Tabletop Pinball

Step 2 Paddles

The paddles were made from 3/4" plywood. The striking face is 3 1/2" across, and is square to the outside edge, which is 2" wide. I measured and cut two of these with a jigsaw, and then clamped them together and sanded them smooth, rounding over the sharp edges.

With the paddles still clamped together, I carefully drilled a 5/16" hole through the pivot corner of the paddles.

I used scrap wood to create two small blocks with a hole drilled about halfway through to fit a 5/16" dowel. These blocks were attached to the paddles with a hinge made from denim. The hinges were attached with hot glue. See the photo below for details.

I then drilled a hole and added a screw eye right in the middle of the backside of each paddle.

Once I had the paddles in place, I realized that the ball would slip when struck, so I cut a large rubber band in half and used spray adhesive to attach the pieces to the paddle faces to give them some grip. For ease, this should be done at this point rather than once the paddles are attached to the table as shown in the photo.