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How To Install A Hardtop For Black Knight Pinball Machine: Part 2

Cary Hardy·video·13m 18s·analyzed·Nov 10, 2018
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.014

TL;DR

Black Knight hardtop installation part 2: adhesive application and ramp clearance challenges.

Summary

Cary Hardy demonstrates part 2 of installing a hardtop on a Black Knight pinball machine, focusing on the adhesive application process and discussing critical clearance issues that arise when adding 30,000ths of an inch thickness to a playfield. The video covers pre-installation concerns with ramp alignment, manufacturer tolerance issues, and practical installation techniques using clamps and tack cloths.

Key Claims

  • Hardtop material is 30,000ths of an inch thick and elevates everything the playfield touches, requiring micro-adjustments for all screwed-down components

    high confidence · Cary Hardy directly measures and explains the technical specifications and implications

  • Ramps on dual-level playfields create a 5,000ths of an inch height discrepancy when a hardtop is applied over original Williams playfield routing

    high confidence · Jason explicitly measures ramp thickness (25,000ths) vs hardtop thickness (30,000ths) and describes the gap issue

  • Black Knight originally came with bare maple on the out lanes and front of drop targets, which is authentic to the original design

    high confidence · Jason confirms this is how the original Black Knight machine was manufactured

  • Many manufacturing tolerances on playfields were done by hand or on different machines, creating variability that hardtops cannot account for

    high confidence · Cary Hardy explains that screw holes and routing are inconsistent between machines, making hardtop fit issues partly manufacturer-related

  • At least two people are recommended for hardtop installation to prevent the material from flopping and misaligning during application

    high confidence · Cary Hardy states this as a best practice recommendation based on the installation process shown

Notable Quotes

  • “When you apply a hard top to your machine or if you're just clear coating your machine you got to understand that you are elevating everything that the play field touches... you're going to have to make all sorts of micro adjustments in order for this machine to play correctly.”

    Cary Hardy@ 2:22 — Core technical principle explaining why hardtop installation is complex and requires careful planning

  • “The ramps measure about 25,000th thick. The hardtop measures a consistent 30,000th thick on the acrylic. So we got a five thousandths bump we got to deal with.”

    Jason@ 4:30 — Specific measurement of the ramp-hardtop clearance problem that demonstrates technical precision required

  • “Don't just think that you can just strip off your play field, do some sanding, and then down that hard top and that you're good to go. It's going to require more effort.”

    Cary Hardy@ 2:51 — Warns viewers against underestimating hardtop installation complexity

  • “I really love this product so far. It is very, very impressive and I'm already highly recommending it.”

    Cary Hardy@ 12:39 — Positive endorsement of the hardtop product despite technical challenges discussed

Entities

Cary HardypersonJasonpersonBlack KnightgameWilliamscompany

Signals

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Original Williams manufacturing design of Black Knight ramps creates compatibility issues with hardtop installation due to insufficient ramp-to-edge routing

    high · Jason explicitly states 'Williams. Didn't bring the ramp to the edge of the routed cutout for the ramp relief so that it would match the playfield at the same height'

  • ?

    technology_signal: Hardtop acrylic overlays represent an advanced playfield protection and aesthetic enhancement technology for classic pinball machines

    high · Detailed installation process, multiple technical considerations, and community interest indicated by video format

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.040

0:00
What's going on guys? So now we are in... I just realized that my lunch and drink are still sitting on the stool that's right here. Let me get rid of this. Welcome back everyone. We are now on part 2 of our Black Knight hardtop installation. If you haven't seen part 1 yet, click on the link that is up here. I will post it and then you can watch that first because there's some info that you will need in order to continue on to part 2. If you are new to this channel, I talk and do pretty much anything pinball related, so if anything like that interests you, then maybe think about hitting that subscribe button down below. So where did we leave off last time? ah yes so we left off where we show the play field when it was clear coated with a two-part auto clear over the inserts and we colored the inserts black around the perimeter of around all the inserts and we discussed that that was essentially insurance just in case for some reason we applied the hard top a little bit off so that way we wouldn't see bare wood around the inserts. I mainly want to start off this video by showing you what the hard top looks like on the reverse side of the artwork. So this shows you right here basically how thick the material is 30,000 of an inch thick. So and all that right there is where it's adhesive and sticks to the plate field. So what we're going to do first is basically strip off the white material that covers up any kind of possible damage during the installation because you know that's just our choice. You don't need to or have to but for this we already have some concerns and we just want to make sure that everything is going to line up and be correct. So at this point we have put the hard top on the machine but we have not peeled away the adhesive protector. So we put on the hard top and now we've applied the ramps just to see how much of a difference between the ramps and the hard top it's going to be. We know it's going to be an issue but we need to figure out how we're going to fix that problem. This is something that you need to know guys that when you apply a hard top to your machine or if you're just clear coating your machine you got to understand that you are elevating everything that the play field touches anything that screws down onto this play field has increased its height by 30,000 of an inch so everything is going to have to be adjusted and put into consideration that you're going to have to make all sorts of micro adjustments in order for this machine to play correctly. Don't just think that you can just strip off your play field, do some sanding, and then down that hard top and that you're good to go. It's going to require more effort. And how much effort you put into this is how well it's going to look. And a major kicker here, guys, is that any kind of issue that may come up during this installation is not going to be solely on the cut of the hard top. A lot of the issues are also manufacturer These were all man guys So any kind of screw hole or hole that was in general a lot of the times was done by hand. And if it was done by a machine, who's to say it was the same machine that did it? There are so many variables in between machine to machine to machine that the hard top can only do so much. So take that into effect and don't get pissed off. And for some reason, a screw hole is not where it needs to be. So let's play some footage right here and let Jason tell you some of his concerns before we install this hardtop. So our issue here is the ramps on a dual-level playfield.
3:54
I have a big gap, and this is part Williams, mainly Williams. Didn't bring the ramp to the edge of the routed cutout for the ramp relief so that it would match the playfield at the same height. So this part right here is Williams. Didn't butt it up to the edge, and based on the hardtop, We got a little bit of difference in the full size of the playfield versus the hardtop. Primarily, we're going to use the epoxy. We're going to fill those reliefs in with the epoxy. I've got some shims in here just trying to match the half of the ramps to the hardtop. So the ramps measure about 25,000th thick. The hardtop measures a consistent 30,000th thick on the acrylic. So we got a five thousandths bump we got to deal with.
4:43
So we'll take the ramps off, take the hard top off. It's just laying on here loose right now. And I'm probably going to go ahead and run some black around the in lanes. Oh, yeah. On the out lanes, I know it looks kind of crazy, but that's a bare maple. But that's the way Black Knight originally came. It came bare maple on that out lane on the left-hand right side. You have Barrett Maple in front of drop targets on your left side and drop targets on your top side here on those lower playfields. So there you can see that we have our concerns of the ramps. And this is going to be on any machine that has ramps, guys. Whenever a ramp comes down to the playfield, it's going to have basically a cutout and dention route in that area for the ramp to go down and so the ball can smoothly go up. So now that you've increased the height of your play field, but the ramp is still going to be screwing down into the bare wood, you're going to have this big gap where the ball can possibly just not smoothly roll up that heel and then smoothly roll down about hitting a bump on the way. And it's just going to cause all kinds of issues. If you don't care about that, then don't worry about it. But I highly recommend that you do care about this. and we're in the works right now figuring out how this can be easily performed in the future on other hard tops i mean things that you could possibly do to alleviate this issue is uh cut out some of the hard top material that is down in the apron area that is not being used or seen and then you can measure out and cut just to match perfectly over that area where the ramp connects to the playfield that's an idea that way you're immediately countering for the height of the hardtop by putting that in its place. I'm hoping you understand what I'm talking about there.
6:29
But that's not what we did. 🎵 All I want, all I want, me and you, me, me, me, you Been so long, been so long, why you keepin' me waiting?
7:17
All I want, all I want, me and you, me, me, me, you Been so long, been so long Why you keepin' me waitin'?
7:35
Who's got me, got me? And now begins what you've been waiting for. How to apply this hard top to your play field. Here we go. Now, obviously, this has been sped up to save on time. So what we're going to do here is pull off about, I'd say, maybe 20 to 30% of the adhesive protection and then razor blade off that portion. Now, before we're going to apply the hard top, we're going to get a tack towel and wipe down any possible debris that could have occurred in the last few seconds of that. We're going to tack it down right before we apply this adhesive.
8:54
And you also want to tack down the material itself before you pull out the adhesive in case there's any kind of debris that's on there. But I think you're going to be okay as long as you tack down the way we just did right before you apply it. He is checking for any kind of possible contamination that could be there for whatever reason. So he's just making sure that everything's good to go and here we go ladies and gentlemen. As you can see, we've got it C clamped down using a one by six. I want to say that's the size of the wood. matter but we've got it clamped down and protected by some sheets under that just to make sure that the material does not shift while we lifting a product but once you got that first 20 to 30 done and planted on there you can remove your seat clamps or tape or whatever method you want to use to keep it in position and then lift up that side and start removing the adhesive material on the side that you have not placed down yet.
10:13
This can be sometimes difficult. This is why we highly recommend that you have at least two people doing this process so one person can make sure it doesn't accidentally flop down when it's not supposed to.
10:39
Alright. Here we go. Grand finale. Attack cloth of that thing down. Here we go. And there it is, guys. That is how you apply a hardtop to your Black Knight pinball machine blade field. Now, this is just the beginning, guys. Don't think that this is done. This is just applying the hardtop. but there are so many things that you have to take account for and start making sure that everything is good to go and that will be explained further down this series we still got it i'd say one maybe even two videos of this
11:46
and there you are guys that's going to wrap up this video here's you a little preview look at what the next video is going to entail that we start working on and that is the upper play field
12:16
Like I said, we have many more issues that we're going to have to deal with down the road in this video series, so if you want to know what those are, please subscribe. That way you can be notified of whenever I upload more material on this subject. I can tell you right now guys, just to give you some sort of ease of mind, that I really love this product so far. It is very, very impressive and I'm already highly recommending it. If you've liked this video, please give me that thumbs up. And if you haven't already, do not forget to hit that subscribe button down there. I tend to post videos weekly. If you have any questions, please leave me a comment down below. I will read and answer every one. Until next time, peace out.
13:15
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