legtod2 Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 A few months ago I purchased a pinball machine "Phoenix" with the intent of converting it into a virtual pin. It was sold to me as a working machine but in reality it needed a solenoid driver board and 7 solenoids in the play field area. I am repairing this machine back to a working state then selling. I deviated for my original plan and preserved a quote working machine. Yesterday I picked up two 48 in by 96 in by 3/4 in thick good quality plywood. Took measurement from my existing pinball machine, cut the wood and assembled it (pictures coming). Damm it would have been a lot cheaper to take the existing machine and gut it. All the hardware parts alone will cost exceed what it cost me to buy the Phoenix pinball machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legtod2 Posted August 28, 2011 Author Share Posted August 28, 2011 I need some advice in the following areas. 1) glass table top mounting. How are you mounting the glass to the table? On my existing machine you remove the lock bar and slide the glass out. So what type of hardware to secure the glass to table. 2) lockdown bar. The lockdown bar has a lever under the table to lock the bar. I saw vendor stuff for lockdown bar but nothing for the lock itself. What are others using? 3) pinball legs. I'm assuming people get them from eBay of pinball vendors. I like to find some that don't break my piggy bank in cost. 4) back glass. The back box is going to hold my monitor and 2 speakers, the sub woofer will be in cabinet.should I place a fan in back box? And how are people mounting Backglass or plexiglass to back box? 5) nudging I want to have nudging and not use buttons to simulate it. What works for this component and is adjustable? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legtod2 Posted August 31, 2011 Author Share Posted August 31, 2011 Spend the day sanding and wood putty for wood screw holes. The table is looking good, need to pick up some paint, not sure what to use yet but it's gonna be black and latter I'll plan what I want to do about graphics or artwork. Shopped around for glass for table top and back glass. Don't know if I'm gonna go the temper glass route or not yet. Other challenge is what I'm gonna use for a slide rail. Ordered my legs and lockdown bar yesterday. Things are coming along, need to download my picture and update the log. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeeGor Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 Hey Legtod2, I'm not sure if you already found your answers, but virtuapin.net sells a nice kit that comes with nearly all of the parts you will need to put a pin together. If you just need certain parts I would checkout pinballlife.com. Typically orders get sent out the same day if you order early enough. The glass is held by side rail plastics that are fitted similar to T-Molding. You would simply use a slot cutting router bit and on the edges, then fit the plastics into the slots. I ended up putting in three 220mm fans in my cabinet. 1 for the backglass and two for the playfield. Here's a link for the ones I used http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835200055. As far as nudging goes, there are a few ways people have gone about this. You can use normal pinball tilt bobs that are wired up to your keyboard encoder, you can purchase a nanotech unit that will also allow you to attach their digital pinball plunger, or you can grab one of the Microsoft sidewinder pro gamepads. I'm going the gamepad route myself. The cost of the gamepad was only $10 on eBay, and gStav swears by it, so I'm giving it a chance. I haven't reached that far into my own build to see how well it performs, but I'll be sure to comment once I do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legtod2 Posted September 1, 2011 Author Share Posted September 1, 2011 Thanks Deegor, I picked up three fans, two will go in cab and one in back glass area. Gonna give sidewinder a whirl for nudging my plan B will be nanotech . Starting to consider mounting top glass inside cab on wooden lips above play field. Then corner bracket over edge of table and above glass. Not sure if this is a good idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northvibe Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 Chris99 ? I can never remember things this early in the AM. But he has tilt bobs and mercury switches. I'm excited to see what he says about how they work. I think tilt bobs are for actual tilt? But I'm still new to all this so someone with some knowledge should chime in. I want the most realistic feel, so I'll do whatever. I shall continue reading.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legtod2 Posted September 2, 2011 Author Share Posted September 2, 2011 Painted the interior of cab and back box black. Test mounted play field tv and checked alignment. Coming along fine. Tried to upload pictures but limitation on size and dimensions of pictures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Numiah Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 photobucket is a good alternative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BadBoyBill Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 Painted the interior of cab and back box black. Test mounted play field tv and checked alignment. Coming along fine. Tried to upload pictures but limitation on size and dimensions of pictures. Since your a gold member you have access to your own image gallery here, you can uplaod pictures to your own galleries and you can get links from the gallery to post images in your post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legtod2 Posted September 5, 2011 Author Share Posted September 5, 2011 Last couple of days spent painting exterior of cabinet and drilling the three fan holes. Need to pick up some fan guards. Gonna mount two fans on back wall of cab and one in Back box. Here is the main box And the back box Side view Front view notice access hole between cab and back box... Here it is with paint and test fitting 26" tv. Since this picture was taken I swapped out the 26" for a 37" tv. Beleive me the 37 is the ideal size and fits well filling the whole area well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legtod2 Posted September 6, 2011 Author Share Posted September 6, 2011 Today I'm picking up glass, guards for fans. Still haven't decided what to use to mount glass. May end up usiing angled aluminum. Gonna add my shelve in back box and speaker covers this week Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinballlooking Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 You can use these I just ordered them yesterday. Williams/Bally WPC/WPC95 Playfield Glass Side Rail Plastic Channel http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=2125&parent=213 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legtod2 Posted September 8, 2011 Author Share Posted September 8, 2011 Received my custom cut glass. They screwed up my order by shipping two play field glasses and one back glass. Oh well see what trouble I need to go to return 2nd play field glass. The glass is 3/16 inch thick or 5mm. Mounted some quarter round wood inside the back box to act as a lip for the glass to rest on. The back glass is in some j-channel aluminum that is painted white. I will include some pictures tomorrow to show how the glass is mounted. I have not found any fan guards for my three fans yet, may end up using wire mesh since they sit on the back of the machine. Going to mount the fans in the bottom cab to blow air into the cab and the fan on the back box to exhaust the air. Presumably hot air will rise thru the machine and exit out the back. I plan on using an led monitor for the back box so it should be running pretty cool. Air will rise from the main cab into the 1ft x 3 inch connection hole between cab and back box and get sucked out the back. Man building the wooden cabinet was easy all these little details takes a lot of time and thinking... I need another beer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legtod2 Posted September 8, 2011 Author Share Posted September 8, 2011 Power notes: I'm going to borrow the same technique from my arcade machine builds. To turn on machine the coin door will need to be openned and a small service panel will have momentary switches that service the machine. One button actually leads to the power on/off button for the pc. The pc will be plugged into a switched relay power bar. The relay bar has one outlet which is always on. When that outlet detects power on it turns on the power to the other outlets on the power bar. So when I turn on the pc from the service button it causes the play field monitor, back led monitor, speaker, etc to turn on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legtod2 Posted September 8, 2011 Author Share Posted September 8, 2011 Play field notes: When I built this cabinet, I ment for it to allow me to upgrade computer, play field screen components over time. Initially I am installing refurbished 26" LCD and 19 " led that I received for free. I replaced the power supply in the 26" tv for $50.00. Over time I will upgrade to a 40 " Led or LCD when I can afford it and not disturb the delicate wife acceptance factor of spending too much money on a hobby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legtod2 Posted September 8, 2011 Author Share Posted September 8, 2011 Cost notes: Two sheets 4x8 3/4 thick maple plywood $104.00 Hardware nails, screws corner brackets $40.00 Play field and back glass $140.00 Paint $120.00 4 legs and lockdown bar and brackets $111.00 Coin door $66.05 Pacled64 and u-hid-g (led control and nudge control ) $116.00 Button kit $52.00 Power bar and relay bar $35.00 Dell optiplex pc $250.00 Zotac gts220 video card $78.00 26" hitachi LCD tv (free + $50 new power supply board) 19" led monitor free switched from wide to 4:3 $80.00 Wireless keyboard and mouse $40.00 Glass hardware for mounting $40.00 Nudging hardware ( no idea yet ) Updates may 25,2012 Purchased 37" fluid tv (thesource name brand for samsung tv 329.00) Purchased usb acel $15.00 nudging attempt 2 Purchased custom artwork 150 + Shipping Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebulon Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 Yeah, it adds up pretty quickly doesn't it? And you're right, the cabinet construction is by far the easiest and quickest part of the build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legtod2 Posted September 8, 2011 Author Share Posted September 8, 2011 The pc truthfully is a re-purposed machine from a pvr project I got earlier this year, but I expect to purchase a 40" led or LCD later and all the other project extra peices yet to come. I expect over the next year of use the nudging components, plunger, lights, and graphics, I will easily add another $500 plus the costs of the upgraded tv. To save cost I will pick up a broken tv and repair/replace the broken components ( bad power supply, inverter board, main board). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northvibe Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 If you are wanting to stay in budget and have good nudging check my nudge option thread out, but the MS sidewinder freestyle pro out. Seems to be a good bang for the buck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legtod2 Posted September 10, 2011 Author Share Posted September 10, 2011 My pinball legs and lock down bar arrived today. Weekend work ahead of me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legtod2 Posted September 11, 2011 Author Share Posted September 11, 2011 Busy day adding legs glass, and lockdown bar First time legs mounted, haven't ordered my coin door yet so front looks weird. Also havent added buttons yet. Nother angle of the legs No glass on playfield Looks good with slide rail, glass and lockdown bar Back view you can see the fan holes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinballlooking Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 Legs and lockdown bar look great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legtod2 Posted September 12, 2011 Author Share Posted September 12, 2011 What's next I am contemplating adding a door on the back of the box and a rolling shelf for ease of computer maint. These rolling shelfs look expensive Need to cut the coin door in the front of the cabinet. Order buttons and install them Mount computer and power bar in cabinet Mount iPac and button wires. Determine how to secure lockdown bar Velcro or make some sort of mech for it. Complete back box glass forming Secure speakers in back box and sub in cabinet Determine artwork and theme for cabinet Explore nudging Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxxsinner Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 Looking sweet there legtod2 I can help with item 1. The rolling shelves that some of us have installed are only as expensive as the draw slides we use. I got mine from a kitchen cabinet maker locally and got 2 sets for 50$ Aus. Cheap! Then a simple frame to hold it together and a couple of left over bits of board for the shelves and your done. Well worth it IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legtod2 Posted September 15, 2011 Author Share Posted September 15, 2011 IPac mounted, buttons mounted, wires mounted to buttons, ipac programmed. All fans mounted and power lines run to fans. Adds another gig of memory to pc Busy day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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