Rebirth of the Penguin

[johntofva]

Most of you know my story of the Penguin and FedEx. The short of it is: This poor child road around in the back of a FedEx truck for about six weeks logging about 10,000 miles.

Six weeks................The case was splinters. The front facade broken. About 1/3 of the wires were severed. A lot of the plastic casing in the back was shattered. I had to rebuild her. I had to try and make her better.

Now I am not a cabinet maker, nor do I have any fancy tools. So with a circular saw, super clue and wire connectors, I began my task.

This is her without the fiber optics and LED's on.




This is her with those lights on.




You will notice in the above pic that I used arby's lock converion. I painted the allen wrench yellow and put a round crystal on it.
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As you can see there is a window into the hopper. This allows me to watch the level of the balls in the hopper. There is a series of fibers that simulate the Norther Lights. (Hard to see in this pic)




And the this is her from the back.

[Tulsa]

"Gentlemen, John can rebuild her. He has the technology. He has the capability to make the world's first bionic pachinko. The Penguin, will be that pachinko. Better than she was before. Better ... stronger ... faster."

And what the hell, throw in a cool pinguin with lights at the top for good measure.

[logicprobe]

Nice job, John!

Looks like your TLC saved it from a much too early grave. Way too nice of a machine to let it go to waste. And I think your case definitely made it a whole lot better.

I like those fiber-optics, and especially the window with the penguin. Nice touch.

[ocpachinko]

Wonderful! Would that all Pachinkos could find such a loving home. You have reason to be proud...this is what this hobby should be all about!

[Tony Junior]

Beautiful work, John!

[doodude]

Beautiful, John...

[dattia]

Wow John, that is really great. Looks like it was done with all the skill and precision of a surgeon...or make that a surgeon's assistant! Well done!

[Lazarus]

Nice job putting it back together. I must have missed the earlier posts about it . In short, reason for long trip and why vendor did not stand behind it please. Thanks.

[johntofva]

I would like to thank all of you for your kind comments.

In short, reason for long trip and why vendor did not stand behind it please. Thanks.

Actually they did stand behind it. (TA) When I originally received the Penguin, the front facade was broken. I called and talk to Curt a couple times and he sent me a new one.

I sent this one back. It made it's way to Texas. And then for some reason, someone in Texas (FedEx) sent back to me. Called Curt and FedEx. FedEx said they were sorry. They came the next day and picked it up. Four weeks later, I walk outside and once again it was sitting on my front deck.

I logged on to FedEx to check the tracking. Which showed that for three straight weeks in the morning it was picked up in a warehouse in Texas. A attempt was made to deliver it to some location. In the evening it was unloaded back to the same warehouse. After three weeks of whatever they were doing, they sent it back to me.

The last time I received the machine, it made four times. I called and talk to Curt. Who said "We give up, just keep it, give it to charity or throw it away." And who am I to argue with Curt. (LOL) The only thing I can assume is that the machine just didn't want to leave me.

[dattia]

...if you love something, set it free. If it was truly yours, it will come back to you. Again and again and again and....

[Tulsa]

I did it with a boomerang once... It works!

[Bilko44]

Excellent work, John! That's very impressive.

What did you come up with on the upper ball reservoir to allow you to open the door? Or did you decide to permanently attach the white plastic hopper?

Again, you done good!!

[johntofva]

What did you come up with on the upper ball reservoir to allow you to open the door? Or did you decide to permanently attach the white plastic hopper?

The upper hopper is a $1.25 ice bucket from Walmart (Which is permanently attach). The down chute is a flat sheet of aluminum bent to the desired size and shape. When the door opens, it just clears the chute. There is enough slack on the wires also to open the door.

[PachiFool]

That, my friend, is a beautiful thing.

Kevin

[cmk8895]

*sigh* This just reminds me how much I'd like one of the newer pachinkos to play with. If only I could get a broken one for cheap and fix it up.

Great work and a lucky way to get a nice machine.

cmk

[dattia]

John, I don't see any obvious holes for your fiber optic penguin outline. That was a neat idea. How did you do it?

[johntofva]

When the lights are off on the machine, you really can't see the wholes. I used a .045 pin (smooth) from work to drill the whole. The design was a penguin pic from on-line printed to size.

1. Put wholes through the pic and hold it up to the light for inspection. Tapping the whole you don't like.

2. When you are happy, tape it to the board and drill your wholes.

3. Push your fibers through.

4. Place wood glue on the end and pull back.

5. When dry, use a razor to cut flush.

[dattia]

Very clever. Thank you.