteners included. Thanks for the suggestions!

And then there's this. "One of these things is NOT like the others..." Never really paid much attention to the legs. I had four, they were the same length and all were covered in crappy rattle can silver. (Applied while attached, of course.) So now that the time has come, I find one is chrome and the other three are burnished. And one of the levelers is NOT coming out. Yes I know how, I do it at work all the time. Cut, drill, tap.... Sometimes you just gotta say, fuckit. New legs on the way. Done and done.

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Meanwhile...

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If I had the room... EMs are easy, dude. Just throw in a little mechanical action where the transistors and ICs usually sit and you got it!

Arrrrrrg!

I sourced mine locally by searching plastics in the local yellow pages. There are lots of places online, but the shipping will kill you. (This crap's heavy! I will own the world's heaviest machine when this is done...) I bought mine at a local plastic fabrication shop that also sells raw materials and supplies. They are a good bunch and offered some excellent advice on techniques. Naturally I payed a little more per square foot than I can find online, but there's no shipping and I get to inspect the pieces before I buy them. I would hate to buy a $600 piece of acrylic or lexan only to have it show up cracked.

Early calculations put it at 100 pounds over the initial weight of the machine. A 3/4" sheet of acrylic will best a 3/4" sheet of standard ply by 70 pounds alone. Throw in some extra for the back box, equipment platform and playfield and we probably hit right around 100# more. Moving it will be a challenge. I am modifying my cart so it lifts by the sides, not the bottom piece. Also thinking about s/s channel around the bottom which will keep it from getting chewed up as well as hide the LEDs. It gets moved in pieces, no doubt.
When I started this, the idea was to replace all wood with acrylic. There was no specific plan on how or what. In the ever-changing process, I considered clear everything. (Bumper caps, flippers, etc.) As it started to come together, I found I liked the contrast and color more than clear. It would be relatively easy to make a clear door panel but with all the crap behind it (coin mechs, coin return chute, light mounts, etc) I really didn't see the point. Besides, you can't see through the player!

My intention was to do this for under $1500 and I'm pretty certain I will. The 3/4" sheet was the biggest expense at $600. Around $300 more for the playfield and back box material. The machine itself was $175. Throw in a couple hundred more for bonding agents, fasteners, drill bits, saw blades, etc. It'll be close. Factor in the hours and it gets a little ridiculous. But, it's a labor of love, not profit. The knowledge I gained doing this is great and if I was ever dumb enough to do another, I'm already fully equipped and could probably do it in half the time.

Okay. When this is all said and done, I am writing another entry called "A Pinball case; not just a damn box!" Thankfully, I have a not so silent partner named Bill. Bill D. Carpenter. (No relation to Karen.) While I might have made this without him, it would not have looked near as pretty! Sooooooooo we're up to making the neck and the interrelationships of all the pieces is quickly driving me to drink. Heavily. Saga with pics to follow...

Step one - this angle is spot on.

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Step 2 - We need to repeat that angle here, so all will be flush at the back of the machine.

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Meanwhile, a goody package arrived. I must say I am somewhat disappointed in that this is what passes for "chrome" these days. I'm guessing that somewhere between the EPA and cost controls we went from dipping to electroplating? (sigh...)

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Also, I have decided to "pretty up" a few parts. Normally, no one would see these...

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In recognition of Bill's skills, here is what was left after he cut two pieces from one, minus the width of a saw blade... He be savin' me mad coin. (The better he cuts, the less I have to buy.) "Measure thrice, damn it! Time is of no consequence!"

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And of course... for all the good there is sometimes bad. While cutting trim pieces for the head, we attempted two for the price of one with polycarbonate. Turns out it was a baaaaaaad idea! The saw blade heated up enough to melt the plastic and it ran into one of the expansion slots and grabbed. The piece shattered and took off. Fortunately, we were well out of the line of fire and not even a band aid was needed. (Although, clean shorts were sought out.) The top right piece was lodged into the saw blade and stopped the saw. The bottom right piece flew 20 feet to the left of the saw. The little triangle wound up between my feet and the other piece just sat there. My maxim in life is that complacency kills. Always pay attention to where and how you stand in relation to the work being performed. Safety first and last.

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