Replicating Dimple finish/removing rust for Stern coin door?

Malice95

Well-known member

Donor 2011
Joined
Aug 29, 2010
Messages
3,692
Reaction score
31
Location
Howell, New Jersey
Replicating Dimple finish/removing rust for Stern coin door?

Anyone have an idea how to replicate the dimple or rough finish
found on Stern coin doors?

Also I have a bit of rust on the silver part? I assume this is some sort of
brushed steel? How would I get rid of the rust without runing the brushed finish?

attachment.php


attachment.php
 

Attachments

  • finish.jpg
    finish.jpg
    48.4 KB · Views: 139
  • silver.jpg
    silver.jpg
    38.6 KB · Views: 139
I restored a Stern - Dracula pin coin door that had rust on that steel. I used a combination of steel wool and Brasso and got it looking great. The pinball coin doors had a textured silver/grey instead of black. I used a hammered silver spray paint, RustOleum I think. I believe they make a hammered black, although the texture probably won't be identical.

Before:

4410488066_a589a3bed9_b.jpg


4410488234_8781d7dd18_b.jpg


Looking at these pics, I don't think this silver finish ever had quite the texture of the Berzerk black door:

4409722713_04c8f32f37_b.jpg


Funky/corroded coin door part:

4410488572_5d8d8e2c24_b.jpg
 
The door was sanded and refinished with the hammered silver finish. The chrome/steel piece up top was polished. The coin return flap, which was rusty, was re-chrome plated. The coin return rod was polished up with Brasso. The free play inserts were made by Classic Playfield (CPR). The door lock bezel was replated with zinc:

4409722951_9470958c0f_b.jpg


I bought the zinc plating kit from Eastwood Company, mostly to experiment. I ended up replating some of the coin door parts, in addition to that lock bezel. Basically, you soak the part in a solution that strips rust, corrosion, and leaves the part a dull grey. It then goes into the electroplating bath, which is powered by D batteries.

4410488710_d7e393c585_b.jpg


4409723101_e1999267a8_b.jpg


4409723209_9c70a97cab_b.jpg


4410489000_ff4796d0b9_b.jpg
 
How did you get the coin return flap rechromed?

That coudnt have been cheap.

I wanted to get a few parts rechromed. There's a guy spoken highly of on RGP - name is Mike Chestnut. Do a search there for his info. One piece is really cheap, so I ended up sending him that flap and some parts off of a couple other project's playfields. Probably ended up being $100 or so for around 10 parts. Some larger, some smaller, but most are for my Fathom project, which I'll go all out on, someday. I probably wouldn't have bothered with that flap, but there were some unique parts that were solid rust red that I needed to look good.
 
Replicating these exact finishes is pretty much impossible but a hammer finish powder coat or spray will get you close. Nice lookin door there cuda!
 
Anyone have an idea how to replicate the dimple or rough finish
found on Stern coin doors?

i had the exact same question when i was doing my berzerk resto. i decided to keep the stuff original and simply shoot it with one or two additional layers of black to hide some minor scratches. as far as i know, there is no paint which can simulate the original effect and everything you try will simply look like that: just a try ;). so if i were you, i would NOT sand it down!
 
i had the exact same question when i was doing my berzerk resto. i decided to keep the stuff original and simply shoot it with one or two additional layers of black to hide some minor scratches. as far as i know, there is no paint which can simulate the original effect and everything you try will simply look like that: just a try ;). so if i were you, i would NOT sand it down!

I agree. That's a great way to restore that finish. Scuff, clean, one new coat over the old. For my silver Stern door, it wasn't possible.
 
so if i were you, i would NOT sand it down!

Well to late..:)

Wife kept me pretty busy with the watching the kids but I managed to
get the coin door stripped and everything sandblasted down to
bare metal. I'll probably got with the hammered finish or powder
coat it.

Good call on the brasso JoeyCuda for the silver coin acceptor part.
Got rid of the tiny rust bits in seconds and made it look brand new again:)

Can you powder coat a hinge? I assume no..

attachment.php


attachment.php
 

Attachments

  • IMG_2608.JPG
    IMG_2608.JPG
    62.5 KB · Views: 111
  • IMG_2609.JPG
    IMG_2609.JPG
    69 KB · Views: 110
Here is a thread with several tips on how to recreate the texture on coin doors. Hope it helps.
 
Great link Witchboard.. Who woulda thought.. spray on bedliner. Now I need to find some:) I'll hit autozone on the way home.
 
SEM sells a textured paint that will give you that type of appreance. I have used it before on car interior parts and you can control the amount of splatter/pattern by adjusting your distance and how heavy of a coat you put on.

http://www.vinylprosem.com/product/39853 40853

I would put down a good primer first though...

[edit] another method you can try, this takes practice and produces random size spots, is to hold a can of spray paint above the surface at a 45° angle and press the nozzle very lightly. Once you can the hang of it, the can will 'spit' the paint out in random size drops vs. the usual 'mist'. I haven't tried doing this with the textured paint, but I found one can get larger spots with the textured paint the further you hold the can from the surface.

...although I like the bedliner idea as well as posted in the link above...
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom