Xenon Pinball - Time to Replace the Playfield

HA Political signs - Brings back good memories.

Don't worry about the shipping. it' no big deal, but if you borrow the stapler, i'll send my spools of ground braid too.
 
I have the latest staples removed. Now to bring my wedge staple remover down and remove the rest of the staples on this leg, and then transfer it and start to staple it to see how it looks / works.

To my surprise, the 1/4" staples pulled out a lot easier than the 3/8" staples........
 
If you plan on ever doing any more PFs, buy one of these staple pullers:

I use the same pneumatic Meite upholstery stapler as was suggested previously. Household staple guns don't work.

I'm doing a Spectrum PF right now, but a Xenon is on deck after that (or maybe EK or Fathom).
Investing in these two tools are about all that I needed to make swaps "easy".

Also, just install Yoppsicles or whatever Bally-compatible LED board you prefer. Since you're starting anew with this PF, this will cost significantly less than a socket+LED and eliminate problematic bayonet sockets all at once.

New bayonet sockets are no better (or maybe worse) than the originals. I stick these LED boards in all bayonet-socket Ballys, but I leave wedge sockets in the 1981 & later games (EBD & later) that use them since they're reliable. The long-bracket wedge sockets are also not available to buy, otherwise they would also be a decent option to replace the bayonets.

I have a Vector that I bought already "restored"; the PF was nice, so it was stripped down and cleared, and unfortunately the guy pulled all the original wedge sockets and installed bayonet for some reason, probably thinking "there! I fixed it! it's new!" ...and I'm constantly playing the classic lamp-socket-whac-a-mole with some of the new sockets. He only made it worse and it's time I LED-board it.
 
First off, thanks to everyone who has shown me the light. Get the right staple gun, dummy.

I appreciate your patience, and acknowledge you are correct. I'm going to order the suggested upholstery staple gun. I have a nice Craftsman air compressor, and I can bring it down with its hose without breaking a sweat.

Does this staple gun use the standard T-50 staples? I have a ton of T-50 3/8" length staples - thousands of them, OEM Arrow I'd like to use up. I know I won't use nearly 300 of them, but at least I'll whittle that pile down.
 
And I decided, why wait? It came with a lifetime supply of 3/8 x 3/8" staples, SS316 so I never have to worry about corrosion, the right leg length, and from the people here, excellent reviews. I just ordered it on Amazon, it will be here Friday.

Boo Yah! Moving the project forward. I can loan it to @p1001 for his Xenon project if he needs it as well!
 
I only used what I did because I'm a Milwaukee ho from work as it is and have tons of the crap.
If not for the ease of batteries and having a stapler anyway I would've been buying the same tool you did- may still in the future!
I have guts of an F-14 Tomcat, Hardbody, and Heavy Metal Meltdown which if I can get playfields for I will build cabinets for them-
And then I'll really need the proper stapler.

Looking foward to seeing more progress on the Xenon.
 
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I only used what I did because I'm a Milwaukee ho from work as it is and have tons of the crap.
If not for the ease of batteries and having a stapler anyway I would've been buying the same tool you did- may still in the future!
I have guts of an F-154 Tomcat, Hardbody, and Heavy Metal Meltdown which if I can get playfields for I will build cabinets for them-
And then I'll really need the proper stapler.

Looking foward to seeing more progress on the Xenon.
Thanks. I'm not OCD per se, but I do want it to work right. My compromise of shorter staples kind of hit me when I removed the staples from the old PF. My new 1/4" instead of 3/8" staples came out way too easy for my comfort. I could see my ground wires coming loose from the various solenoid operated devices on the playfield.

Since I harp on "keeping the design as it was built" it's time for me to $$ up or shut up. And again, I'm grateful for the guidance provided.
 
The stapler and staples came in today.

Looks like the wire is a little smaller, but the size is pretty much right on.

Original: top
New: Bottom

Also, the new staples are SS316, which means no corrosion. Bright and shiny!

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I have realized that I am overbooked and TFB (too foolishly busy...yeah, that's the ticket!)

I'm scaling back on some commitments now so I have time to do what I want to do.
 
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