http://pinballpro.net/shop/theatre-of-magic-motorized-gold-tiger-saw-blade-w-lighted-marquee-mirror/

Yeah, like jyeakley shows, you CAN find it cheaper, but not by much.

I still remember when you could get the motorized saw upgrade for like $75... I, too, waited way too long. I just got mine earlier this year and had to cough up the $270ish as well. I never found it cheaper than that unless you go full DIY.

I saw the video of the guy on YouTube that made his mod with a computer fan. Seemed easy.

I'm having an issue and hopefully someone may be able to shed some light on this. My trunk is not turning and if and when it does it is sporadic I get the trunk error but then when I go into the trunk test it will not respond to command via the button input. I have done the leon fix board and cleaned the gearbox and added a new motor. I also just replaced the U3 and U4 chip on the motor control board and I see 12v and 5v where I should there as well as 12v to the motor. Really stumped at this point. Any help is appreciated.

Thanks!

link to my other thread before I replaced the L6203 chip:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/tom-trunk-error-leons-fix-anyone-done-this/page/12

Put the old board in and see if there is a difference.
Who knows, you just might have a bad replacement board...

Thanks for the response! If I'm understanding you correctly by old board you mean the opto board? The Leon board is a piggy back to the new opto board that's on there now.

I have tried by passing the Leon board and I get the same result. Also I checked Q40 and Q42 (Left & Right trunk control) transistors and pre drivers and the BR's since I was there and no issues there either. All were within .4-.6 v.

Can someone tell me the color black to use for the front on the Backbox? Also the color black for the wood next to the shooter lane. Thanks.

Krylon black satin or semi is good.
Small scratches a sharpie is a good match but dries a little glossy, a wipe down with a dry cloth will rub off the gloss.
I have even sprayed the paint into a cup and applied with a que tip for little nicks and gouges.

I burnted it years back at the top, too close to a lamp right above it.

So I figure bondo the top area there in the picture and then hit with some paint, is there any normal paint brush paint or is spray paint in a cup best?

20160904_174810 (resized).jpg

Quick question, after getting my TOM up again after 5 years in storage, I got everything working minus a bunch of bulbs that apparently burnt out. One issue I'm having is it doesn't consistently go up the right ramp. I'd say half the time it falls out the hole a little way up and it seems to kind of clunk up the ramp when it makes it instead of going smoothly. Is this normal or is it a level issue or something?

For the bulbs, are they all on one side, or random. If they are in a grouping, then there could be a whole string out...

Anyway, on to your ramp question, there should be a thin metal flap attached to the bottom of the "plastic" ramp that makes for a smooth transition from the playfield to the ramp. Make sure that is there. If the ball is "hopping" (you said clunking) up going up the ramp, it seems like that would be the culprit, and if so, it would be slowing the ball down enough to prevent getting around the ramp completely.

Just something to check.

If there wasn't a "hopping" up of the ball, I would say to check the playfield angle, or make sure that your flipper coils are the correct ones and working 100%.

All the parts are there. I set it to 6.5 degrees. The bulbs are random it seems. Two in theatre a few for the magic acts etc. There is also a magic post flasher that seems to be out. Where is the magic post? For the ramp, the ball just doesn't seem to want to go smooth. Don't know how to better describe it. Maybe like this. Shots that definitely have the power to get around the ramp are falling in the hole so I thought maybe it wasn't leveled right but I checked and the level is just about as good as it gets. Those shots Tend to be kind of banging into the side of the ramp as it goes up instead of nice and smooth like the center ramp.

I know what you mean. There is a wire form switch part way up the ramp. This keeps the ball from coming back down the ramp and diverts it to the hole in the ramp. Sometimes when I shoot the right ramp the ball seems to get hung up on that wire form and prevents it from getting that ramp shot. I think that is normal. Maybe a different wire form shape to prevent it from hanging up?

Is that color For the Backbox or shooter lane?

Anyone know what to do about the gold habitrail rusting? 6 years ago there was no easy solution.

Krylon black satin or semi is good.

For the brass ramp polishing, you can try Brasso metal polish. I've had good luck with it. But straight rust, you may to try Evaporust. There is a bit of a following here: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/cult-of-evaporust

But these are Two different blacks on the shooter lane and blackbox.

I had mine replated by woody76 recently and thay turned out awsome.

Will Brasso work for this?

20160905_100406 (resized).jpg

Yes -- you are correct. I was just quoting above and missed that I copied in two colors.

I think it will. I had similar looking ramps on a Baywatch and it cleaned up quite nicely with Brasso.

So which color is for the backbox and which is for the shooter lane? or are those both for the backbox?

1. Double check leveling both ways (front to back and side to side)

2. Make sure all the screws are secured holding the ramp down. Also make sure the protectors at the beginning of the ramp are secure.

3. Make sure flippers are properly set. Put a toothpick in the hole under the flippers and ensure the bottom of the flippers rest gently on the tooth pick...remove toothpicks after adjustments

4. If steps 1-3 don't work...practice - you probably aren't hitting the ramp right!!

When I hit the ramp shot correctly, it flows like butter.

Brasso should work. If you want a perfect finish, talk to Woody76 (Ron) - he can brass plate them. I did this and they look amazing!

Good Luck! Great game!

This is what I use for the backbox and cabinet

IMG_6131 (resized).jpg

Brasso smoothed out the wire but it still looks the same. At least it Will be smooth. I have one lock light that I keep getting to work and it keeps going out again. Any ideas what I can try?

use nerv-dull keep rubbing until smooth, keep rubbing until its polished. tear off what you need put it back in the can.
wipe off any white residue later, if any with mist n shine.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/George-Basch-Co-NO.L-5-Ounce-Nevr-Dull-Polish-Wadding-Each/21984076?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=795&adid=22222222227021769000&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=51794510711&wl4=pla-83197939271&wl5=1026201&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=112562476&wl11=online&wl12=21984076&wl13=&veh=sem

If it is one of the twist bulb holders, there can be a pit in the solder plate on the board. You can reflow more solder on it to remove it. Or try a new/different twist socket.

Yea it is the twist holder and figured it was kinda what you mentioned but was hoping it wasn't.

Can someone tell me which protector from pinball decals fits this Game. They list wpc 95 and wpc 93.

Tonight it was making skill shots on its own. Ball sent to plunger and it awarded the shot. Is my sensor to sensitive at the trunk?

I've had mine think that the trunk was being "hit" all of the time. I got tired of adjusting the eddy sensor underneath the playfield, so I bought one that auto-calibrates itself. Fixed my problem.

I got it from here:
https://www.pinbits.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=375

What type of protector are you talking about? I didn't readily see a playfield one on their site (plus that would be specific to each game), and the only thing that I could find that was wpc93 or wpc95 were flipper button protectors.

EDIT: I see now that you ARE looking for flipper protectors based off of your other post here:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/flipper-button-protectors

When I look up WPC versions, it shows ToM as WPC-S which came before WPC95. I didn't see mention of WPC93 anywhere. (found info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Williams_Pinball_Controller)

However, if I go to Flipper Fidelity, it lists ToM as a WPC93 game (http://flipperfidelity.com/sound/williams-bally-speaker-systems/williams-bally-complete-replacement-speaker-system-for-dcs-machines.html)

Yes button protectors, sorry about that. The problem is, I asked the person from the site and they weren't sure either. Looking at the pictures, one of them seems to have less plastic above the flipper button, however I have TOM and NGG here, one WPC95 and TOM I guess is WPC 93 and the flippers look to be about in the same position.

I like these because they appear to just hold in place by the buttons and won't do any permanent damage. I need them now for the kids while they are young.

I just use these and then cut any extra mylar off that is on the metal side rail with a sharp razor or exacto knife: http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=1870

Those stick on though right? So potential damage?

I've never tried to take them off and have had them on games for years. If you want to take them off, you may want to put some wax down first (playfield) and and also test on a different part of the game. I would imagine that you can pull up art from the cab similarly to that of a playfield.

Anyone know about this humming I have?

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/tom-humming-noise

That's why I'm looking at the pinball decal ones. Held in place by flipper button.

Actionpinball has it and yes it's worth it. Without it spins with captive ball hit. With it spins during Tiger saw and Tiger saw multiball. Sad that people have to pay so much for this mod. I don't know what happened to the Tom Callahan version. I guess that's pin logic. I have the prototype in my machine from Tom Callahan when he made it for the 1.4 rom and it's still working many years later.

Yeah, but isn't 1.4 known to have some (rare) multiball failure or something? I remember there being some reasons why people said not to go to 1.4... It would be nice to have the saw spin as designated by the 1.4 ROM though...

I've never experienced any bugs in 1.4H. I'm not saying they aren't there, but so far, nothing.

I'm no expert player but it seems fine to me. Multiball seems fine, I have the occasional time when a ball came out the trap door instead of going to the plunger after lock, but I font think that's Rom related.

I have finshed the wizard mode many times and never a hiccup. So if there is an error it must be super rare that only a very few people have seen it.

Nice. Thanks for the feedback guys.

So it dawned on me today... I am getting closer and closer to getting my ToM brassed pieces back which includes side rails of course. So I need to rip out the old side rails and put the new ones on... Not a problem there, however my cabinet decals could use replacement as they were dinged up back before I even got the machine. I don't want to have to remove the current rails, put the new ones on, and then at some point in the future pull the brassed ones back off just so that I can replace the cabinet decals.

So here is my question...

Where is a good place to get a quality set of ToM cabinet decals in the U.S. without spending "big bucks" as in I would like to keep it as far under $300 as possible.

I know that there are some on eBay from Mr. Pinball, but he is out of Australia, so I am spending like $45 just in shipping ($268 total). Planetary Pinball could get me a set for $303 shipped to my door. I am sure that there are others as well, but I have no idea if any of these are good quality or not, let alone what is the best bang for the buck as well.

Anyone have experience with a cabinet decal set for ToM?

Or is it not worth the hassle for a few dings on the cabinet? I was reading a thread here about someone with a REALLY messed up T2 cabinet, and a lot of people said that even that wasn't worth the re-decal....

Plus, it isn't like I am looking to spend more money. Brassing all of the key pieces (buying new legs, rails, hinges in the cost) is like $800 plus shipping, plus I just got my Pinduino kit, so I really am not eager to spend another $300 if it isn't worth it.

Honestly, the casual person probably doesn't even notice the dings. I just know that they are there. They are all just "decal deep" snags/dings. Nothing down into the wood....

I just installed a set of decals from Mr Pinball from Australia they are nice quality and went on very easy.

If you don't notice the dings I would not bother. A picture might help to understand how extensive the "dings" are.
It is not the $300 that you should be worried about but the huge hours of labour required to do a re-decal. I very happily spend $300 on decals if it would not be such a big job.

You can temporarily install your new brass side rails without using double sided tape till you sort out your new cab decals. The screw and head hinge on each side is good enough to hold it in place.

I am attaching 4 photos, all from the right hand side of the machine and right hand side of the backbox. This side has the most damage which happened during our move about 6 years ago. Zero damage happened about 15 years ago when we moved 3 hours away, but we move 2 hours away and it got dinged up. Made me mad at the time, but it was due to a touch of carelessness from my father-in-law, but he busted his butt to help us move, so I couldn't complain.

20160911_221626 (resized).jpg

20160911_221640 (resized).jpg

20160911_221643 (resized).jpg

20160911_221654 (resized).jpg

The damage is quite noticeable. To be honest before I would re-brass my ramps I would rather redecal. In particular when considering resale value. When buying a machine value is very much placed on items that take many hours to fix (playfield, cabinet decals and to some extend back box electronincs). Ramps are an easy fix and anybody can do it (mabe not cheap but easy). Decals are hard and time consuming and ultimately much more expensive. So if you have the time buy some new decals and really bling up your TOM.
BTW also thumbs up for Mr.Pinball decals.