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Building a Clear Coating Frame for Pinball Playfields

Cary Hardy·video·17m 40s·analyzed·Aug 21, 2019

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.014

TL;DR

DIY tutorial: Building a wooden frame box for clear coating pinball playfields

Summary

Cary Hardy demonstrates how to build a wooden frame/box for holding pinball playfields during clear coating. He cuts and assembles lumber pieces to create a sturdy, adjustable platform that accommodates slight variations between different playfield sizes, with open sides for wire access and future handle installation.

Key Claims

Not a lot of people feel comfortable clear coating their playfields; this is for select few with confidence
medium confidence · Opening statement about audience comfort level with the procedure
This is Cary Hardy's second clear coating frame box; the first one worked fine despite being questionable
high confidence · Direct statement about previous experience with first frame version
Every playfield is slightly different in length, requiring adjustments during frame assembly
high confidence · Demonstrated with actual playfield testing; stated as key design principle
Support wood pieces for underneath the frame can be purchased at Home Depot for $1.75
high confidence · Specific sourcing information provided during component selection

Notable Quotes

“I like to live dangerously.”
Cary Hardy@ 1:31 — Casual self-description regarding willingness to attempt risky playfield modifications
“Not a lot of people will feel comfortable in doing this procedure on their playfield so this is gonna be for the select few that have that confidence or like to live dangerously.”
Cary Hardy@ 1:16 — Sets expectations for audience—acknowledges this is advanced/risky work
“I did it this thickness because I want this thing to be very sturdy.”
Cary Hardy@ 2:41 — Design rationale for using 1.5-inch lumber
“I am very cheap so I got the cheapest stuff that gonna do just fine”
Cary Hardy @ ~5:00 — Cost-consciousness in material selection for the frame
“Every playfield is a little bit different and you'll have to adjust accordingly”
Cary Hardy@ 15:17 — Key takeaway about playfield variability requiring custom fitting

Entities

Cary HardypersonHome DepotcompanyGetawaygame

Signals

?
technology_signal: Clear coating as standard playfield maintenance procedure gaining documentation and tutorial coverage
medium · Hardy producing educational content on clear coating methodology; mentions future video on actual clear coating process

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.053

you all right guys we are outside today and we are going to be building a clear coating box for your playfield so this can be done a number of ways but I'm going to show you one way to do it and I've already got some of my boards cut accordingly but I do need to make a few adjustments so that's what we're gonna do what's up guys and welcome back to my channel where I talk and do everything pinball so that sounds interesting to you then hit that subscribe button down below. I'm back with another video and I believe this is a video that may not be getting that big of a hit to it because it involves clear coating your playfield and when I say it involves clear coating your playfield I mean this is how you're going to make a box kind of like the foundation to hold your playfield for clear coating. Not a lot of people will feel comfortable in doing this procedure on their playfield so this is gonna be for the select few that have that confidence or like to live dangerously. I also like to live dangerously. This is actually my second clear coating frame box to make. My first one was very questionable to say the least. I'm gonna try to get some footage of that. Hopefully I can snap that in right here so you can see the first Version of my clear coating box that I've done a couple of play fields on and it worked fine But trust me, I've been wanting to make a new version for a while So I'm going to and this time I'm documenting it and gonna show you how you can make it as well This is a video that's not gonna require a lot of narration on my part. So I'm gonna see you at the end So this is going to be one side. This is actually a like one and a half by like 11 and measures 42 inches in length. You're going to need two of these. So make that your own call on the thickness of what you want to do it. I did it this thickness because I want this thing to be very sturdy. So two of those. Alright so now that we've got basically our left and right side of our plate filled, measured, cut, and ready to go, we need to get the top side of the plate filled. Now the measurements you want to use for that is pretty much the same size of wood that I had before, but you want it to be 19 and a half inches from left to right of your plate so this is not 19 and a half this is actually probably 20 yeah it's about 20 and a half so it's a little bit wider than I needed

something I highly recommend that you do when you're doing this is that you choose eye protection which I realized I was not wearing halfway through the cut so yeah guys don't be like me and use the proper protection so luckily nothing bad happened so I'm only gonna have one side completely covered up to where I can't see anything from underneath the other side is gonna be a little bit different Alright, so the next thing I'm going to be cutting is for inside the cabinet underneath that's going to hold all the wire harnessing from like just hanging down to the ground and getting in the way. So you can actually get these pieces right here for like $1.75 at Pobit Home Depot. I don know the measurements of it but basically you don need to have the fancy schmancy wood guys Trust me I am very cheap so I got the cheapest stuff that gonna do just fine and I not gonna need it to be the full 42 inches I actually just needed to be about probably about maybe we're gonna do just three feet so we'll do 36 inches just to make sure that we have enough to cover the bottom side of underneath it.

Once again use eye protection not keep forgetting to put the shit on. So now Now we're going to do a bunch of 19 and a half cuts so that way I have underneath. That's what we're going to do now.

All right. So we've got all our pieces cut. Now it's time to assemble this bed, baby. So we're going to take both of our 42ers, and we're going to go ahead and set this up pretty much right here in the middle.

Measurements don't need to be exact for this. Alright, so there's one side. Alright, so I need this side to mirror this side. So what I'm going to do is make sure that this is pretty much close to the same as this one over here. So yeah, it would have been nice if I would have... Damn, just by eyeballing it, that is like right on the money. Sweet.

All right, so we have got both of our sides. Get this stuff out of the way, this will be last. So that's where I want that to go. This is my 19 and a half inch, same as this flip right here, only different lengths. Let's see if I got some longer screws to give me some extra support. I think I do. And I do. Yeah, these babies were meant for this.

all right we're gonna do three just to make sure we got some good support here That's nice. Alright, so now we need to get the other side done.

All right. Now it's time to get all these puppies in place. Thank you. All right. I remembered why my last box was made the way I made it, and that is because not every play field is the same length. Now, granted, there's going to be always differentials between each play field, so think about that. whenever you're making this box. But this is, goodness gracious.

This thing is pretty damn sturdy and solid for whenever I need to move this thing around so I can work on the plate field and not have to worry about it. Now, I need to have this portion open for a couple of reasons. One, I want to be able to get in here and move wires around or make adjustments without having it blocked off like this. And secondly, in case there's a difference in the length of the play field, let me give you an example.

So here I have a getaway play field. Now there's a bit of an overhang on each side, which is what I want, probably about a quarter inch even all the way up here about a quarter inch So I got another like five inches hanging off the side right here But this gives me the ability to reach under there and get things or access something in case something falls in there whatever I have access to it. So let's try a populated play field and see what kind of results we get. Now getting this stuff in here is going to be tricky. You'll need the wire harness to lay down like that.

Now see this is what I'm talking about when it comes to all of your plate fills being a little bit different and being able to adjust. Now granted, that plate fill is pretty much in there, but I need it to be level for whenever I'm clear coating. Now I could keep it where it's at and just raise it this end, but I don't want to do that. I need to do some more removing up around the perimeter including where it hooks on the uh see that's what's hooking on right there the portion that hooks onto the side of the cabinet whenever the plate fills in there so all I need to do is essentially just remove this on this side as well on that side and then this thing should just lay flatly in there all right so here we go guys playfield box for clear coating or whatever else you feel like you need just remember every playfield is a little bit different and you'll have to adjust accordingly but at least with it being on this box I have the ability to move this entire thing around and it be on there of course not granted I may need assistance matter of fact I'm going to be installing one of these on each side so I have a handle to help carry this thing like a coffin or whatever so there's that option as well but uh yeah there you go

So there you have it guys, how to build your own box frame for clear coating. Something I definitely plan on doing in the future is replacing all the handles that I do have around this with the sturdy ones that I have on the very end. They only had one in stock so I just bought the one and used these little rinky dink ones for temporary usage. So now that you've got your box frame, how do you go about clear-coding the playfield? That's in a video coming in the future guys. If you liked what you saw and you learned something, be sure to give me that thumbs up. Feel free to leave a comment down below to let me know what you think. And if you haven't already, be sure to hit that subscribe button down below. That way you can be notified whenever I upload something for your viewing pleasure. Until next time guys, peace out.

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