# SDTM Cary Hardy: Saving Swords Of Fury Part 5

**Source:** Straight Down the Middle  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2020-07-15  
**Duration:** 31m 32s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGp91KeM6Hw

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## Analysis

Cary Hardy continues his restoration of a Swords of Fury pinball machine, focusing on rebuilding the backbox. The video documents detailed woodworking processes including component organization, side rail removal, backbox reconstruction with precise routing and measurements, and assembly preparation. Hardy demonstrates systematic restoration techniques while acknowledging his modest woodworking skills.

### Key Claims

- [MEDIUM] Harry Williams machines have side rails that are more difficult to remove than Data East machines due to heavy adhesive tape bonding — _Cary Hardy discussing side rail removal techniques during restoration work_
- [HIGH] Stainless steel is an excellent conductor of heat, making it dangerous when heated with a heat gun — _Cary Hardy's direct observation while removing side rails with heat gun_
- [HIGH] The translite (backlit artwork panel) should slide into the backbox glass slot smoothly after proper routing adjustments — _Hardy's technical specification discussion during backbox assembly_

### Notable Quotes

> "I think that Harry Williams is even more difficult to remove than Data East. I kind of wish they would just, you know, do the whole nail, nail, nail thing and be done with it kind of thing."
> — **Cary Hardy**, ~7:45
> _Comparative assessment of manufacturing techniques between different pinball manufacturers' cabinet construction methods_

> "It was at this moment where I really understood how good of a conductor stainless steel is when it comes to heat."
> — **Cary Hardy**, ~9:15
> _Personal discovery about heat transfer during restoration work with potential safety implications_

> "I have none [precision], so we're going to be using some test boards or some test pieces from earlier from other pieces of birch so I can get the correct thickness and all that kind of stuff down before I actually utilize my pieces that I know are good."
> — **Cary Hardy**, ~21:30
> _Demonstrates systematic approach to routing despite acknowledging limited precision skills_

> "I would rather make an adjustment to that back MDF panel than to any of my birch."
> — **Cary Hardy**, ~52:00
> _Strategic decision about assembly sequencing to protect higher-quality materials_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Cary Hardy | person | Host of Straight Down the Middle, pinball restoration enthusiast documenting Swords of Fury rebuild |
| Swords of Fury | game | Pinball machine being restored; subject of multi-part video series |
| Straight Down the Middle | organization | YouTube video series documenting pinball machine restoration |
| Harry Williams | company | Pinball manufacturer; mentioned in context of cabinet construction and side rail attachment methods |
| Data East | company | Pinball manufacturer; compared to Harry Williams regarding side rail removal difficulty |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Backbox reconstruction and woodworking techniques, Pinball cabinet component organization and restoration methodology, Router operation and precision woodworking
- **Secondary:** Manufacturing differences between pinball manufacturers, Tool safety and heat gun applications

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.75) — Hardy expresses satisfaction with his progress despite self-deprecating humor about woodworking skills. Shows nervousness about precision work but pride in results. Generally encouraging tone toward viewers.

### Signals

- **[community_signal]** Content creator providing detailed restoration techniques and troubleshooting methodology for pinball restoration enthusiasts (confidence: high) — Systematic documentation of organization, measurement, testing, and adjustment processes throughout restoration work
- **[manufacturing_signal]** Comparative technical insight into manufacturing differences between Harry Williams and Data East machines, specifically regarding side rail attachment methods (confidence: medium) — Hardy's direct observation that Williams machines use heavy double-sided adhesive tape while noting this creates removal challenges compared to other manufacturers
- **[product_strategy]** Detailed multi-part video series documenting systematic restoration of Swords of Fury pinball machine backbox, indicating sustained community interest in preservation content (confidence: high) — Part 5 of series with extensive documentation of backbox deconstruction, component organization, and precision reconstruction

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## Transcript

 Thanks for watching! all right guys the following content is definitely going to be a cringe fest for a lot of you woodworkers out there for a couple of reasons one i definitely could do a little better on my safety and proper use of some of these tools when it comes to handling and safety precautions and all that i never claim to be a person that's really good with working with wood so by all means do not use my methods but you will see by the end of this series that no matter my methods of which they are poor it the results turn out to be very good so even though i have poor woodworking skills I don't do too bad on making a 40 foot friggin deck either so enjoy the content guys So I was getting all this stuff taken out, and I honestly forgot that I was not recording. So I'm sorry that some of this footage is not going to be here, because I really get my head into a project, and I completely forget that I'm being filmed. So, I wanted to show with you my organizations that I do in making sure I know where everything goes when I put it back together. So, as you can see, I've got the transformer, all the cabinet wiring removed, and here it is on the floor. So, I keep all my leaf switches taped together like this because sometimes these things can just fall completely apart, and then I'll label them accordingly. So this is my right flipper side right here. So I know that goes to the right side of the cabinet. And here's like left flipper, start button, little stuff like that. That way I'm aware of where these leaf switches go to what side of the cabinet. Kind of helps out, makes things a lot easier. So there that is. The breakdown continues. I've got all the wiring and everything removed from the backbox. And move on down here. I'm ready to remove the AC power along with the plug. And then the coin door is ready to be removed once I've removed the grounding strap from it. Then that can be removed and then essentially this cabinet will be empty. all right all right the cabinet is all gutted out I typically do all my organization using these really large like I forgot what size these are gallon size ziploc bags and I try to keep everything from a certain area of the cabinet or playfield in one bag that way I know for sure where that stuff is at so I've got like multiple bags for different areas of the cabinet and you You can either label them, put tape on the bag itself and then write down where that area is at. That's up to you. But I think we're about ready to take the head off this bad boy. Time for decapitation. Once I find the right tool for the job. Anytime I'm taking out a bolt and a nut, I put the nut back on the bolt. That way I know that these bolts go with these nuts. These nuts? Less likely for me to lose. There it is. There it is. Decapitated. We'll start getting this cabinet all shot back down now. Alright, so side rails can be a major pain. Sensitive. Whenever you want to remove these things without damaging them or the cabinet. I'm really actually kind of dreading this. I think that Williams is even more difficult to remove than Data East. I kind of wish they would just, you know, do the whole nail, nail, nail thing and be done with it kind of thing. But it looks cleaner this way. So we're going to be removing this because you have essentially a long strip of double-sided adhesive tape. The real thick, squishy kind, all the way down here. So I've removed the screw and bolt. It holds both ends down. So now it's being held with the adhesive. I'm going to take a scraper like so and I'm going to heat it extremely hot with my heat gun. Use that to scrape and cut through like a hot iron through all the adhesive all the way up. So that way I don't damage my side rails by bending them because these are good. These are actually pretty solid. Be cleaned up, polished out, maybe even chromed. We'll see where things go. So let's get started. We'll be right back. It was at this moment where I really understood how good of a conductor stainless steel is when it comes to heat. Woo! And that's what you gotta look for whenever you're removing this stuff, because that thing is incredibly hot right now. I going to leave it there actually I let that side rail cool down I might be able to grab it Yeah it a little warm Definitely would not want to catch that But you know what? Didn't have to pry it off and bend it. Still usable. You better not move. Ow. Daddy's about to get savvy with woodworking. Okay, which is fine. Is there a reason why the door is open? And now it's time to cut the vent holes for the back of the backbox. Here I have my MDF and behind this MDF is more MDF. I have it clamped down this way because if I am to drill through it, I could bust through and I don't want that. I want it to be a clean, smooth edge. In order to do that, I'm going to be using these drill bits. The size I'm going to be using is a one and a half. all right so I'm basically just replicating what the old is compared to the new so what I've done here is just taking the measurements from this side which is six inches over to this side which is also six inches so got the six inches measured on this side of this side it's a three quarters of an inch from the bottom of the board to the support support border here so we're doing three quarters of an inch from down here as well I've got my positions all marked off so what I'm going to do is I'm going to glue and clamp this thing down in place. So, just to give you an idea of how well I did on the replication process here it is stacked on top of the original I'm very pleased with how it turned out so I pretty much am good to go on both of my sides that knocks out both of these just got to replicate top and bottom and then once I all of the sides replicated then comes the really interesting part that I'm a little nervous about and that's the the routing portion of it so I'm gonna go buy some more birch and I'm not too happy about that either because it's not cheap all right so this is what we're dealing with I have got these sides Basically the entire backbox has been cut. We have our length and width and thickness of the boards matching to the originals. The only thing we've got to do now is router out around the areas all through and all the way down here like this. and all the way on this side accordingly. So this is going to require some precision of which I have none. So we're going to be using some test boards or some test pieces from earlier from other pieces of birch so I can get the correct you know thickness and all that kind of stuff down before I actually utilize my pieces that I know are good so let's get this router and everything set up all right so I think I have got the depth and everything done correctly on my routing table I've essentially just done one little test segment right here but I want to say I've got it done the right way but I'm not going to go directly into my knowing good piece right here I'm going to continue up here because it's basically this is three quarters in and this is a half inch in because this is the backbox area where the backboard is that I've got right here because this is only half inch and everything else is three quarter inch so I'm going to do a single run like this on this top portion up here and see how well it matches up. But I think I've got it pinned down, so let's see what we can do. So now we can compare between new versus the old. So let's take some measurements and see how we did. This is a 3-8 depth and this is not. So I need to go deeper. That's what she said. Alright, so we have got 3-8 depth matching what the original was. Alright, so now that we've got the depth, I believe I don't have to worry about, I'll make sure yep still three quarters so that hasn been messed up Okay Okay. I think we're ready. I think we're ready. I'm so nervous. All right, here we have it. Oh, it's the buildings of a backbox. Now, granted, I don't have anything glued or permanent. This is all basically just kind of held together in the positions in which this backbox was meant to be held together. There still are little minor adjustments that I need to make. Like, I need to route a little bit more on this top edge so this can be squeezed in some more because I'm a little off. so I got to do just a hair like a 16th or so on each side of this to make it even so that way I've got six 17 and a quarter going right here and 17 and a quarter going down across this way so that other than that my up to down is perfect um I'm very proud of myself actually on this I was expecting it a lot worse um something else that I realized I messed up on after I got to this point was the fact that I should not have routed out this portion. So that's not that bad. I mean, what I'm going to have to do is either get some wood cut out and glue in that spot or buy some more wood and recut and router out again. I think I'm just going to cut out little pieces of wood and glue them in that spot to fill that hole and then be able to sand it flat and no one will be the wiser unless they watch this video and then therefore then they will be the wiser other than that it's a backbox now let's get these minor touches down what I'm doing now is that I've got to cut the back glass slot it goes all the way down and I would love to use my routing table but evidently this routing table can only extend so far to be able to do what I'd like for it to do on how deep this goes so I'm gonna have to do this another method feel like I could still probably rig up something but I feel like if I can make two If I can make two passes with this, then I should be okay. I've got to make sure that this is right before I go and do this. I have this fear of cutting the wrong side. And I'm glad I checked. I would have cut the wrong side. Top. That way I don't get that freaking messed up. Alright. We're going to have to just kind of go and see how it looks and then I'll probably have to adjust accordingly but hopefully it's even all the way through and I could just be able to go through. Dammit. I'm hoping that it's deep enough. Thinking it is. But a part of me doesn't think it is. I'm gonna go up a couple of notches here. That's damn close. I think I'm gonna drop it down a little bit now. Right about there. I think right there is fucking perfect. Alright, here we go. I think we're going to need to go a little deeper. Son of a biscuit. All right. So now I just need to move over my fence. This is what sucks. Getting this just right. All right, let's measure that. Oh my God, quarter inch. Perfect. I think the depth is just right too. I'll have to compare to the master, but I think we should be good to go. After looking at the master, I am going to make this another pass just a little bit wider. We're talking a little bit, and here's the thing is that I'm pretty sure that the trans ladder back glass would slide into this, but it'd probably be really snug and difficult to get in place. I think by moving it over just a little bit, giving it a little bit more of a shave, will just make it to where it slides in like butter. All right, so I have got the portion cut for the trans light right here. So this has been replicated where the top of the backbox is over the back glass slides into that's going to go right there. These two pieces are going to go here. I've got to router out a hole like this for the lock that locks the back glass in place. So I'm going to have to get that measured and cut. Meanwhile I'm busy getting the little final touches done. So getting all this replicated that's on the sides here. So I'm going to have these clamped and let this glue dry. And then once all the glue is dry, then I'll start getting this stuff put together. But basically it's getting to where it's almost time to get this thing put together. All right, so here's where we're at now. I've pretty much got the backbox all cut out and done. Now I need to get this portion done. I've kind of measured and drawn out where this cutout needs to be. I going to use a quarter inch routing bit to get that done and we see how it goes I think that will do. I might straighten it out a little bit more right here. That should do. Alright, so I'm working on the side piece for where the backbox keyhole is. I essentially got my center hole using a 3 quarter inch bit. Started going down until the middle segment started sticking out the other side. then I worked the other way to make sure I didn't split out the veneer. And that worked out really well. Basically what I'm going to do is just kind of route around, circle around this right here. And that should get me good. I'll check the depth on this to make sure I can get it synced up with that. And I think we'll be good. Pretty close to perfect. I'll take it. All right, so here's where I'm at. I've got my sides replicated, my back replicated, my top is replicated. All I got to do now is replicate this bottom piece and then the backbox will be replicated. Okay, time has come for the gluing process to begin. So once again, nothing's been glued yet. This is ready to be disassembled. I'm going to glue the main box framing first. and then once I know that I've got my angles and my basically my correct dimensions good then I'll fit the backbox to the frame so I would rather make an adjustment to that back MDF panel than to any of my birch if my frame is a perfect box then we should be good to go so what I'm going to be using to assist in this process are some 90 degree angle clamps. Unfortunately, I was not able to get all of the same brand. Thank you. All right, frame is done. We just need to get this portion put on. That was a snug fit. there she goes now I'll take that off obviously and glue it and then let it sit Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. Thank you.

_(Acquisition: youtube_groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 3df4533c-e683-4649-b294-11acb71c23da*