Pinball Cabinet Finished!

[Deek069]

I have finished my pinball cabinet build. Building this has been extremely enjoyable and the end result is amazing fun to play.

Here is the finished cabinet - I will detail the build below:

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[Deek069]

I'd like to start by stating I am an absolute novice at this. I have no wood working skills what so ever and struggle putting up a shelf!

I built this cabinet from the wood I had from removing a set of fitted wardrobes from my house - this meant the wood was basically free so it didn't matter if I messed things up - I had plenty of more wood.

So the first step was to build the main cabinet body. I had a spare 32 inch TV for the main play field and an old monitor for both the back-glass and Dot Matrix Display (DMD). I wanted the build to be fairly compact so my wife would agree to us keeping it on the conservatory!

I mocked up the position of the playfield and backglass and took some measurements to create a very rough plan.

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Then I built the main cabinet body:

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[Deek069]

At this point I'd also like to highlight that I do not have a full workshop - the entire build was done with the following tools:

- Mac Allister MSCS1200 1200W 165mm Electric Circular Saw
- Mac Allister MSJS600 600W Electric Jigsaw
- Dewalt Drill
- 2 x saw horses

And that's it - you don't need a complete workshop to build one of these!

[Deek069]

Onto the legs. I wanted proper Pinball legs - so invested in 4 Stern 30.5" Legs along with the cabinet protectors.

To fit these you have to drill holes in the corners of your cabinet - and how to do this had me stumped for a while. Then I had the idea of setting my circular saw to 45% and cutting two piece which I'd then fasten to another piece. I could then drill a hole straight down through the top piece and use this to help guide the drill into the cabinet:

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I then cut 4 more pieces with a 45% cut on each end to create some support pieces for the inside of the cabinet:

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Then I attached the legs:

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[Deek069]

The backbox was next to hold the backglass and DMD monitor and speakers. This was a simple job of making a box to sit on top of the main cabinet.

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I attached the backbox to the main cabinet via wing nuts so it's easy to remove the backbox if required. I then cut a slot in the main cabinet for the wires to get into the backbox.

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[Deek069]

For the glass I decided to use perspex / Plexiglas as this is easier to work with. I got a 5mm sheet for the main playfield and 3mm sheet for the backbox. I drilled holes for the speakers and fitted these pieces to the cabinet using insert nuts and bolts so I could easily remove the screens for maintenance.

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I then used black self-adhesive film to blank out all areas other than the screen:

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[Deek069]

Then I fitted a coin door so I could get access to the cabinet:

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[Deek069]

Finally I covered the entire cabinet in the black self adhesive film as I found this gave a better finish than painting with this wood:

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[Deek069]

I do want to get some graphics printed for the sides and in the future I might fit a plunger with a motion sensor for nudge - but at the moment I am extremely happy with it - here it is in action (please excuse my playing - I cannot play with one hand while filming!):

https://photos.app.goo.gl/3zQFeopTKt7nYvoE7

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[Jeno]

Great job!

Amazing job with the cabinet, it really looks cool, and you can see the dedication and the effort put into the final product.

Would you mind if we shared the cab and some pictures of how it was made on our Pinball FX twitter?

[Deek069]

Please do - I would be honoured!

[AcadDude]

Looks good. Should be fun to play!