There I was, minding my own business, when all of a sudden (as all good stories start) I found an old pinball machine at the dump. I promptly took it home and has help putting it in the house where it sat in my living room long enough to put rust stains on the carpeting where the metal feet sat.
It wasn't complete enough to make it work without spending a lot of time and money on it. I live too far away from a market to sell it as-is. And honestly, the wife didn't seem too keen on starting a game parlor with our limited space.
So I decided to make a coffee table out of the main playing surface.
(Please add a link to www.zieak.com if you mention this project someplace other than Instructables.)
It wasn't complete enough to make it work without spending a lot of time and money on it. I live too far away from a market to sell it as-is. And honestly, the wife didn't seem too keen on starting a game parlor with our limited space.
So I decided to make a coffee table out of the main playing surface.
(Please add a link to www.zieak.com if you mention this project someplace other than Instructables.)
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Signing UpStep 1: Tools and materials
This will largely depend on what you have available...
- a pinball machine
- lumber
- plywood
- screws
- staples
- hot glue
- tempered glass
- aluminum stock
- wood glue
- a few strings of LED Christmas lights
- screwdrivers
- drill and bits
- pencil
- tape measure
- glue gun
- staple gun
- small nailgun
- belt sander
- miter saw
- table saw
- bench grinder
- reciprocating saw
- pliers
- wire cutters
- bolt cutters
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Great build, and good call on getting those vintage parts to the right people. I can't believe you found it in the condition you did. The table looks awesome!
I think i can sell a set like that here. But nobody wants a project machine here. Well - other than me for this kind of use I guess.
It was your classic piece of americanna I guess you can trash it if you like. I would have paid you $700 for the PBM BTW.
2...using Non original REPLACEMENT parts LOWERS THE VALUE and it is NO LONGER ORIGINAL.
3...I could get that unit from Alaska to my door for around $150 because it could be DRIVEN DIRECTLY. (No ship to Seattle) (Even cheaper if you can tag a ride with someone who is going to make the trip anyway.
Be pissed off at me - but I saved the PBM from the conveyor belt of a trash baler. Maybe some day the playfield will land in the hands of someone working on a complete restoration. Maybe the back glass will be the final piece someone was looking for. After months of research I determined that the cost of restoration on my end wasn't worth it and the cost of shipping the whole thing to others also was not worth it.
Poo-poo the project all you want. It's easy to just contribute negativity here.
*evil cackle*
Nice build, though I suspect MANY pinball enthusiasts will be quite upset at what you have done.
All this been said, I still like your build. Creative thinking.
Nice table... but this makes me sad. I kiiiiinda think it coulda been fixed for not too much. As long as you're into circuit board soldering! ;)
But i literally saved the thing from being crushed and shipped to Seattle in a container to be dumped in a landfill. I loaded it on my trailer at the baling facility. But living in Alaska it is really expensive to ship something so large and heavy.