TAG - Thunderbirds Pinball - parts update thread

[Homepin]

I spent some time today sorting out a few issues with my foil stamping machine. It's all good now - just a small air leak in the regulator that needs a couple of "O" rings to fix and a drive belt for the foil feeder.

PS - looks like I am having issues upoading a link to YouTube again - probably the "Great Firewall of China"?

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[Pop Bumper Pete]

Wire ramps rather than plastic?

Awesome

[Homepin]

I have spent the last couple of days fitting out a basic workshop. It's amazing what you miss!! I have had to get and make everything from scratch...bench, welding trolley and stand - everything and I still only have a pretty basic setup so far.

At least now I am able to drill holes and weld things up so we can move forward. Chinese New Year is coming to an end so I can get back onto sourcing parts and machinery soon.

At least I have some of the Chinese staff looking out for waste (see the last pic of the note on the gas bottle - it's Chinglish but gets the message across).

[ddstoys]

Excuse my ignorance mike.  What a foil stamping machine do?

[Homepin]

Excuse my ignorance mike.  What a foil stamping machine do?

It enables you to "hot stamp" things like logos etc onto pretty well any material and the print is quite robust and usually resistant to rubbing off.

Older bumper caps are "hot foil stamped".

Here you go:

http://youtu.be/l5NQwzM38zo

[Homepin]

I posted this on another forum so I thought I may as well share it here as well. I hope other pinball manufacturers follow and include this.

The 12 volt 3 amp supply will be 100% isolated from the rest of the machine (it will be rectified but not regulated) making it perfect for add-on mods and under cab LED strips etc WITHOUT placing any strain on the machines power supply or risking damage of any kind to the electronics.

[oldskool1969]

That's a great idea.

[ddstoys]

Cool thanks for the link on hot stamping might have to get you to make me something one day

[Strangeways]

Really impressed with the updates. Sounds like you called up "International Rescue" to borrow their machinery. Well done !

[solar value]

Just caught up on this thread, really interesting to see this come together. Thanks for taking the time to post the updates, keep them coming!

[Homepin]

I am really impressed with this neat bit of gear I bought yesterday. I wanted a stepdown transformer so I would be able to test finished machines on 110V for overseas markets. I found this machine which not only does the 220V > 110V but is mechanically regulated.

There is a preset inside to trim the exact output voltage and the motor/gearbox/wiper moves as required to maintain exactly 110V output even if the input voltage swings around a bit. It works perfectly.

[Retropin]

That is pretty cool.. never seen an automatic one before, only "operator" controlled

[Homepin]

This is the LCR meter I found. It very accurately measures inductance (amongst other things).

We will use it to check every coil wound to ensure they fall within specifications.

[Retropin]

I have a use for that also!

[Homepin]

I have firmed up a deal with a PCB factory - they will fit the micro and a few other key parts to the blank PCBs and then we will populate the rest of the parts and solder them in-house on our new PCB assembly line. Some parts are simply not made in through hole any more so we have no choice in this but are determined to use through hole where possible to keep the boards as repairable as possible.

This video shows one of two new machines this place has purchased. They are state of the art, 12 head machines and can (running at max speed) pick and place up to 136,000 parts per minute. The head grabs the part, spins it to the correct orientation for the board, places it on the previously silk screened solder paste then stops - looks to make sure it is centered on the pads (tweaks the position if required) then pushes it into place - all at 136K parts per minute!!!!

The thing sounds like a machine gun when you see it running. Our boards will probably be assembled on one of the 16 other two head machines in the factory that run a lot slower.