This is what was posted for the ebay listings
This has come about due to the fact that some items related to pinball either are so expensive that you can’t afford them or other resources just aren’t available. I ventured this direction because in Australia no one made Black and Gold mirror blades and these were super expensive to ship from overseas to Australia.
Pinball Machine - Mirror Blades Design Files
Your Ebay Purchase
What you get for the purchase price:
file 1 - laser cutting file (drg) that you purchased (Stern, Bally/WMS, Combo of both)
file 2 - laser cutting copy file as a png more for reference only
file 3 - a dimension file that you and the laser cutter can use to check dimensions against
note: the laser file is a metric file so the laser cutter will need to scale up by 25.4 to suit imperial laser cutter hence the dimension file as a check.
file 4 - installation details to help you if you are new to this or to issue to others to help them.
Refer to the particular ebay listing to purchase the particular files that you want > Bally/WMS or Stern or Combo of Bally/WMS/Stern - you do not get the blades nor the pinballs
In addition - this is not pickup but all information and files will be emailed to you within a day of payment.
The images in the ebay listing are from installations done from my 2 batches of blades (48 sets in total)
The Designs
Bally WMS 90’s DMD machines - for $15
Stern DMD Machines - for $15
Combo of both designs in one file - $25
All files have been previous cut as a Version 2 with these being Version 3 with the only difference being the addition of 3 x 1mm holes along the bottom edge to suit thumb tack installation. The design has been proven for fit, looks, correct hinge hole and screw mounting holes along the bottom.
The Design File
These files are supplied to you as an autocad .dwg file (and dxf file if required on request). The design file fits 8 sets of mirror blades nested into a 1200x2400mm / 4x8 foot sheet of material. I will also issue a png image so you know what it is so you can print and explain to the laser cutter.
These files are ready to take straight to a laser cutter and simply issue to them to do all the hard work for you:
source the material
cut the parts out
issue back to you to either:
fit in all your machines
sell at cost to your mates
sell locally to the pinball community in your area
The advantage of doing it yourself
With you in control you will save hundreds of dollars, eg I recently cut two separate batches of stainless steel sheets of 1200 x 2400mm (4 x 8 foot) at $250 (laser cutting) for 3 sheets.
Broken down if you do it yourself the costs as a guide are:
$250 for 3 sheets laser cut
$450 for 3 sheets of Silver Stainless Steel (Gold and Black mirror here costs $500 a sheet instead of $150 a sheet)
Total is $700
which means that 24 sets of mirror blades ends up costing approximately $30 a set (for silver). This is a massive saving as the general market is $90 to $110 a set.
Instructions to Laser Cutter
What to tell the laser cutter:
use 0.8mm thick No8 polished Mirrored Stainless Steel
use the nested file for cutting as the file contains set lefts and rights
the stainless must have protective laser film.
tell him that the pierce must be lead in to the shape not on the shape edge
these notes are on the design file which is a information layer that is turned off while cutting.
The Material Used
No:8 Polished Silver Mirror Stainless Steel
material is 0.8mm thick
material MUST have a layer of laser protective plastic on the good side which stay on during delivery, cutting pack and freight to the customer
material is commonly know as architectural stainless steel
in Aus silver is approx $125 a sheet
in Aus gold and black mirror is approx $500 a sheet and can be sourced from Rimex who also are around the world
Stainless Steel
Silver Mirror - is great to light up the playfield and add depth
Black Mirror - is very nice, and stylish more of a subtle touch reflecting light and adding depth but very similar to black painted sides - great for theme specific machines - Spiderman Black, The Addams Family Black, Tron, Creature from the Black Lagoon etc
Gold Mirror - is very nice as well but just for theme specific games - Elvis, Theatre of Magic, Lord of the Rings, Iron Man etc
Word of Warning
I am the creator of these files - developed from manufacturing 48 sets of mirror blades, yes they are similar to many other similar products on the market but with some variations based on my fitting experiences and those that purchased mirror blades from me along the introduction of the thumb tack mounting holes.
I do not take the responsibility of the laser cutter that you choose as even in my experiences some laser cutters have a way of not following what is issued.
I do recommend that you get the laser cutter to cut one set out of some cheap sheet metal just to check the dimension and even fit just to ensure he gets it right. This will be about $30-$50 for say 0.8mm gal sheet just to check and saves you cutting up expensive SS.
Mirror blades will not fit into every machine purely because of existing hardware that may foul with the cabinet sides (like ramps etc) - so use care and patience to determine a good fit as a tight fit will scuff the mirror finish affecting the look. In addition there will be slight variances in the back of the cabinet eg CFTBL has a deeper timber brace so I put a slight angle in the design.
Payment and File Transfer
Once you commit to purchasing with a payment, I will email the files to your paypal email address or other preferred email address - that simple and you are ready to go, no postage, no hassles.
