Vid -
Quick question NOT related to CC'ing!
Was asked by someone how to clean the underside of the playfield of the black grit/grime from years of playing. Light sanding?
(Topic ID: 33446)
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Quoted from vid1900:What???!!!!?
Try a nylon brush and vac. See if that lifts it first.
If not, sand and seal.
Good 'nuff. I'll give it a try. 
Quoted from ShootForSlrValue:What's a good strategy to use when disconnecting all of the wires? I'm about to do a total tear down and restore on a game that's really beat up, but in absolutely terrified about taking everything off. I plan on taking tons of pictures, but I don't want to rewire everything incorrectly.
Having just done this on my TZ, I went the 'lazy' way -
Started with the switch matrix wire harness and used scotch tape and a permanent marker as I unsoldered. Used the tape as a 'flag' for each connection. Then removed the harness and started with the light/GI harness, etc.
Now, in three months or so when I reassemble, I'll let you know how well that worked.
Quoted from tezting:Starting to investigate the air bubble issue. ( https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/vids-guide-to-ultimate-playfield-restoration/page/31#post-2045280 )
I am now in a warm and nice place. So I was filling up inserts with clear and there where starting to come air-bubbles again! This time it can not be the temperature.
So what is it?
1) The clear is "bad".
2) Applying to much product can course air bubbles? When I got air bubbles the first time my first layer was heavy (Last project I did light coats first) And when filling inserts there are also a lot of product?
3) Something I can't think of?
I don't know a lot about this, but s it possible the clear is soaking into the wood, causing air to be pushed out into it?
2 months later
Vid, and those that print decals for inserts..
Any idea on printing white on transparent? i.e. Specifically, for dark inserts that have white text?
2 weeks later
Quoted from Pinterest:Awesome - bought an HP 4670 Scanner on fleabay! Cant wait till it arrives! Thanks.
I got mine a couple weeks ago, works great. When dowloading drivers (Win7 does not have automatic WIA drivers installed), go for the WinXP (32 or 64 but) ones. The x64 ones worked on my Win7 x64 fine.
Have another decal question -
So one of the inserts on a replacement playfield is faded - the white text has turned 'pink' where the insert is. (This is why I had asked about printing white ink on decal sheets earlier..)
I've recreated the insert easily in Illustrator (after using the scanner to scan it).. However, something I'm worried about -
The other original inserts on the game are 'fuzzy' - meaning that the paint lines aren't sharp. This is opposed to the decal insert I'll get printed, which WILL be sharp. I'm worried about the sharper text standing out. Has anyone else run into this? Is my concern unwarranted?
--Mike
Quoted from vid1900:The good thing about decals is that until you clear coat them, they are removable.
Try one and see if it really looks any different. Post a pic of the original screening.
Remember that unless the playfield is going to be a wall hanger, you will be looking through a sheet of glass, at an angle, with plastics, and posts and lighting shadows and flashing lights......
See attached. The deep red insert has tinted the white ink into 'pink'. Problem is, I would have to scrape off the existing letters before applying my decal, since ever matching up the best font and position would give the new letters some 'ghosting' (with the pink showing around the borders). Problem is, if I scrape off the existing letters and put on mine, I'm wondering/worried if the 'crispness' of the new text would be noticable against the other inserts/text on the field.
Yeah, I could leave it, and likely may go that route, is why I thought I'd get some others' thoughts on it.
WCS.jpg 1 month later
I'm going to offer an opinin and say 'Yes'.
When a ball hits a post with the rubber on, the rubber absorbs some/most of the impact.
But without the rubber, when the ball hits a post, the momentum/kinetic energy is transferred to the post. Since the post is sitting on the painted wood surface, the paint and wood is taking some of that impact.
This is all in my head, though. I have nothing to back it up. 
4 months later
Quoted from Radius118:Kinda sorta off topic but then probably not.
I have decided to make it a policy that every playfield I strip down completely for a major polish and shopping will get scanned with my 4670 scanner.
That way I will always have scans for possible future use or to help out a fellow pinsider if needed.
My question concerns software. What software should I use to scan into? In the past I had a copy of Photoshop and used twain to scan them into Photoshop and then saved as .psd files. I don't have a copy of Photoshop available to me anymore.
I am concerned about maintaining actual size for the scans, and I don't want the image quality loss that usually goes along with scanning as a .jpg
Any suggestions as to a free or almost free app to scan into?
I use Photoshop. At 600 or 1200 ppi, you're looking at a 3-6Gb image for the whole playfield, if you join them. 300Mb on average per scan, not many image applications can handle that (and some formats can't even be that large.)
Quoted from vid1900:You don't have to stitch them together.
Just scan all the files with 20% overlap and put them in a single archive.
Don't use .jpg, leave them in BMP or TIFF format.
A 300dpi BMP file would be the minimum.
Never said you HAD to sticth them together. 
I did for one of my scans, just because.
(And, for anyone trying to stitch together.. I recommend resizing them *first*.. A LOT easier and better matching..)
2 weeks later
For some reason I didn't see this mentioned while searching this thread -
Once the field's clearcoated, cured, and reassembled - obviously it's not going to STAY spotless clean. What is recommended to clean the cured clearcoat (i.e. 'wax the playfield')?
Quoted from vid1900:Of course you waxed the playfield before reassembling it.
Quoted from vid1900:But now a month later, you see the dirt starting to form. [..]
Many, many thanks..!
1 week later
Quoted from RampShot11:Hi Vid,
Thanks for posting these instructions, this a super informative and much appreciated by many pinsiders. I am fixing up a friends WCS and the previous owner came through the playfield with a screw , I would like to attempt to fix it for him but am not completely sure how to approach it. Can u please take a look at the picture and tell me what u would do to fix this? Thanks.image.jpg image_1.jpg
If you need a high-res scan of that area to reproduce the dithering, let me know, I got ya covered.
1 month later
Quoted from TGIPinside:P8160660.jpg PA130861.jpg PA130863.jpg
Does that game really say ''For Each Lited Number''? I LOVE that.
Quoted from tezting:And if you are out of luck? :-/
Find someone ELSE'S game, and see if you can look under a plastic, rail, or post..
5 months later
Quoted from vid1900:HEP does real nice work:
http://www.highendpins.com/about_us.htm
Chris mentioned to me that he no-longer wants to do PF only work, since it takes too long and takes away from full-game restores. 
3 months later
Quoted from NickBuffaloPinball:Hey Vid,
If this has been answered somewhere already in the thread, please accept my apologies.
Here's my question:
On clear coated playfields in my collection, usually after 200+ plays I'll wipe them down with a microfiber and Novus 1, then give it a coat of wax. I'll do this a few times a year.
Normally, I don't use Novus 2 on these clean games. But I'm thinking, with wax build up, it must be making the playfield slightly uneven and may slow the ball a bit b/c it's not as smooth as a brand new clear coated game.
With that line of thinking, would it make sense to Novus 2 my games, perhaps once a year, just to get rid of wax build up and make the paint nice a smooth (due to the fact that Novus 2 is slightly abrasive)?
That's what Naptha is for, not Novus 2.
Quoted from Pmaino:Wont Naptha remove the wax and also the clear coat?
Maybe I misunderstood - I believe Naptha was good for automotive clear-coated fields, but not diamondplate or uncoated fields.
So, nevermind, wait for someone else to verify.
2 months later
Quoted from HighVoltage:Also, anyone know what the "inserts" are at the top drop lanes on Safe Cracker. What's actually under the "1" "2" "3"? There's a reed switch / sensor underneath. My "3" has raised enough that it will sometimes catch a slow ball. I want to push it back down. But, I don't know how to remove the reed switch. Is it glued in there? What is between the switch and the playfield? Is there still a plastic insert or is it a piece of wood? Can I heat up with heat gun and push / clamp it back down?
They're likely just plastic inserts, covered over with artwork. I don't remember off-hand (haven't had my SC since '00.)
2 months later
Did they actually put a decal on?
The barcodes were usually just simple labels, placed on the playfield before clearcoating..
3 months later
1 week later
Hey guys -
Apparently because I live too close to the government, people around here just aren't creative.
I can't find any place by me that can print white.
If someone has a location near them that can do white on the water-slide decal, can you drop me a PM? I would like to 'hire' your services to get my decals printed and mail them to me.
Much appreciated!
-Mike
Quoted from CoitusMysterioso:Why can't you use a white waterslide decal and print the color on it?
Because it has to be clear (over an insert) with white text.
Quoted from vid1900:If you local hobby shop can't print your decals, there are many online resources
https://kadee.com/htmbord/alpscustom.htm
http://www.circusdecals.com/services.html
http://www.microscale.com/
Ah, kosher! I'll check them out!
5 months later
Quoted from DropTarget:Thanks,
I used photoshop to color pick from a scan of my PF to get the HEX #, or RGB breakdown, then used trycolors, but all the formulas come up with cyan and magenta, not RGB.
I haven't attempted to mix the colors for this project yet, I MAY get lucky and get close, just want to have something in my back pocket.
RGB is used for things that emit light. LEDs, TVs/Displays, etc. (Red & Green = Yellow)
CMYK is used for printed media - i.e. Things that reflect light. (Yellow & Magenta = Red)
So yeah, you'll need to convert between the two to get a good color.
3 months later
Quoted from jsa:I have no problem with Windows. It's just the Mac that creates this issue, as HP hasn't released any updated drivers for this since the mid-2000's. The only ones that I know exist are for PPC.
Ah! Okay - sorry, I saw someone's post about Win10 drivers, and I knew I had it working on my laptop.
Pardon the interruption!
2 months later
2 years later
Quoted from pinballinreno:I have my cabinet finished and am testing it.
The playfield isnt in yet, Im testing only the cabinet. I test everything as I go.
Everything works and all switches test out and all votages are perfect. Chris hibler rebuilt all of the boards and they look like brand new.
Al loose or marginal IDC connectors have been replaced with trifucon.
Every wire is ohmed out from pin to end connector, all connections are positive.
There doesnt seem to be a test or fuse for the upper left flipper switch? The schematic shows both flippers in parallel?
Also the start button lamp doesnt flash yet, but the new switch tests out perfectly. But I only have the 2 cabinet harnesses plugged into the backbox boards.
Should the start button flash at this point? I see a diode in the circuit on the door interconnect board. I could jumper it....??
Is the start button lamp tied to J135 (not connected yet)? Mine is a later version Funhouse with Williams siderails and a 2 wire connector for the start button lamp at J136.
As always, any input helps a lot!
Thanks
You may have a LOT more luck staritng a new thread with this, since this thread is about playfield restoration, and not overall debugging of machines.
4 months later
Quoted from Piso:Hi, I'm restoring my TZ. On the playfiled I have a light wear on the inlane rollover cutout where the ball drops from the ramp. I think that Bondo is just too brittle and won't hold up. Wood epoxy putty could be the solution but I'm worried that it won't stick to such a small surface. What is the best method to repair this kind of wear? Thank you
[quoted image]
That wood epoxy putty, then put a cliffy over it.
Be my guess.
2 months later
Quoted from sethbenjamin:I haven’t seen an option for that on my setup.
In some software packages (like Illustrator at least), it can also be an option in the file, so that when you specify your 'black', it adds on the 40% to the colors as well. (In case you can't find it in your printer settings..)
2 years later
Anyone know of a large-format scanner in or closest to Kalamazoo Michigan? Kruzman is restoring a very unique original Twilight Zone PF and I wanna get it scanned for history purposes. Sadly, it's 1600 miles from me, so I can't take care of it myself.
Quoted from dr_nybble:Bit of a hike but https://rcp-usa.com/products-services/scanning/ has a Cruse scanner
Thanks!
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