Outstanding video, particularly for a first attempt. I have recently added this to my long list of hobbies and am soaking in all the information I can find. This is by far the best explanation of how a pinball machine works. I was looking to buy or restore a machine but now I think I will build my own. I am part of our local “maker” group and have knowledge of everything you called out from 3D printing to laser cutting and CNC. Looking forward to watching your other videos!
Hey wow thank you so much!! I’m glad you found it informative! I’ve been using my local maker space a bunch along the way- super great resource!! Building your own pinball machine is an awesome project, welcome to the club!!
There is a huge vacuum for home pinball diy instructional videos on RUclips. I am so glad I found you and really hope you keep making them. You have a great personality and explain things in a clear concise manner. Thank you!
@@thepinballroom you may go into it later on but I've been trying to find trusted resellers of older machines because there are so many scam companies out there. Also would like to know trusted sellers of mods for machines like the metal pinball rail upgrades for the mandalorian as one example. It just seems like there's a minefield of scammers and I don't want to take a risk when I'm spending upwards of 10k on a used machine.
@@NeonNijahn that's hard, especially outside north America - but there's a website called pinside.com where you can find a marketplace for used machines and where you can find the legitimate mod makers
I’ve become obsessed with the idea of building my own prototype machine since becoming obsessed with Scott Danesi’s TNA and this was an outstanding intro video. Can’t wait to watch the rest of the series!
This is awesome! I just started getting into "machine working" about 2 years ago when Amazon was hiring for Paid Mechatronics Apprenticeships. I love on pinball, and through all of my training and working, I thought to myself of making at refurbishing pinball machines. Now, I have the hankering to create my own 2-player pinball machine, and this is an awesome resource. I look forward to finishing this series, and with your help, building my new machine
Great and very informative video! I know very little about pinball. I've built custom arcade cabinets and always wondered if I could make a custom pinball machine. This is a great intro to what it takes to do that. I infact did not even know how the pinball machine opened up. Thanks!
Growing up playing fireball and cleaning and waxing the board really got me hooked on pinballs. This makes a lot more sense on how it all works and why. I'm really considering making my own once I have spare money. Great video!
I've been wanting to build my own machine for years, but as it is not a light undertaking, I've been putting it off in lieu of a million other hobbies. I've getting the itch again and looking up resources and came across this. I love your presentation and explanation of everything, and I'm really looking forward to checking out more! Thank you for your efforts!
Thanks!! Yeah lots has been going on already, crazy fun how much goes into creating one of these and how many different approaches and tools you can use
Great video! Nostalgia brought me back to the whole pinball-thing, and i wondered what it takes to make i DIY-one. Highly interesting to get a deeper inaide look into how they work! Thanks!
I've been tossing around the idea of building a pinball table, they hold such a special place in my heart, but building one from the ground up has always intimidated me. Here's hoping this will help me actually figure out just how stupid an idea this is!
Once you get into it, its really simple, its just that there is so much of it, but that also depends on what exactly you are making. You can go two routes once u decide on what its going to look like and how it plays (Thats the REAL hard part) you can either make all the parts yourself or spend a fortune on parts made by someone else, or even spend government level money on Original parts from other games. The fun way is to make all the parts yourself, from scratch using pure raw stock materials. Yes you can actually do that for almost every single thing that goes into a Pinball Game, (except the ball and lights) the only real difficult things to make from scratch are the metal mounts for a mechanism if u need one (but even that you can do if u want).
I came across your latest video and it was great info, so now I'm going through the rest of your videos from the start to learn all I can about the actual specs and stuff... excellent video... packed with lots of info . Especially the coil info and just the how you open one up to look inside. I will look into the mission pinball system but I'm intending to use a much simpler approach and cheaper to build a machine with multiple arduinos and a raspberry pi for the visual head board using a typical monitor screen . I also want to make all the sub components you showed with modern electronic devices to eliminate contact switches that wear out or get dirty. I look forward to the rest of your videos to learn more.
Yeah lots of different ways to go about all of this- and with your background I’m sure you’ll have lots of other ideas beyond what I’m doing/sharing- glad you enjoyed the videos!!
Great channel and you are a great teacher. I been having the idea of building a pinball machine for years as I have built a virtual one. You are clearing the fog for me and helping me understand how to go about this. Thank you so much.
I’m very impressed and interested in this at least making an attempt. It’s always nice to try something new and interesting. You put this video together very well.
Very interesting to an old pinball nerd from way back. I'd seen inside a machine before but wasn't quite sure how everything worked. I'm curious to watch your vids and see if I might be able to make a real pinball machine. And I played the high speed getaway machine heaps when I was a kid. Loved it. Musta been one of the first machine I played 😁
That was such a great overview on parts. I've got a HS2 pinball and have built a virtual pinball before. I'm really wanting to get in to building my own game but going to watch as many videos as I can first to figure out everything I want and need. Thanks for making this series... I'm off to watch the next one. 😁👍
Glad you liked it!! I highly encourage you to take the plunge! It's not a weekend project as you know, but I for one have really enjoyed the whole process so far 😃 best of luck to you on your project!!
@@thepinballroom I'm on video 3 or 4 of your playlist now. I'm confident I will go in feet first. I have a theme idea and a rough idea of the layout I'd like, I'm sure it will change a lot of times before I even get to cutting any wood.
Very helpful. I am trying to make my own pinball now and this has been the best source of help. When buying a flipper coil on pinball life, though, does it matter which coil and coil stop to get?
Great question! The quick answer is not a ton for a homebrew - the common Williams flipper assembly (1992-1998 era) with a FL-11629 coil and corresponding A-12390 coil stop will work great. pinballlife has a great selection of coils to help folks fix machines, and you want to replace the original coil with the same type of new one. As for homebrew, if using a set of modern hardware controllers and software like the FAST boards I'm using and MPF software, you have some freedom to use just about whatever coil you want.
I hope you see this even 2 years after posting! My dad is currently building his own pinball and he’s only missing the ”livery”(?), I guess you could call it, for the panels which needs it. He really wants a panel with mixed characters, not only let’s say the Indiana Jones livery. Do you know any site from which you could order such such things for the panels which needs livery? All the best and thanks for an amazing video!
Circuit board repair for like a single bent pin would cost you like at most 20$ at a computer repair shop Just a tip there bud no need to pay 500$ for soldering on a new capacitor or pins or whatever ;)
This series is super helpful and has made me a lot calmer about making pinball machines! I’m planning to make a unique Team Fortress 2 pinball machine, and have just started to collect and jot down ideas for it. I already have a Star Trek 25th anniversary machine that I’ve repaired many a time in the past, so I’m optimistic for my first build. A lot of the ideas for events and hazards I’ve designed have been based off of the same ideas from the Star Trek machine, so I’ll be getting to designing a play board soon after I finish writing down ideas for events. Are there any machines that you have a “favorite event/hazard” of?
Hmmmm favorite events/modes - I really like the Alien Invasion mode in TSPP, I really like destroying the castle in MM, I love the turbo charger in HSII Getaway - those are the ones off the top of my head rn
@@thepinballroom thanks, I’ll see if I can incorporate those into the build I have a Ender 3 Max for my 3d printer, but making ramps isn’t going to be my only print, I’m thinking of making some custom pieces as well
I'd like to see under your 1990's Twilight zone machine please. More interested in machines from that era as that's more what I can afford. Not a Twilight zone though. They're worth a bloody fortune lol.
Honestly I don’t know- hard to say from what I know, I’ve spent about $3k on my homebrew so far and I’ve got a ways to go still - but I’m paying retail prices for parts vs what Stern pays 🤷 too hard for me to guess
You should make your own! 😃 but there are lots of great distributors out there as well, Game exchange of Colorado is who I typically use, and then FlipnOut pinball is highly reputable too.
Outstanding video, particularly for a first attempt. I have recently added this to my long list of hobbies and am soaking in all the information I can find. This is by far the best explanation of how a pinball machine works. I was looking to buy or restore a machine but now I think I will build my own. I am part of our local “maker” group and have knowledge of everything you called out from 3D printing to laser cutting and CNC. Looking forward to watching your other videos!
Hey wow thank you so much!! I’m glad you found it informative! I’ve been using my local maker space a bunch along the way- super great resource!! Building your own pinball machine is an awesome project, welcome to the club!!
Just want to follow up with this comment and see where you are at today with your new found hobby.
There is a huge vacuum for home pinball diy instructional videos on RUclips. I am so glad I found you and really hope you keep making them. You have a great personality and explain things in a clear concise manner. Thank you!
Thank you!! Glad you are liking the videos!!
@@thepinballroom you may go into it later on but I've been trying to find trusted resellers of older machines because there are so many scam companies out there. Also would like to know trusted sellers of mods for machines like the metal pinball rail upgrades for the mandalorian as one example. It just seems like there's a minefield of scammers and I don't want to take a risk when I'm spending upwards of 10k on a used machine.
@@NeonNijahn that's hard, especially outside north America - but there's a website called pinside.com where you can find a marketplace for used machines and where you can find the legitimate mod makers
20 seconds in and I can already tell this will be good
went to a pinball event yesterday in france.. got back this idea from my childhood to build a pinball. Thanks for documenting :D
I’ve become obsessed with the idea of building my own prototype machine since becoming obsessed with Scott Danesi’s TNA and this was an outstanding intro video. Can’t wait to watch the rest of the series!
This is awesome! I just started getting into "machine working" about 2 years ago when Amazon was hiring for Paid Mechatronics Apprenticeships. I love on pinball, and through all of my training and working, I thought to myself of making at refurbishing pinball machines.
Now, I have the hankering to create my own 2-player pinball machine, and this is an awesome resource. I look forward to finishing this series, and with your help, building my new machine
Great and very informative video! I know very little about pinball. I've built custom arcade cabinets and always wondered if I could make a custom pinball machine. This is a great intro to what it takes to do that. I infact did not even know how the pinball machine opened up. Thanks!
Growing up playing fireball and cleaning and waxing the board really got me hooked on pinballs. This makes a lot more sense on how it all works and why. I'm really considering making my own once I have spare money. Great video!
WOW! Thanks for sharing the video! It's amazing to get an inside look at these incredible machines
I've been wanting to build my own machine for years, but as it is not a light undertaking, I've been putting it off in lieu of a million other hobbies. I've getting the itch again and looking up resources and came across this. I love your presentation and explanation of everything, and I'm really looking forward to checking out more! Thank you for your efforts!
Let us know if you take the plunge!
Can’t wait for the next video! I like how you are planning to include 3D printing, CNC, Fusion 360, laser cutting etc. as part of the process.
Thanks!! Yeah lots has been going on already, crazy fun how much goes into creating one of these and how many different approaches and tools you can use
Steve this is so awesome. I don’t know anything about pinball machines but I watched the whole video and learned a few things. Well done!
Thanks, Darryl! Hoping that I can make this project approachable/ interesting for anyone
Thank you so much for this video i been wanting to make my own machine for a while now
Great video!
Nostalgia brought me back to the whole pinball-thing, and i wondered what it takes to make i DIY-one.
Highly interesting to get a deeper inaide look into how they work!
Thanks!
Great video, really well explained. Thank you
Great Video actually learned about gage wire to coil to strength
This is excellent. Thank you!
Thank you so much for this!! I really enjoyed how you explain things and how your video is set up! I’m excited to learn more!!!!
I've been tossing around the idea of building a pinball table, they hold such a special place in my heart, but building one from the ground up has always intimidated me. Here's hoping this will help me actually figure out just how stupid an idea this is!
Oh it's the stupidest idea ever! 😂🤣 but I absolutely love it! Be careful, once you start, there's no going back!!
Once you get into it, its really simple, its just that there is so much of it, but that also depends on what exactly you are making. You can go two routes once u decide on what its going to look like and how it plays (Thats the REAL hard part) you can either make all the parts yourself or spend a fortune on parts made by someone else, or even spend government level money on Original parts from other games. The fun way is to make all the parts yourself, from scratch using pure raw stock materials. Yes you can actually do that for almost every single thing that goes into a Pinball Game, (except the ball and lights) the only real difficult things to make from scratch are the metal mounts for a mechanism if u need one (but even that you can do if u want).
I came across your latest video and it was great info, so now I'm going through the rest of your videos from the start to learn all I can about the actual specs and stuff... excellent video... packed with lots of info . Especially the coil info and just the how you open one up to look inside. I will look into the mission pinball system but I'm intending to use a much simpler approach and cheaper to build a machine with multiple arduinos and a raspberry pi for the visual head board using a typical monitor screen . I also want to make all the sub components you showed with modern electronic devices to eliminate contact switches that wear out or get dirty. I look forward to the rest of your videos to learn more.
Yeah lots of different ways to go about all of this- and with your background I’m sure you’ll have lots of other ideas beyond what I’m doing/sharing- glad you enjoyed the videos!!
Great channel and you are a great teacher. I been having the idea of building a pinball machine for years as I have built a virtual one. You are clearing the fog for me and helping me understand how to go about this. Thank you so much.
I’m very impressed and interested in this at least making an attempt. It’s always nice to try something new and interesting. You put this video together very well.
Thanks, Robert!!
Very interesting to an old pinball nerd from way back. I'd seen inside a machine before but wasn't quite sure how everything worked. I'm curious to watch your vids and see if I might be able to make a real pinball machine. And I played the high speed getaway machine heaps when I was a kid. Loved it. Musta been one of the first machine I played 😁
High speed getaway is such a great machine!!
Thanks for making this series!
What a great video. Thank you.
This is so cool thank you for putting this together
Great video. Lots of detail. Can't wait for the next one.
That was such a great overview on parts. I've got a HS2 pinball and have built a virtual pinball before. I'm really wanting to get in to building my own game but going to watch as many videos as I can first to figure out everything I want and need.
Thanks for making this series... I'm off to watch the next one. 😁👍
Glad you liked it!! I highly encourage you to take the plunge! It's not a weekend project as you know, but I for one have really enjoyed the whole process so far 😃 best of luck to you on your project!!
@@thepinballroom I'm on video 3 or 4 of your playlist now.
I'm confident I will go in feet first. I have a theme idea and a rough idea of the layout I'd like, I'm sure it will change a lot of times before I even get to cutting any wood.
I cant wait for your other videos! Excited to see your creation!
Thanks, Justin! Working on my next one right now!
well I subscribed to this. Kind of late. Will be fun to see what you've done over 2 years. Great start. Good content.
Thanks for the sub!! Hope you enjoy the journey!!
Soooo interesting! Quality content, Steve!
I NEVER hit like button, these epesodes are an exception. Thqnks, again!
Very helpful. I am trying to make my own pinball now and this has been the best source of help. When buying a flipper coil on pinball life, though, does it matter which coil and coil stop to get?
Great question! The quick answer is not a ton for a homebrew - the common Williams flipper assembly (1992-1998 era) with a FL-11629 coil and corresponding A-12390 coil stop will work great.
pinballlife has a great selection of coils to help folks fix machines, and you want to replace the original coil with the same type of new one.
As for homebrew, if using a set of modern hardware controllers and software like the FAST boards I'm using and MPF software, you have some freedom to use just about whatever coil you want.
@@thepinballroom Thank you. Just ordered them
I hope you see this even 2 years after posting! My dad is currently building his own pinball and he’s only missing the ”livery”(?), I guess you could call it, for the panels which needs it. He really wants a panel with mixed characters, not only let’s say the Indiana Jones livery. Do you know any site from which you could order such such things for the panels which needs livery?
All the best and thanks for an amazing video!
Hi! I'm sorry I'm not sure - are you asking about a website to purchase the artwork to put on the outside of the pinball machine?
Circuit board repair for like a single bent pin would cost you like at most 20$ at a computer repair shop
Just a tip there bud no need to pay 500$ for soldering on a new capacitor or pins or whatever ;)
Super interesting. Have followed and liked. Keep up the awesome work bro!!!
Thank you!!!
very helpful!
Now I have to watch them all... *sighs* ;) great channel, man...
Where can I get coils in such a structure? I only found vanilla coil without metal "frame"
I have a list of parts in my other videos descriptions
Yup. Liked and subscribed.
I can’t wait to watch more. I sent mike your link.
This series is super helpful and has made me a lot calmer about making pinball machines! I’m planning to make a unique Team Fortress 2 pinball machine, and have just started to collect and jot down ideas for it. I already have a Star Trek 25th anniversary machine that I’ve repaired many a time in the past, so I’m optimistic for my first build. A lot of the ideas for events and hazards I’ve designed have been based off of the same ideas from the Star Trek machine, so I’ll be getting to designing a play board soon after I finish writing down ideas for events. Are there any machines that you have a “favorite event/hazard” of?
Yes!! That’s what I like to hear!! 😃 let us know once you get started!!!
Hmmmm favorite events/modes - I really like the Alien Invasion mode in TSPP, I really like destroying the castle in MM, I love the turbo charger in HSII Getaway - those are the ones off the top of my head rn
@@thepinballroom thanks, I’ll see if I can incorporate those into the build
I have a Ender 3 Max for my 3d printer, but making ramps isn’t going to be my only print, I’m thinking of making some custom pieces as well
@@SharkBeret very cool! I’m using a prusa i3 mk3s and used it to create a mini escalator- custom mechs are the best!
Thanks a LOT!!
You're welcome!
I'd like to see under your 1990's Twilight zone machine please. More interested in machines from that era as that's more what I can afford. Not a Twilight zone though. They're worth a bloody fortune lol.
Great !!!.
Atta boy Steve. Keep at the videos, even if it takes a lot of time.
Thanks, man! Great to hear from you!!
I m from Malaysia can I buy one 2nd hand pinball machine from u
Sorry I don’t have any for sale
Thinking of buying the new Godzilla premium ($8900). What do you think one of these actually cost to build ? Parts and labor hours ?
Honestly I don’t know- hard to say from what I know, I’ve spent about $3k on my homebrew so far and I’ve got a ways to go still - but I’m paying retail prices for parts vs what Stern pays 🤷 too hard for me to guess
I worked in a gas station with a half laundry mat, so after closing id sneak in and just play the crap out of that Simpson's machine.
yeah, them were the days, back when we could find pins to play without even trying
Could anyone make a bingo pinball machine? Would it be easier or more difficult?
What do you mean by bingo?
It's possible but is it profitable? lol
I mean i could try my luck making one but how much would you be willing to pay for it lol
I’d like to create some artwork for a pinball machine, if you need some artwork for one of your projects, let me know!
Pinball machines have gotten so expensive I'm seriously thinking about reproducing a popular pin that i could otherwise never afford
Do it!!! You could even improve it a tiny bit if you want 😉
Software! Software? We don't need no Stink'n software, .... lol
!!! Relay Logic Forever !!!
EM machines, for people who love WORKING on pinball machines more than they enjoy PLAYING them. 😂
you started as if we owned a oinball machine, you should start a bit sooner, where do we get one?💀💀😅😅
You should make your own! 😃 but there are lots of great distributors out there as well, Game exchange of Colorado is who I typically use, and then FlipnOut pinball is highly reputable too.
Suggestion: just start the content. Don't fast talk a 3 minute script in the beginning. It's not your strength
Yeah that was my first video, definitely lots of room for improvement- trying to get better at that , thanks for the feedback!