Pinball Furniture
Pinball Coffee Table
After renovating
the Space Shuttle
playfield, I had the original playfield available. I decided to
store it whole and convert it into the centerpiece of a coffee table.
Construction of the casing
I had some 1x10 pine planking lying around and figured that it would be
a good start as far as the casing was concerned. The playfield is
in fair cosmetic condition and completely functional, and I
wished to put it on display that way. This
means that I needed a total width of 9" in the casing. This
dimension includes 4" above the playfield (high point is the Shuttle
toy's
tail), 0.5" thick playfield plank, and 4.5" from the bottom face of the
playfield to the lowest point on the "T" target assembly. The
actual thickness of the planking is 0.75", and the width is 9.125".
Each of the end planks were 20.5" long, and the side planks were 44"
long. When assembled, the whole thing measured 44"x22"x9", and
weighed 51 lbs (playfield was 36 lbs). The additional weight in
paint, screws and brackets were no more than 1 lb.
Playfield mounted inside the casing with the help of some angle
brackets.
The playfield will be screwed onto the angle brackets
to allow it to be flipped over.
Not shown is a brace under the playfield to
ensure that the box stays square.
Overall, the fit is very good
as the playfield does not
touch the sides, and hangs neatly from the angle brackets.
There
is an even 1/4" gap all the way around.
Finishing the casing
After the fit-check above, I sanded
and painted multiple coats of white semi-gloss latex paint on the
outside,
and then
clearcoated the inside with a leftover can of clear Polyurethane from
the Playfield renovation.
The finished casing next to the inverted coffee table that will be used
to
house the playfield. Note the cut corners
on the casing due to the corner braces on the bottom of the coffee
table.
The coffee table had two panes of glass on
either end. The middle center solid panel was removed to
create a full view of the table.
A test fit check of the parts in the unmodified coffee table.
Obviously,
view of the playfield is severely obstructed, but this check showed
that the whole assembly fit together very well.
Modifying
the coffee table and final assembly
Once I was satisfied with the initial
fit check in the unmodified table, I ordered a pane of tempered glass
(18.5" x 44.5") from a local
glass place. It arrived after 10
days, and I then started the modification of the table by cutting out
the center panel with a circular saw. I then used a router to
create a 1/4" edge for the glass pane. I used a 4 foot level
clamped to the table as a rip fence to ensure straight cuts of the saw
and router.
The modified coffee table with the center panel cut out and an edge
routered for the
glass pane. I was very pleased with the result. It looks
like a picture frame for the
playfield. This coffee table was very close to the ideal size for
a playfield.
This picture shot with the top glass in place.
The bottom of the casing is covered with a sheet of flexible clear
plastic. This allows the
viewing of the mechanical systems underneath the playfield. One
slight modification is
that I had to move the switches on the 3-bank target to reduce the
height.
The GI connector was changed from an inline style (example on the
right) to a
panel mount style of the same size. This was then snapped into
the clear
plastic sheet that covers the
bottom of the casing. With this, I can quickly connect
or disconnect the electrical cord from the coffee table. By
using the same size
and pinout, I maintain 100% functionality of the playfield. It
can be removed from the coffee
table and swapped out at any time.
Transformer supply that powers the GI circuit. It is slid under
the couch that is beside the coffee table. A leftover piece of
clear plastic from the underside of the table covers
all the electrical connections.
To better show-off the playfield, it
made sense to me to light the General Illumination (GI) circuit.
On the actual machine, the GI circuit requires 7.8 Amps. Per the
schematic, this is powered with a 6.3Vac transformer winding.
Although the current total includes the backglass and the coin door
lights, the test
allowed me to estimate the size of the transformer needed. I
purchased a 12.6V CT 4 Amp transformer from www.mpja.com
for $5.75. By splitting the GI consumption into two separate
4 Amp circuits, efficiency is increased . The two phases of the
transformer power the two separate GI circuits on the playfield.
Using my Kill-a-Watt power meter,
I measured a total power draw of 30 Watts for the lights and the
transformer. The transformer only gets very slightly warm.
The pinball coffee table can be seen from many parts of the home and
should be a nice
conversation piece. The top glass was removed for this photo.
Reverse angle
Pinball Neon Lighting
In November 2006, I bought a small neon sign on ebay for $37 (shipped).
The neon sign was installed at the bottom of the stairs that lead to
the game room.
I had installed an electrical outlet the weekend before in anticipation
of its arrival.
The light is turned on and off with the main wall switch.
Close-up of the lamp. It comes with a right-angle adapter that
allows it to be
wall mounted (holes in the base) or table mounted.
A switch in the base allows you to select flashing or constant 'on'
mode. We prefer the latter.
Pinball Shelf
I have a
spare backglass that I wanted to mount in a decorative way, and this
shelf gave me an idea. I found a backbox for this project
from a fellow RGPer.
Links:
Commercial pinball furniture (Silverball)
Custom made furniture (Borden's)
Pinball coffee table (Uncommon Goods)
Other types of pinball furniture
(Pinventions).
A very nice handmade table (Steve Chukei)
Another handmade
table (Greg Dunlap)
Log:
November 28, 2005 - Core of the casing done. Playfield mounts neatly into it.
December 3, 2005 - Casing painted and finished.
December 5, 2005 - Picked up a backbox in exchange for some ROMs
from Keith
Apgar, a fellow RGP member.
December 9, 2005 - Picked up glass for coffee table and finished modification to remove center panel. Cost of the tempered glass panel was $52 with tax. Completed assembly of table on this date.
Thread
on RGP regarding the coffee table.
December 17, 2005 - Finished assembly of transformer supply for GI circuit.
November 14, 2005 - Pinball neon light.
(c) Edward Cheung, all rights reserved.