Vintage Machine Restoration and Modification

[takethecastle57]

Looking at that thick wire bundle makes me wonder if all the wires and electronics will fit in the back .

But, What an AWSOME show of LEDS . You are the L.E.D. Wizard of vintage pachinkos !

[ShockSystem]

I like what I see so far--thinking of doing any sound as well as lights?

Yes and no. I have ordered a few surplus sound boards that were pulled from a "Space Game" as it lists - But they have not arrived yet... Back ordered or some such. I am looking around to find some schematics to tweak for my purpose and I found a cheap sound sample recorder / player I may be able to modify. I'm also trying to stay within budget and don't want to order a ton of additional parts unless I'm sure of a circuit design.

The first machine may have to be complete without such a feature or maybe added in later. I want to give it a go though!

[ShockSystem]

Looking at that thick wire bundle makes me wonder if all the wires and electronics will fit in the back .

But, What an AWSOME show of LEDS . You are the L.E.D. Wizard of vintage pachinkos !

The controller board final design will fit on a set of stacked boards 3x4in wide and about 1.5in deep, so the fit should be no problem. The big board in the videos is just for prototyping - no soldered connections, so you can tweak things and change components quickly and is MUCH larger than the final product. I'll post pictures of the completed unit.

I started with the centerpiece knowing that the wire bundle would be the largest and most complicated to deal with. All the others should be vary manageable.

Thank you all for your support on my project! It's making it so much more enjoyable to share this with others that have as much (or more) interest as I do.

[ShockSystem]

Here are images of adding additional spinner detail with silver paint and using a drill to keep even rotation.

[digital1]

Great idea with the drill.

If you spin it fast enough it will look like the spin-art from the fair!!
I would be splattering everything.

[ShockSystem]

Here are some updated pictures of the work on the face - I added some additional "circuit traces" and will start in on adding the character images soon.

[beachcat]

cant wait to see the finished product

[takethecastle57]

The Folks in Japan might want to make "Special" "flipper" machines and tap your shoulder to design them

[Moparformances]

looking good

[sharmoni]

Thanks for the spinner painting tip! I was trying to figure how to repaint some and that's a very elegant solution.

[ShockSystem]

Thanks for the spinner painting tip! I was trying to figure how to repaint some and that's a very elegant solution.

Tip: Make sure that you seat the spinner evenly in the chuck - I found that lining up the chuck grips opposite the spinners "paddles / splines" worked the best to achieve center, then use your finger to balance it out while running the drill - Then you are ready to add paint.

[ShockSystem]

The Folks in Japan might want to make "Special" "flipper" machines and tap your shoulder to design them

O.k. I'm feeling kinda out of the loop - What's a flipper machine? I'm guessing we are moving into a true vertical pinball kinda thing? Is there an example image you can post? Thank you for the complement.

[takethecastle57]

The "Flipper" are what we call the manual gravity feed vintages cause of that Lever on the lower right that you "Flip" to put the ball in play.

[Moparformances]

O.k. I'm feeling kinda out of the loop - What's a flipper machine? I'm guessing we are moving into a true vertical pinball kinda thing? Is there an example image you can post? Thank you for the complement.

[ShockSystem]

Uh, yeahhh... Now I feel dumb. I, of course was thinking of some new rare and exotic thing I had never seen (with flippers like pinball) - Not knowing that this is another (simple / fun) term for the type of machine I own ten of! Wow, sometimes for a "smart" guy I'm kinda' thick.

[takethecastle57]

Don't be too hard on yourself . you have given great inspiration to alot of folks from around the world that meet here

[digital1]

Heck, I was thinking dolphins!

[ShockSystem]

Hello everyone!

Here are a couple of pictures of the main electronic controller boards (prototypes). This is the starting layout of the sockets for the chips. I will post more pictures as the components and wiring are installed. This will give everyone an idea of the size of the boards that I referred to in an earlier post (about 3 x 4in). I want to keep them small so that finding space to mount them in machines is easy.

The controller boards will sit on top of one another using 3/4in spacers. The board on the left is the interface and output (top). All the wires from lights and triggers attach to this top unit as well as the adjustments for timers (the speed of the light sequences and patterns). The bottom board (right) holds the circuitry for the digital control sequencers (6) and timers (4) and alternating flashers (6 Pairs) - The "Brains".

This is the first pair of these I've built, so the layout is untested and wont be as "clean" as later versions should be. I have to experiment with balancing size and ease of assembly. Trial and error will allow me to improve the design. For later versions I will be making etched copper boards with traces instead of hand wiring - Clean and professional.

[Moparformances]

very nice

will be looking forward for a final vid on the action

[ShockSystem]

very nice
will be looking forward for a final vid on the action

I'm buying a USB video capture device so I can use my non-digital (high 8) camera to port to my laptop for higher quality videos.