Looking for advice from pinshack builders...

[Mfresh]

I am in the exciting stage of planning an extension to be exclusively used for pinball.

Soooo, I don't want to get it finished and then figure out that it's just too small and an extra cm or two would have let me get in an extra pin. Now by my reckoning a pinball machine needs abut 140cm from the back of the back leg to the front of the machine. And the glass is 110cmm. So to have a pinball machine against the back wall and another against the front wall and a gap between them at least big enough to slide a glass out you need a room that is 390cm from front to back minimum. I'm planning 400cm. Does that sound like it should be enough?

And a backbox is about 72cm wide, so I am planning 75cm per machine to allow for a little space in between. So by my reckoning if I go for a room width that's a multiple of 75cm, I should avoid ending up with a gap that's just too small to fit another one in. Does that sound right?

Any advice with the sorts of widths and lengths to be using as rules of thumb much appreciated...

 

[replicas]

Build as big as you can. No matter how big it is, it's not big enough.

 

[DRD]

In terms of width, old bally ss pinballs have wider backboxes, perhaps 77cm or so. Modern stern more like 71cm wide

The pinballs may stick out more than 140cm from the wall. When I measure mine with rubber feet on and a skirting board it is more like 147cm.

Plaster thickness, internal insulation if relevant (as opposed to cavity wall insulation)

Builders may be a few cm out with their measurements (also, your brickwork might look better to go by whole brick lengths rather than have to cut a brick)

Also, do you want to be able to stand immediately in front of the machine when you withdraw the glass?

What about withdrawing the glass if you have a fish tales or similar massive start button game in the same "row" in your room

Personally, I would add a bit of a buffer to your estimate. Why not mock it up and see if your 'turning circle" is enough to get the pins in and out of your slots?

 

[jack burton]

Mock it up on Google sketchup and add in pins, that's what I did, gives you a good idea