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| Ixliam:
Interesting idea with the foam. We did have our first casulty of the day. While playing before I got ready to paint it, one of the wood balls hit the plastic 20 ring and I heard a lound "whack" where the plastic ring broke. Nice clean break, but this plastic held in that type of stress (a round circle) isn't good for the rings. I am bidding on rings on e-bay, so hopefully I will get those. I did see some pics online of Chuck-E-Cheese machines with black rings and white lettering, which I thought were pretty neat looking. If I fail to get those rings, then I may go looking as some of the rubber sections that Grainger/McMaster-Carr sell. Only white they have is for FDA approved use, and of course is much higher. Black however, is about 1/2 the price. My rings are only 1/8" thick, but 1/4" barrel plastic would work better. At one time I worked for a playground company that manufactured the huge plastic playground sets for schools/restaurants, and that was pretty much what that plastic was. Just this type is under too much stress being bent and then hit with high speed wooden balls. Most of the places where my rivets/L-brackets are have cracks as well. I'm sure there are other materials well suited to this, but 1/8" plastic isn't it :) Brad |
| Pyro:
Would small sections of different sized white PVC pipe work for your rings, or would it be too brittle? I've been following your thread and am impressed with your Skee Ball Machine. Keep up the good work! Pyro |
| Ixliam:
Pyro: It would work ok for the smaller rings, but when you get into the larger rings you would need a pipe with like a 3' diameter. Unless you had a source for scrap pipe of that size, the cost of buying a 8' section of pipe just to cut 4" off of it would be outrageous. The other problem is that those pipes would have to match the exact OD of the score rings, and it might be hard finding the right sizes if you are wanting to stick with the same diameter as the original ones. After getting a good look at the ring, I remembered that ring (20) I just curved without using the heat gun since it was so flexible. That was likely the problem since it stressed that area pretty severe. Had I used the heat gun to help it mold to that shape, it might have been fine. Brad |
| RandyT:
Just wanted to make a comment about a possible concern when using hard materials for rings. Over time, that harder plastic will probably start taking little bites out of the wooden balls Eventually , this could lead to premature wear of the rolling and target surfaces, especially with something softer like cork material. It could also cause ball return problems and general debris related issues from the pieces. It seems like something softer than the wooden balls would be the best solution.. Even if it's something like vinyl "base molding" (maybe doubled for extra rigidity) RandyT |
| Ixliam:
RandyT: Could be that it might do that in the long run. It might be ok if you used the plastic balls, but it might do some damage to the wood ones. Hopefully I will end up snagging some rubber rings for mine and that won't be an issue anymore. Brad |
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