Thursday, January 8, 2015

wireform ramps

So after seeing Stern's latest release (WWE wrestling), and seeing their minimalist wireform ramps (not 4 wire cages):

I've decided I'm not even going to bother with plastic ramps.  If Stern can build a commercial pinball with minimal ball support, I don't see why my homebrew project can't.  I was trying to find the best solution, I know Ben heck used brass rod.  I looked at copper coated low carbon steel, I even looked into solid copper, but copper is very soft.  The zinc in brass hardens it up, but keeps it soft enough to form easily.  I was going to order a brass wire spool, but realized it would be a nightmare to straighten out, so I opted to order 5 pieces of 3foot length brass from mcmaster.  It ends up being about $1.05/foot.  Brass is quite solderable because of it's high copper content.  So long as I can clamps pieces together, all it takes is a small butane torch, some flux, and solder, and you can build very strong wireform structures.

I may toss in a VUK or two, which will need to be cages for sure, and I'll need a way to fabricate those as well.

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