HOW TO MAKE A PINBALL MACHINE: Wireforms!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 ส.ค. 2024
- How to make your own pinball machine: Wireforms!
Today we try our hand at creating wireforms using stainless steel and some 3D printed brackets to connect them together and mount them on the playfield.
Table of Contents:
0:05 Big fancy intro
0:39 Wireform placement
1:05 Materials Used
3:02 3D printed brackets
6:00 Measuring lengths
8:00 Diameter of rounded end pieces
9:08 Finding round things in my garage
11:43 Making more bends
15:06 Lessons learned and Iterations
18:22 Time-lapse bending wire
22:05 Playtesting!
Links to Resources mentioned in the video:
* Public Files on my Google Drive:
drive.google.c...
* 3D Printer used in this video: Prusa i3 MK3 - available for purchase at:
shop.prusa3d.c...
* 3D Slicer used: PrusaSlicer available here:
help.prusa3d.c...
* Step-by-step Tutorial for getting the lower third of your pinball playfield powered, connected and flipping!: docs.google.co...
* Led Zeppelin Pinball Project BoM (Bill of Materials): docs.google.co...
Thanks for watching!!! I hope you found this helpful or interesting - if you did, please like and subscribe and even share this so other pinheads can find this series of videos.
As always, give me some feedback on what you liked and didn't like about this video - if there's anything you'd like me to cover in more detail, lmk!!!
If you haven't already, I challenge you to start building your own pinball machine, cuz why not!?!
Came back to get the link for the wireform brackets!!! Thanks a bunch, Steve!
I actually had a playfield layout break through today for this game concept I've been day dreaming about for the past month or two. I want to have the player choose one of four characters, who each play the field differently, with the top of the playfield having plenty of flow and combos, with the lower playfield being more of a "stop and go" type play. It's actually coming together and I can feel the world starting to develop.
Very fun!
Thanks for your hard work and dedication to helping the community grow.
Watch This Old Tony’s spring making video. If the wire is in an annealed state, you could use the same principal he uses to create a spring on his lathe. If you can get a section of dowel of the correct diameter and add a mandrel that you can chuck up in a drill press, you can drill a small hole in the dowel for the rest of the wire and hand turn the drill chuck while guiding the wire. From there, you can basically cut individual coils out of it and be guaranteed to have the diameter consistent from coil to coil. Even better, find a socket of the appropriate diameter and bolt it to a block of wood drill a hole through the wood so that you can insert a metal pin so that you can insert a section of wire between the two and then draw the wire around your socket “mandrel”. Clamp the wood to your workbench and have a blast with your new cheap bender
ooh my that sound of the balls rolling down the wireform at 22:40 is heavenly and well worth the effort. thank you for this!
THIS CHANNEL IS TOTALLY CRAZY AND INCREDIBLE THING MAN!!! THANKS!!
aww man... you totally tricked me. . . I thought you had an epic new intro!!!! No need, straight into the awesome content!
🤣 heheh! Yeah one day maybe, but not yet
Yeah would love to see an intro. I want to see this channel have more identity.
And you have solar!? You're the coolest dude.
Full marks for showing the trial and error on bending the rail piece you needed near the end of the video. It is a process and you made it work. Great job!
Heheh yep, I’m still working on a better (🤞) method for this - my 3D printer is broken rn, but I hope to have it back up and running this week and then I’ll make a video about another way to get the metal bends more precise.
Damn you really my fav yter rn idk why
You know what Steve the closer your table gets to being finished i get more and more excited. Cant wait to see you play it and I cant wait to make a virtual version of it.
Thanks, Alex!! It’s getting more and more fun to play test, too, haha! Gotta start getting these new mechs hooked up to power now!
20:30 "Eurobeat intensifies"
If I had a Nickel for every time you say: "I probably could have found this cheaper elsewhere but I just got in on amazon"... I'd have enough for my own pinball machine! Haha. I get it though and no shade to you. Time is money as well and if you're saving time while building your machine by just getting parts quickly off Amazon than it's probably worth it! The refined pieces and economies of scale can come later. )
Very nicely done, that's mostly the same exact way I built my wireforms.
Did you find a good, consistent way to get nice round bends? Like the same diameter each time- I’m still struggling with that 😑
With the price of machines right now this is really tempting! Nice work!
Deadly!
This was my biggest concern with building the playfield, wireforms seemed so difficult but they don’t seem that difficult anymore :)
I hear ya, it was one of mine, too. And I think it can be even easier! The idea about 3D printing some sort of guides/molds to help make consistent bends that Rod and Mysda mentioned also in the other comments here - I think I've figured out an easy way to do that! I'll post another video later after I've had the chance to experiment on it.
Beautiful. Looking great!!!!
Love your videos. Be nice if at the end of your build you would give us an itemized listing or parts and total price of your build. Maybe in excel spreadsheet form ? 👍🏼
Hi Son! I put a link to my spreadsheet in the description of every video! 😁
Not gonna lie I need to make one of these pinball machines 👍🏻
Yes you do!!
Well done! Maybe if you ever need to do it again you could 3D print guides for the bend, for example to keep the round part solid when bending other parts
Yeah that’s a great idea! I’ve started thinking about it a little and need to figure out a good way to make some molds or something that could be used to make consistent bends etc - definitely worth experimenting some!!
@@thepinballroom I tried to find a way too but so far I don't have an idea to make the bend right in the first place, but keeping them in place is not too complicated
@@Mysda_ hmmmm ok I’ll put this on my list of things to try and figure out, I plan on doing more custom machines so it will be worth it to figure this out- when I do, I’ll make a video for it 👍
I think I have this figured out! I'm going to play around with my idea and I'll post a follow up video with the results once I've had the chance.
@@thepinballroom Well done! Excited to see it
cant you make a mold with your 3d printer and use that for consistency with the wireforms? or is the material too soft when you bend wire around it?
That’s an excellent question, I’m going to experiment and see what I can figure out- I think it should be doable tho yeah
I've been jumping around between the older and newer videos as they pop up on my youtube feed, and it's neat sometimes to see earlier you talking about diverters and stuff, and then see them already built and in action :p
What's the cause of rejects from the diverter? Is it not cleanly resetting to either the left or right state? Is there too much friction or action required that the balls aren't fast enough after climbing the ramp to turn it? I imagine a spring system might help either way.
I'll be honest, I thought the ball was going to drop onto a diverter from above until I saw this video and the completed backglass ramp. Like, the entry ramp is another ball-height steeper, and instead of slamming into a flat diverter, it would drop on top of a vertical cradle divider. A result of not listening closely and thinking you would do what I would do ;)
Hi Chickie! Thanks for watching! Yeah, so the diverter is going against gravity too much, as it's slight angled towards the front of the cabinet, so the diverter doesn't stay to one side or the other after the ball goes through - I've got some modified parts I'm going to print out that will change the angle and hopefully resolve it :crossesfingers:
Would you ever help someone without a CNC machine and basic tools? I need help with electronics. I guess this is a question for anyone on your channel. Thanks in advance and totally respect your passion.
Happy to help answer questions and provide support however I can
I use empty pills bottle but with thinner wire for a marbles track 'art' thingy I am doing with my son
@23:11 The 2nd (bottom) circle you can make with that thing you used to create the bends (in HOW TO MAKE A PINBALL MACHINE: Wireforms w Molds). Because this is actually a thing that makes circles or how i prefer to call it you can make hoops with it. To achieve this bottom wire form you use that machine to create a hoop. If you got a hoop you cut off where you want to have the gap and then weld it together (or ask someone to weld it for you. It will save you time). @19:37 You see... you got a perfectly fine machine, but you are not using it :-P en yes, fixating that thing to a table or a board would be advisable.
See, then you do not have to cope with the creating molds that take hours to print and iron bars that are forced in to shape for days :-). Not trying to be negative btw. I'm just trying to help. I think this project is fantastic! It inspires me :)
Thanks for your videos Steve, I've been looking for a good guide on how to create wire form ramps. Yours was awesome! I based mine off of your design: th-cam.com/video/UqT4JnsmW5Q/w-d-xo.html
Pop bumpers
Hahah!! Patience, Neil! 😉 that one has to wait a couple more videos but we’ll get there!
What’s your email I want to send you something
@@neilkrenos3609 thepinballroom at gmail dot com
@@thepinballroom it’s doing it red try again
Try the email again
Weren’t you gonna put 3 in lanes
Do you mean in-lanes at the bottom? Who am I? Pat Lawlor? 😉 😂 just kidding, but no I'm sticking to just two standard inlanes
@@thepinballroom I don’t think it will fit but will you put some fun stuff on the outlines
@@neilkrenos3609 what kind of stuff are you thinking?