home made ball catcher tray!

[Banzaitrooper]

So, i like making things myself
and after seeing some ball catcher trays, I decided i wanted to make one similar to those in the parlour, The one I made works very nicely, the only thing I need to do is find a deeper, more sturdy tray. without lattice hopefully (more similar to the solid plastic at parlours)

Anyway, this cost me about $3, the tray was a buck, the foam was 0$.97(jo-ann fabrics cut your own foam) and the brads were a buck for a bag.
All I did was cut slits in the bottom of the tray with a knife, set the foam in the tray and then put the brads through the foam and through the slits, and voila! check it out.

[luckydog]

I use empty baby wipe boxes or regular palour ball trays.

[Banzaitrooper]

empty baby wipes boxs is a good idea, but i like the foam for the muffled sound

[Ikaria]

I use the Sterilite 1622 - small ultra basket.

[Banzaitrooper]

Oh those look nice! Maybe ill go shopping tomorrow see if i can find one, and i have some foam left! that looks to be about the size im looking for too!

[luckydog]

make sure you use a foam that doesn't break down and mess up the balls

old mouse pads or mud flaps work good.

[Ikaria]

The 6mm craft foam from Jo-ann's works great, and the baskets were from Wal-Mart.

[Banzaitrooper]

oh, good point LD, this foam i bought was just like generic foam, is there anyway i can tell so it doesnt ruin my balls...

[compirate]

If you've got a good auto parts or hardware store nearby, you can get 1/8" rubber sheeting (gasket material) that's about 12" wide. It's almost exactly the same material that the parlors use and it'll never break down. Reduces bounce and noise.

[hanabi]

we did use a mousemat in the drawer of the wall mount cabinet and I noticed recently that there was a little dusty residue from the underneath of the mat, although nothing seemed to be happening to the top surface that comes into contact with the Hallowed Sphericals...

[Banzaitrooper]

If you've got a good auto parts or hardware store nearby, you can get 1/8" rubber sheeting (gasket material) that's about 12" wide. It's almost exactly the same material that the parlors use and it'll never break down. Reduces bounce and noise.

Thanks compirate i'll look into it.

[Gadgetguy]

I use empty baby wipe boxes or regular palour ball trays.

Could please someone share the size of the regular parlour ball tray? Also, how much smaller / larger can it be to still work?

Thanks for your replies...

[luckydog]

the palours all have automated ball handling systems.

this is one I got with my Nurse Betty Pachinko its 11" by 4" by 4"

[Banzaitrooper]

Could please someone share the size of the regular parlour ball tray? Also, how much smaller / larger can it be to still work?

Thanks for your replies...

you can buy trays off ebay, some people even sell them here on the PT auction, Or you can be fun crafty and creative and make your own

[logicprobe]

this is one I got with my Nurse Betty Pachinko its 11" by 4" by 4"

Those work very well. They are parts bins!

Quantum Ultra Plastic Shelf Bins

[bill812]

I constructed one myself out of my son's (men's size 12) sneaker box with different colored duct tape and a pair of scissors. It utilizes all available length in the back to accomodate a large capacity of losing balls (it could easily handle over 2,000 balls, but I am only running 500 in my machine). It is narrow enough to stay put when the machine is opened away from the cabinet I built for it, so it could be hung on the wall. I originally wanted something just big enough to catch the winning ball as well as the losing balls in the same container. The original blue tray from the 70's had to be positioned "just right" to be able to do that, and it wouldn't always catch every one. When the tray was empty, balls could easily bounce out also. When I designed the new one, I wanted to make sure it would catch & keep all the balls without being able to bounce out. I didn't actually take measurements, I just kind of sized it up as I went and cut out slots where needed to fit perfectly. If anyone's inetersted in my design, I could get them actual dimensions. Of course the color of the duct tape can be just about anything (I have about a dozen or so different colors that I used to make duct tape wallets)
I didn't expect to write about my ball tray or duct tape wallets this morning, so I don't have any pix of just the ball tray by itself, I just had a few that were already on my computer. I could take some more if anyone is interested in seeing how it only fits one way in position in the back of the machine...

[owennewton]

now you need to list some wallets for us to buy. I like the checker ones


By the way, Post 800

[MrGneiss]

Nice box, sweet wallets and way to go owen!!

[FTKServices]

The orange & white checkered one, just put a big T on it & you would be about the sell them like crazy in East TN
Both the machine & wallets are very nice.

[hanabi]

Super idea!!

and I'm really liking the multi Coloured wallet!!