If you recall; there was a interactive portion where I asked people to speculate on what this was...

...its now time to answer that question.

With the Eject lane in position; I was now able to install the shooter lane. This item above was carved out of 18x4inches of 1/2inch thick aluminum. When assembled it becomes the inside "guide" of the ball lane. Nobody guessed it's function; but that's ok. Now you get to see it in all it's splender.

The pieces make up my rendition of the "Terran Sword of Conquest" as correctly identified by SaminVA here and on Pinside. I carefully cut out the 3D pieces and assembled them into the sword. The sword is made up of the little nobby thing you club someone on the head with... the handle... the hilt... and the blade itself. Each one of these pieces are bolted together with two pieces of steel. One JBwelded in the the knobby thing with a set screw at the base of the handle.
The second steel rod is jb-welded to the sword blade. A set screw fastens the hilt to the rod, and the rod to the handle. No; it proably wouldn't make a good sword this way; but it's really just an ordimental  piece. With the sword assembled; it's time to bolt it in it's place on the PF:


Now I think you guys can see why I went with a "bladed" side rail... the two complement each other quite well.

Another angle with another surprise feature of the PF...

Several months ago; I contacted Cliffy at PassionForPinball.com and asked him to do a custom inlane switch protector for this project. He graciously agreed. For inlane switch; he cut me a custom Enterprise switch protector which I cnced a place for it making it "level" with the PF wood/clear.

Here's the mandatory money shot for the kids at home:


Starting to look like a Pinball machine now; isn't it?