Suggestions for Basic Wire or Metal Stands for a Vintage Pachinko Machine?

[luckydog]

I always drill small pilot holes and use a countersink drill

the deeper wider thread gives you a better bite on the wood, rather than the shallow close threaded screws.

[RivkahChaya]

Yeah, me too. Pilot holes, countersink. I just built a sleeping loft for my son, with a slide. He just turned 7. Early Hanukkah present. He now has a cool fort in his room. I used wood screws, though and always do. FIL is a contractor, and says drywall screws bend. Wood screws are made of stronger metal. The "bite" problem is solved with threadlock.

Course, the major joints in the loft have bolts.

I guess for attaching feet, it doesn't matter that much. You could probably make metal stands out of coathangers. You can even make temporary stands out of cardboard mailing tubes. What's important is to avoid nails, but whatever you use to drill pilot holes.

[itsmedutch]

Looking for a stand too, can anyone post a 1x4 pine pictures for this dutchie so I can go to the local DIY market and look for it?

thanks!

[mxfaiman]

I wouldn't use drywall screws. I never got why people use drywall screws in wood. I mean is wood in the name of the screw? Wood screws are the best thing to use. You don't really need any lictors or anything. Truthfully I wouldn't use the original wire feet. It is very common for the welds the hold on the washers to break. I make my own out of solid blocks of maple. (About 1.5"x3"x12"). That way I could easily put 4 screws in the bottom of each block.


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[RivkahChaya]

I wouldn't use drywall screws. I never got why people use drywall screws in wood. I mean is wood in the name of the screw? Wood screws are the best thing to use. You don't really need any lictors or anything. Truthfully I wouldn't use the original wire feet. It is very common for the welds the hold on the washers to break. I make my own out of solid blocks of maple. (About 1.5"x3"x12"). That way I could easily put 4 screws in the bottom of each block.


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My first machine had wire feet that were solid pieces. They were pretty thick and sturdy, and not welded. They may even have been cast, so "wire" isn't really the right name. They had rubber coating. The ones I've seen with "welds" actually look soldered, which makes sense, because anyone can get a soldering gun, but you need a certificate or license in most states(? this one anyway) to maintain welding equipment. If I had soldered metal, I'd clamp the soldered points, even with something like an auto hose clamp (I had a car transmission shifter "repaired" this way for two months before I could get around to taking it to a welder, and it held just fine-- didn't look pretty, though).

The main problem with pine is that it is very susceptible to swelling when it's damp, so I would make 3-piece feet (solves problem with bowing). I'm making some soon, and I'll post pix. Wood screws all the way. Cheap varnish solves the moisture problem, too, or paint, but it's such a small amount of wood, that the price difference between pine and a harder wood isn't too bad. I'm going to use pine because it's what I already have, and because the person I'm sending the machine to may choose to use something else, I just feel like I should provide something.

Are "lictors" threadlockers? I recognize the Latin word for "bind," but I never heard "lictor" as a carpentry term. You need them if you use drywall screws. I think people using only hand tool fine drywall screws easier to screw into soft wood, but for that very reason, they rock loose. Also, wood screws are usually steel. Drywall are brass or polymer. They are almost certain to bend under the weight of a pachinko machine.

Take a wood screw, and a drywall screw, and two pairs of pliers. Compare how easy it is to bend one vs. the other.

[itsmedutch]

Havent read it anywhere else so: what material is a Pachinko made of, the frame is it oak? Looks like it is on my Sankyo

[RivkahChaya]

If the frame was made in Japan, it's probably Larchwood. If it's from the US, it's probably pine, although if you have an original frame from the 1970s, it's not impossible that it's Oak. Oak is not terribly expensive, for how much more sturdy it is relative to pine. It's heavy, though, so i doubt someone put an Oak frame on something just prior to shipping it to the US.

Larchwood has a high silica content, so it's hydrophilic, but IIRC, it does not warp as much as pine-- it's swells evenly. When it gets dry, it gets very dry, so it is subject to flaking, a sort of extreme form of splintering. If you have dry heat in your house, and it's winter, you might want to do something to raise the humidity, like having a faucet running, or using a commercial humidifier, albeit, not two feet from the machine. Rust is not the goal.

Larchwood is strong for its weight, so it's a really good choice, actually. It's highly resinous; if you have plant allergies, wear a mask if you are going to be sanding it.

[itsmedutch]

Thanks! I have no clue if mine came from the US or Japan. Its not humid here, central heating and not really dry. I have several older items like paintings and theyre fine.

Heres a pic maybe youll recognize the wood. I asked because I wanted to make a stand our of the same wood.

CIMG5189.jpg

[heima]

I wouldn't use drywall screws. I never got why people use drywall screws in wood. I mean is wood in the name of the screw? Wood screws are the best thing to use...

Fair enough, but is the word "steel" or "iron" in the word "rivet"? I'm just messing with ya.

[luckydog]

I have used oval wooden plaques from a crafts shop for feet on a couple of pachinkos, they work good and look nice

[mxfaiman]

Fair enough, but is the word "steel" or "iron" in the word "rivet"? I'm just messing with ya.

That depends what does the front of the box say?


Oh and to clear up everyone's confusion the frames are made of Japanese mahogany. At the time it was cheap and there was tons of it. Now it is hard to find and rather expensive.

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[Moparformances]

but you need a certificate or license in most states(? this one anyway) to maintain welding equipment.

I have never heard this before??? what state requires this and why??? on the west coast anyone can own a welder... i can drive accross twon and pick one up today if needed..

[RivkahChaya]

Oh and to clear up everyone's confusion the frames are made of Japanese mahogany. At the time it was cheap and there was tons of it. Now it is hard to find and rather expensive.

Really? I thought that was a very dark wood-- redder than what Americans think of as mahogany, but not like what most pachinko frames look like. I was guessing larchwood because it's a common multi-purpose wood in Japan, and it has very straight grain, unlike pine, but some frames have veneer; and then, unless you know for certain the frame is Japanese and not made in the US, or in yet some other country, there's not much point in speculating.

Other than aesthetics, there's no reason to make the feet out of the same wood. If you are concerned about something like different warp rates, put some silicon, like gasket fixer, or very thin cork, or something, between the feet and the frame. I never heard of this as a problem, though.

I have never heard this before??? what state requires this and why??? on the west coast anyone can own a welder... i can drive accross twon and pick one up today if needed..

I think it is the oxygen tanks and some of the other expendable supplies that are heavily regulated, as opposed to the equipment itself, but sometimes unions have seen to it that the equipment is regulated. I wouldn't use a non-certified welder. I was in the military, and worked on power generators. We shopped out some pretty simple-seeming things, but if we had gotten eye damage, or burns from improper use of the equipment, we wouldn't be able to claim disability, and the trained people would. I can just see myself getting sued by a non-certified welder who injured himself doing a job for me. I'm the sort of shlemiel that happens to. I never spill things, but I get them spilled on me. This is why I never speed or run red lights, because I will get pulled over, even if 100 other people don't.