Carneys Point Township, NJ
I can't wait until the seawitch pf is a reality!
(Topic ID: 48087)
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Seawitch
Stern Electronics, 1980-
Star Gazer
Stern Electronics, 1980
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1 week later
OOOOOHHH Yeah! That's what I wanted to see! John, sorry you couldn't make Allentown this year, I understand you can't go to all the shows, maybe next year. I brought my witch for free play and about a half a dozen guys begged me to sell it but a couldn't knowing these playfield will be done. Thanks for keeping the classic Sterns alive.
1 month later
John, speaking of plywood, what type are you using? How many layers will there be? Also is it too late to get in on a SG pf?
Rich
1 year later
I'm going to start my Seawitch restore on the cabinet, is there going to be a new run on witch glasses?
7 months later
Quoted from Talon2000:Can't wait to start restoring my Seawitch! Looking so forward to this. Keep up the good work John.
Same here! My Witch has been lying dormant for over a year now. My cab is heavily planked and should be replaced. I think it would take too much Bondo to fix her. Is there anyone on the east coast that can make a cab for me?
5 months later
Quoted from greatwichjohn:I know about problems dealing with contractors the last 10 years. It's a small world & the manager of shop production did shit work for me at his previous employer. So I will be talking with the owner who is a good guy. Even when contractors screw up they still expect to get paid. The problem is very few want anything to do with pinball. So you have to bend over a lot, & swallow the losses. I try to offer good & affordable parts. Pinball production is hard, is no joke!
We all appreciate your efforts 
Quoted from Jjsmooth:Was in for a SW, but had Neo paint my original last year. So glad, as this is way too long..and still questions about production? Dang. I'm sorry about your health issues, but you need to be realistic with people.
Been playing mine for 7 months. Cost me a couple hundred more, but that's fine.
Moving on..
Nice Witch! I'm in it for the long haul. I know it has been years but I support guys like John for making repro parts. God knows there aren't enough people making new playfields. I'm sure the stress, time, and aggravation he has endured will make it worth while some day.
1 month later
Quoted from j_m_:still in and a seawitch fan for life!
(although I noticed that mine isn't booting now and I need to look into that. I don't think that I've turned it on in over a year so it might be something as simple as pulling out and reseating the roms
I would start re-seating the connectors first.
1 month later
Quoted from Jjsmooth:Whatever.
5 years.
wow dude, that's better than never!
1 month later
Quoted from pinheadpierre:NOS does not mean that it was top quality at the time. Odds are that the opposite is actually true - that the "nos" unit is one that was pulled off the line because it was not up to par.
I agree to point. Obviously extra parts were made for repair and warranty work. So not all NOS stuff would be 2nds. I would definitely not buy and NOS from the 80's or 90's without seeing it in person. I saw a High Speed NOS populated PF in the box and most of the inserts were popping out of it. Sad to see. Also seen the same on a NOS Bobby Orr PP PF. About 10 years ago I had a NOS Seawitch PF that was cleared years earlier and it looked great, but I was new to the hobby and sold it off like dingbat! Actually I think it's the same PF that John is using for the repro.
1 month later
Quoted from greatwichjohn:There was no power to my shared work shop today. Still sanding playfields, & might start doing some inserts later this week. Still no word on the search for more plywood. I will ask again for my Canadian search, worse case I might be able to get some CPR wood in late Fall.
If it's the same wood they used on the latest EBD run, that was about 1/16 in. thicker than original boards. Then with the additional thickness of the clear coat, the horseshoe drops had to be shimmed to the level with the PF surface. With all the drops on Seawitch, this could become a real hassle.
2 weeks later
Sold my home last May and had to put all my pins and parts in storage until new house is finished in December. I'm so jonesin to start my Seawitch resto.
2 weeks later
Quoted from greatwichjohn:Started 2 playfields tonight. Seawitch glass with problems on edge $150 US sold. Along with Seawitch test #2 weep issues around lenses, & ghosted top white X bonus lense. Looking for the Seawitch playfields going for printing the end of the month.
John, what are weep issues? Please explain. Is there a specific order list for the Witch pf's? Are they being shipped in any special order? I know I put in for 1 way in the beginning.
3 weeks later
1 month later
1 month later
Quoted from Whridlsoncestood:Plumbing is my day job. That’s my shop I was spraying at. Business has been there since 1936. Lots of old shit still kicking around.
Probably some neat old shit though!
Quoted from greatwichjohn:I can print any Classic Stern glass with out mirroring, if some one has the art ready to print. Starting this year my glass will be increased to $300 US, & $50 US shipping to USA on Ebay. I will discount the glass for my customers who contact me here. I will continue to offer glass titles for sale, & do custom glass projects.
There is 13 test samples of Seawitch, 5 have sold at a discount while I dial in production. The other 6 samples are still being worked on. These have gone out printed with no clear coat. I have talked with Marc at Marco Specialties about the yellow arrows. If these can get ordered from Foremost Plastics I will commit to buying a bunch. Production will start as soon as I get a time line this month. Again glass I sell Seawitch, Star Gazer, Nineball, Lightning, Catacomb, & Iron Maiden.
Put me in for a Meteor glass. I have a NOS with red score display windows, don't know why they are red. The is some slight ink separation in the center from age but maybe can use for artwork purposes?
Quoted from greatwichjohn:No Meteor glass title from me!
Update: Tempered glass blanks being delivered Friday. The 2 Star Gazer playfields sold, are coming back from cnc (missed lane switches) also on Friday. In talks with the owner of the cnc shop. We want to get the cnc time blocked in for production (this month). Speed up production & get the plywood sheets cut. The first block will see some more Star Gazer playfields cut, & to finally dial in Seawitch. Then Seawitch will be cut in large numbers quickly. The future Star Gazer playfield run I will get the holes for screws for wood rails enlarged. this has been done on Seawitch playfields. Next week will see the cardboard boxes for playfields go to the shop. Marco Specialties did not receive any Star Gazer playfields in 2018, & they want to have them in stock.
ok, I misread post 1482. Anyway a guy asked me if I had a Catacomb bg for sale, I said no but sent him your way in case you had some.
1 week later
Quoted from greatwichjohn:Thanks!
Update Seawitch Playfields: In contact this week for Stern Electronics pinball era yellow opaque arrow. http://www.northernprecisionplastics.com/contact.html
CPR has them as a supplier, along with Foremost plastics. So hopefully I can have them molded within 30 - 60 days for Seawitch playfield production.
awesome news!
Quoted from greatwichjohn:The next 4 Seawitch up for cnc should be cut the end of this week. These will be a priority for printing to see if the alignment is good. If so the next 20 will be cut. Still no word back on yellow arrow molding.
Do you think Shapeways can make them?
2 weeks later
John , do these inserts(lenses) have a die letter on top? Any of them that I ever purchased except the GTB's from PBR have them. If so, how do you remove them. I have done it with a palm sander but they tend to make the insert get too hot causing them to bubble up in the center. I had better success with an old vibrating sander but it took forever!
Good advice vid and cottonm4. My inpatients always gets the better of me unfortunately. I will try that next time. What grit do you recommend?
1 month later
Quoted from cottonm4:I 2nd that.
I met him at Pinfest in Allentown Pa a few years ago, super nice guy.
3 months later
Quoted from Evets:Couldn't sleep last night and decided to collate some of the prepaid data in the last nine(?) pages of this thread since I haven't seen mention that John has found the master list. Hopefully, this list does no harm and is potentially helpful. Naturally, I would be happy to edit this post for the sake of accuracy, and apologize in advance if it contains any errors. Looking forward to a new Seawitch playfield...
Prepaid List
2013
DrJoe April 22
BrianBannon April 23
terrapinmark April 25
rstrunks May 9
xeneize August 29
kickabit September 4
Dazza88 December 13
nocreditdot December ?
2014
Jrobinso99 April 4
ibuypinballs May 8
soafaspud May 23
dothedoo May 28
gabegabegabe May 29
mof May 29
85Txaggie May 31
Evets August 3
2015
j_m_ February 9
BigMcLargeHuge February ?
pinheadpierre March ?
RCP May 19
Prepaid with no date reported, unless I just missed it: Methos, PACMAN, Lovef2K, Talon2000, yfz450 (inactive member?), cottonm4, MattS, tdiddy, and ???.
Non-prepaid List?
paddlepaw July 3, 2018
-Steve
I'm not prepaid, only want list
1 week later
Quoted from greatwichjohn:18 new production Seawitch playfields have been cut. They will be picked up next week & start the production with yellow arrows. They had a problem & will cut either 2 or 4 more. Then I switch to old playfield blanks here in stock. 2 Star Gazer have been printed, & I move towards Seawitch production.
Thanks for the update! Getting closer...
4 weeks later
Quoted from rstrunks:We appreciate your hard work on this project John. I'm looking forward to seeing the test playfields with white arrows.
+1
1 week later
2 weeks later
Quoted from Tsskinne:[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]
Which one is this?
5 months later
Quoted from Evets:Updated Unofficial Seawitch List
Prepaid
1. DrJoe April 22, 2013
2. BrianBannon April 23
3. Tweaver April 23 or 24
4. terrapinmark April 25
5. kickabit September 4
6. Dazza88 December 13
7. nocreditdot December ?
8. Jrobinso99 April 4, 2014
9. ibuypinballs May 8
10. soafaspud May 23
11. dothedoo May 28
12. mof May 29
13. gabegabegabe May 29
14. 85Txaggie May 31
15. Evets August 3
16. PACMAN February 1, 2015
17. j_m_ February 9
18. BigMcLargeHuge February ?
19. pinheadpierre March ?
20. MattS April 23
21. RCP May 19
22. Methos November ?
Prepaid(?) with no date reported, unless I just missed it: tdiddy, yfz450 (inactive member?)
“I want to buy” list, in alphabetical order at the moment: bluespin, cottonm4, Lovef2K, Madmax541, paddlepaw (July 3, 2018), Talon2000... I haven’t had time to go back through the thread and organize the "want to buy" list by post date.
Received PF List
rstrunks May 9, 2013 (Received test playfield with white arrow. Post 1827))
xeneize August 29, 2013 (Uncleared PF sent to Kruzman. Posts 1809, 1866, 1867)
I expresses interest in a Seawitch pre-order sometime in 2014 via PM to John. He wouldn't take a pre-order payment the time.
3 weeks later
1 week later
Quoted from play_pinball:Looks great, John! Curious, how do you apply the paint to the bottom? I would have assumed that was done before inserts were placed. I'm not insinuating paint splatter getting on anything, I'm more asking in case I want to paint the bottom of a Mirco playfield
I had good success with a 4 inch foam roller. I just placed the pf on a flat surface, like Cottonm4 stated, use paint sparingly and go slow. The paint dries fast enough so you can just add another coat if needed.
Quoted from cottonm4:I stood mine up on the vertical plane. I did not want to take a chance of having any drop of paint drip into any insert. And worse, not seeing the drip until it was already dried.
I guess I was lucky there, no splatter on mine.
2 months later
I'm definitely waiting this out. Slowly moving towards the top of the list. I had an NOS years ago when I was new to the hobby. I sold it to pay for other pin projects and I smack myself in the head every time I think about. On the positive side, I sold it to Mike Halse and I believe that playfield was used to provide the artwork for John.
Quoted from Arcade:What the heck does lenses off even mean?
Off center?
Missing?
Not smooth or clear?
Wrong color?
I have no idea what you are referring to and can't find anything in the photos.
Look at the photos. The registration is off on the black rings around some lenses/inserts. But what I don't understand is why are only some inserts off and not all? And how does this happen when all of the boards are the same? Must be frustrating for John.
Yes it is hard to see with the glare but I see it very clear on the left flipper return orange extra ball insert. Image 0059
Quoted from Evets:The latest version of the list I compiled from thread posts, PMs, emails, and such:
Updated Unofficial Seawitch List
Prepaid
1. Tweaver April 23 or 24, 2013
2. Dazza88 December 13
3. nocreditdot April 1, 2014
4. Jrobinso99 April 4
5. ibuypinballs May 8
6. sofaspud May 23
7. dothedoo May 28
8. mof May 29
9. gabegabegabe May 29
10. 85Txaggie May 31
11. Evets August 3
12. Raptor December 13 (per email exchange with Raptor and John G)
13. PACMAN February 1, 2015
14. BigMcLargeHuge February 5
15. j_m_ February 9
16. pinheadpierre March
17. MattS April 23
18. RCP May 19
“Want to buy” list, some parts in educated guess order.
------ 2014
Talon2000 (see post 29; 6 years ago?)
Lovef2K (some time in 2014, see post 1884)
------ 2017
bluespin (see post 905, 3 years ago)
RazerX (May 26, 2017)
------ 2018
cottonm4 (see post 1013, 2 years ago but likely PM’d before that post)
paddlepaw (July 3, 2018; see post 1433)
tdiddy (post 1009, supersedes post 863?; 2 years ago)
Pinballer73 (see posts 937, 1882; 2 years ago)
Yfz250 (PM 2 years ago, not sure where to place within the 2018 group)
Chalkey (PM 2 years ago, not sure where to place within the 2018 group)
------2019
Tommy42 (see post 1248)
Madmax541 (see post 1432, 1 year ago)
Received PF List
kickabit September 4, 2013
BrianBannon April 23, 2013
DrJoe April 22, 2013
terrapinmark April 25, 2013
Razorsedge (test playfield, post 1977)
rstrunks May 9, 2013 (Received test playfield with white arrow. Post 1827))
xeneize August 29, 2013 (Uncleared PF sent to Kruzman. Posts 1809, 1866, 1867)
Whrildsoncestood (Received uncleared test PF with white arrows)
Removed from list
Methos November, 2015 (removed after PM)
My Pinside PM to John asking to be put on the Seawitch list is dated April 7 2014,
Quoted from cottonm4:I got my Seawitch 2 days after TPF in 2016. I sent a request to John within 2 weeks of bringing her home.
Does that mean the 2 people on the list ahead of you got their's?
1 month later
Quoted from Pinballer73:Any further updates John? When do you expect to have playfields available for those on the non prepaid list?
+1
Quoted from Evets:Hi, John,
If you've already shipped a PF or a refund to anyone on this list, please let us know so it can be updated. I suspect not everyone returns to the thread to announce the arrival of a PF, or a refund, whichever the case. A previous post (#2010), which references the list as shown in post 1984, suggests that you've completed the transactions with Tweaver and Dazza88. If that 's accurate, then the four PFs referenced in post 2049 go to 3-6, right? In any case, I'm happy to be nearing the front of the line, and thanks in advance for whatever light you can shed on the status of the list. Be well.
Updated Unofficial Seawitch List
Prepaid List
1. Tweaver April 23 or 24, 2013
2. Dazza88 December 13, 2013
3. Jrobinso99 April 4, 2014
4. sofaspud May 23, 2014
5. dothedoo May 28, 2014
6. gabegabegabe May 29, 2014
7. 85Txaggie May 31, 2014
8. Evets August 3, 2014
9. Raptor December 13, 2014 (per email exchange with Raptor and John G)
10. PACMAN February 1, 2015
11. BigMcLargeHuge February 5, 2015
12. j_m_ February 9, 2015
13. MattS April 23, 2015
14. RCP May 19, 2015
Afaik John is going by order of interest not prepay. When i asked to be added to the list John didn't want me to prepay.
2 weeks later
You may have had some failures but you have also had much success and made a lot of pinheads very happy!
Quoted from Pinballer73:That's great news John, congratulations! Looking forward to the opportunity to purchasing a nice new Seawitch playfield from you. Hopefully your production increases to allow several playfields to be purchased and shipped to a few of us here in Australia that would like one of your playfields.
+1
2 weeks later
Quoted from greatwichjohn:Back to my regular 6 day a week public pool operator with the city. Since trying out for sidewalks for a week it has put me in a lot of pain. I returned to my 6 day a week pool operator job. So if people do not know my medical history I had a bone spur to my right foot heel operated on 2 years ago. Had it operated on, but I continue to have a painful knee & hip (also feels like someone kicked me in the right nut!). So after a week I just started high dosage over the counter ibuprophen. I had a MRI on my hip & waiting on my right knee.
Still waiting on tempered glass blanks prepaid almost 3 months ago. 1 Star Gazer should be printed & 4 more getting ready & working still on the 20 Seawitch.
Being in constant pain really sucks, I know. You need a very long vacation once everybody gets their playfields. Just try not to eat too many Motrins they are bad for the kidneys.
1 month later
1 week later
3 weeks later
Quoted from greatwichjohn:There are no worries guys. Now that I have retired I will be plowing through playfields. The focus is still on Seawitch playfields this winter. Star Gazer demand is very little now. Like I said the next 32 Seawitch production playfields will likely be cut this month.
PM sent
2 weeks later
Quoted from greatwichjohn:I got the 4 next Seawitch playfields painted on bottom with 2 coats of gray. Trying to sort through the lists here for a update this week. 85Txaggie is taking Pro#7. Pro#11 has already gone to Lovef2K (April 7, 2014, see posts 1884, 2023) Rich provided the Star Gazer donor playfield.
Pro#8 wood burn to pop bumpers left & middle to a customer not prepaid (years ago).
Pro#10 is available with very little dust in finish clear, but there is one dust particle above the apron near right flipper. Consider this Grade A
Pro#9 is available with minor wood burn top right target bank, & a slight depression in bottom right side of the shooter lane (lots of clear so just a weird result that will not affect the ball). This one will be discounted.
Yes the guys are trying to help me get through the backlog of prepaid guys still waiting. I am trying to go through all my pm & email to update the lists this week also. If you are prepaid & still have not got a playfield contact me also. trying to get out as many this month & into the next 32 next month!
Just reached out to: Tweaver he declined choices early this year. See what he wants to do. The next production 32 Seawitch will be using the same 3/4" & 1" trans blue lenses from Northern Precision Plastics.[quoted image]
My new Seawitch PF is gorgeous. Worth the wait. I didn't supply the donor for SG, though I regretfully sold a NOS Seawitch pf to Mike Halse years back and I believe that one was used for the repro artwork? Correct me if I'm mistaken.
Quoted from Chalkey:Looked a couple pages back and couldn't find a photo... what do the "non transparent" blue lenses look like? Do they still shine light through adequately?
I must have missed any posts about the blue inserts. I got production number 11 and I held it up to some light. I noticed the large blue inserts have a rich deep blue color but the smaller ones look cloudy and not as blue. I guess I can help them out w blue LEDs.
2 weeks later
Quoted from dothedoo:That’s just going to make me want trade my playfields in for the new ones.
I'm in the same boat.
1 month later
Quoted from erichill:I'm swapping a Seawitch for a buddy and found a couple holes that appear to be incorrect. Curious if others have encountered this.
The most significant one is the large hole for the right apron screw. It appears to be almost a 1/2" off. I did a quick fit of the apron and this one will almost certainly need to be relocated.
Additionally, the first post on the inside of the left orbit is pre-drilled for a wood screw and is supposed to be a machine screw. There's also a post in the lower left drop target bank that's pre-drilled for a machine screw that's supposed to be a wood screw.
Besides that, the topside holes seem pretty spot-on.
[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]
It's funny but tonight I was thinking of asking the group about this very thing. Repro PF's always have some quirks. Mainly due to what ever the condition of the donor PF was in. The hole that was supposed to be wood thread may have been stripped and drilled on the donor, especially if it was for a mini post. Wood thread hole that should be a "through hole" is an easy fix. The apron should hide the other hole I would guess?
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