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(Topic ID: 33446)

Vid's Guide to Ultimate Playfield Restoration

By vid1900

11 years ago


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Topic index (key posts)

143 key posts have been marked in this topic, showing the first 10 items.

Display key post list sorted by: Post date | Keypost summary | User name

Post #6 Removing mylar and the adhesive left behind. Don't clear over it. Posted by vid1900 (11 years ago)

Post #7 Playfield damage assessment. Posted by vid1900 (11 years ago)

Post #8 Insert damage assessment. Posted by vid1900 (11 years ago)

Post #15 Removing inserts, step one - cut around it so you don't remove artwork with the insert. Posted by vid1900 (11 years ago)

Post #23 Removing inserts, step two - how to heat it, what to push it out with. Don't remove them if you're not replacing them. Posted by vid1900 (11 years ago)

Post #26 How a playfield is made and why your new inserts must be sanded flat before installation. Posted by vid1900 (11 years ago)

Post #34 How to sand your new inserts flat. Posted by vid1900 (11 years ago)

Post #35 Cleaning old glue out of the insert holes. Posted by vid1900 (11 years ago)

Post #36 Removing old mastic with a burr tool on a rotary device such as a Dremel. Posted by vid1900 (11 years ago)

Post #37 Prep your insert for gluing by sanding it with 100 grit. Epoxy can be chipped off the insert without this step. Posted by vid1900 (11 years ago)

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#265 10 years ago
 
AJA

Drano

Pinside member

CA Mississauga, ON

12y 110K 3,840 14 60

I've been using these MOLOTOW acrylic markers for a while and they work very well.
The 1mm black is great for tracing key lines around inserts and has saved me tons of time with Frisket and airbrush. It dries nice and flat.

I've also tried a few other colors, but the black and white seem to be the most useful.

I have not gotten any bleeding at all with the black, but I did a test with red and blue and did notice some bleeding on heavier applications of clear. In future I would apply a thin coating to seal and then wait to do a heavier application.

http://www.molotow.com/products/marker-ink/one4all/

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#267 10 years ago
 
AJA

Drano

Pinside member

CA Mississauga, ON

12y 110K 3,840 14 60

Quoted from CaptainNeo:

what type of clear tho? Varathane is a lot different than Auto clears.

I'm using what we have in the shop at work. Nothing overly fancy but it works well for me: BASF Limco 4100 automotive clear.

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#269 10 years ago
 
AJA

Drano

Pinside member

CA Mississauga, ON

12y 110K 3,840 14 60

No bleed on the black at all after using it on about 5 playfields, but the red pen did bleed a bit after a heavier application of clear. Maybe the formulas are different from color to color. It does state an "acrylic hybrid ink". Not exactly sure what that means.

I'll experiment again with the colored pens, but a lighter sealing coat would probably have been fine, followed by a heavier one later.
The black alone has saved me a ton of time and the control it gives you is great for recreating some art without Frisket.

I've even used it to sign playfields on wood under the apron and cleared over with no sign of bleed at all.

7 months later
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#576 10 years ago
 
AJA

Drano

Pinside member

CA Mississauga, ON

12y 110K 3,840 14 60

Hi vid,
I've fallen a bit behind on this thread. Glad to see it's still going strong!

I apologize if this has been covered somewhere before, but how do you deal with the ground in ball track on many older EM games at the top arch? I've never been able to satisfactorily remove or repair them due to the bare wood.
Can't really just fill and paint it.

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#599 10 years ago
 
AJA

Drano

Pinside member

CA Mississauga, ON

12y 110K 3,840 14 60

OP
Quoted from vid1900:

There are a couple of ways to approach it.
If there is enough wood left to sand out the rut without sanding through the next layer of plywood, then you can work it out to the slightest slope.
The hardest part is getting the freshly sanded wood to match the old dark wood. You can experiment on the back of the playfield to find the right stains or even varnish to match the old wood's tone.
-
If there is deep wear through the next layer of ply then you can fill it with Bondo or auto clear.
Then you will have to mask off the surround area and paint all the way to some feature or border (spot painting will be too hard for most people to match).
Using a "dry" brush technique, grain the painted wood to match the rest of the playfield. If you are on the fence about how much graining to do, do less.
You can also get fancy and scan a section of good wood, then print water slide decals and place them over the Bondo-ed wood. Do this with a laser printer, because ink jet fades pretty fast. Again, make your wood decals go all the way to the borders or some feature like the pops. Little patches draw attention to themselves.

Thanks,
So it seems there is no 'great' way to acheive this repair unfortunately.
I've tried the first approach with okay results, but not perfect.

Painting all the wood in that area is problematic because, on Gottlieb wedgeheads at least, it runs continuously all the way down the shooter lane. That's a lot to paint and it never will look right again.

I usually just opt to clean out the groove as best as possible and then level in with auto clear using a pipette or eyedropper; then block sanding and final topcoat.

Thanks for the reply Vid!

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