Horse shoe Repair


Common problem with the Dig Deals I've seen is the plastic horseshoe guide. Almost always broken or chipped. Over time, this can prevent the ball from it's normal "flow" and we have issues with broken plastics and wear areas that should not be there. So rather than repair the broken guide, I thought I'd make my own out of perspex.

Here's a picture of my challenge;





Notice that the bottom of the guide is broken off and missing. So I have to guess what it should look like, which in the end was fairly simple. I traced the area with tracing paper, matching the leftover piece. I used a piece of perspex that was cut out ti just over the size of the curved area. My Bench grinder was a stone wheel that dad the EXACT diameter that I needed (How's that for a stroke of luck).. So I simply followed my outline by placing the curved section on the stone wheel and gently "grinding" away. This method was hugely successful !

I used a file and 180 grit, then 600 grit to have the surface the ball contacts "super smooth". I used 180 Grit to prepare the larger plastic to be glued to a smaller piece to provide more support and surface area for the ball.

I then used araldite to glue the pieces together;





I had to make my own posts for it which were simply some old Arcade Board stand-ups cut to size and glued on "square" ;





Here is the "old" next to the "New"





The finished product - installed in the game ;





I did trial a metal guide at one stage, but the guide has to be transparent for the light to shine through. I was really happy with the repair. It probably took me a day to sort it out. Small price to pay to have the game in working order !