That's How I Roll! (Skeeball build)

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thatpurplestuff:
Unclet- Thanks again for the detailed measurements... I really owe you. This thing would be a LOT more difficult to build if I was having to fudge some of the numbers. I haven't tried wooden balls on it yet, but the white 1/4" MDF seems really tough. While working with it I've dropped misc tools on it and it didn't ding or scratch. Once the padded vinyl flooring is placed on top, I don't think I'd be able to dent this thing if I tried.. haha. I have a feeling that the wood edge I put on the corner is going to get destroyed though.

Ralman- Yeah it'll have a ball return, and that's one of the issues that I've run into by adding the extra 4 legs to the design. So far I don't see any issues with the legs in the front since they are far enough forward to avoid the ball area completely. With the legs in the back, I'm either going to attach the legs so they are low enough that balls can pass over them, or put them on the inside of the ramp and re-route the missed ball chute to go around it. Once I get the hop ramp screwed in and ready to go, I'll be able to see which method will work best.

Thanks for the comments and questions, guys! I'm hoping to get some real work done today, but we'll see!

ivwshane:

--- Quote from: Ralman on April 09, 2009, 09:26:45 am ---Looks great! Nice and clean.

Are you going to be putting a ball return on? If so, with the legs on the outside of the ramp, will they be in the way?

--- End quote ---

I don't think they will be, in fact I think it will help with the design and act as a ball stop.

thatpurplestuff:
Wow I just wrote a long post and it disappeared. Let me type it again... haha.

So I attached the legs to the ramp, and then attached the outside left side to get an idea as to how the ball return on the right side would work. The great news is that the legs will not be a problem for the ball return at all, but after looking at the ramp frame for a while I think I want to build the frame for the scoring section before I make any permanent decisions as to how the ball return will work. After deciding to hold off on that, I figured I would just lay a plank in and see how deep I want the balls to rest in the side of the machine. I'd be lying if I said that I didn't shoot a couple tennis balls off the ramp while it was together.

I'm actually proud of myself for how little I did today. I have a tendency to just charge ahead with a build even when I am unsure of the measurements, and that usually makes things a lot harder down the road. I ran into a snag today and instead of continuing on, I decided to call it a day and sit down to plan things out. One thing I decided is that I'm going to glue all of the hop ramp pieces together instead of just using a dowel to attach them. By doing so I can use the hop-ramp to actually provide stability to the back of the ramp, as well as make sure none of the pieces shift during gameplay. I'm going to start building the scoring area tomorrow after work (well hopefully... I've been saying that for a few days now). I'll only have a few hours of build time, so we'll see how much progress I make.

thatpurplestuff:
Almost forgot! Does anyone out there have any experience with electrical solenoids? I believe this is the exact solenoid used to control the ball release on actual Skeeball machines: http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/items/4X240 . What I don't know is how in the hell it would work and how to provide power to it. I literally have zero experience with stuff like this. If anyone has any helpful information, I would be incredibly grateful.

thatpurplestuff:
This thing is actually starting to look like a Skeeball machine! I had some setbacks today... broke off a drill bit in part of the scoring section and I also ran into a problem with the upper left brace for it... I ended up sorting it all out but it slowed me down towards the end of the day. I also forgot to take a picture with my camera of the machine with the ramp attached, but I did take one with my phone so there's a low quality version. Going to watch a movie with the girlfriend, but I'll post more about the build later.

I'm hoping to get this thing playable on a very basic level on Monday. I still need to glue the hop ramp pieces together, get the bottom part of the scoring area sorted out, and route the ball return. Anyway, here's the pics of my progress today.

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