Just curious, does anyone do anything artistic with their old pinballs? I'm getting a collection of old pinballs and thinking I should make a pinball themed "something" out of them.
(Topic ID: 168177)
I've been using bctrade on eBay - they have carbon steel and chromium chrome steel balls - very nice finish on both
ebay.com link: Four 1 1 16 Inch Mirror Finish Carbon Steel Replacement Pinball Machine Balls
Added over 7 years ago: Removing this recommendation due to other pinsider having rust issue on half of the balls and magnetized ball on carbon steel.
Quoted from KingBW:Just curious, does anyone do anything artistic with their old pinballs? I'm getting a collection of old pinballs and thinking I should make a pinball themed "something" out of them.
I just have been piling them up in a decorative glass container. I wonder how long until the pressure breaks the glass . . . . 
Ceres, CA
Quoted from Nokoro:I just have been piling them up in a decorative glass container. I wonder how long until the pressure breaks the glass . . . .
I put mine in an old gas tank I have in my game room (with a MST3K decal, for fun).
I also need a new ball . Currently I have 1 got one for free from the tractor store. Its a wheel bearing , the largest one they had but its a hare smaller than a real ball.lol
Quoted from Sparky:I put mine in an old gas tank I have in my game room (with a MST3K decal, for fun).
Wow! That's a lot. Looks great though!
Quoted from PinRob:I've been using bctrade on eBay - they have carbon steel and chromium chrome steel balls - very nice finish on both
ebay.com link » Four 1 1 16 Inch Mirror Finish Carbon Steel Replacement Pinball Machine Balls
Unfortunately I cannot recommend these. Bought a 25 pack of the carbon steel balls and 11 of them had rust spots, so garbage to me. On top of that, I put one of the good ones in Metallica to replace a chipped ball and 3 days later it was magnetized, caught in the coffin. So now I don't trust that any of them will be Carbon Steel balls and will have to use them in my games that don't have magnets, which is not what was needed.
With almost half of them rusted I decided to just move on, didn't contact them so can't say what their customer service is like. Gave the rusted ones to a coworker who is making monkey fist keychains out of them. I don't have any confidence in a company that would send out rusted and wrong type of pinballs in the first place.
Quoted from FlipperMagician:Unfortunately I cannot recommend these. Bought a 25 pack of the carbon steel balls and 11 of them had rust spots, so garbage to me. On top of that, I put one of the good ones in Metallica to replace a chipped ball and 3 days later it was magnetized, caught in the coffin. So now I don't trust that any of them will be Carbon Steel balls and will have to use them in my games that don't have magnets, which is not what was needed.
With almost half of them rusted I decided to just call it a wash and move on, didn't contact them so can't say what their customer service is like. Gave the rusted ones to a coworker who is making monkey fist keychains out of them. I don't have any confidence in a company that would send out rusted and wrong type of pinballs in the first place.
Fair enough - thanks for the update. I have not had any issues but glad you shared your experience. I'll go back to the standard pinball exclusive vendors.
Quoted from FlipperMagician:Unfortunately I cannot recommend these. Bought a 25 pack of the carbon steel balls and 11 of them had rust spots, so garbage to me. On top of that, I put one of the good ones in Metallica to replace a chipped ball and 3 days later it was magnetized, caught in the coffin. So now I don't trust that any of them will be Carbon Steel balls and will have to use them in my games that don't have magnets, which is not what was needed.
With almost half of them rusted I decided to just move on, didn't contact them so can't say what their customer service is like. Gave the rusted ones to a coworker who is making monkey fist keychains out of them. I don't have any confidence in a company that would send out rusted and wrong type of pinballs in the first place.
Hmmm. I bought them and seem to work ok in my WOZ. Didn't check all of the balls, but I'll take a closer look before I use the rest of them. Maybe you just got a bad mixed up batch.
3 weeks later
Quoted from PinRob:Fair enough - thanks for the update. I have not had any issues but glad you shared your experience. I'll go back to the standard pinball exclusive vendors.
I confirmed there is a magnetization problem with these balls. After three games in LOTR they attract paper clips and each other like there is no tomorrow. I am returning them.
Are the PBL shiney ones safe for playfields with magnets? (The pinballs that they are currently out of)
Quoted from KingBW:Are the PBL shiney ones safe for playfields with magnets? (The pinballs that they are currently out of)
Yes they are. I have them in my BM66 and they work great!
Quoted from KingBW:Are the PBL shiney ones safe for playfields with magnets? (The pinballs that they are currently out of)
Yes, they are excellent for magnets because they don't magnetize and stick to metal parts, but they still are affected by the games magnets.
Sounds like PBL could sell a lot of them if they could keep them in stock ... I'll be waiting in line with you guys. I could use some.
Quoted from KingBW:Sounds like PBL could sell a lot of them if they could keep them in stock ... I'll be waiting in line with you guys. I could use some.
They were a favorite of a lot of us. Still are -- when they have them.
Warrington
4 months later
Anyone looking for the most insanely shiny balls they've ever seen.....
I just got my order in from The Ball Baron. Purchased from this listing: ebay.com link: Pinball Replacements G10 Mirror Finish 10 TEN 1 1 16 Premium Chrome Balls
I've purchased from PBL, Titan, Marco, etc. etc. and these are easily the shiniest balls I've ever gotten. They are rated as G10 so that isn't surprising. Titan's were the highest rated I've used prior and those are G16 (lower # = more shine). These are burn-your-eyeballs-off-shiny.
I don't know this Ball Baron guy but I can vouch for them. 10 for $1.39 ea shipped free and I got them in 2 days. Hope that helps anyone looking for shiny ones.
Quoted from mrgregb123:Anyone looking for the most insanely shiny balls they've ever seen.....
I just got my order in from The Ball Baron. Purchased from this listing: ebay.com link » Pinball Replacements G10 Mirror Finish 10 Ten 1 1 16 Premium Chrome Balls
I've purchased from PBL, Titan, Marco, etc. etc. and these are easily the shiniest balls I've ever gotten. They are rated as G10 so that isn't surprising. Titan's were the highest rated I've used prior and those are G16 (lower # = more shine). These are burn-your-eyeballs-off-shiny.
I don't know this Ball Baron guy but I can vouch for them. 10 for $1.39 ea shipped free and I got them in 2 days. Hope that helps anyone looking for shiny ones.
Nice ball if your games don't have magnets. He seems to only have chrome steel and no carbon steel ones for games with magnets.
Thepinballwizard.net has super shiny carbon steel balls. He ships quick and has alot of other good stuff reasonably priced as well.
Is there a way to pull out and "de-magnetize" the pinballs every so many plays? Ways I found to de-magnetize - Applying heat will make them not so shiney, hammering the pinballs would not be good, but ... how about a way for this description to work:
"You can also remove the magnetic property of a magnet by placing it in a reversed magnetizing field. This will oppose the object’s magnetism. You can do this by passing an alternating current through a component of the magnet. This is how demagnetizing tools work."
They do make/sell demagnetizers for tools and watch repair ... one of the geeks on this forum should come up with a tool to demagnetize pinballs. I think it would sell if it was less than $50.
Quoted from mrgregb123:I don't know this Ball Baron guy but I can vouch for them. 10 for $1.39 ea shipped free and I got them in 2 days. Hope that helps anyone looking for shiny ones.
I have purchased from him as well. Amazing pinballs!! Best ever!!
I just ordered a set of the Ball Baron balls based on the recommendations above. Ordered a couple dozen of PBL's oooh_shiny balls a few months ago, after they finally became available after a long wait, and when they arrived I was super bummed about the quality. They were nothing like PBL's previous balls, they practically looked they the had already been used.
Can anyone in the Great White North (Canada for you yanks that don't know where that is lol) tell me where we can get carbon core balls as shipping in from the US&A is crazy expensive- cost as much to ship as it does to buy 50 balls 
Quoted from zpinman370:Can anyone in the Great White North (Canada for you yanks that don't know where that is lol) tell me where we can get carbon core balls as shipping in from the US&A is crazy expensive- cost as much to ship as it does to buy 50 balls
I've been using these. Shipping to Canada is decent. He sells differing quantities so search for his other carbon steel Pinball listings if you want more - also a better deal if you buy more. They are very shin you for carbon steel and though one guy said he's became magnetized mine never have.
ebay.com link: Four 1 1 16 Inch Mirror Finish Carbon Steel Replacement Pinball Machine Balls
Quoted from Thrillhouse:Thepinballwizard.net has super shiny carbon steel balls. He ships quick and has alot of other good stuff reasonably priced as well.
I'm going to give them a try
Thanks for heads up
Quoted from Pdxmonkey:I'm going to give them a try
Thanks for heads up
They only have 8 more in stock :-/
I tried to buy 100, but it was a no-go waaaaaaaaaa
Quoted from jay:cheaper than Marco's.
Maybe its just for us Pinheads outside the US, but I find Marco pretty expensive on most things compared to say PinballLife.
Quoted from J85M:Maybe its just for us Pinheads outside the US, but I find Marco pretty expensive on most things compared to say PinballLife.
It's not, they're more expensive for most things here in the US too but they, BY FAR have the best selection of parts and their service/speed of handling orders is as good or better (in some cases light years better) than any of the other suppliers. They'll also ship me one part for a few $s if I have to fix someone elses game for them and don't need, or have time to place a big order—but that's probably not a plus for you in the UK.
Quoted from Thrillhouse:Thepinballwizard.net has super shiny carbon steel balls. He ships quick and has alot of other good stuff reasonably priced as well.
Balls are very nice!
Thanks for tip
Quoted from mrgregb123:Anyone looking for the most insanely shiny balls they've ever seen.....
I just got my order in from The Ball Baron. Purchased from this listing: ebay.com link » Pinball Replacements G10 Mirror Finish 10 Ten 1 1 16 Premium Chrome Balls
I've purchased from PBL, Titan, Marco, etc. etc. and these are easily the shiniest balls I've ever gotten. They are rated as G10 so that isn't surprising. Titan's were the highest rated I've used prior and those are G16 (lower # = more shine). These are burn-your-eyeballs-off-shiny.
I don't know this Ball Baron guy but I can vouch for them. 10 for $1.39 ea shipped free and I got them in 2 days. Hope that helps anyone looking for shiny ones.
I received my eBay order from the Ball Baron last week, very fast shipping, and these balls are very high quality with a mirror finish. VERY impressed, will definitely order from him again.
Hey guys -
I decided to call The Ball Baron and had a very long convo that you might be interested to hear about....
This guy is the real deal, a ball expert. Has been in the ball bearing industry for many years supplying balls for many businesses for non-pinball applications. He explained how the balls are formulated, etc. Interesting stuff. In a nutshell, these chrome G10 balls I linked to are as close to the gold standard as you'll find. They are within 1/10,000th of the 1-1/16th spec. The amount of polish needed to get the ball to that tolerance is how they come out so damn shiny. He said it would be very difficult to find a ball shinier than these. If NASA or the Hubble telescope needed ball bearings of a specific size within a micron level of tolerance, they'd use these.
He is in the process of formulating carbon steel balls that are as shiny as possible without the magnetic issues than can occur with chrome balls. He made the disclaimer that due to the lack of nickel in carbon steel balls, it is impossible for them to polish as shiny as chrome steel balls - it is just physically impossible. But he is quite confident his carbon steel balls will be the shiniest out there. He's going to let me know as soon as his carbon steel balls are finished and I'll post here when that happens.
Quoted from mrgregb123:Hey guys -
I decided to call The Ball Baron and had a very long convo that you might be interested to hear about....
This guy is the real deal, a ball expert. Has been in the ball bearing industry for many years supplying balls for many businesses for non-pinball applications. He explained how the balls are formulated, etc. Interesting stuff. In a nutshell, these chrome G10 balls I linked to are as close to the gold standard as you'll find. They are within 1/10,000th of the 1-1/16th spec. The amount of polish needed to get the ball to that tolerance is how they come out so damn shiny. He said it would be very difficult to find a ball shinier than these. If NASA or the Hubble telescope needed ball bearings of a specific size within a micron level of tolerance, they'd use these.
He is in the process of formulating carbon steel balls that are as shiny as possible without the magnetic issues than can occur with chrome balls. He made the disclaimer that due to the lack of nickel in carbon steel balls, it is impossible for them to polish as shiny as chrome steel balls - it is just physically impossible. But he is quite confident his carbon steel balls will be the shiniest out there. He's going to let me know as soon as his carbon steel balls are finished and I'll post here when that happens.
Completely agree...just received 20 from him, and they look amazing. I'm now panicked, however, thinking these were carbon steel (most of my games have magnets of sorts). Are the one's he's selling now Chrome? drats....overlooked that part.....
(edit - drats!!! just looked at his ad, and glazed over the chrome part, right there in the description....)
Quoted from MK6PIN:Completely agree...just received 20 from him, and they look amazing. I'm now panicked, however, thinking these were carbon steel (most of my games have magnets of sorts). Are the one's he's selling now Chrome?
To be totally honest with you, I use chrome balls in all of my machines and the only time I've ever seen retained magnetism is when a magnet happens to catch and hold two balls during multiball. After the magnet turns off they 'stick' there and you just gotta bump the machine and they come down. Other than, never noticed any issues with chrome balls in magnet heavy games like Metallica, TAF, etc. Try em out first and see what happens.
Looks to me that the Baron on eBay is just re-selling BC Precision balls(His ad says the brand is: "BC Precision"), and they do have Carbon Steel ones too:
https://www.bcprecision.com/collections/carbon-steel-bearing-balls/products/1-1-16-inch-chrome-steel-ball-bearings-g500?variant=6193283525
100 for $89 and free shipping, imna give em a whirl
Quoted from EricHadley:Looks to me that the Baron on eBay is just re-selling BC Precision balls(His ad says the brand is: "BC Precision"), and they do have Carbon Steel ones too:
https://www.bcprecision.com/collections/carbon-steel-bearing-balls/products/1-1-16-inch-chrome-steel-ball-bearings-g500?variant=6193283525
100 for $89 and free shipping, imna give em a whirl
The BC balls are pretty good. Just make sure you ask for the pinball shiny ones, or they send you not shiny ones!! (Haha, Polished)
Quoted from nerbflong:The BC balls are pretty good. Just make sure you ask for the pinball shiny ones, or they send you not shiny ones!! (Haha, Polished)
So is the "Baron" polishing them?
Quoted from EricHadley:So is the "Baron" polishing them?
BC polishes them if you make sure to ask for the shiny pinball version.
Quoted from nerbflong:BC polishes them if you make sure to ask for the shiny pinball version.
ok thx, I emailed them to see if they can polish the 100 I just ordered
I don't have any skin in the game but a couple things...BC is rating those balls as g500 which is not remotely close to the more precise balls you'd get from Titan, Marco, Ball Barron....pretty much anyone. That is a very low grade for a shiny pinball.
Second, Dave (Ball Barron) told me he got the chrome balls he sells a while ago as a very large bulk purchase and to his knowledge are not being sold by that supplier right now. If you can find a deal on the same exact balls that's great. But be sure you are in fact getting the same balls.
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