That's How I Roll! (Skeeball build)

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thatpurplestuff:
samej71 - Awesome! That is such a simple (yet perfect) solution but for some reason it never even crossed my mind. I think I mentioned it before, but I tend to overcomplicate things every once in a while. I was in the mindset that whatever solution I was going to use would be a strictly hardware one... never thought about letting the software sort out the gutters for me. This will work great since I can simply use the existing gutter switch to do everything and I won't have to alter a single thing on the machine. Thank you very much for the idea! I tried to answer all of your questions below:

1) The vinyl is doing absolutely amazing. This thing has had a LOT of use since I first installed the vinyl and it looks brand new. It has had plenty of random beers and drinks spilled on it and plenty of balls dropped on it and it cleans up instantly with a rag and some water. The padding that it has built in to it helps to reduce noise too. The fake wood may not be the prettiest looking lane but in terms of a durable and functional material I think it's perfect.
2) I clamped the vinyl down using L shaped wood molding. This holds the vinyl perfectly in place but structurally isn't doing to well. After getting nailed by errant Skeeballs repeatedly the wood has cracked on both the top and bottom of the ramp. Easy and cheap to replace, but I definitely need to come up with a more permanent solution for this.
3) The netting is actually from the local Army surplus store... it works great but it's not the prettiest to look at (and originally had a creepy stiffness and film to it that made it feel like it was just used to dredge a swamp or something). I am going to use the PVC frame for the final net, but I'm still not 100% sure how I am going to have the net connect to the frame (if that makes sense).
4) No clue, and it's a question that drives me insane when I'm at Home Depot / Lowe's / OSH. I can't seem to find anything that is long enough for the ramp other than foam insulation strips and stuff like that, but I want a rubber / rubber-like bumper. I'm thinking that I'll have to special order something but I haven't really done any research yet. If you come up with anything PLEASE let me know.
5) The rings were just made out of the 4" rubber bathroom molding. Can't remember the name, but it was the only type they had at Home Depot. I remember the color was “Baby’s breath” only because that seems like a ridiculous name for a color. This is another item that I couldn't be happier with. I had originally thought that this solution would simply be "good enough", but I couldn't tell you how many people see this thing and the first thing they ask me is where I bought the actual Skeeball rings. They get a bit dirty on the inner part that the ball rolls on but they work absolutely perfectly.
6) The material that lines the top of the sides is actually just 1/8" MDF. I've been meaning to replace it because I goofed on the hole for the balls, but I'm going to wait until I figure out how to finish off the ends of the lanes (the "caps") before I cut anything else.
7) I moonlighted for a year or so at a sign shop, so I had access to a large format printer and vinyl plotter. That's where I cut the numbers for the rings as well.
8 ) Yeah I'll hunt down the original SketchUp plans that I made and post them, but they aren't anything pretty. I basically just used Sketchup to outline the sides of the machine to the correct measurements, I didn't do a super nice 3d model or anything.
9) It's been a while since I did the heavy lifting portion of the build, but off the top of my head I think I bought 3 4'x8' sheets of 3/4" MDF, 1 4'x8' sheet of 1/8" MDF, about 10 ¾”x3” planks, and a bunch of random pieces of hardware that I will try to document better in the near future.
10) I made them in two very separate pieces, and literally the only thing holding them together is gravity. This thing is VERY f'ing heavy so actually just lining the two parts up works great... this thing doesn't move unless you really want to move it.
11) No clue. I thought about cutting aluminum or something, but I've never done anything like that before and I wouldn't know where to start. I have also seriously considered just purchasing used "caps" but I wouldn't know where to start to find them. Again, if you can come up with anything please let me know.

DaOld Man – I appreciate the kind words! Thank you.

Pinball Wizard- Haha no kidding about the drives. While installing XP, I actually had to try 3 freakin dvd drives that I had lying around before I found one that would actually eject… guess it’s well past time to start tossing some stuff out of my extra pc parts box. The whole screen area is actually on a hinge though so I can move it up and down to get to the guts.

Anyway, I'm going to code the gutter detection tonight so I probably won't end up finishing the wiring until tomorrow. Again, thanks for reading!

thatpurplestuff:
Just finished adding the gutterball detection into the software and it appears to be working perfectly. Just wanted to say thanks again to samej71 for the great idea. After the Christmas lights go up tomorrow I am doing nothing but working on getting Skeeball all hooked up and drinking some beers (for testing purposes, of course).

Pinball Wizard:
You don't need to explain the connection with drinking beer and testing games. We all understand that.

Do you have any intentions of releasing the software when your done so when I finally win the lottery, quit my job, and focus on these type of things I can build my own?

Demon-Seed:
my god this is amazing! Some day when I can afford to move I want to do an all new games room and I want this game! How much did it cost to make?

Is there any plans?

thanks
Jim

MameMaster!:
WOW! I have to say I was a skeptic--- but you're current build is looking absolutely fantastic! :cheers:

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