How To Install A Hardtop For Black Knight Pinball Machine: Part 3

Cary Hardy·video·14m 47s·analyzed·Nov 16, 2018

Analysis

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TL;DR

Black Knight hardtop install Part 3: ramp alignment, clearcoat, and hardtop placement.

Summary

Cary Hardy documents Part 3 of a Black Knight Pinball hardtop installation, focusing on ramp alignment, clearcoating, and final hardtop placement. The video shows meticulous shimming and gap adjustment work to ensure seamless ramp-to-hardtop transitions, with a fourth installment planned showing gameplay and post-install adjustments.

Key Claims

The hardtop installation is a 4-part video series, not 3 parts as originally planned
high confidence · Speaker states 'it turns out this is actually going to be a quadrilogy four videos in total i know that for a fact by editing this video'
Ramp-to-hardtop alignment requires shimming with material approximately 5 thousandths of an inch thick
high confidence · Speaker describes shim thickness: 'they're only like five thousandths of an inch thick or something like that'
The clearcoat requires approximately one week to fully degas and dry before hardtop installation
high confidence · Speaker states 'the clear coat needs time to degas and completely dry' and later 'it's been a week since we clear-coated the insert so that's why we are doing it now'
Additional adjustments and screw holes were required after hardtop installation to make the playfield 'completely perfect'
high confidence · Speaker notes 'There are a few adjustments that we have to make on this upper play field and there's two screw holes that were not on the hard top that we had to make'
Further modifications were discovered to be necessary after powering on the game for the first time
high confidence · Speaker mentions 'when we started the game up and we had to figure out that we had to make more cuts and adjustments on the hardtop in order for things to function'

Notable Quotes

“The hardtop went down pretty damn easy. It was making sure that our ramps were going to be flush with the hardtop up and down the ramps to make sure everything was going to be great. That process took the most time.”
Cary Hardy@ 1:08 — Establishes that hardtop installation itself is straightforward; the actual complexity lies in ramp alignment and gap management
“It's literally maybe half a screw hole off. But the thing is, once we're done, the transitioning from the ramp to the hardtop is almost like seamless.”
Cary Hardy@ 6:38 — Demonstrates obsessive attention to detail in alignment; half-screw-hole precision translates to seamless gameplay transitions
“This is our method. You can find your own.”
Cary Hardy@ 8:17 — Acknowledges alternative approaches to shimming (washers, other materials) while defending the chosen precision method
“When you messing with clear coat this is something that you should be wearing a mask with everyone. Luckily we outside in the open air so it not as bad but this is some nasty stuff and you do not want to breathe in.”
Cary Hardy@ 3:33 — Safety PSA embedded in technical content; emphasizes health hazard of clearcoat application
“There it is. Almost there. Let's take these C-clamps off. And let's get the last portion of this down.”
Cary Hardy@ 11:44 — Describes final hardtop adhesive application after week-long cure period

Entities

Cary Hardyperson Jasonperson Black Knightgame

Signals

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product_strategy: Restoration work includes cosmetic upgrades beyond hardtop installation: red oak lane wood restaining, metal polishing, clearcoat application, and insert painting
high · Speaker explains optional enhancements: 'you don't have to do all the stuff that we're doing airbrushing the shooter lane you know clear coating the shooter lane and restaining all this wood and putting new wood on there and polishing all the metal up but the reason why we did this is because the machine's fully taken apart right now'
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product_concern: Hardtop installation reveals post-install adjustment requirements (screw holes, cuts for wiring, additional modifications discovered during power-on testing)
high · Speaker identifies follow-up work needed: 'There are a few adjustments that we have to make on this upper play field and there's two screw holes that were not on the hard top' and 'when we started the game up and we had to figure out that we had to make more cuts and adjustments'
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technology_signal: Use of precision shimming (5 thousandths-inch material) as standard practice for hardtop-to-ramp alignment in restoration work
high · Speaker describes multi-grade shim usage: 'he's got what we're calling shims by basically, I want to say they're only like five thousandths of an inch thick or something like that but it's very thin material when we have different grades of it'

Transcript

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0:00

I feel like maybe I should probably take a nap before I record this video. So I'm going to condense it down. welcome back everyone we are now on episode three of the black knight hardtop install and it turns out this is actually going to be a quadrilogy four videos in total i know that for a fact by editing this video and the remaining footage in general if I was to throw it all in there the video would be too long I want to say so I'm trying to keep my videos at a certain length because I know how the attention span for everyone these days is not what it used to be this video was going to highly entail on basically all the issues that we had to go through in installing the ramps, not so much of the hardtop. The hardtop went down pretty damn easy. It was making sure that our ramps were going to be flush with the hardtop up and down the ramps to make sure everything was going to be great. That process took the most time. If you're new to this channel, I do and talk everything pinball. So if anything like that sounds interesting to you, then maybe think about hitting that subscribe button down there. So where we left off last time was showing you the upper playfield and the current conditions and state of what it looks like with the wear and tear right there after the extra ball switch rollover. Here we have Jason going around all of the inserts with our black paint for insurance to make sure just in case our hard top does not go on exactly where it needs to go that we're not going to show any bare wood. And just like the lower play field we're going to be filling the insert areas where the ramps go on with epoxy and then we will razor blade off that top coat layer sand flat once again just like the lower plate feels so i'm not going to go into deep footage on what all we did on that portion and how we did it because you've seen it before in episode two he went through a lot of effort on making these ramps and all the metal really polished up guys and i'm going to show a little bit of footage on how he went about doing this and so here's him actually showing you what he did with one of the gates And then I sanded it with 800 grit just to knock off the scale off of it and then I hit it with the rouge and that's what you'll get right there. I'll just go ahead and polish this out just to show you too. Real quick.

3:03

4:23

That being said, he decided to, instead of putting the regular wood back on the play field for the lanes, he's gonna go with a red oak all nice and shiny and stained and polish everything up. Here's the old and busted and you compare that to the new hotness right here. This looks amazing. So let's put it on the plate and see what it looks like. Now it's time to start putting this lower plate field together just a little bit more than last time we left off. So now we're applying all of the wood that he just recently stained and getting it all latched back onto the lower plate field. again this is just extra stuff that you don't have to do when you're installing your hardtop everyone but i'm mainly just showing you that the effort that we put into getting this done you don't have to do all the stuff that we're doing airbrushing the shooter lane you know clear coating the shooter lane and restaining all this wood and putting new wood on there and polishing all the metal up but the reason why we did this is because the machine's fully taken apart right now why not put in a little extra effort to make things a little bit better than what it was. Here we are working on the alignment and the smoothness of the ramp to playfield ratio. So he is being very, very careful here, starting out with the smallest gauge drill bit that he has and drilling the holes where he wants them to be. And the thing is, they're not that far off from the original holes. They're very close, but this is how OCD he's being on these ramps, everyone. And due to the epoxy, he's able to do this by having those holes filled in and that area filled in that he's able to drill all new holes and put the ramp where it needs to be the way he wants it. So here it is. This is how far off it is. It's literally maybe half a screw hole off. But the thing is, once we're done, the transitioning from the ramp to the hardtop is almost like seamless. Like it's just smooth. And to even help with that, because the hardtop is still just a little bit of hair fraction thicker than the ramps, he's got what we're calling shims by basically, I want to say they're only like five thousandths of an inch thick or something like that. but it's very thin material when we have different grades of it that he is using to shim up the ramps to the appropriate height. Here he is with installing the ramp and he checking the transition and sure enough he not happy with that So after a little bit of shimming and a little bit more of an adjustment on there he sees that the ball is running smooth up and down the ramps and he is very satisfied with that.

12:01

Now I want to tell everyone that that portion of the wire that is hanging out on the upper plate field, you can make a small cut on the hard top to weave it through to where you don't have to do any kind of desoldering on the G.I. light stream that goes across that upper plate field. That way it just makes it easier. You could cut some wires and be sovereign, but why when you can just make a small cut in the hard top and weave the wires through whenever you're applying the hard top. Here it is guys, a nice reveal in slower motion, the upper plate field artwork along with the lower plate Now technically this makes the hardtop install complete. True, no other actions on the hardtop are required, or is there? There are a few adjustments that we have to make on this upper play field and there's two screw holes that were not on the hard top that we had to make to make this play field completely perfect. But other than that it looks great doesn't it? Let's get it all back together and see how it plays. But that's going to be on the last video. Thanks for watching till the end everyone. you've liked this video give it a thumbs up and if you haven't already please hit that subscribe button down there so you can be notified of whenever I upload new material for your viewing pleasure. Like I said I've only got one more Black Knot video to go for this hard top install which is going to give you more information on how to install this with the least amount of trouble. In the last video we will show gameplay footage and the complete reveal of what the game looks like and all the things that we had to do post install like even when we started the game up and we had to figure out that we had to make more cuts and adjustments on the hardtop in order for things to function so please stay tuned that's it for now until next time peace out