Polishing A Pinball ???

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GILV
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Polishing A Pinball ???

Post by GILV »

Hey everyone.
I've been thinking of replacing my pinballs on my SWEP1, RFM and TZ lately and was looking at different options including Ninja high polished pinballs but I was very hesitent because of the high shipping fees, well, while I was thinking about it, I said to myself, "why not take my existing balls and polish them to new shine this kind of polisher: https://www.ebay.com/itm/274474075350?_ ... BMmI6Vibpf

Has anyone ever tried this?
The goal of polishing metal is to remove small scratches so that the metal has a nice shine, is'nt that the same goal we try to acheive when replacing pinballs on a pinball machine to avoid that the PF gets wear?
Why not acheive the same goal by restoring old pinballs to a nice shiny new finish and save money I thought to myself.
I'd like to have feedback from anyone who has tried doing this, where the results worth while or not?
Let me know.
Thanks.
Claude.

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Re: Polishing A Pinball ???

Post by HPR Pinball »

You cannot polish balls with this tool, they are too hard.
The video game i want to play is always the one i don't have :FP:
Les arcades, j'suis tombé d'dans quand j'tait pti !! :-)

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Re: Polishing A Pinball ???

Post by GILV »

HPR Pinball wrote: Sun Dec 19, 2021 12:18 am You cannot polish balls with this tool, they are too hard.
Thanks for adding your comment but I could'nt help myself from at least trying, results:
First, you are right to say that these balls are very hard, it was'nt like polishing any other piece of metal I've ever polished before but with lots of patients and lots of elbow greasel I got really good results, the balls were very hard to hold in a folded rag (since they got very hot), with a lot of pressure I polished them and they would slowly turn in the rag all by themelves, the key was to be perseverent, it took about 15 to 20 minutes each ball and although I'm very satisfied with the nice shine I got, i think I'll give them another 10 to 15 minutes of polishing each just to make them even more perfect, I tried taking pictures of before and after but the pictures show no difference as opposed to seeing in person.
Because of your comment I decided to use a brand new pad, to see if there would be black deposits when I started like there usually are when polishing metals, well the black deposits were there but I needed to apply much more pressure to get them as compared to polishing Stainless steel for example.
Just as a comparative: usually the metals I polished take from 5 to 10 minutes to cool down using this method but the balls were still hot after 45 minutes, I could"nt even hold them in my hands, so if someone wants to do this, take your time, apply lots of pressure and paste, do, re-do and re-re-do every angle of each ball, patients is the key, I poilished 4 balls tonite, that was enough work for me in one evening, in a few days I'll do another 4 balls.
Last edited by GILV on Mon Dec 20, 2021 7:09 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Polishing A Pinball ???

Post by HPR Pinball »

Look like your balls are not really damaged, just a surface mirror finish scratches, no really "marks" in the metal.

Used balls with metals dents on the surface cannot be repaired by polishing method, they need grinding specialized tools.

Low quality balls like the ones Stern ship with new machine are very soft and cheap, polishing or repair them is a complete waste of time. I recommend to throw them in garbage right away and install high quality balls.
The video game i want to play is always the one i don't have :FP:
Les arcades, j'suis tombé d'dans quand j'tait pti !! :-)

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Re: Polishing A Pinball ???

Post by GILV »

HPR Pinball wrote: Mon Dec 20, 2021 1:24 am Look like your balls are not really damaged, just a surface mirror finish scratches, no really "marks" in the metal.

Used balls with metals dents on the surface cannot be repaired by polishing method, they need grinding specialized tools.

Low quality balls like the ones Stern ship with new machine are very soft and cheap, polishing or repair them is a complete waste of time. I recommend to throw them in garbage right away and install high quality balls.
Here are the pictures I took, what do you think, are they damaged on the before picture?
Before pic is the first pic.
Attachments
IMG_8750.JPG
IMG_8749.JPG

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Re: Polishing A Pinball ???

Post by Paul »

Where is the best place to buy new quality balls ?

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Re: Polishing A Pinball ???

Post by HPR Pinball »

You should have change them long time ago, what you see is lot of rust and incrustation. Polishing can remove rust but not the incrustation, they are no more perfect spherical balls. Even without rust they will still damage your playfield and they will rust again very soon.

Make yourself a gift and buy new quality balls, it's a very low investment compare to the value of your pins.
The video game i want to play is always the one i don't have :FP:
Les arcades, j'suis tombé d'dans quand j'tait pti !! :-)

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Re: Polishing A Pinball ???

Post by paidge »

Les dernières pinball que j'ai achetés venaient de chez Ball Baron. Très belle qualité mais la couche protectrice (huile et graisse) était assez difficile à enlever.

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Re: Polishing A Pinball ???

Post by GILV »

HPR Pinball wrote: Mon Dec 20, 2021 12:30 pm You should have change them long time ago, what you see is lot of rust and incrustation. Polishing can remove rust but not the incrustation, they are no more perfect spherical balls. Even without rust they will still damage your playfield and they will rust again very soon.

Make yourself a gift and buy new quality balls, it's a very low investment compare to the value of your pins.
Thanks, I'll buy new one right away. Those are the balls I received with the game (RFM) when I bought the game last August so they did'nt do much to the playfield yet since I play only once or twice a week because I've spent more time restoring than playing in the past few months.

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Re: Polishing A Pinball ???

Post by GILV »

paidge wrote: Mon Dec 20, 2021 2:16 pm Les dernières pinball que j'ai achetés venaient de chez Ball Baron. Très belle qualité mais la couche protectrice (huile et graisse) était assez difficile à enlever.
Merci pour ton commentaire Guy, j'ai lu sur Pinside que ils sont tres lisse et brillante mais qu'ils sont plus facile a "scratché" qu'une boule ordinaire, c'est quoi ton experience la dessus?
Aussi, est ce que tu les as essayer sur des games avec des magnets? si oui, quel résultat est ce que tu a eu?
Merci.
Claude.
Last edited by GILV on Mon Dec 20, 2021 4:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Polishing A Pinball ???

Post by GILV »

HPR Pinball wrote: Mon Dec 20, 2021 12:30 pm You should have change them long time ago, what you see is lot of rust and incrustation. Polishing can remove rust but not the incrustation, they are no more perfect spherical balls. Even without rust they will still damage your playfield and they will rust again very soon.

Make yourself a gift and buy new quality balls, it's a very low investment compare to the value of your pins.
A quel frequence tu change les boules toi?
Merci.
Claude.

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Re: Polishing A Pinball ???

Post by GILV »

Paul wrote: Mon Dec 20, 2021 11:18 am Where is the best place to buy new quality balls ?
I heard that the Ninja Chrome balls are top of the line but they can lead to problems if you have magnet on your PF.
after searching a few sites I found that they are cheapest on Ebay.
Last edited by GILV on Mon Dec 20, 2021 4:20 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: Polishing A Pinball ???

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Re: Polishing A Pinball ???

Post by HPR Pinball »

GILV wrote: Mon Dec 20, 2021 4:11 pm
HPR Pinball wrote: Mon Dec 20, 2021 12:30 pm You should have change them long time ago, what you see is lot of rust and incrustation. Polishing can remove rust but not the incrustation, they are no more perfect spherical balls. Even without rust they will still damage your playfield and they will rust again very soon.

Make yourself a gift and buy new quality balls, it's a very low investment compare to the value of your pins.
A quel frequence tu change les boules toi?
Merci.
Claude.
Honnêtement rien de scientifique, j'y vais a l'oeil mais les points de rouilles pas capable, c'est comme des couteaux dans le clear surtout quand elle vient d'être projeter et qu'elle glisse avant de tourner.
The video game i want to play is always the one i don't have :FP:
Les arcades, j'suis tombé d'dans quand j'tait pti !! :-)

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Re: Polishing A Pinball ???

Post by GILV »

HPR Pinball wrote: Mon Dec 20, 2021 8:24 pm
GILV wrote: Mon Dec 20, 2021 4:11 pm
HPR Pinball wrote: Mon Dec 20, 2021 12:30 pm You should have change them long time ago, what you see is lot of rust and incrustation. Polishing can remove rust but not the incrustation, they are no more perfect spherical balls. Even without rust they will still damage your playfield and they will rust again very soon.

Make yourself a gift and buy new quality balls, it's a very low investment compare to the value of your pins.
A quel frequence tu change les boules toi?
Merci.
Claude.
Honnêtement rien de scientifique, j'y vais a l'oeil mais les points de rouilles pas capable, c'est comme des couteaux dans le clear surtout quand elle vient d'être projeter et qu'elle glisse avant de tourner.
OK, t'a une meilleur œil que moi, j'ai jamais vu les point de rouille, tu me les pointes maintenant et je ne les vois pas encore.

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Re: Polishing A Pinball ???

Post by GILV »

J'avais remarquer que juste devant les flippers, il commencait a avoir un tout petit peu d'usure, rien que un polissage avec compound ne pourrait enlever mais c'est ça qui m'a fait allumer.

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Re: Polishing A Pinball ???

Post by paidge »

GILV wrote: Mon Dec 20, 2021 3:57 pm
paidge wrote: Mon Dec 20, 2021 2:16 pm Les dernières pinball que j'ai achetés venaient de chez Ball Baron. Très belle qualité mais la couche protectrice (huile et graisse) était assez difficile à enlever.
Merci pour ton commentaire Guy, j'ai lu sur Pinside que ils sont tres lisse et brillante mais qu'ils sont plus facile a "scratché" qu'une boule ordinaire, c'est quoi ton experience la dessus?
Aussi, est ce que tu les as essayer sur des games avec des magnets? si oui, quel résultat est ce que tu a eu?
Merci.
Claude.
Dans mes games avec Magnet, j'ai des Silverjet que j'achetais à Allentown. Pour les Baron, je n'ai pas eu de problèmes jusqu'à maintenant.

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Re: Polishing A Pinball ???

Post by GILV »

paidge wrote: Tue Dec 21, 2021 7:32 am
GILV wrote: Mon Dec 20, 2021 3:57 pm
paidge wrote: Mon Dec 20, 2021 2:16 pm Les dernières pinball que j'ai achetés venaient de chez Ball Baron. Très belle qualité mais la couche protectrice (huile et graisse) était assez difficile à enlever.
Merci pour ton commentaire Guy, j'ai lu sur Pinside que ils sont tres lisse et brillante mais qu'ils sont plus facile a "scratché" qu'une boule ordinaire, c'est quoi ton experience la dessus?
Aussi, est ce que tu les as essayer sur des games avec des magnets? si oui, quel résultat est ce que tu a eu?
Merci.
Claude.
Dans mes games avec Magnet, j'ai des Silverjet que j'achetais à Allentown. Pour les Baron, je n'ai pas eu de problèmes jusqu'à maintenant.
OK, merci.

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Re: Polishing A Pinball ???

Post by GILV »

I've decided to throw away all of my old pinballs and replace them with Ninja pinballs, even if there is a risk of magantization, I want to especially thanks HPR Pinball for making me realize the importance of really being scrupulous of the slightest imperfections in the balls so that they won't damaga the playfield.
On apprend a chaque jours de notre vie.
Thanks and take care everyone.

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