Getting bumper bracket nails flush

liquidx

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I'm busy placing bumpers on a new repro playfield.

My problem is that the heads of the threaded nails that go through the playfield and hold the bumper brackets in place, sit slightly above the playfield. This won't be too good for the ball.

I've tried hammering them down with a nail driver while supporting the playfield underneath, but no luck. I also tried tightening a nut below against a drilled piece of wood to pull the nail down and the nail just snapped.

Should I just live with the nails not being flush with the playfield? They weren't on the original (it's a Xenon) but were still closer than I can get them. The original also had mylar rings around the bumpers but the nail heads had worn through it.

The only other option I can see is just to hammer with even more force. Am I missing a trick?

Thanks!
 
OMG WTF, is that normal?

What game is that?

There has to be another way. If anything I would grind dowh the threads and countersink that.
 
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I was thinking of countersinking the heads but I'm very uncomfortable taking a countersink bit to a brand new playfield.

I'm going to take the nails/screws off the old playfield and see if those sit better than the new ones first.
 
Can you take a pic of the original for comparison?
 
It looks to me like the original playfield had countersunk holes that allowed for the nail heads to be flush with the play field. It would by my guess that you would have to countersink the nails. You could do this by using a forstner bit the same diameter as your nail heads to get a clean hole. If you do use a forstner bit, you will have to plug the original hole with a small dowel for the center point of the bit to hold on to. If you didn't do this, your bit would be all over the place and ruin your playfield. You would think these things came pre-drilled for ease.

If you do this, I would put tape around the hole first (masking should be fine) to protect the area.
 
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It looks to me like the original playfield had countersunk holes that allowed for the nail heads to be flush with the play field. It would by my guess that you would have to countersink the nails. You could do this by using a forstner bit the same diameter as your nail heads to get a clean hole. If you do use a forstner bit, you will have to plug the original hole with a small dowel for the center point of the bit to hold on to. If you didn't do this, your bit would be all over the place and ruin your playfield. You would think these things came pre-drilled for ease.

If you do this, I would put tape around the hole first (masking should be fine) to protect the area.

Agreed. That would be a hell of a lot easier if you could use a depth gauge and get it on a drill press table - not happening. I see that they are visible, but can the ball actually contact them? I wouldn't think so, and if not, I'd probably leave them above the playfield, would be hard to really notice, and not risk damaging the playfield.
 
Thanks for the tips. Didn't know about forstner bits, that's an interesting tool.

I think I'm going to leave them as is for the moment anyway, I'm really not comfortable taking a power tool to the playfield. Especially as, as explained above, I would have to insert a dowel into the existing hole and hope it didn't start spinning or something like that when I attempted to drill.

Looking closely at the old playfield, I noticed the nails, even though they stick slightly above the playfield, have been worn down to a slope on the sides where the ball hits them. I'm assuming years of play did this, but it might be possible to take a small file to the new ones and give them less of an edge.

I've attached a picture of the area with bumper parts dropped in place. As you can see it does stick out a little. I think I'll have to live with that at the moment.

Colin
 

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Thanks for the tips. Didn't know about forstner bits, that's an interesting tool.

I think I'm going to leave them as is for the moment anyway, I'm really not comfortable taking a power tool to the playfield. Especially as, as explained above, I would have to insert a dowel into the existing hole and hope it didn't start spinning or something like that when I attempted to drill.

Looking closely at the old playfield, I noticed the nails, even though they stick slightly above the playfield, have been worn down to a slope on the sides where the ball hits them. I'm assuming years of play did this, but it might be possible to take a small file to the new ones and give them less of an edge.

I've attached a picture of the area with bumper parts dropped in place. As you can see it does stick out a little. I think I'll have to live with that at the moment.

Colin
If you leave it like that you'll have damage to the playfield in a short time. The ball will hit those nails/bolts and cause damage to the ball which will cause damage to the playfield. Just countersink the holes it's not that hard to do at all.
Glennon
 
I took the old ones from the previous playfield out and tried one in the new playfield. With one good hit from a nail driver, it sits flush. So it's a nail design problem.

All the old nails are now in the tumbler before being placed on the new playfield.
 
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