You did right.
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Complete Theatre of magic shop log
- Thread starter elrikos
- Start date
You did right.
oops, i thought you were the dude from The Pipeline bar?
my mistake, and in any case the compliment stands, and congrats on the impending twins matey :hippie:
Don't worry cool dan. Believe me I've been called much worse!!
Spoke to bill the polisher. Parts will be with me without fail on Saturday afternoon (so I'm told). Bill very apologetic. Stay tuned!
In other news I've just put a second coat of black on the cabinet. Found out euro car parts sell the same stuff for &£4 a can. Not bad if you have one local.
May get on with earthing the Backbox later. Hoping to get the cabinet decals on this weekend.
Only thing on the cab I'm not sure on is the back. As there was some damage around the legs I had to remove the black vinyl on the back. I'm loathe to remove and replace all of it as the stuff I have isn't as sticky. I think I'll end up replacing a small section and trying to blend it in. See how I get on!! Shame that Bally changed their manufacturing process as older cabs have lack painted wood on the back. Much easier to repair and make good than black vinyl!!
Spoke to bill the polisher. Parts will be with me without fail on Saturday afternoon (so I'm told). Bill very apologetic. Stay tuned!
In other news I've just put a second coat of black on the cabinet. Found out euro car parts sell the same stuff for &£4 a can. Not bad if you have one local.
May get on with earthing the Backbox later. Hoping to get the cabinet decals on this weekend.
Only thing on the cab I'm not sure on is the back. As there was some damage around the legs I had to remove the black vinyl on the back. I'm loathe to remove and replace all of it as the stuff I have isn't as sticky. I think I'll end up replacing a small section and trying to blend it in. See how I get on!! Shame that Bally changed their manufacturing process as older cabs have lack painted wood on the back. Much easier to repair and make good than black vinyl!!
another update!!
waiting on the call from Bill about the plating. Fingers crossed itll be today as i cant put hte cabinet sides on without having the siderails to hand (just to compare what part of the decal should be seen under the rail).
More progress over the last few days. I removed the slider bars from the back of the cabinet. They had a terrible life! the plastic feet had come off and so the wood was scraping on the floor. I put them through the electric plane and flattened them off. Then painted and reattached.
I mentioned before that i had to remove some of the vinyl on the back of the cabinet to repair sections. I varnished and painted black but it just didnt look right.
i masked off the warning labels and serial number sticker and gently sprayed the back, blending in the corners.
much better!!!
waiting on the call from Bill about the plating. Fingers crossed itll be today as i cant put hte cabinet sides on without having the siderails to hand (just to compare what part of the decal should be seen under the rail).
More progress over the last few days. I removed the slider bars from the back of the cabinet. They had a terrible life! the plastic feet had come off and so the wood was scraping on the floor. I put them through the electric plane and flattened them off. Then painted and reattached.
I mentioned before that i had to remove some of the vinyl on the back of the cabinet to repair sections. I varnished and painted black but it just didnt look right.
i masked off the warning labels and serial number sticker and gently sprayed the back, blending in the corners.
much better!!!
soooo.
its time to reveal the worst kept secret in pinball. What plating did i go with??? Heres a small selection of the parts i had done
Thats right, 24 carat gold. I got quoted for brass plate and also for gold. Gold just seemed the best way to go. So, you may wonder why I've not pictured all the parts i had done (coin door, coin door surround, siderails, lockdown bar, 3 ramps, legs and lots of bolts). Well Bill picked them up from the plater and was told all went well. He didn't unwrap them until i got there. He wasn't happy! The gold plate apparently needs a thin coat of lacquer over the top to protect the finish and it hadn't been applied well. The parts you see are what passed muster. The rest is going straight back to the plater to put right. Bill was very apologetic and a lot madder than i was as he's used the same plater for a long time. I'm promised the rest of the parts back within a week or two and Bill will be making sure they're spot on.
On the plus side the parts i have had back look absolutely amazing, mirror perfect and a beautiful colour. It's going to look amazing when its all back together!
Heres a few close up snaps to get you all excited.
The cost for all this, well lets say it was more than £200 but less than £300, for everything specified above. Not bad value i think as the metal ramps were shot and the legs were knackered and needed replacing. I think buying standard replacements would have cost me what i paid for the plating. Bill's details are here http://www.metal-polishing.my-aylesbury.co.uk/
Suffice to say that despite the issues i've had i'll be using Bill again! He really is a top bloke and is working hard to sort these issues out.
its time to reveal the worst kept secret in pinball. What plating did i go with??? Heres a small selection of the parts i had done
Thats right, 24 carat gold. I got quoted for brass plate and also for gold. Gold just seemed the best way to go. So, you may wonder why I've not pictured all the parts i had done (coin door, coin door surround, siderails, lockdown bar, 3 ramps, legs and lots of bolts). Well Bill picked them up from the plater and was told all went well. He didn't unwrap them until i got there. He wasn't happy! The gold plate apparently needs a thin coat of lacquer over the top to protect the finish and it hadn't been applied well. The parts you see are what passed muster. The rest is going straight back to the plater to put right. Bill was very apologetic and a lot madder than i was as he's used the same plater for a long time. I'm promised the rest of the parts back within a week or two and Bill will be making sure they're spot on.
On the plus side the parts i have had back look absolutely amazing, mirror perfect and a beautiful colour. It's going to look amazing when its all back together!
Heres a few close up snaps to get you all excited.
The cost for all this, well lets say it was more than £200 but less than £300, for everything specified above. Not bad value i think as the metal ramps were shot and the legs were knackered and needed replacing. I think buying standard replacements would have cost me what i paid for the plating. Bill's details are here http://www.metal-polishing.my-aylesbury.co.uk/
Suffice to say that despite the issues i've had i'll be using Bill again! He really is a top bloke and is working hard to sort these issues out.
OK,
few more updates! I've managed to get a fair bit done since the last update.
First off, the plating isnt back yet. Hopefully this weekend. The deadline has slipped on that a little which im a bit annoyed about but nothing i can do on it.
I've also put my big marco order through. I have to say though that the order started large and then i began to compare prices with Phil at PBH. My order got a lot smaller after that. Just a few bits that no one else sells. Still came to $300 though!
First big job i got done is the cabinet decals. The main decals are all fitted. Looking nice. One isnt perfectly aligned which im annoyed about, but i dont think anyone else would be able to tell. Just bugs me!!
I've also finished the earthing on the backbox. Borrowed Dave the Taxmans ideas again and used earth cable. Looks really smart (if i do say so myself!)
I also spent some time makingthe transformer look a bit prettier. It was covered in dirt and surface rust so there was no way it could go back as it was. I removed the brackets from it (harder than it looks!), sanded the transformer and painted with a very thin coat of satin black. The brackets were sanded, polished and clearcoated.
This afternoon was a big job. Getting all the wiring back into the cabinet. Took my time and here's the result. Its not totally finished (the power box for example is missing as its going for plating) but i am quite pleased with it.
Other big news is that the playfields back! It arrived this morning. Looks good. Not perfect which is a little disappointing but not bad at all. I can see where the time has been put in and i think i may be being a bit of a perfectionist. The issues i'm talking about aren't visible unless you're REALLY scrutinising the PF.
Just waiting for some parts to arrive and it'll all start to go back together!
few more updates! I've managed to get a fair bit done since the last update.
First off, the plating isnt back yet. Hopefully this weekend. The deadline has slipped on that a little which im a bit annoyed about but nothing i can do on it.
I've also put my big marco order through. I have to say though that the order started large and then i began to compare prices with Phil at PBH. My order got a lot smaller after that. Just a few bits that no one else sells. Still came to $300 though!
First big job i got done is the cabinet decals. The main decals are all fitted. Looking nice. One isnt perfectly aligned which im annoyed about, but i dont think anyone else would be able to tell. Just bugs me!!
I've also finished the earthing on the backbox. Borrowed Dave the Taxmans ideas again and used earth cable. Looks really smart (if i do say so myself!)
I also spent some time makingthe transformer look a bit prettier. It was covered in dirt and surface rust so there was no way it could go back as it was. I removed the brackets from it (harder than it looks!), sanded the transformer and painted with a very thin coat of satin black. The brackets were sanded, polished and clearcoated.
This afternoon was a big job. Getting all the wiring back into the cabinet. Took my time and here's the result. Its not totally finished (the power box for example is missing as its going for plating) but i am quite pleased with it.
Other big news is that the playfields back! It arrived this morning. Looks good. Not perfect which is a little disappointing but not bad at all. I can see where the time has been put in and i think i may be being a bit of a perfectionist. The issues i'm talking about aren't visible unless you're REALLY scrutinising the PF.
Just waiting for some parts to arrive and it'll all start to go back together!
Can't wait to see the finished article....this thing is going to look amazing!
well its got to be right!
Only update for today is that my Marco order has shipped (yay!!) via DHL (boo!!). chances of getting hit up for customs charges....100% :-(
No updates on the plating. Probably going to be this weekend now.
Only update for today is that my Marco order has shipped (yay!!) via DHL (boo!!). chances of getting hit up for customs charges....100% :-(
No updates on the plating. Probably going to be this weekend now.
another update.
Got all the plating bar the coin door. Looks great. Managed to get the siderails fitted. Found some foam tape on ebay for car mouldings that was suitably thin. £1.79 a roll. Bargain!
Heres a pic of the cabinet with the siderails and lockbar fitted. Forgot to order beer seal for the bar. Anyone have a UK source? ive searched high and low for the "correct" grey stuff to no avail!
In other news. The playfield is going back to Germany. There were a few things that just weren't right. Henrik's on board and being really good about the whole thing. The project's going to be a bit slow going for a while though until its back.
Got all the plating bar the coin door. Looks great. Managed to get the siderails fitted. Found some foam tape on ebay for car mouldings that was suitably thin. £1.79 a roll. Bargain!
Heres a pic of the cabinet with the siderails and lockbar fitted. Forgot to order beer seal for the bar. Anyone have a UK source? ive searched high and low for the "correct" grey stuff to no avail!
In other news. The playfield is going back to Germany. There were a few things that just weren't right. Henrik's on board and being really good about the whole thing. The project's going to be a bit slow going for a while though until its back.
Hi Cali,
there are a few minor things that didn't quite pass muster and its one of those things that if i left it as it was i'd have never been 100% happy. As you can probably tell i'm a bit of a perfectionist about this machine and so i'm expecting great things! The issues i'm talking about are so minor that i doubt you'd see most of them with the glass on, but i'd always know. One example was the multiball insert. Henrik had done all the hard work of touching up the brass corner art on the edge of the insert, but not the black line around it, so there was a crack showing at the edge of the insert. Theres a few other bits and pieces as well, mostly along the same lines.
I'm not going to post pictures at the moment as i'm loathe to bash Henriks work and reputation. The stuff he HAS done is simply superb and i can completely see that after many hours of airbrushing its easy to miss small things. I'm working on getting it back to him at the moment. We've not talked timescales on it coming back to me but i'm sure it'll be given top priority. Having said that i'm more interested in it being as good as he can do rather than back fast.
In other news i've been ordering connectors! There are a few burnt ones on the main board. The GI ones. Pins ordered from Farnell as well as connectors. I spent ages tracking down the kind of connectors used under the playfield. For reference they are "Molex standard". The large ones are 0.093" and the small 0.062" Farnell sell them all in a range of sizes (i.e. 1 conductor, 2, 3, 4 etc). Prices are pretty good. For future reference (mine as much as anyones!) here's the part numbers.
0.093"
03 09 1022 (2 pin, male)
03 09 2022 (2 pin female)
03 09 1031 (3 pin, male)
03 09 2031 (3 pin, female)
The penultimate number denotes the number of pins and the 4th from end number is a 1 for male and 2 for female. Pins are 02-09-2103 male
02-09-1104 female
Hope that saves a bit of time for all!! The connectors are pretty cheap and its nice to be able to use the proper stuff. If you're feeling a bit cheeky you can request "samples" from molex for small quantities :eyebrows:
I've also ordered a few bits from Phil at PBH. Should arrive tomorrow.
Finally, i'm dropping a load of stuff at Bill the polishers for zinc dipping. Should have it back over the weekend.
Not much else to report at the moment! I'll throw up some more pictures of progress over the next few days!
there are a few minor things that didn't quite pass muster and its one of those things that if i left it as it was i'd have never been 100% happy. As you can probably tell i'm a bit of a perfectionist about this machine and so i'm expecting great things! The issues i'm talking about are so minor that i doubt you'd see most of them with the glass on, but i'd always know. One example was the multiball insert. Henrik had done all the hard work of touching up the brass corner art on the edge of the insert, but not the black line around it, so there was a crack showing at the edge of the insert. Theres a few other bits and pieces as well, mostly along the same lines.
I'm not going to post pictures at the moment as i'm loathe to bash Henriks work and reputation. The stuff he HAS done is simply superb and i can completely see that after many hours of airbrushing its easy to miss small things. I'm working on getting it back to him at the moment. We've not talked timescales on it coming back to me but i'm sure it'll be given top priority. Having said that i'm more interested in it being as good as he can do rather than back fast.
In other news i've been ordering connectors! There are a few burnt ones on the main board. The GI ones. Pins ordered from Farnell as well as connectors. I spent ages tracking down the kind of connectors used under the playfield. For reference they are "Molex standard". The large ones are 0.093" and the small 0.062" Farnell sell them all in a range of sizes (i.e. 1 conductor, 2, 3, 4 etc). Prices are pretty good. For future reference (mine as much as anyones!) here's the part numbers.
0.093"
03 09 1022 (2 pin, male)
03 09 2022 (2 pin female)
03 09 1031 (3 pin, male)
03 09 2031 (3 pin, female)
The penultimate number denotes the number of pins and the 4th from end number is a 1 for male and 2 for female. Pins are 02-09-2103 male
02-09-1104 female
Hope that saves a bit of time for all!! The connectors are pretty cheap and its nice to be able to use the proper stuff. If you're feeling a bit cheeky you can request "samples" from molex for small quantities :eyebrows:
I've also ordered a few bits from Phil at PBH. Should arrive tomorrow.
Finally, i'm dropping a load of stuff at Bill the polishers for zinc dipping. Should have it back over the weekend.
Not much else to report at the moment! I'll throw up some more pictures of progress over the next few days!
You have worked so hard, it has to be perfect now. I respect the fact you want 100% and will wait for it, I get bored or impatient and settle for less.
Useful info on the molex connectors, they are one of those things on my list to find where to order from. ;-)
Useful info on the molex connectors, they are one of those things on my list to find where to order from. ;-)
Small update.
Things are going slow (isn't that just the way!). Bill has reported back that the platers doesn't do zinc dipping any more. However he's going to get everything bright chromed for about the same price. None of it will be polished so it won't be a mirror shiny finish, just a nice bright silver that won't dull. Ideal!
The playfield has arrived back with Henrik. After much searching the net the best price i could find to send it fully insured was parcelmonkey.com who wanted £39. Could have been worse although its an expense i would have liked to have avoided!
Not much more to report at the moment. I'm trying to do as much as i can before the PF comes back. That doesn't amount to much!! replaced the GI headers on the power board. Here's the old connector for the backbox GI. Looks like the old one had burnt so instead of replacing properly the crafty operator found a suitable connector, cut it off whatever it was connected to and attached it to the theatre using chocolate block connectors. As you can see it all got a little toasty!! That gob of melted plastic was once a connector block! Now replaced with the proper connector and trifurcon pins.
Also, numpty me ordered a load of 0.093" connectors from farnell and to complement them............0.062" pins! nice! Ironically the part numbers above are for 0.093" pins and i still managed to order wrong! Hey ho!
I've also found a good source for coil wrappers. Mine are looking pretty nasty and a replacement set of wrappers from bayarea would have been about £50 including postage! a little much for me!
Pinballrebel has them all digitised and ready to print on a colour printer. The links on the page load ones with "Williams" written on however if you edit the link and remove the word "text" you get the one with the logo instead. Cue lots of cutting and gluing!!
http://www.pinballrebel.com/pinball/cards/
Nothing much more to say really! I'll update when i have some idea of timescales from Henrik.
Things are going slow (isn't that just the way!). Bill has reported back that the platers doesn't do zinc dipping any more. However he's going to get everything bright chromed for about the same price. None of it will be polished so it won't be a mirror shiny finish, just a nice bright silver that won't dull. Ideal!
The playfield has arrived back with Henrik. After much searching the net the best price i could find to send it fully insured was parcelmonkey.com who wanted £39. Could have been worse although its an expense i would have liked to have avoided!
Not much more to report at the moment. I'm trying to do as much as i can before the PF comes back. That doesn't amount to much!! replaced the GI headers on the power board. Here's the old connector for the backbox GI. Looks like the old one had burnt so instead of replacing properly the crafty operator found a suitable connector, cut it off whatever it was connected to and attached it to the theatre using chocolate block connectors. As you can see it all got a little toasty!! That gob of melted plastic was once a connector block! Now replaced with the proper connector and trifurcon pins.
Also, numpty me ordered a load of 0.093" connectors from farnell and to complement them............0.062" pins! nice! Ironically the part numbers above are for 0.093" pins and i still managed to order wrong! Hey ho!
I've also found a good source for coil wrappers. Mine are looking pretty nasty and a replacement set of wrappers from bayarea would have been about £50 including postage! a little much for me!
Pinballrebel has them all digitised and ready to print on a colour printer. The links on the page load ones with "Williams" written on however if you edit the link and remove the word "text" you get the one with the logo instead. Cue lots of cutting and gluing!!
http://www.pinballrebel.com/pinball/cards/
Nothing much more to say really! I'll update when i have some idea of timescales from Henrik.
Small update.
Things are going slow (isn't that just the way!). Bill has reported back that the platers doesn't do zinc dipping any more. However he's going to get everything bright chromed for about the same price. None of it will be polished so it won't be a mirror shiny finish, just a nice bright silver that won't dull. Ideal!
The playfield has arrived back with Henrik. After much searching the net the best price i could find to send it fully insured was parcelmonkey.com who wanted £39. Could have been worse although its an expense i would have liked to have avoided!
Not much more to report at the moment. I'm trying to do as much as i can before the PF comes back. That doesn't amount to much!! replaced the GI headers on the power board. Here's the old connector for the backbox GI. Looks like the old one had burnt so instead of replacing properly the crafty operator found a suitable connector, cut it off whatever it was connected to and attached it to the theatre using chocolate block connectors. As you can see it all got a little toasty!! That gob of melted plastic was once a connector block! Now replaced with the proper connector and trifurcon pins.
Also, numpty me ordered a load of 0.093" connectors from farnell and to complement them............0.062" pins! nice! Ironically the part numbers above are for 0.093" pins and i still managed to order wrong! Hey ho!
I've also found a good source for coil wrappers. Mine are looking pretty nasty and a replacement set of wrappers from bayarea would have been about £50 including postage! a little much for me!
Pinballrebel has them all digitised and ready to print on a colour printer. The links on the page load ones with "Williams" written on however if you edit the link and remove the word "text" you get the one with the logo instead. Cue lots of cutting and gluing!!
http://www.pinballrebel.com/pinball/cards/
Nothing much more to say really! I'll update when i have some idea of timescales from Henrik.
i saw coil wrappers alot cheaper than that on a site at the w/e ill see if i can find it
just saw this on ebay dunno if theres anything on it u need for your project specially at that price http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bally-The...eo_Games_Coin_Operated_MJ&hash=item3a7d4b98c4
thanks for the updates chaps. I'm going to see how the printed ones go but thats a good seond choice.
I've got the chrome dipping back from the plater. I had the cabinet switch box, prop arm and various other bits and pieces chrome plated. No polishing done before plating so it not a mirror chrome finish, just shiny. Looks good and for £50 i think it was worth it. No pics i'm afraid.
Not heard anything from Henrik since the playfield arrived back with him on 4/12/12. I've pinged across a quick email to see how things are going. Fingers crossed it'll be back soon but i've rather given up hope of it turning up before the twins arrive (about 6 weeks).
Not much else to report i'm afraid! Just a little frustrating that i can't do any more until the PF comes back. There will be better updates when that happens but until then this thread may go a little quiet.
I've got the chrome dipping back from the plater. I had the cabinet switch box, prop arm and various other bits and pieces chrome plated. No polishing done before plating so it not a mirror chrome finish, just shiny. Looks good and for £50 i think it was worth it. No pics i'm afraid.
Not heard anything from Henrik since the playfield arrived back with him on 4/12/12. I've pinged across a quick email to see how things are going. Fingers crossed it'll be back soon but i've rather given up hope of it turning up before the twins arrive (about 6 weeks).
Not much else to report i'm afraid! Just a little frustrating that i can't do any more until the PF comes back. There will be better updates when that happens but until then this thread may go a little quiet.
minor update. Heard from Henrik that the touch ups are done. Not sure which ones from the list but we'll see. I'm told it will be back with me in 10 days or so time. I'll put up full pics when it gets back.
In other news no babies yet (phew!) 4 weeks to go. Not sure i'll get the TOM back together in the time left before they arrive so don't expect fast updates. I'll keep plugging away though!
Rich
In other news no babies yet (phew!) 4 weeks to go. Not sure i'll get the TOM back together in the time left before they arrive so don't expect fast updates. I'll keep plugging away though!
Rich
little more to add at the moment! i've been thinking about making my own tiger saw mod. Doesn't seem to be too tricky. I've picked up a 12v motor from ebay (120rpm so shouldn't go to fast) to do the spinning. In terms of controlling the motor i'm experimenting with a 555 timer circuit i bought at maplin. I'm thinking wither install a second switch across the tiger saw captive ball switch to trigger it, or to work out how the captive ball lane flasher transistor behaves and tap into that somehow (a la the bill ung ufo mod on AFM). We'll see! I'll stick up some pictures of progress as and when there is any!
http://nolp.dhl.de/nextt-online-public/set_identcodes.do?lang=de&idc=712151709930
finally!!! Ill get putting it back together this weekend.
(No babies yet) induction next week.
tiger saw mod is looking pretty good. Ill post a full guide when I get the rest of the table together! It's come in as costing £15 plus some wire so not too expensive!
finally!!! Ill get putting it back together this weekend.
(No babies yet) induction next week.
tiger saw mod is looking pretty good. Ill post a full guide when I get the rest of the table together! It's come in as costing £15 plus some wire so not too expensive!
It's arrived! It's pretty shiny. Is it perfect?.......no. Is it close enough. Yes. I'm going to spend a bit of time over the weekend coming up with some before and after photos so you can all see the work Henrik and the team have done. I'm pretty sure a lot of hours have gone into it.
My favourite bit is the shooter lane. Looks like wood until you look VERY closely. It's all been painted to resemble the plywood layers. Amazing.
I'll leave you with one picture for now. Hopefully more updates to follow this weekend!.
My favourite bit is the shooter lane. Looks like wood until you look VERY closely. It's all been painted to resemble the plywood layers. Amazing.
I'll leave you with one picture for now. Hopefully more updates to follow this weekend!.
Hi all
didnt manage to get the comparisons done over the weekend because of another delay. This time a good one though!
Mrs elrikos went into labour over the weekend and as of this morning there are 2 future pinball fans in the world. Florence and Elizabeth arrived at 0630. Mum and babies are doing really well and I'm exhausted!! Ill get the thread updated as soon as I can but wanted to share the word, especially after all the positive messages I've been getting on here.
Mum and baby will be home soon and the chaos will start!
didnt manage to get the comparisons done over the weekend because of another delay. This time a good one though!
Mrs elrikos went into labour over the weekend and as of this morning there are 2 future pinball fans in the world. Florence and Elizabeth arrived at 0630. Mum and babies are doing really well and I'm exhausted!! Ill get the thread updated as soon as I can but wanted to share the word, especially after all the positive messages I've been getting on here.
Mum and baby will be home soon and the chaos will start!
Congrats fella it's a lovely feeling the first time you hold your likens and they look into your eyes ain't it? Make the most of it they don't stay little long. My lil guy is always saying he's nearly a man lol (he's 8)
Congratulations Elrikos!!! 
Congrats Rich.
No more buying stuff for the machines for a while.
No more buying stuff for the machines for a while.
This threads gonna be dead for quite some time ;0)
Congratulations Rich, best wishes to you and your new family :rockon:
