The Aussie Pinball Arcade
Aussie Pinball Forums => Technical Matters => Handy hints and tips => Topic started by: beaky on May 03, 2009, 08:35:08 PM
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Hi guys.
I have finally got around to modifying my flat bed scanner to scan playfield decals and what not, I found i had to illuminate the insert to get a decent scan or else it is to dark, I only had to illuminate them slightly.
I started with a ' Canon FB 630U ' LIDE (led) Scanner which i have had for over 5 years, so they should be pretty cheap to buy second hand on ebay,
i had a quick look on ebay and there is a similar model with a starting bid of $5 and no bids.
The tools needed are a Rotary tool or similar device. (The rotary tool kit i bought from bunnings for $50, it had many bits that came with it and takes most of the dremil brand accesories) (see picture below.)
A couple of cut off wheels to suit the rotary tool.
A Stanley knife blade
A flat head and a #1 Philips head screw drivers.
A piece of coat hanger wire.
And Importantly a pair of saftey glasses + a face mask.
(I will upload this in stages so please be patient)
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First you will need to remove the Lid by bowing it slightly and uncliping it.
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Next you need to pull it apart to remove the guts out of it.
Start by removing the sides of the plastic frame which hold the glass inplace.
These have a small clip holding them to the bottom part of the frame and are stuck to the glass using double sided tape.
You may need to run the stanley blade under them to cut the tape.
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This is going to be great keep up the good work beaky. At any point do i get to use a big hammer and make breaking noises?
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On the edge of my seat.
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Once you have removed the two side pieces you will need to remove the glass.
next at the back of the scanner remove the small tab to gain access to the guide string ( not sure of the correct name)
Then gently lift the ribbon cable going to the scanning assembly, this is held to the plastic case with double sidded tape.
Then disconect the silver ribbon cable from the pcb.
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Remove the green spacers from the ends of the scanning assembly
Next you will need to unhook the guide string from the case,carefully turn the unit upside down, use the piece of coathanger wire (i have used a different tool instead of the coat hanger wire) to push the center of the grey plastic clip in while using the flat screwdriver to slide the clip across which will release it from the case.
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Unhook the guide string & remove the scanning assembly and guide string from the unit.
Put this in a clean place and avoid getting any dirt on the tape that is on the cable and the case.
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well done and we will have to try this
$%$
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Disonnect the other ribbon cable from the pcb that goes to the small pcb at the front of the unit.
Peel the ribbon cable the same way as the other ribbon cable, it is attached to the case the same way.
Remove the screws holding the small pcb to the case and remove.
Cover the double sided tape residue with some backing paper from a sticker or contact then stick it down with some masking tape, this will prevent the residue from getting covered in crap.You will need this residue there to hold the ribbon cables in place when you put it back together.
Leave the guide bar in place, it doesn't seem to come out easily so i just left it in.
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Great work with the scanner mod - will be really interested to see some scans from this!
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Mark a line across the back and cut it with the rotary tool.
Mark a line from your cut to the plastic on the sides and cut so the back piece of plastic which held the lid on comes off.
do the same for the front.
Remove the thin lip along both sides with a stanley knife. (This lip protrudes above the glass a fraction)
Clean off any burrs
Sit the glass in place and make sure that the glass is the highest part of the scanner.
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install front pcb.
Remove tape and paper.
Install large pcb, scanning bar, guide string & ribbon cables.
Clean glass and scanning assembly.
Install Glass and hold glass inplace with duct tape.
Make sure the tape doesn't sit in scanning area.
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And now you can scan just about anything.
i will upload a couple of scanned playfield pics shortly.
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Brilliant,looks a major modification -whats say I buy the scanner ,send it to you for modification with a fee for your troubles.
Millsy
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Here is 1 pic
i had to scan at 300 dpi & decrease the quality inorder to be able to shrink it down to 1 meg to upload it.
+ the mylar is cactus on this pf
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and a couple more
again there is a bubble in the mylar (across the eyes)
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and an illuminated insert
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Brilliant,looks a major modification -whats say I buy the scanner ,send it to you for modification with a fee for your troubles.
Millsy
it took around 2 hours so send me a pm and make me an offer. (im not a greedy person)
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Nice work, Beaky. Those scans certainly show what is possible - how hard would it have been to get results like that with a digital camera? The best thing is you know everything is square.
Just be careful not to scratch the glass - would hate to see your hard work wrecked by something as simple as that.
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I found that with a digital camera there is to much colour variation. ie. the flash, shadows, reflections, it is easier to make a stencil from a 400dpi scan than a photo or even a 1200 dpi scan.
sounds crazy but even when i sent a high res picture of a insert decal i wanted made up to the company that made my sof pf insert decals i was asked to send a 300dpi scan of the image. They couldn't get the colours right from the photo.
as you know most playfields & cabinets have only a few colours.but a camera picks up millions of colours. i did an experiment with a photo and a low res scan from the jokerz cabinet. i used the magic wand feature on corel draw to isolate the different colors for a stencil, i tried the picture first and had to do a heap of fix ups on the outlines, that picture i posted on the thread about what type of scanner to use to get a better focal point was the one. it took me hours to get that picture right. this after noon i scanned the same picture (400 dpi) and had the artwork for the stencils made up in half an hour.
fortunately my last hobby was fish tanks, i made a few and i still have my trusty glass cutter. not that i could be bothered but if i do scratch the glass i can cut a new piece. but i definitely will try not to scratch it.
^^^ ^^^ ^^^
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Thats awsome Beaky ill be making one of these for sure and ive said it before but damn there some great looking tits lol
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Thats awsome Beaky ill be making one of these for sure and ive said it before but damn there some great looking tits lol
i put that picture there just for you. i knew i would get your attention using it.
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Job well done $#$
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Well im on my way i picked up two almost identical scanners today so once ive tested them ill start cutting. Also grabbed one with an a3 scanning bed which would be good if it works
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How much were the scanners daniel?
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Cant tell you geoff ok they were $5 each if they both work i was planning on making one for your work shop aswell
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was the A3 $5 as well....where do you get stuff at those prices lol
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One more pic
i cant resist showing you this scan & stitch job
of course it has been shrunk down and quality reduced
it took about 16 scans
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nice job beaky.
how do you stitch together?
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corel photo paint 4
Plus i used this to scan as well
very useful program
if you look at the image size (pixels) its been divided by 10
file size is about 138 meg @ 400 dpi
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Thats great Beaky cant tell its been stitched.
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Thanks for taking the time to post all that info Beaky, much appreciated. ^^^
I'm doing a very similiar thing with a backglass from 1952 that has seen better days.
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it is very cool post
I am thinking of trying this soon
Not trying to simplify it too much however the basic concept is that you need to modify the scanner so the glass is flat on the playfield/backglass?