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Author Topic: DIY Skeeball  (Read 204919 times)

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Ixliam

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DIY Skeeball
« on: December 31, 2004, 05:56:05 pm »
Since I have actually started on this, I thought I would move it here. I have been trying to locate a skeeball locally in Georgia with little to no luck. It was hard enough for me to find an arcade cabinet here, much less a used and REASONABLE skeeball. I thought that since an arcade cabinet is possible, why not skeeball ?

UncleT has been kind enough to provide dimensions and details on many things here, and I have my own drawing along with a pile of skeeball pics in a zip file at ixliam.home.comcast.net/skeeball.zip. It is 5mb however.

I am going to go for this body style below. There doesn't seem to be much variation in the ramp, but there is some in the way the scoring section is cut, along with variations in the support for both (steel legs, long cabinets, support boxes underneath).



The scoring is a simple circuit that is nothing more than a 3 chip counter, and the ball count is the same just one chip less. As far as how it stops the balls from rolling down the ball return, there are a few methods that I think would be feasable for the home builder. A start button with an electric solinoid to open/close a release gate. A manual button that pulls down a gate, or if you wanted to just use one ball the counter could close the gate at ball 9.

Construction pics are below, and feel free to ask any questions you may have.

Brad
« Last Edit: August 17, 2007, 01:54:39 pm by saint »

Ixliam

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Re: DIY Skeeball
« Reply #1 on: December 31, 2004, 06:01:42 pm »

Ramps and support pieces.


Score section side panel.


Assembling the score section.


Target with 4" holes cut.


Assembled Score section w/ Target


Support brackets for target. The gap between the target
and front is large enough for a skeeball to fall through (for
total misses).


Score section with target in place.

Brad
« Last Edit: August 17, 2007, 01:52:26 pm by saint »

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Re: DIY Skeeball
« Reply #2 on: December 31, 2004, 06:52:59 pm »
That thing is going to be a monster.  I cant wait to see how it comes out.  Nice work so far.
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Ixliam

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Re: DIY Skeeball
« Reply #3 on: December 31, 2004, 09:15:52 pm »
They didn't make them small for sure, though I  know there is a 6' model for kids I believe. Least I didn't try to do one of the 1900 or so models... the ramp was 35 feet long... needless to say in those days only men played it. They later shortened it to 13', then to 10' which is what most of them are. I believe the ones I played on in Panama City, FL when I was a kid (1970's) were the 13' ones, but that's a guess.

Brad

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Re: DIY Skeeball
« Reply #4 on: January 01, 2005, 12:52:19 am »

My official assistants.


Inside ramp section w/ramp support rails.


Ramp section ready for assembly.


Ramp assembled.


This didn't work out so well. I was trying to heat
this 1/8" lexan. Some curved well, some didn't.
The problem was I could not get an even curve
overall. Maybe if you had a mold, that would work.
So, onto option #2 for the curve - use the MDF scrap.


I will have to cut out 25 of these to get the 19"
needed for the ramp width. Sucks, but on the
other hand it will work after I give it a good sanding.


Here are two of those pieces together. I will
assemble them with two large dowel rods and
wood glue (tomorrow). Course I have to cut the
rest out first  :'(

Brad
« Last Edit: August 17, 2007, 01:59:45 pm by saint »

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Re: DIY Skeeball
« Reply #5 on: January 01, 2005, 11:21:07 am »
You need to heat the lexan against a pipe or other part that's the correct shape for the curve...

NO MORE!!

Ixliam

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Re: DIY Skeeball
« Reply #6 on: January 01, 2005, 01:35:39 pm »
I do know that, but to get the real shape I needed to heat it and form it to a mold made from the skeeball ramp track. I just decided to heck with that method, and I am cutting the wood pieces and will put them together. I want to make sure I get the correct shape/contour so that it will play like the real thing.

Well, off to the hardware store for some goodies...

Brad

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Re: DIY Skeeball
« Reply #7 on: January 01, 2005, 10:43:18 pm »
Today was pretty much an all-day project on the ramp, though some of it was spent getting some hardware. My parents were kind enough to give me a bandsaw (which saved me from buying one). They had this sitting in their out building for about 18 years. A little WD-40 and a new blade and she was buzzing. Also mad a trip to Lowes for the rods and wood glue, along with some red paint. Ended up picking up a belt grinder to do all the sanding with to even out the ramp.

So, for todays long project, I couldn't find wooden dowels so I used 1/4" threaded rod. On the start end I put a lock nut and recessed it into the wood. Then I started stacking the parts that I had cut. I used one part as my master part, which had pilot holes for the threaded rod hole and was what I based all the other pieces I cut on. Each piece was then placed onto the rods and then wood glued to the next piece. There are a grand total of 25 pieces of this stuff, and I would not recommend trying to cut them out with a jigsaw. A bandsaw or a scroll saw is the only way to do it.

Another option for the ramp would be to put a piece of wood across the ramp frame at the top, another in the center of the S curve, then secure some flexible plastic/wood material to those points and to the ramp holder. It might just form the correct curve on its on, or be pretty close. For now, someone else can try it unless I build some mini 5" ramp model to try.

So, here are todays construction pics.


Ramp curve in partial assembly.


The curve is finally put together.


Curve after a nice sanding session.

I will probably get the ramp together tonight, maybe put the target white curves together then call it a night.

Brad
« Last Edit: August 17, 2007, 02:00:45 pm by saint »

Ixliam

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Re: DIY Skeeball
« Reply #8 on: January 02, 2005, 01:54:30 pm »
Here is the ramp assembled, minus the cork surfacing.






Brad
« Last Edit: August 17, 2007, 02:03:44 pm by saint »

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Re: DIY Skeeball
« Reply #9 on: January 02, 2005, 02:24:17 pm »
What is the rolling surface made out of .... it looks like peg board .... could that be true?   Are you going to put an authentic SkeeBall cork carpet down on top of that?   If so, please realize that in order to attach the cork carpet, I believe you use some type of contact cement and you would not want the contact cement to warp the peg board (or thin piece of wood) beneath.  Also, in order to clean a SkeeBall cork carpet, you generally spray it down with some "Simple Green" cleaner (or something similiar) and scrub it down, then wait for it to air dry.  Basically, you would not want any wetness to seep through the carpet (or go down the sides of the carpet) to the peg board (or thin piece of wood) underneath either.  This might cause warping as well.......

Also, wanted to tell you that you should call the arcade vendors and see if they have an extra set of white SkeeBall chutes lying around for sale.  If a SkeeBall machine is too old to salvage then usually the vendor will keep the white chutes to use for parts (or at least the few I contacted had some). ..... By the way, the vendors I know around me do not have any extra white chutes .... I checked for you.

Machine looks good ..... seems like you are spending a good amount of time on it each day.  You must really have the itching to play SkeeBall.

PS:  I would also consider putting in some 100 circles since you are already going through with all this work.  Adding the 100 chutes could not be that much more work.    It would be bad to have people come over and hear them say .... where are the 100's?   This is what happened to me, so instead of buying a SkeeBall machine without the 100 chutes, I waited longer to find someone selling one with the 100 chutes .
« Last Edit: January 02, 2005, 02:30:41 pm by unclet »

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Re: DIY Skeeball
« Reply #10 on: January 02, 2005, 07:39:32 pm »
Brad,

Great work so far! I can't wait to see the completed project. I love the fact that you are expanding the hobby in a different direction.

Are you building the scoring circuit, using a PC or what? What about the display, custom-made or are you using a monitor of some sort?

Keep up the good work.
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Re: DIY Skeeball
« Reply #11 on: January 02, 2005, 08:24:08 pm »
Also, something looked wrong about your target layout so I started to look into it.   

It turns out that the drawing I sent you showing the measurements for the target board layout did not correctly show the layout of the hole positioning.   Basically, the bottom hole (10 points) is shown as being right near the bottom of the target area .... and this is not correct (or at least not how my machine has the holes laid out).   There is a 4 3/8" space between the bottom of the target area and the bottom 10 point hole. 

I attached two pictures ...... one showing my SkeeBall machine showing you the space under the 10 point and an updated measurement diagram of the target area. 

I do not believe it would be too hard to cut out the target board again, but I am not sure if your progressed to far today or not.


PS:  Sorry about the missed measurement ........  hope I am not too late
« Last Edit: April 16, 2009, 07:30:56 am by unclet »

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Re: DIY Skeeball
« Reply #12 on: January 02, 2005, 09:46:50 pm »
I have designed my own circuit for the score and ball counter. It could easily be interfaced with a computer system if you wanted to, though you would have to write a custom program and maybe build an A/D interface (easiest is to use the printer port) as well.

Unclet:
No problem on the measurements being goofy. My wife mentioned that something didn't look right, but I told her that was how it was drawn. Should have listened to her. I have enough wood to cut another target out, just hate haveing to use that 4" holesaw again. MDF gums up in the teeth, and I have to blow out the cut to get the dust out. Ok, done whining about it now :).

To answer the earlier questions that is pegboard for the ramp. With the support I have on it, you can walk on it. I looked at luann but it was $21 compared to $5 for the pegboard, and was the same thickness. I tad bit stronger, but since it would have to be supported anyway, thought I would try the pegboard. One thing I am keeping in mind is that this will not take the serious abuse that one in an arcade will. It is very sturdy,, but some things I may not have to go as far in (i.e. using 3/4" MDF instead of 3/4" plywood). I do have cork surfacing that is going on it, then I will need heavier cork for the sides, then that rubber bumper about half way up. The cork I got is 1/16" thick in a roll, as I figured I would try that using some heavy spray glue we use on pegboard at my office when building exhibits.

On the machines I played on, once you put your money in there was a plunger on the bottom you pulled. This then dropped the balls down. Since mine won't have any coins in it, I am adding the plunger which is attached to a rope run to a simple internal ball stop. The pics of this are below, and it works better than I thought. I got the idea for doing it this way from pics of people who are building their own airplane controls, and they used bungee cord as the "spring" for the pedals. I thought that was pretty good, since bungee cord is pretty tough, and I had some around the house where we use it to secure our diving equipment when we go cave diving. I don't have any drawings of what I built exactly, since I fiddled with it till I got it right.

The original thread which started all this is here if anyone wants to look http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,29455.0.html

Brad

Ixliam

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Re: DIY Skeeball
« Reply #13 on: January 02, 2005, 10:11:00 pm »
Here are more of todays construction pictures.











« Last Edit: August 17, 2007, 02:06:21 pm by saint »

Ixliam

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Re: DIY Skeeball
« Reply #14 on: January 02, 2005, 10:14:14 pm »









Test baseball ready for release.


Lets play! (this is my test ball, I have wood balls on order for this.)

To answer something I forgot in the earlier message, for the display I have bought an original skeeball display which uses lamps to light the LED-ish segments. It will give a more authentic look, though you could go modern with either a 7 segment LED display or use an LCD and make it like the modern ones I have seen. But on the LCD, you would need to add the computer interface or possibly do it with a basic stamp.

Brad
« Last Edit: August 17, 2007, 02:09:21 pm by saint »

Ixliam

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Re: DIY Skeeball
« Reply #15 on: January 02, 2005, 10:26:24 pm »
Construction notes.

I have spent two days on the ramp itself. So far, that is the hardest part, and heaviest part.  About 1/2 a day was spent cutting the cutting the curved pieces, and an entire day was spent on building the side sections. If anyone decides to do this, know that the ramp is the hardest part to build, and harder if you are going for the exact curve of a skeeball machine. If you did it with wood slats and bondo, it would probably take less time.

Brad

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Re: DIY Skeeball
« Reply #16 on: January 02, 2005, 10:39:44 pm »
Sorry again ...... but I am glad I caught it in time for you to recut the target area.

The day I got measurements for you my kid was sick (who is now completely better) and I just jotted some of the basic "hole" measurements ..... it never occurred to me to get the space distance from the bottom.

Looks great by the way ....... can not wait until you paint it and dress it up ....

Keep the pics coming as you progress ...... very enjoyable

Regards,
UncleT

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Re: DIY Skeeball
« Reply #17 on: January 03, 2005, 09:06:42 am »
Wow, this thing is looking pretty impressive so far.  Very nice work.  Keep it up and definitely keep the pictures coming!  ;D

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Re: DIY Skeeball
« Reply #18 on: January 03, 2005, 09:54:38 am »
Wow, you are really whipping this thing out, and it is looking nice!!  I can't wait to see the finished product.  The real LED display is going to be a nice touch.  Are you going to use T-molding on the edges for a finished look, or do you have something else in mind?  I think T-molding is a great way to make a finished edge on MDF, but I'm sure there are other creative ways.

Kudos on the good work!!  I think this will be the first DIY-skeeball on this forum!

Wade

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Re: DIY Skeeball
« Reply #19 on: January 03, 2005, 11:34:24 am »
Far as I know, I'm the first one to make a skeeball based on a real one. I've seen simple ramps with a 45 degree slope going into some holes, but that's about it. Nothing full sized like this, and I'm on a skeeball yahoo group as well. There has been several inquiries about making one (same as there has been on here), but to date I haven't seen anyone do it. Maybe this will open up a new aspect of arcade creation, who knows. The fellow I bought the display sections from wants one of the old fashioned grandma fortune tellers, and he's almost to the point of making one since he cannot locate one (and he used to work in an amusement park). Some games would work well for home building, others would be pointless (like the crane ones where you grab a prize).

I am trying to get as much done as possible as next Monday I start back on school classes. I am taking college classes online to finish up my degree, since I dropped out of college when I got married 9 years ago. Now, I'm 33 and only have a year left, so why not complete what I started? I've basically gone as far as I can with my skills work-wise, and having that degree has been holding me back. For the younger folks on here, finish your schooling first, then get married if you want to.

The only part that has T-molding on it is around the score, and I probably will. We do T-molding on our exhibits my work produces, so I know we have routers that will cut it, just doubt we have yellow though. The top of the ball-holder/ticket sections is covered with a large piece of yellow plastic, and the front will be done in metal like the older skeeballs have. Not sure if it will be stainless or aluminum, all depends on what I manage to scrounge up :)  If someone didn't have access to strong metal, you could take and put in a middle curved section for support then curve over 22/24 gauge aluminum that is sold at the local hardware store. It can be cut with snips easily and would act as a flashy covering. Give it the look of the real thing but not be expensive stainless (which is a real bugger to cut). You might even want to make it have stronger support on the curved ends if it might take abuse, as that thin metal will dent easily.

UncletT: Can you give me the inside dimensions on the marque/score section ? I just need the height from the bottom piece of wood to the top piece of wood. If you can't get it due to the metal bracket holding the marque/score, just the overall outside height will work as well. I will be cutting a new score section tonight with the 100 rings on it. Can you also shoot a closeup of the rubber/cork guard on one of the sides. Want to see what shape it is.

Brad

« Last Edit: January 03, 2005, 11:51:36 am by Ixliam »

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Re: DIY Skeeball
« Reply #20 on: January 03, 2005, 02:18:04 pm »
Brad,

The speed of your progress is pretty amazing.   Something we aren't used to seeing too much of around here (Ok, maybe it's just me ;) )

If you haven't already, take a look at this thread.  Not as authentic as the original display, but definitely more possibilities available.  And, if you happen to have some old hardware around,  not too costly to implement.

Also, do you have a drawing / CAD file (dxf)  of your ramp segments?  Have you actually thrown any kind of ball at it yet to see what happens?  I have a few thoughts on the ramp, but haven't had the time to try to decipher the curve.  Thanks for  sharing your progress.

While I'm at it, I'd like to thank UncleT for taking the time to provide the sorely needed info from his machine.  I'm sure it will help a bunch of us who have had this gnawing at them for a while, but had little clue where to start and didn't want to get thrown out of Chuck E. Cheese for climbing on the machines with a tape measure :) .


RandyT



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Re: DIY Skeeball
« Reply #21 on: January 03, 2005, 03:20:31 pm »
I actually have thrown some balls up the ramp to watch them go nicely up in an arc... and into the front yard where I was aiming :) I had the score section freshly painted so I didn't want to goof that up.

I e-mailed you a DXF of the project, though it is a working drawing and so its geared more towards me. Part of this is figuring out how everything fits together/works, so some of it (like the ball release) is trial and error. With the pictures I took I should be able to come up with some decent documentation on building one of these, and hopefully others will as well. Cost wise I probably have about $125+/- in lumber/screws/misc. I am running a tally sheet but I'm at the office now so I don't have it in front of me to look at.

The program you did is pretty neat, I do like it. I may even try to mod this one if I can to run either the original display or your monitor style display if you want me to beta test it in the real thing, since far as I know I'm the first to build a full scale machine.

Brad

Brad

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Re: DIY Skeeball
« Reply #22 on: January 03, 2005, 03:27:38 pm »
RandyT: Thanks for the appreciation ...... no problem really .. just glad to be able to help out where I can.

Ixliam: As for your requests ..... here you go.

The picture below shows the marquee measurements you requested (I think).  All the wood on the sides, top and bottom are 3/4" thick.   I was a bit confused on the metal bar thing you mentioned, but  maybe that is because I do not have a metal bar used for my marquee.  Anyway, let me know if you need anything else.

BTW:  You can see that my marquee art is held in place by a little piece of wood which can be turned to allow the marquee to be removed or held in place.  Only one screw holds the wood in place so it pivots on that screw.

BTW as well:  Also, note that the marquee art is recessed in a bit when it is mounted (ie: check out my next photo for a measurement).  Also, the bottom of the marquee is held in place by a strip of yellow plastic whicih is simply screwed into the bottom marquee frame.


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Re: DIY Skeeball
« Reply #23 on: January 03, 2005, 03:31:46 pm »
This next picture shows how far the "top" part of the marquee art is recessed.  Reference the marquee picture above to see how the marquee art actually looks while mounted.   Also, (based on the picture above), please note that the sides of the marquee art are gradually less recessed going from top to bottom.


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Re: DIY Skeeball
« Reply #24 on: January 03, 2005, 03:34:50 pm »
Also, something which I have not mentioned before was the "pegs" located behind the 50 and 100 chutes.  These pegs makes sure the ball does not get wedged behind a chute.   The ball will simply hit the peg and fall to either side.

Also, I am showing you the height distance from the top of the target board and the bottom of the marquee area.

 

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Re: DIY Skeeball
« Reply #25 on: January 03, 2005, 11:22:35 pm »
Thanks for the extra pics you sent me. It's back to the office after a lone extended weekend, so not too much was done today. I did cut out the NEW target section, patch the drill holes, put in a ball stop and paint a bit. I will end up cutting some of the painted scoreboard, and depending on how I do the score display, there will have to be some other support board in place there. I went ahead and started on the display circuit, and I am about 1/2 way done with the score end of it. The circuit for each digit is identical, so being able to test one digit out will be nice once I get it put together.

I really like RandyT's display he came up with. Will be nice to see in the future where this all leads. I'm almost torn to go that route and put a monitor in there. On your display Randy, how customizable are the positions of the ball # and score ?. I wonder if you could just have that display through a marque in place where the numbers are. Its a thought at least.







Brad
« Last Edit: August 17, 2007, 02:32:29 pm by saint »

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Re: DIY Skeeball
« Reply #26 on: January 04, 2005, 12:29:40 am »
Now ... have you decided whether you are putting a netting over the target area .. (or something similiar) ....  so the balls do not slam into your marquee?

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Re: DIY Skeeball
« Reply #27 on: January 04, 2005, 12:35:35 am »
Yep, it will have netting. Don't need it flying through the windows either. I'll weld/bend a frame once I get to that point.

Brad

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Re: DIY Skeeball
« Reply #28 on: January 04, 2005, 07:34:04 am »
I just wanted to tell you that it looks awesome.  I have seen people talk about doing this.  You are the first I have seen actually do it.  My son love loves the game, so I have thought about doing the same thing.  But it's just too big.  It takes up the space of 5 or 6 cabinets...  Maybe someday I will have a house with a basement the size of a bowling alley....

Steve

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Re: DIY Skeeball
« Reply #29 on: January 04, 2005, 09:05:23 am »
Cool project, don't think I've ever played the game but it looks great so far.  Looks like you'll have it finished pretty soon at this rate! :)

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Re: DIY Skeeball
« Reply #30 on: January 04, 2005, 10:14:50 am »
Thanks for all the compliments.... BTW Minwah - I use MAMEWAH on my arcade cabinet :)

Brad

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Re: DIY Skeeball
« Reply #31 on: January 04, 2005, 11:07:48 am »
Damn you Brad, I only have a finite amount of space in my house!  All these new cool projects are getting the creative juices flowing again...and just when my wife thought she had quelled them...

Brilliant!

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Re: DIY Skeeball
« Reply #32 on: January 04, 2005, 12:09:44 pm »
Man you got way to much time on your hands.  You are a building machine.  Its looking fantastic.  Are you keeping a running total of cost?  Id like to know how much this is going to cost you, either way its going to be alot cheaper then if you bought one.

Great work
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Re: DIY Skeeball
« Reply #33 on: January 04, 2005, 01:48:27 pm »
hmmm, you should ditch that red paint and put....MARBLE CONTACT PAPER ON IT!!  that would be awesome!  ::)

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Re: DIY Skeeball
« Reply #34 on: January 04, 2005, 02:50:52 pm »
Marble contact paper.... hmmm...I can only do that if put a .5" LED display and a 27" surrounding marque around it.

Brad

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Re: DIY Skeeball
« Reply #35 on: January 04, 2005, 08:56:58 pm »
Here's todays work. Only thing is that when you see the board I added in under the bottom of the ramp, it didn't hold well when I attached it to the score board. The woodscrews holding it to the 1x2's pulled right out after about 10 minutes. Nothing fell as I had jacks underneath it "just in case", but I will have to get some heavier material for the board support (like a 2x2 along with some bolts to attach it to the frame.

I haven't made the 100 rings yet, so that is why they are empty. We did play a few easy games of it, not willing to hurl the ball too fast since I have no netting and no backboard (with windows all around). Tomorrow after work I will fix the support issue and work on directing the flow of the balls to the return chute. RIght now, they just hit the floor.







« Last Edit: August 17, 2007, 02:33:07 pm by saint »

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Re: DIY Skeeball
« Reply #36 on: January 04, 2005, 08:57:52 pm »







This is the board that pulled loose. It was only held on by the woodscrews going into the 1x2's behind it. I will be swapping those 1x2's and woodscrews for bolts and 2x2's.
« Last Edit: August 17, 2007, 02:33:20 pm by saint »

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Re: DIY Skeeball
« Reply #37 on: January 04, 2005, 09:00:44 pm »



Just like when working on cars, always use a jack underneath for support. I needed a creeper when I was crawling underneath to tighten these support bolts. When the board seperated, these bolts held. The woodscrews on the ramp side did not.






Brad
« Last Edit: August 17, 2007, 02:33:34 pm by saint »

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Re: DIY Skeeball
« Reply #38 on: January 04, 2005, 10:30:39 pm »
Good progress...... how did the curved ramp section feel when playing?

Also, what are those blacks strips with screws in them shown in your picture?  Are these the rubber guards for the sides?    If so, are you going to try to recess the srwew heads a bit?

PS: If you attached the L-brackets for your target chutes on the "inside" of the chutes then they would not be seen by the player......
« Last Edit: January 04, 2005, 10:33:01 pm by unclet »

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Re: DIY Skeeball
« Reply #39 on: January 04, 2005, 10:36:14 pm »
The black things are aluminum gem metal. We use them to build exhibits. We have parts that slide into the slots. I'm using them for the back legs on the score section. The bolts are up underneath the bottom of the scoreboard section.

I have a dumb question though. If you roll the ball and don't even hit the first ring, does it come back down the ramp or does yours have a gutter ? The pics I have seem to indicate there is not one, though I think the last ones I played had a gutter below the ramp that would take your ball if you couldn't even get it into the first ring, or hit the outside of the first ring, netting, etc.

Brad