TAG - Thunderbirds Pinball - parts update thread

[Retropin]

Love the way the guy is not using the slide guide in the pic...LOL

[Homepin]

Love the way the guy is not using the slide guide in the pic...LOL

Weirdly he was actually about to flip that board vertically and cut a groove for "T-moulding" type trim using the cutting blade. I've never seen that done before and we won't be doing it either - we will have a dedicated router table to cut the T-moulding slots.

[Cow Corner]

 

Me so sorry mr boss man!!!

Bring it on, whatever it is!

I have the right to express whatever I want about whatever I want and by the way I am not a hater. I love the theme but not your secret squirrel approach on the actual game.

Lots of water under bridge grasshopper....but still no boat.

Lets see it....cmon!!!

Throw the me and my family and my $$ and my pinball company around all you like but the bottom line is you have made that decision and have put yourself in the marketplace,now you are out there and accountable for your product...or in your case your soon to be product.


The public can and will say whatever it likes.


 

[swinks]

I would have thought you would go cnc for cabinet manufacture rather than slide guide table as nearly all the slots, holes etc can be achieved with the various router bits and repeated accurately.

Also I did hear that you will be making repro hankin cocktail tables but nothing advertised here (AP) unless I missed it, could you start a thread on that to clarify for those interested, would it be a 60 in 1 or something similar, lcd or crt etc.

[Pop Bumper Pete]

Yes, but the rest of the public want to hear about Mike assembling his factory, without having to sift though your PWA's

Me so sorry mr boss man!!!

Bring it on, whatever it is!

I have the right to express whatever I want about whatever I want and by the way I am not a hater. I love the theme but not your secret squirrel approach on the actual game.

Lots of water under bridge grasshopper....but still no boat.

Lets see it....cmon!!!

Throw the me and my family and my $$ and my pinball company around all you like but the bottom line is you have made that decision and have put yourself in the marketplace,now you are out there and accountable for your product...or in your case your soon to be product.


The public can and will say whatever it likes.


 

[Retropin]

Love the way the guy is not using the slide guide in the pic...LOL

Weirdly he was actually about to flip that board vertically and cut a groove for "T-moulding" type trim using the cutting blade. I've never seen that done before and we won't be doing it either - we will have a dedicated router table to cut the T-moulding slots.

Aaah - OK.. flips onto edge and slides the work through... have done it myself on occasion and it never feels "safe"

[Strangeways]

I love seeing Mike's updates.

When was the last time ANYONE saw a project of this scale actually succeed ? There's not many manufacturer's willing to show the public the logistics of putting together a factory. Plus, Mike and his family are excited about this project. They are DOING something about our hobby, rather than sitting in the loungeroom complaining about people willing to put EVERYTHING on line. It is easy to talk about doing this, but to actually do something is a credible and major achievement. I don't think people appreciate the gravity of this - this is a pinball manufacturer showing the pinball community the inner sanctum of his business ! Mike is taking us along for the ride and SHARING his experiences. When was the last time ANYONE did that ?

If ANYONE is going to succeed - it is Mike.

I'm not concerned about snippets of Thunderbirds at this stage. I know it is happening, and that's all I need to know. At the moment, I'm safe with the knowledge that we will soon have an Australian Pinball Manufacturer. That has not happened since the late 70's !

[Retropin]

I love seeing Mike's updates.

When was the last time ANYONE saw a project of this scale actually succeed ? There's not many manufacturer's willing to show the public the logistics of putting together a factory. Plus, Mike and his family are excited about this project. They are DOING something about our hobby, rather than sitting in the loungeroom complaining about people willing to put EVERYTHING on line. It is easy to talk about doing this, but to actually do something is a credible and major achievement. I don't think people appreciate the gravity of this - this is a pinball manufacturer showing the pinball community the inner sanctum of his business ! Mike is taking us along for the ride and SHARING his experiences. When was the last time ANYONE did that ?

If ANYONE is going to succeed - it is Mike.

I'm not concerned about snippets of Thunderbirds at this stage. I know it is happening, and that's all I need to know. At the moment, I'm safe with the knowledge that we will soon have an Australian Pinball Manufacturer. That has not happened since the late 70's !

Well said mate.. couldn't agree more

[pinnies4me]

I love seeing Mike's updates.

When was the last time ANYONE saw a project of this scale actually succeed ? There's not many manufacturer's willing to show the public the logistics of putting together a factory. Plus, Mike and his family are excited about this project. They are DOING something about our hobby, rather than sitting in the loungeroom complaining about people willing to put EVERYTHING on line. It is easy to talk about doing this, but to actually do something is a credible and major achievement. I don't think people appreciate the gravity of this - this is a pinball manufacturer showing the pinball community the inner sanctum of his business ! Mike is taking us along for the ride and SHARING his experiences. When was the last time ANYONE did that ?

If ANYONE is going to succeed - it is Mike.

I'm not concerned about snippets of Thunderbirds at this stage. I know it is happening, and that's all I need to know. At the moment, I'm safe with the knowledge that we will soon have an Australian Pinball Manufacturer. That has not happened since the late 70's !

Well said mate.. couldn't agree more

+2, please keep the updates coming Mike!

[Freiherr]

I love seeing Mike's updates.

When was the last time ANYONE saw a project of this scale actually succeed ? There's not many manufacturer's willing to show the public the logistics of putting together a factory. Plus, Mike and his family are excited about this project. They are DOING something about our hobby, rather than sitting in the loungeroom complaining about people willing to put EVERYTHING on line. It is easy to talk about doing this, but to actually do something is a credible and major achievement. I don't think people appreciate the gravity of this - this is a pinball manufacturer showing the pinball community the inner sanctum of his business ! Mike is taking us along for the ride and SHARING his experiences. When was the last time ANYONE did that ?

If ANYONE is going to succeed - it is Mike.

I'm not concerned about snippets of Thunderbirds at this stage. I know it is happening, and that's all I need to know. At the moment, I'm safe with the knowledge that we will soon have an Australian Pinball Manufacturer. That has not happened since the late 70's !

Well said mate.. couldn't agree more

+2, please keep the updates coming Mike!

+3, and just adding that not one of us have put a cent to this venture which just shows Mike's real passion and generosity.

[Homepin]

I would have thought you would go cnc for cabinet manufacture rather than slide guide table as nearly all the slots, holes etc can be achieved with the various router bits and repeated accurately.

Also I did hear that you will be making repro hankin cocktail tables but nothing advertised here (AP) unless I missed it, could you start a thread on that to clarify for those interested, would it be a 60 in 1 or something similar, lcd or crt etc.

I am buying machinery that is versitile enough to be used for many purposes. Labour here is VERY cheap - I don't need an expensive machine when I can employ 2 people to do the job - this also creates local employment and the "buzz" around the village where my factory is high about the "two Australians giving jobs to locals" - we are well respected here already and I only found that out yesterday by accident. We are also using "Mom & Dad" small businesses to make engineered parts to help the little guy where we can.

In Australia you NEED a CNC type machine to cut down on the labor costs as staff are about $6000 a month (minimum) - I can have 15 workers here for the price of ONE in Australia - sorry, but that's a fact that I have no control over and the main reason I have my factory here.

One engineering place we use has their disabled son working there who has some motor problem but he is a genius when it comes to operating the family machines and I give them as much work as I can. In Australia they would be sitting back and asking Centrelink to cough as they are "so hardly done by" - there IS a Government scheme in China that would net the family about 50% of the going wage plus medical and other help (contrary to what some reports say) but this family has chosen to help make their son a valuable part of society, and he is, and I will help them along any way I can.

[break]

I have negotiated the rights to reproduce Hankin cocktail cabinets with A.Hankin & Co of Newcastle

These will be a licenced product and built to a very high standard with ply cabinets.

I didn't mention it on this forum as it isn't a pinball and I thought the interest in this project wouldn't be that high on AP? Updates will be on my facebook page (facebook.com/HomepinPinball)

I will have finished tables ready to ship in about 8 weeks and have orders for 2 containers already. I'm not interested in competing with the others on price as mine will be:

(A) electrically safe and certified as such
(B) licenced product (do you want the Omega knockoff watch or a real one?)
(C) plywood cabinets
(D) so many other improvements over the 'cheapo' ones I can't list them all

[pinnies4me]

I have negotiated the rights to reproduce Hankin cocktail cabinets with A.Hankin & Co of Newcastle

These will be a licenced product and built to a very high standard with ply cabinets.

I didn't mention it on this forum as it isn't a pinball and I thought the interest in this project wouldn't be that high on AP? Updates will be on my facebook page (facebook.com/HomepinPinball)

I will have finished tables ready to ship in about 8 weeks and have orders for 2 containers already. I'm not interested in competing with the others on price as mine will be:

(A) electrically safe and certified as such
(B) licenced product (do you want the Omega knockoff watch or a real one?)
(C) plywood cabinets
(D) so many other improvements over the 'cheapo' ones I can't list them all

I suspect a lot of us (including me) would be keen on one of these, and I have a mate asking about one this week too - keep us posted!

[swinks]

valid point Mike, and though labour is cheap, accuracy is important as sure you understand that a playfield needs to clear the cabinet and variances could be a nightmare later on, as good CNC in China would be very cheap. Not creating waves just thought it was an odd step in modern pinball production and just hope the 15 workers are switched on and maintain their accuracy.

As for the hankin tables, never assume as sure quite a few of us would be interested.

[Homepin]

The saw table I have is very accurate so I don't see that as an issue, Playfields will be laser cut so there is no accuracy issue with them at all as long as our files are correct  .

Whilst a CNC machine for this job would certainly be ideal and probably better than what I have it just isn't in the budget - remember I have to buy EVERYTHING and the costs are seriously soaring - even at China prices - to outfit an entire factory is massive - just paying the wages and rent each month is more than anyone probably thinks, again, even at China prices.

I can always upgrade later once we are up and running.

There is no income at this point - not a cent, so it is ALL outgoing.....

[swinks]

The saw table I have is very accurate so I don't see that as an issue, Playfields will be laser cut so there is no accuracy issue with them at all as long as our files are correct  .

saws are accurate to a 1mm (teeth wearing / flex) but you could gain accumulated error and start to have issues - sure you will work it out.

curious how you will perform recessing for inserts, thread locks etc as a laser can't do that, but lasers are a awesome piece of gear and I made cnc routers & laser profile machines for 8 years so I am biased to using them as they can both do beautiful and fast accurate work.