Leaf switch no more

So one thing I wanted to eliminate was leaf switches, and for good reason:
1. They are expensive.  $5 at a minimum, and they are essentially copper strips with carbon pads.
2. They wear out.  Those tiny pads with sparks wearing them with every hit means you'll be replacing them
3. They can get damaged.  How many old pinballs have you seen where the strip looks more warped than a noodle?
4. The contacts are exposed, so they also get dirty.

I thought about creating a mechanism to use a common cherry switch you see in joystick buttons, but then I found this:
http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a-store/item/sms-196/spdt-snap-action-switch-w/lever/1.html

In small bulk (I need at least 7 for my layout), they are only about $2 a piece.  They come with nice long arms that extend almost a full 2 inches beyond the body, they handle up to 15 amps, and they are fully enclosed so they are far less likely to fail.  I plan on buying some of these, then model them up so I can create a bracket to mount it.  The bracket will have slots so that I can also adjust the position to tweak how much force it takes to set it off.  Often you have slings where the leaf switches aren't straight, and the sling solenoid doesn't always fire.


One other problem I thought of today, the cabinet I have is late 70's, which means it's very boxy (doesn't have the angled cabinet).  Because of this, and the fact that the back of my playfield has objects that are 4 inches higher than the apron, it's going to make the flippers 6" away from the glass.  This also means I have to make custom lockdown hangers to drop the front of the playfield down into the cabinet.  This isn't really the issue though, my issue is that this is if I make the playfield parallel with the cabinet, this means no playfield angle :-0

I believe I have a solution, pretty sure Sega/Stern legs have the same bolt pitch, so I can put Sega legs in the back, keep bally/williams in front (3" height difference).  The other 3" can be made up with the leg levelers (down in front, extended in the rear).  I can also buy longer levelers from Mcmaster if I need more height.

Trough installed

In order for it to fit better, I did cut a slot into the bottom rail for the solenoid to slide without hitting, but it seems like it functions nicely.  Now I just need to get the rails installed and wire up some buttons.


I also ordered a 24" LCD monitor on friday.  It's refurbished, but they took paypal and since I had funds in there it's as if it were free.  $110 shipped isn't too bad for a viewsonic
http://www.viewsonic.com/us/va2431wm.html

backbox fabbed

Well it's done.  Gaps are bigger than I wanted, I think I needed to make the dowel holes a bit deeper.  But with glue filling them, sanding the transitions, and adding some paint / decals it should look fine.  Mounted the speakers tilted down so the sound hits you.  I did have to add 4 screws to help stiffen up the joints a bit.  2 dowels per joint was just not sufficient.  I still need to drill the mounting holes that line up with the cabinet threads, and add a cutout in the center to route cables through.

Also got the siderails done.  Was going to use the bandsaw, but a co-worker told me maintenance has a shear for straight cuts.  It was only 36" wide (which makes it hard to cut since my piece was 36" plus I'm cutting at an angle), but after splitting up a 12" wide piece it fit just fine.

Basically I'm doing this to not only not worry about my gaps between playfield and cabinet, but I can add sideart without worrying that I'm going to scratch it (it's part of the playfield).  And bonus, in theory, I could play a game completely outside the cabinet since it will be completely enclosed.

another small update

So I'm building the backbox.  The right angle clamp tool is great.  I went ahead and drilled my 15/32" holes, dribbled some glue, and hammered 1/4" diameter dowels into the holes.  Once it's pounded together, I let it sit in the clamp to keep it at 90 degrees as it dries.  To be sure it stays that way, I'm going to do just one joint until it dries.  I may buy 3 more of these at some point so I can build an entire box all at once, and have a cured box in the morning.  I also cut holes in a separate piece to mount the speakers, they included a great template to mark the holes.

I checked my tracking, the aluminum sheets are scheduled to be delivered tomorrow at work, so I'm going to try to get those cut tomorrow and bring them home for the weekend.  If I manage to get everything mounted, I may be flipping by next week.. into an empty abyss :-)

Foam-core here we come!

small update

So I went ahead and ordered the aluminum sheet for the sides (going to split it myself).  Onlinemetals.com had the best price, also seem to be the most reputable, plus they accept paypal to boot.  I had it shipped to work both because it's $2 cheaper than residential, and because I'll need to cut it anyway (there's a nice big bandsaw).  $26 for 12" x 36" x 1/16" thick 5050 aluminum aint bad.

I also decided to paint the trough parts.  Even though you'll almost never see them under the apron, I just didn't like how bad they were pitted.  I debated it because I was worried the ball would start flaking off paint, but I did buy appliance paint which is partially epoxy.  If it's hard enough for appliance abuse, it should handle a shiny steel ball in a home envoirnment.

I also ordered this handy little tool I had no idea existed!
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0007GIN24/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I should have figured something like this existed.  Basically it allows you to make a 90-degree joint in wood by clamping them in a perfect 90-degree vise.  This will really come in handy for the backbox, not to mention other stuff.  I'll probably use dowel pins + screws to make a nice strong joint.

speakers + amp came in

So after fedex delivered a day late, I'm definitely happy, $40 well spent.  The amp puts out clean sound, as do the speakers.  I could distort them if I went past halfway, but the sound is cranking pretty loud at that point.  I got some pretty good bass even with the speakers out in the open, it should really rumble once it's mounted in a panel inside the backbox.  Here's a quick test video:

Old playfield stripped

I'm realizing there's less parts I could use from the donor playfield than I realized.  I have completely new flipper assemblies which I'm glad I bought.  Old pinballs didn't have nearly the oomph, plus the mechs are probably pretty worn at this point.  I'm definitely re-using the trough assembly, doesn't seem like you can easily buy a new one even if you wanted to (at least not for cheap).  Going to re-use the sling mechs, but I'll be replacing the leaf switches.  Not going to have pop bumpers, and if I did I'd buy new ones.  Thought about salvaging the spinners, but they're usually a pain to work with.  I salvaged whatever screws that didn't have stripped heads, saved the dirty bands just so I have something temporary should I decide I need a wall.

I do have the flippers all assembled, in theory if I wanted to I could wire them up and start flipping, but it would be pretty senseless since there's no barriers.  At the very least I need to order the aluminum sheet to make the side walls.  I'd also like to figure out how I'm going to do the ball drain.  The trough I have actually fastens from underneath on the left, coming up to the top through a hole mounting to the top right.  I think to keep things simple (at least for now), I'm not going to have any ball save mode from the ship (like woz).  Once you drain, you get a chance to rack up some bonus points.  Eventually if I get some more channels, I may have a mode where if you hit so many targets, a door opens up that you can shoot into which launches the ball back onto the playfield.  I'd rather tackle that later so I don't get bogged down.

And so it begins

I think everybody that starts one of these custom pinballs from scratch hesitates making that first cut, but if you never start you'll never finish.  I went ahead and mounted the inlanes and the posts for the slings.  I checked to make sure the sling triangles had enough room for the kickers (inch long slot) and it looks like I'm good.  Actually the pin that I'm stripping parts from has a similar shape.  Anyway, next step is probably to mount the 2 flipper coils and wire it up to some buttons.  I think for now it's fine sitting on horses, but I'm eventually going to want some sort of rotisserie that I can play on, and spin over to the bottom easily to make adjustments.

Got wood?

After building about 9-10 six inch wide boxes for our square garden (potatoes have been growing like gangbusters), I'm getting pretty comfy with the saw.  Today I went ahead and sanded the edges of the playfield and it cleaned up nice.

 I printed most of the playfield art on the plotter at work so I can overlay it to get my hole positions.

I also cut the outer box for the new backbox, and added radius to the outer edges using my router.

I'll get the speaker panel cut tomorrow, I simply ran out of sunlight today.

I've also started shopping around for a violin for the playfield.  Looks like I want an 1/8 scale (about 5" wide).  I can buy one on ebay (natural wood, or a variety of colors including purple) for $30 + $18 shipping.  That isn't bad considering it's a REAL violin.  Maybe not top of the line, but it's fully functional craftsmanship.  Still going to hunt for something a little cheaper, maybe I'll run into a used one.  Also been thinking I should remove all the strings, paint strings back in on the middle, but then make some wireform walls out of stainless (so it still looks like strings that blend in, but it keeps the ball from falling off the side).
 

backbox

Ok so something I haven't talked about is what is going to be driving this pinball.  I was originally going to use the original Stern guts, but I made a friend that's helping me out (big time), and he's donated (I'm going to pay him whether he likes it or not) a prototype starter kit to drive solenoids, keep score, and eventually display scoring on a monitor (just like OZ baby).  This is far beyond what I thought this project would turn into.

So I decided I should probably start shopping around for a monitor just so I have it ready when I need it.  I started looking at 24" monitors figuring that should be big enough.  Then I went and actually measured the head I have.  It's fricken 30" wide!  Yea, that's 28.5" of backglass width, they didn't give a crap about size back then.  So then I'm thinking even if I go with a 27" LCD, I'm still going to have gaps on the side.  If I jump to 32" not only is it going to start getting expensive, it's not going to fit in that backbox (shy by 1/2-1"), and it seems to be overkill considering it's just scoring.  Then I started thinking so I just want the LCD to display basic digit scoring only (pop a 19" monitor 1/4 of the way up an opening in the backbox), and then still have a traditional backbox backglass with static backlighting?  I could, but then I'd be under utilizing the potential of the system.

I took a good look at the inside of the backbox, filled with everything I don't need inside for this project.  I looked at how the backbox was constructed, and it's literally just a basic box made from plywood with a couple holes in the bottom to mount the bolts to the threaded inserts in the bottom cabinet.  So I said "That's it!  I'm building a custom backbox!".  Why the hell not, that way I can make it exactly the width I need it to be so there's little to no border around the monitor.  My cabinet is 22" wide, the 24" monitor is going to be 22" wide:
AMAZON

Making the backbox 23.5" outer width.  Yes, that only leaves 3/4" inch of gap on each side for flipper button pusing if the backbox is flush against 2 other pins, but who says I can't have some gap?  I can also make the backbox lighter so it's easier to transport (if I ever end up taking it to shows), maybe even modernize it a bit.  I mean the donor cabinet is from early solid state days (no sounds but chimes in the lower cabinet), so there aren't even spots for speakers in the backbox.  Hell, since I have the space (monitor height is only 16") I think I'm going to put some decent speakers above (another thing I need to start shopping for now).

I went ahead and pulled the trigger on an amp and a set of speakers.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0049P6OTI/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0037Z1FOU/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I figure for $42  I can't lose.  Both have good ratings, and the amp is used a lot on virtual pinball cabinets.  It has that new T-class chip amp which is supposed to give you really clean sound.  The speakers are 3-way which mean they provide both tweeters and a mid-range sound.  I'm sure it's way better than any stock pinball speaker system (other than flipper fidelity or Stern).

Thinking about covering the speakers with a breathable panel (so sound comes out), but adding a decal to make it look like an amp:

alright time for a playfield update

Lots of things have changed.. The upper playfield is much smaller now, it's one flipper instead of two.  Because I made an orbit on the lower playfield, I had to temporarily nix the stairway that brings the ball up there.  There is going to be a down ramp that's shaped as a violin (the band uses it in their music).  Because I gained a solenoid channel, I'm adding a 3rd flipper at the end of the right orbit to hit other shots on the left (not there yet).  The lower playfield has been switch from flippers to a guy rowing the boat (think Congo).  There's still work to do, but it's finally feeling like I have flow.

Doing some electrical calculations

So I've got some background in electrical.  I worked for a battery charger company for a little over half a decade.  They used both copper and aluminum wiring, and in my experience aluminum is approximately two-thirds as conductive as copper is.

Trying to see if how feasible doing wiring via a flat sheet is.  Typically the thickest wiring you'll see in a pinball machine is 18AWG, which has a stranded diameter of .048", or or an area of .0018".  If I want to run with aluminum, I need about .0030".  If I use .012" thick alum. foil, I can achieve 18AWG conductance at only 1/4" width traces (for high amp), and although 1/8" width is probably overkill for low power and signal, I don't know that I'd want to go much narrower than that.

I can buy a .012" x 20" wide x 5 foot sheet of aluminum off Mcmaster for just $19 which is not bad at all.  I could probably cut it myself with scissors, but I may just have it waterjetted depending on how complicated my electrical layout gets.

Class got boring this afternoon

So I'm taking a green belt class for work.  If you don't know what that is, it's about eliminating waste in production (lean manufacturing).  The process is pretty interesting, and it's a great tool to learn.  Problem is, sometimes people ask dumb questions, or the teacher will spend far too much time on something that should be obvious to most students (like basic computer skills).  So rather than daydream, typically I'll keep my mind churning by putting it to work on my own personal projects (while still paying attention).

While green belt is really more about fixing existing processes (not a design), it does talk about non-value added waste.  This can be physical waste (un-necessary extra parts), or waste of time (extra steps, un-necessary labor).

So I'm thinking about the assembly of a pinball machine playfield.  I started simplifying all the parts that are needed:

Electrical: switches, solenoids, flashers, GI lighting, insert lighting... All of that requires a lot of connections to carry power and signals.

Mechanical: Posts, ramps/wireforms, guides, flippers, pop bumpers, plastics, spinners, targets, bash toys.

Now I've shopped a few pins, but never did a playfield swap.  This is mostly due to the fact that dis-assembling the under playfield is a fucking nightmare.  Seriously, the idea of unsoldering wires, unscrewing 30+ bayonet sockets (more so on older titles), all the mechs like flippers, drop targets, stationary targets, spinners, all the T-nuts.  Really I might be able to get past all the mechanical things, but that wiring harness.  If you've ever had to trouble shoot a switch or a lamp, it's a nightmare.  It's almost equivalent to an IT person troubleshooting a Cat-5 cable in a rats nest of a server.  Sure, there's colors to help seperate each strand, but often colors are re-used, and then there's the issue of wires overlapping in a giant bundle.

So then I think, do I go the way of jersey jack?  Do I impliment daughter PCB's?  That's costly.  I mean not really, in volume pcbs (single side anyway) are like pennies per square inch.  But that requires software, and volume parts (I'm making a one-off here).  So then I thought could I do it a simpler way?  I mean for lighting I'm going all LED, I only need enough gauge to carry 3-6V at like 20mah a piece.  I probably make home fabricated pcbs from conductive ink on non-metal material like fiberglass, or even some thin plywood.  Or maybe I do some sort of very thin metal, mask it off, and etch away what I don't need (creating a crude single-sides PCB).  Then I thought why stop at lighting, could I do a layer of switches?  Could I also mount solenoids on this layer?  Could I mount all the posts and ramps on a thin layer of clear plexiglass on top as well (with maybe the exception of a few switches tied to ramps, but this could be connectorized).
This would effectively make it possible to completely strip all components off of the playfield itself by stripping off these 3 layers.

That means shopping out a playfield is no big deal.  This means if there's an issue, that layer can be separated and troubleshooted on it's own.

Another deep thought I had was the insert lighting.  This is another relic that's been carried over from pinball from the 1950's.  Don't get me wrong, watching inserts pop with light is great, but is the reward worth the effort?  Inserts were made because there was originally no way of displaying information (segment displays/DMD's),or implimenting billboards (IE a lexan sign above the entrance of a ramp with LED's using a lamp matrix to simplify wiring).  I think a lot could be communicated off the playfield using alternate lighting.  Heck, for targets it can be backlit, even using multiple colors.  Why am I so against inserts?  They are a pain in the ass both from a maintenance standpoint and installation.  Shaped inserts require CNC, and the recess needs to be somewhat precise so that insert lies flush on the top (with a little sanding), and then there's the glueing to keep them in place (while making sure they don't cloud up).  Over time, inserts become dirty (blocked by the pain in the ass bayonet sockets), the inserts become cupped or stick out over time, sometimes they even crack requiring replacing (if you can even source a replacement).  RGB strips seem to be slowly creeping into pinball to add extra flash.  They use them for under cabinet lighting, in some cases they completely overlay RGB strips over the backbox lighting because it's simpler, and makes it easy to install an existing pin.

Good lord it's June already??

Life's been busy.  Traveled one weekend to Tennessee, spent the next weekend rebuilding the garden, spent the weekend after that at a friend's funeral.  Well, I got exciting news for you.. I cut the plywood for the playfield:

Told you it was exciting (NOT).  I mean, I basically took a 2' x 4' piece and trimmed it down to 45" long x 20-1/4" wide.  My first cut ripped the edge pretty bad (glad I started long at 46"), then remembered back to my wood shop days that adding some masking tape holds it together.  I had to stop mid-way on the long side, which created a slight jagged.  I'm figuring I"m gonna have to sand the edges no matter what.

I left a 1/8" gap on each side which sounds like a lot, but I'm also intending to add side rails into the playfield (photos later).  Basically imagine mirror blades made from 1/16" aluminum permanently mounted to the side of the playfield rather than the cabinet.  If there's one thing I hate in pinball it's how tight playfields are from the cabinet, which inevitably causes scratches to happen.

Once I get the wood sanded down, I'm going to start populating the basic parts.  Probably going to export my solidworks layout to paper 1:1 scale.