Page last modified on: 10/29/2001
Mobile Pinball Maintenance Cart
The Pinball Maintenance Cart came about from my need to
make my repair and restoration work on pinball machines more efficient and
handy. I wanted a mobile work
center that could be wheeled up right next to a pinball
machine.
It needed to hold my
inventory of pinball parts and most of the smaller tools and test instruments
used for pinball machine repair. It also needed to provide a small amount of
horizontal work space for handling game sub-assemblies.
The resulting cart was has evolved over time. The basic
wheeled cart structure came from a mobile cart I had built for a powered scroll saw used in my wood working shop.
I was never really happy with the cart for use with the scroll saw, so I
found another place for the saw and converted the cart carcass to serve as my mobile
Pinball Maintenance Cart.
All the wood used in this project came from leftover
plywood scraps from my wood shop. There
is a mix of Ό luann , ½ and Ύ birch veneer (shop grade) , and
some Ύ Medium Density Overlay (MDO) plywoods in my cart. Most
all the joints are held together with dados and wood glue. Some
2
drywall screws were added to high stress areas.
The drawers assemblies are made from eight (8) of those
common plastic, small part, stackable cabinets you can find at your local home center.
I would have much rather had some metal cabinets instead, but could not
find any source for those in my area.
The size of the parts cabinets play a major role in the sizing of the
other parts that go into the cart. You
will need to modify your parts and assemblies according to the parts cabinets
you have.
The wheeled undercarriage is made of
two (2) 5 diameter swiveling casters and two (2)
5 diameter fixed casters. The
arrangement of the casters is a bit unusual.
The fixed casters are located in the middle of each side (long dimension)
of the bottom of the cart. The
swiveling casters are located in the middle of each end (short dimension) on the
bottom of the cart. This caster arrangement
allows the cart to pivot around its central axis.
This is very convenient for maneuvering the cart in tight places.
The cart is quite heavy when fully loaded with parts, tools,
etc. I recommend the use of high quality, ball bearing
type, casters
The top work surface of the cart is covered with an
anti-electrostatic discharge (ESD) work mat to
help protect any circuit boards I may place there. Ive added a swing arm
magnifier lens/florescent work lamp fixture that is very convenient for
providing illumination and allowing close inspection of the pinball machine.
Ive also added a Dremel brand multi-speed tool on its own stand
to the edge of the cart A grounded power strip is attached to one side of
the cart provides plug receptacles for the lamp, muti-speed tool, and any of my
various soldering irons or soldering workstations in use at the time.
The cubby holes in the middle of the cart hold all my
various repair guides, game manuals, schematics, and part catalogs. Some additional
cubby hole space
is used for storing liquid cleaners, waxes, paints, etc.
I did not
bother to put any sort of finish on the cart to protect it from chemical spills
or stains. It would be a good idea
to slap a few coats of a polyurethane (or something similar) onto it.
Skills needed to build cart:
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- basic wood working skills |
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ability to build dado joints |
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- SAFETY !, Ability to do all this without maiming or killing yourself. Remember what Norm Abram says at the beginning of each project he builds on the New Yankee Workshop "Always read, understand, and follow, all the safety rules that come with your power tools. Knowing how to use your power tools properly will greatly reduce the risk of personal injury. There is no more important safety rule than to wear safety glasses" |
Tools Needed:
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- circular saw or table saw preferably with a plywood (veneer) type blade. |
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- measuring and marking tools |
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- some way to cut dado joints . I used a dado blade on table saw. A router with straight cutting bit would work also. |
Materials List:
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Ό plywood (see cut list and component drawings) |
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½ plywood (see cut list and component drawings) |
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Ύ plywood (see cut list and component drawings) |
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2 dry wall screws used to reinforce high stress joints |
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Ύ wood screws to mount parts cabinets to cart carcass |
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wood glue |
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high quality 5" diameter casters, 2 swivel, 2 fixed |
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parts cabinets I used eight (8) plastic cabinets manufactured by PLANO (1-800-226-9668) that were purchased at a local home supply store. All eight cabinets were 19 Ό wide, 9 ½ tall, 6 Ό deep. They are available with different drawer size & configuration options. |
Extras:
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Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) work mat. (I purchased mine at local electronics supplier.) |
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Electric power strip |
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Dremel multi-speed tool and stand |
Cut List:
NOTE ***For those of you who may not do much wood working.***
Be aware that plywood is not typically sized as advertised. Example: nominal Ύ thickness may actually be 11/16 or thinner, a nominal ½ thickness may actually be 7/16, etc. These thickness differences can have a major impact on how the component parts are assembled when using dado joints. Care must be taken to adjust your part sizes appropriately, Consider the following listed dimensions sizes as approximate.
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(A) top - 27 x 22 Ύ plywood |
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(B) bottom 31 x 22 Ύ plywood |
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(C & D) sides (2) 40 ½ x 22 Ύ plywood |
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(E & F) interior partitions (2) 40 x 20 Ό ½ plywood |
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(G & H) shelves (2) 19 Ύ x 8 ½ Ό plywood |
Pinball Maintenance Cart Component Drawings:
Click on the following thumbnails to see drawing details
Maintenance Cart Photos and Construction Details:
Click on the following thumbnails to see large version photos
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