Naptha removes the rapid rac adhesive remover.

Also, im using rapid-prep before clearcoating.

No fish eyes, no wax remnants, no citrus oil remnants, no glue smears etc.

Its also an awesome product.

It does however remove paint from paint markers, like molotow keyline repairs etc.

On the plus side, it removes paint marker from screw ups...

I use it a lot.

Naptha alone is just not good enough if you are going to clearcoat in my opinion.

After rapid prep i usually wipe down again with naptha just before spraying to make sure its completely dry and wait 10 mins.

Welp, that’s two better living through chemistry products I've ordered this week on your recommendation...

Lol, yep.

As always, test on a small area to be sure it doesnt lift or damage paint.

Maybe under the apron.

Rapid prep is non toxic and solvent free.

But its incredibly powerful for what it does.

I spritz it on and wipe it off.

I don't really let anything set too long on a playfield.

You never know what will happen on these old finishes.

Agreed, every once in a while I get a dribble of isopropyl on a project and I’m all “AAAAAAHHHHH!!!”

My bottle of Rapid Tac arrived just in time for me to have already busted out the alcohol and flour, lol. Fortunately this project had only a little bit of adhesive to remove.

It’s been a source of anxiety on every project, trying to be extra certain to remove all the residue from ME + alcohol, etc, after the first phase of a playfield restoration. So that was a very welcome recommendation. I think I also got on to using adhesion promoter at your recommendation. One day we will have the fully comprehensive playfield restoration guide written and indexed. (Hopefully then a host of new products won’t emerge, rendering all that collective knowledge obsolete! )

This is surely correct; in my reply to RightNut I’m referring to not worrying about how long you wait before level sanding and commencing the next phase of work. I haven’t had any problems with sanding out areas where clear had to be dripped in within a couple days of application (knock on wood); I *have* cursed myself for putting a cleared playfield on the back burner and then coming back to sand the dripped-in clear after a couple weeks when it had hardened more fully though!

Just wondering if someone can give me some insight here on what to do with decals.

I'm getting ready to lay down some clearcoat on an EM playfield I've stripped completely (front and back). A lot of texts were in rough shape so I recreated them for decals. I've also purchased all new inserts as 90% of them were cracked or in bad shape.

So my question is...after roughing up the inserts and gluing them in then laying down the "lockdown" clear. I need to sand the surface flat correct? However, if I do this then the decals will look cloudy laying them on the sanded surface. If I polish the surface for the decals to stick and look good....then how do I sand over them for the next layer of clear to bind?

If I put the lockdown layer on and sand with 1000 grit and put decals on this. Will the decals stick and look ok over than and will 1000 give enough tooth for the next layer of clear to bite?

I can't seem to find a clear process for this in the guide.

Quick thoughts out there from everyone.

I have a Bally Transporter where the playfield is in good shape. Small amount of wear and mylar over 80% of the main PF. I have cleaned it and polished the mylar. I am happy with it, but have the wording on the 2 outlanes and the ball launcher that is worn or missing. Would it be better to leave it as is or attempt to section off that area, apply decals and clear over trying to feather that clear into the old finish? As I write this I think I know the answer.
Mike

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I recently purchased a Getaway playfield (Buthamburg , 2017) from a fellow Pinsider. It was unpacked for the first time ever yesterday. The playfield looks incredible but there are tiny cracks above 4 inserts at the center of the PF. The cracks run along the intersection of insert/wood and I can only image this is due to some shrinkage of the clear and maybe natural flex of wood/movement of insert although I can't feel a raised edge of the insert. The cracks take nothing away from the beauty of the artwork, but I don't want to ignore it and run into bigger problems after the swap so I'm looking for opinions on the best course to remedy. The goal is repair, it will get played a lot and I don't need it to be a museum piece so mirror finish is not what I'm looking for.

I scanned many of the posts in this thread and came up with 3.1 options since nothing I read specifically addressed an issue like this.

1) use xacto to make a channel along the crack, dropper fresh clear, sand smooth
2) sand down the problem spots, fill with dropper (if nec.), shoot entire PF with more coats of clear
3) inject clear, lifting the edges of the crack slightly with a dental pick if necessary
3.1) something else? would love to hear additional thoughts.

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If it was mine and it bothered me, I would clean up the two inserts with a razor blade, use my Cameo to cut some new black sticky vinyl words, put them on the inserts, and protect them with mylar cut to the shape of the inserts. The one thing that I don't think you can do is feather new clear with the rest of the playfield.

I assume Vid himself will chime in on this, but if that was mine, I would re-glue the inserts using epoxy from the backside, taking care to level any that have raised. Clear on most playfield isn’t very generous to begin with, so hitting it with an extra coat would be a good idea in any event. Give the whole playfield a light scuff sanding and re-coat with clear. It’ll take clear of the cracks and the game will play even more nicely, and will be better protected from the ball to boot.

Just a thumbs up on this. Pulled mylar on a DE Playboy and rapid tac 45 minutes start to finish.

Yeah, it surprising how well it works.

Car vinyl guys use it to remove decades old, sun baked vinyl glue.

Its a bit miraculous that its non-toxic.

I guess its all about the chemistry behind it all.

Quite correct. The name of the linked string is "Frugal playfield restoration. Subject matter, Flash Gordon!"

The game plays great! Ming is Merciless! Andre doesn't care!

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Thanks Vid but with Mylar over 80% of the playfield and its in good shape, I think i will just clean up everything else and play it as it.
Thanks
Mike

Thanks for the thought, hadn't considered securing all inserts. Whats the best epoxy for the job? Assuming a 2 part with longer cure time so it can be mixed and then carefully applied.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/vids-guide-to-ultimate-playfield-restoration#post-551342

If you go to the start of this thread, all of the key proceedures are indexed.

Tried it on a Bally apron tonight, most impressive. Paint is notorious for coming off these if you look sideways at it.

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Forgive me for asking, bit I couldnt find it in here. I removed some mylar on my playfield and some of the inserts have art removed.

What's the best way to remove the remaining art on a decal?

Procedural question.

Picked up a Ship Ahoy a week or so ago. Most of the inserts were all but not connected anymore - came right out when I ran a dustbuster over the playfield when I was tearing down the top side. The few that didn't come out instantly popped right out with the slightest tap from the underside.

I cleaned things up as best I could and followed a few videos from youtube. Glued the inserts back in with wood glue, leveling them down with a heavy flat piece of wood. Guess I was lazy though and just pressed them down into place by hand, and didn't use a clamp. Unfortunately a number of them raised up a bit as the glue dried.

Now I've been going back over them with one of the 12" deep clamps from Harbor Freight and trying to get them back level.

What I've tried:
Heating up the insert with a hair dryer from the bottom (mostly) with a bit of heat at the top as well. I've gotten the glue hot enough that I can feel the insert move a bit while pressing on them. Then used the clamp with a piece of hard flat wood on the top of the playfield and a large flat washer that covers the entire hole on the underside. (The underside of the playfield is still fully populated, so space is an issue.) I've tightened the insert down and they feel really level to the touch.

However, most of them then proceed to raise back up.

Next, I tried the same thing, but before applying the clamp, I added a small bit of super glue to the underside of the insert. Clamped it down for anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour. Remove the clamp, and things seem really level again, but soon enough - some of the inserts raise back up a bit.

I'm wondering now if it might be best to heat the insert, clamp it down, THEN apply some super glue and re-clamp it at that point for long enough for the super glue to dry. I was previously just using some random super glue that I had lying around but just bought some loctite gel that I had seen recommended in another thread.

So any advice on how to get these dumb inserts to stay down? Is the heat -> clamp -> glue -> re-clamp a decent idea? Suggestions if not?

I think the wood glue is a bit of a problem. Can you clean out the insert holes and use epoxy? The first page of the thread shows the best way to handle inserts - sand them, sand the sides, use plastic primer, use epoxy. Once they get set the inserts will not move much.

If I were starting from scratch, I would But it's too late for that and everything I've read says trying to get them back out at this point is a bad idea.

They're wood glued in, but some have raised. Heating them does make it so I can press down on them, just don't seem to be able to locked them back in once they're pressed flat.

Thanks, Vid. (and Alexmogil)

I'm so frustrated with myself for not reading more before diving in. I honestly think this would have worked fine, but I stupidly didn't think to clean old glue out of the holes before regluing the inserts down. I assume that's a part of the issue. It's not the end of the world or anything.

For what it's worth, this isn't a table that I'm going to clear or anything. As with the last time I wrote in this thread - I live in an apartment and have no means of clearcoating without killing myself with fumes. This is another case of trying to make things as nice as I can with space and budget limitations.

So I think I'm left with the terrifying thought of getting about half of the inserts back out without breaking any (see above - if I have to install a new insert I'm up a creek.) or just using the clamp on them, hoping for the best and placing mylar circles over the ones that don't stay down in order to minimize any wear caused by the ball hitting the little raised edges. Hell, considering the center of the playfield on Ship Ahoy / Buccaneer - I may just put down one large circle over the entire ship's wheel.

I got a Haunted House and I want to get it to look the best it can, given the age and lack of maintenance. What can I do to reduce these dark areas and make the inserts less foggy?

I’ve been wiping it down with Naptha, but don’t want to go to hard and damage it more.

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Well you gotta pay to play! Ball marks/swirls only repsond to muscle and abrasive materials, so it's sketchy because you are already losing paint.
Novus 2 might clean it up a bit, and might take some paint off.
Magic Eraser & Alcohol really works on those things, but is really is abusive to paint....which is already coming off! Plus you gotta novus 2 right after ME

So let me ask you a question...are you good at painting PFs?

EDIT: Might as well take a razor blade and cut that pop bumper mylar off that isn't doing anything.

I just finished following Vid's advice for gluing inserts with epoxy. Mine weren't totally loose (see a few posts prior) but did appear to have moved enough to crack to the clear on a 3 yr old Buthamburg playfield.

I chose JB Weld ClearWeld with the EZMizer tip and then added a blunt tip needle on the end to precisely apply it at the plastic/wood intersection. A single 0.47 fl oz tube got me through all inserts of my Getaway PF. No it wasn't necessary to do all of them, but the mixer tip isnt reusable so I chose to do it all. Less than 20 min to apply it 360 deg on all inserts.

So, it may be worth the $10 bill to do this before applying your ship wheel circle. If it isn't, maybe this needle applicator idea will help someone else. I appreciate the feedback you all gave me which led to this!

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Hi

That is not a normal clear coat shrinkage what you are showing, that is defnitly cracked under practicing force. The insert will not loosen.
We have a glue the will eat into the plastic, called cold welding, we apply the glue to the edges of the wood and then press the insert into the pocket.
The glue melts the plastic giving a chemical hold, on the other side, the glue will overflow into the rough wood, giving it a machanical hold.
On your playfield, someone practised force and caused the clear coat to crack. A normal shrinkage will only show you the line between the insert and the wood, excatly and only the line.
I would try and shave open the cracks with a cutting knife in means of scratching them open, then fill clear coat in and let it dry or cure. Then sand it flat using a block and maybe 320 grid, then after flat, use 500 grid to take out the scratches of the 320grid, then with 800 and 1500. then use a cutting polish to polish it up. Make sure that the applied clear coat is realy cure, will take a few weeks. You will see the difference between the 2 clear coats, but it will be flat and sealed.

Regards from Hamburg
Leon and Pete
www.buthamburg.de

Well... if you have the time and patience (and a little luck) and you really can't get the inserts out without destroying them, is there any plastic of the inserts still exposed underneath the insert holes? You could try and use epoxy on the exposed parts, THEN clamping them down and see if the epoxy will hold the inserts in place. Almost like you're re-enforcing inserts that are loose:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/vids-guide-to-ultimate-playfield-restoration#post-551439

Before calling it a night last night I did try something a little different. Heated an insert up for a bit, applied a bit of locktite gell around the bottom edge of the insert from below and then clamped things down and left it. Will be clamped 20 or so hours before I remove it tonight. If there any chance of the inserts staying down, this will have to be the technique. Not holding my breath though.

Pending the results, since I can never really leave well enough alone so I'm going to try to remove one tonight and see how it goes. I have been able to heat them up enough to feel a little give to them before clamping, so I assume/hope sticking with the heat a little longer followed by a nut driver or socket from below should give me the ability to pop them back out.

Figure I'll start with one without any text on it so if the worst does happen it will be a bit easier to replace.

Can’t kick the boss bssbllr off of the high score on this thing Lol

Thanks for the info. I had some blitz somewhere, but can’t find it now. Might have lent it to my father.

I’ll remove the Mylar around the numbers (was planning that). Is there any was to minimize the damage from the ball dropping down into the cellar? It’s fairly beat up and worn out. What are the thoughts on full playfield Mylar?

And no, not planning on painting. I wouldn’t even know where to start in getting the right colors.

Welp. I guess I'm gonna do it right or not at all.

Three cheers for having the type of personality that would have always been annoyed about things if I hadn't tried to do this better.

The upside of wood glue not bonding to plastic for shit - they weren't hard to get out at all. No cracks, no issues, no fuss no muss.
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Thanks for the advice again. Gonna do it right this time.

Thanks for the advice on this. The original buyer never opened the box after buying several yrs ago so there is no telling when or how it was forced and cracked. Being the center of the playfield, it all makes sense.

I have just cut away clear along the crack with an Xacto but wonder if there is any harm in applying clear with a dropper and then giving the whole PF a fresh coat of clear? Obviously with good prep and flattening the dropper clear first. Clear will be 2 part. Thoughts?

Yes a 2 K clear coat is fine. Better to fill it in 2 steps. Once the clear coat gets to thick, the curing time will take longer. After preperation are finished
you can clear the complete playfield. In that way you would notice it anymore. Just let the filling cure decently.

If still packed, I can only think that some stepped on it.

Regards from Hamburg
Peter

Words to live by!! You’ll be so much happier this way!

OK - trying to get my ducks in a row before re-doing the inserts.

This has been asked in the thread DOZENS of times, but most of the questions and answers are years old and links aren't working. The grainger.com one is no longer good, and what looks to be the perfect match on Amazon isn't available:
https://www.amazon.com/3M-Scotch-Weld-62728-Instant-Adhesive/dp/B071JC9PYP

So, like a ton of people, I'm having trouble tracking down the 3m AC77 primer that Vid recommends.
Anyone with a current 2021 source in a size less than gallons? Or a suitable replacement / alternative?

I have used Loctite 770 as a replacement, and I think it might have been mentioned once or twice in the thread.

Dumb question.

I started cleaning out old glue from insert holes tonight. Original that I failed to do the first time as well as wood and super glue from my botched attempt.

How far down should inserts sit in the cleaned out holes? Should they naturally sit flush with the playfield before you glue them in or would you expect them to ride a little high, ending up flush once clamped?

OK - good to know. A bit late in the day here and I have terrible light in my place. Was getting hard to tell where the dried glue ends and the wood begins and didn't want to overdo it. Will get back to it tomorrow when I have way better light.

Has anyone weighed in on this question?
I'm wondering the same thing. If the clear is roughed to accept the next coat, the decals lock in the rough look and a foggy outline can be seen. If the clear is sanded up to 3000, the decals look great but will the next coat of clear stick?

Awesome - thanks!

I dont understand what is happening here in this picture, how is the chisel used exactly...
also commenting so I can track this thread...

Could you please share a photo of the can and or brand name?