Pinball Machine to Coffee Table Transformation | Insane Build

[@ProgressiveAutomations]

We're glad you chose our PA-09 Mini Industrial Actuator for your Pinball Coffee Table. We can't wait to see what other exciting automation projects you'll be working on next!

[@newyawkus]

I have been restoring pinball machines since 1981, when I was 12, and along the way I've seen some interesting custom work - but this isn't merely "interesting." You're a craftsman and artist and you brought that to bear here. The result is AMAZING, I am jealous, and I think you've done something for pinball, in all its kinetic art and play, and made it better. WELL DONE.

[@buildxyz]

Thank you so much! That is most amazing compliment I have received on this project. Thanks again so much for seeing this project as an art/concept piece and voicing positivity!

[@vision821k4]

@@buildxyz I thought you meant a VR pinball and I'm like yeah that's kinda cool man. Then I realized what was going on. Holy s**** bro this is f**** sick!!

[@KDaverGraphics]

ok, from someone that has repaired pinball games since about 1985. I have seen my fair share of table conversions. This is the best home conversion I have ever seen. keep it up.

[@poofytoo]

It blows my mind that this content only has 60k views. This is a masterpiece, and the world needs to see it. I wish you best in your youtube journey bud. don't give up, your content is fantastic.

[@buildxyz]

Thanks so much Victor🙏 much appreciated!

[@chibang492]

I wish these were for sale. I would purchase for sure.

[@robertmaritz5406]

Absolutely brilliant! 👏👏👏

[@ZGcentaur]

amazing job...i have this pinball, but only axe and screwdriver for tools...

[@shig4238]

Incredible! Such a great result

[@KCwxforecaster]

This may be the first time I've ever seen someone destroy an actual pinball machine, let alone a CLASSIC BALLY, and turn it into something more amazing then the original. Also, despite having many Canadian friends, I was today years old when I heard decal pronounced "DEH-cul" for the first time. This is absolutely amazing, with diverse skills from woodworking, metal work, software engineering, electrical engineering and more. Really the only flaw I see is replacing a manual plunger with a solenoid, thusly removing a skilled player's ability to skillfully plunge the ball into a preferred top lane or even short-plunge the right orbit.

[@buildxyz]

Thanks for the constructive feedback! I I was going to pick a cheaper, less desirable game early on but I knew it would be a year to finish this project and just wanted to put the work in on awesome, classic game. The plunger on this game isn’t “as skilled” as some others with no real reason to perform a short shot and you can’t overshoot it either. The flippers for selecting the bonus lane still function as normal. But I hear on this point for sure, it just stuck out too far. I’ve always said decal that way. It’s a thing: ca.outdoorsy.com/neveridle/words-pronounce-differently-canada I’m not a stickler for pronunciations at all though. As long as people know what I mean. I guess some people are distracted by that stuff?

[@snakeeyes037]

Great work !! I don’t know how I came across this channel but glad I did.

[@rvcrios]

You’ve done a great job!

[@SAerror1]

Tetris mode is kinda genius, having the table pitch dynamically adjust itself to mess with the player seems like the perfect theme for someone to build a modern pinball machine around.

[@SynthRockViking]

I think its awesome! Nice job😮

[@GeorgeNorberg]

Wow this was amazing!

[@DJWildBillSC]

I love this

[@TheFleetz]

Insane!

[@derekbreault2893]

This is absolutely incredible! Amazing job!

[@Mr26mercury]

This is awesome！ Thumbs up！

[@toohype8762]

Godlike

[@HighP0ints]

You sir are a MONSTER!!! WOW unbelievable. Subscribed

[@thewolft]

Great!!

[@johnwilliams8782]

do you ever help someone with projects? I need to make a custom controller for two actuators. While I understand the mechanics I do not know how to program an arduino and I do not really have time to learn at the moment. This project is so cool. If I had the time I would absolutely want to do one of these.

[@jason-hh6lu]

The graphics looked so good on the new black trim. Sexy even. Well done on that detail mate. Great video.

[@3DJapan]

Shame to replace the plunger with a solenoid. You no longer have control over the launch.

[@phlydude]

When he was talking about the graphics on the outside, I was utterly confused. I guess in Canada decals is pronounced differently. In the US, we say dee-cals - saying what I heard, deckle, refers to the hard chunks of fat found in meat cuts like brisket.

[@moosestubbings1853]

What are vynil deckils?🤔

[@Many_Sparrows]

Where do you get these ‘friends’ you speak of?

[@Mightywhiskaz]

You removed the plunger because it looks like a weapon, yet you covered the whole table in spikes.

[@dozog]

Looks very nice. well done. But let's be honest... @15:22 and a ton of sponsors

[@EvonyNinj]

Your table is F'n amazing. But "shaped like a weapon"? Its part of the game. You could have added a little door and had it fold under, into the door to store it =/ . But if that's my 1 gripe it's pretty special

[@VulpisFoxfire]

...So you gutted a classic machine that there were only 3700 initially made (and who knows how few others survive today), instead of making a PinMAME machine or similar? Dissapointing, to say the least. :-(

[@derrealminer]

13:30 What's the title of this music?

[@RetiredRhetoricalWarhorse]

I was wondering... the pinball community was pretty active ten to fifteen years ago but it was mostly old dudes who wanted to reconnect to their youth. Ergo a lot of purists. Has anyone tried building their own pinball without all the electronics? Perhaps by using RasPi or arduino?

[@frankiesemailfd]

Pretty incredible , subbed!

[@ethantaylor8306]

As a professional pinball technician myself, there's a lot of cool stuff you've included to make this one-of-a-kind showpiece into something that is still true to the original. In its own special way, of course!

[@Seaoftea]

At first I thought I was going to be angry that someone destroyed such an awesome table, but you did it justice.

[@NoelRamakers]

I had the same feeling, I love the fact all unused stuff is donated to be put to use again.

[@areizman]

My feelings exactly. But this turns out to be a well deserving project. At the end of the day the original components were not destroyed and are still available for reuse or resurrection.

[@vdojaq]

Awesome job.......but please, it's DEE-CAL not DECK-EL!

[@buildxyz]

I’m Canadian and disagree! Lol

[@vdojaq]

@@buildxyz Eh?

[@TheNewBorkTimes]

Yeah I thought I or he was having a stroke when that part of the video came about. Oof.

[@thomgizziz]

@@buildxyz Canadians say it dee-cal... you just messed up and never paid attention and are now trying to cover which looks pretty lame.

[@abandoned-mines-novascotia]

@@thomgizziz No. "DEE-cal" is an Americanized abomination of the word. Wiki it - look at the pronunciation. "DECK-el" is correct. Much like Freckle. Spectacle. Spectral. Decal. Not ->> FREE-cal, SPEE-te-cal, and SPEAK-tral. Have no idea where Americans get the "DEE" in decal. dec-al. Deck, ull. I think the problem arises in the "cal" ... you seem to see "CAL" at the end. Like California? So you made the word DEE-CAL. Cal is seemingly forced, leaving only "de" left at the front... so you all made "de" into "DEEEE" ? I don't get it. Anyway, whatever. The host didn't 'mess up' . Standard parlance in Canada.

[@SkatelowMC]

Crazy how effortless you make this look! I can not imagine how much thought and work went into this, I'm truly amazed

[@richa9719]

Beautiful work! I was a skeptic at first too, that’s a classic, but man your did it justice! Every time I think I am good with pins, I see someone like you and I am humbled! Thanks for sharing.

[@buildxyz]

Cheers thanks Rich. Though I’m %100 sure you have more pinball knowledge than I ever will!

[@BallenvanStaal]

Congratulations on this awesome build! I love how you used modern techniques to create artwork, mechanics and other parts. They do the old stuff justice, and take it to the next level at the same time. Amazing. Kudos to the filmmaker too, this is exceptionally well documented. So if I send my own Centaur II your way, how long will it take you to make me one of these? ;)

[@russelllukenbill]

I don't have to tell you, but you did an amazing job. Any pinball enthusiast is lying if they say this isn't one of the coolest machines they have ever seen. Way to go!

[@LaserSharkPhotoablations]

its like wrecking bikes, people always grumble about destroying "X" bike .. but they always want parts...The centaur is not gone its better and will play on for a long time.. the remainder goes to fix anther one. I didnt figure you would make it tip up.. I would have just set the field at the play angle and leveled the glass,.. for simplicity..

[@burgercore]

This is absolutely amazing. I’ve seen old pins turned into tables and it’s always a ,cool looking abomination. What a feat of art and engineering, you restored a piece of history while also taking pinball into a new era.

[@playpinball6988]

I would like a pin table. I have 10 fully working early solid state machines for you to choose from. Can you get me some blue prints or teach a course?

[@buildxyz]

That’s awesome! Unfortunately I don’t have any sort of packaged deliverable to reproduce the pintable at the moment. Who knows with enough interest though!

[@LolaliciousSmiley]

The pinch point safety feature is really great. Everything is super cool. Cutting up working boards and such is somewhat frowned upon in the video game console space, but there's usually enough of them out there that it doesn't matter. You can also emulate games, so opportunities to play are never lost. I can understand being precious about pinball moreso, but you restored yours and made an interesting, public video. If I was mad about this project, shouldn't I be just as upset at everyone that has a working pinball machine locked in their house? That means another classic game that only one person and their friends can play.

[@computerjantje]

"You can also emulate games" is frowned upon even more :)

[@mattlacdao3807]

aw, the plunger launcher is one of the best things gives us lots of control would be cool if it was like computer pinball where the longer you press the button the harder the launcher shoots out

[@jasonlovi8745]

Good taste in pinball machines! I'm kinda conflicted because you gutted the original.

[@WickedGamerCollector]

This video is amazing and great to see how you made something old and upgrade it to something more Epic 🙌

[@goopah]

Normally, I'd be upset. But holy wow, you knocked it out of the park, and made a true work of art from an existing work of art. If I had any money, I'd be offering you mega dollars for this. Unbelievable amount of skill on display here, and super creative to boot. Tons of cool ideas made real.

[@TiltingT]

Looks great, glad to know the other parts are being used to bring another Centaur back to life.. amazing build

[@smittyt414ify]

Plunger used as a weapon so it was replaced… did I miss a something on this? Who woulda knew to use a pinball plunger as a weapon. I left the rest of the machine in my other pants pocket.

[@Pro_Vs_Con]

Yea that really confused me.

[@CS-ck6jo]

Wow… I really didn’t want to like this, file me under the ‘you did what to a centaur????’ crowd. But I’m speechless… this is the most incredible build. Bravo. It exceeded expectations in every single way. Time to like and subscribe to watch some more of your witchcraft!

[@buildxyz]

Hehe, appreciate the feedback! It was a bitter sweet victory. I gave this project a ton of time an effort (over a year) out of respect so hopefully that translates in the video :)

[@RickLaForce]

I never give Centaur a second glance at the Pacific Pinball Museum. But this is spectacular. Really exceptional.

[@graffix]

First of all - from somebody who LOVES pinball (over forty machines in my collection) and a maker - this is a FANTASTIC build. I am completely impressed, (and just a touch jeleous!). Your sheer dedication to perfection - unreal. I am a seasoned designer of DXF files, and a huge fan of using CNC machinery when possible - but you took it to the limits man!! Very Very cool!!!! I want to design my own boards like you did for this build. What software did you use for that?

[@buildxyz]

You should try to make a PCB! Its fun! I use KiCAD for personal projects like this.

[@King_Henry]

Absolutely incredible. Don’t let arcade1up get ahold of your skills! Keep it legit! I’d say this is a mad homerun. My only complaint is that you removed the shooter rod, because it is ‘a weapon’. Maybe because the rod would interfere within a family room environment..yet you have added 700 ‘little weapons’ all over the cabinet..definitely not kid-friendly. Literally that’s my only gripe! Bravo Sir!!! The tech alone is incredible!

[@GoDuffdaddy]

That’s an outstanding end result. The detail and attention to detail makes this a worthy conversion of a classic.

[@joym3357]

intense pain! like dont get me wrong this is really cool but why would you do this to a complete machine? you could have just bought all the parts to make that without the stuff you didn't use for less money, I am not angry just confused like you could have literally saved 2k not even joking.

[@BillLambert]

Dude... this is proper cool. Sure, it's scary to take such a classic piece and chop it up, but let's be honest here: pinball machines are wear items. They need constant maintenance to keep working, and what you've done here is basically a complete refurb that just happens to incorporate some modern creature comforts and a more compact form factor. You have breathed new life into a machine that otherwise might have continued to rot in a warehouse.

[@marcobucci]

Incredible project. Amazing work!

[@PRG013]

If I only had electronic skills, corporate sponsors and access to multiple expensive machines, I might build one too.

[@deaconblooze1]

This was a cool build. However, your pronunciation of 'decal' feels like a personal attack and physical assault. Stop it.

[@ramairneon]

You my friend have made something stunning and exceptional! Extra points for making a spot for the Manufacturers Certificate! So so happy / impressed with the end result, congrats!!!

[@Smokey-z3e]

Subscribed for more videos like this

[@PhantomPhoton]

This project is cool and all, but I am all kinds of mad that you took apart a working Centaur table...

[@daakrolb]

Well, "neat," but, all that effort would have been much better spent on restoring games in their proper form.

[@circusfreakRob]

This is one of the most amazing projects I have seen anywhere...pinball or otherwise. Your attention to the special details is admirable. Just super work!!

[@siobhandebad1484]

Going to show this video to my pinball club at school at some point in the New Year! Maybe it will inspire our Shop teacher.

[@thinkhector]

You have a pinball club at school?!?

[@pinballKing012]

That's Awesome 👌 very interesting...

[@Mysda_]

As someone who designs pinball but don't have space for one, I must say this project is great. Well done, just a bit sad for that plunger but well, I guess sacrifices must be made.

[@og-ygpinball9384]

Sick!

[@map20013]

Sick just super sick awesome work

[@Xdghia]

You butchered a classic . It looks ridiculous ,well done.

[@alantocheri]

You're on the front of Digg. Good lord man this is unreal!

[@J0ermungand]

"... if you're doing a project, ignore the noise ..." I'd go one further: if you're doing it for recognition of others, you're not doing it right.

[@supwicha1]

Wow, just wow! And I thought I was proud of my Tron Mame cabinet!

[@brucezallain]

Respect, ignore the noise. This rates a 11 on my cool=$4it-ometer. I'm no Bally table king, but I've been known to chase a marble or 2. This is one of the coolest things I have EVER seen. As a seasoned Electro-mechanical technician I respect the work and effort required to complete such a project. Problem, how are you going to top this? OR, is that a CHALLENGE?

[@jwenneberg]

Absolutely mindblowing! I have a Centaur which are my all time favorite pinball and thought in the beginning of the video like others... oh no! But this is simply so stunning! Mostly impressive build. Hats off!!

[@ThomasGrillo]

This is a truly amazing transformation! Glad to hear the unused parts will be going to restore an existing table! Thanks for sharing this. :)

[@trethtower]

Amazing instructional and highly entertaining video. Your mastery of the technicalities and all the creativity and imagination that went into this project are beyond description. Added to this are your your extremely engaging manner, video editing and the perfect sound track. Proud of you.

[@malachai80]

impressive, that high level of skill in so many ways! First I was skeptical about using an old machine, but you did really make something great, better, something greater out of it. its not only craftsmanship, its art. great job!

[@cnclabs8885]

Th attention to detail was just unreal. About how long did this take?

[@buildxyz]

Thanks! Took me a year, I’m exhausted 😂

[@TheRTM]

Damn that was awesome!

[@kevindurigon5433]

The talent, knowledge, motivation...too many words to describe how impressed I am with your project. It's perfect! Excellent game choice.

[@28russ]

Yeah, not quite sure how I feel about this. In some ways you really improved it. But in others you completely destroyed it. If ya made all those improvements but left in it's original cab it woulda been sweet asf. But a coffee tables just too low. Ya don't sit down to play pinball. At least the parts were donated to a good cause I suppose 🤷‍♂

[@Adlegeek59]

Thats incredible job done here i just have two little thing that make me wonder if its Perfect To play or not aside of being visually stunning Do you control the power the ball will get back with ? And is the tilt feeling normal or you can abuse it by knowing when it trigger ? AND GODDAMN THAT TETRIS MODE IDEA IS LIT

[@mindphaserxy]

The was an amazing project. Amazing engineering. Over the top really. Centaur was a PERFECT game for this. A well known pin but you didn't destroy something legendary like a Twilight Zone or a Haunted House. Overall this is a 10/10.

[@AlansInventions]

Great video, great end result. This should have a lot more views and likes! Good Job. Subscribing.

[@tdtrecordsmusic]

Wild ! I certainly have mixed feelings about this. You did an excellent job, that is for certain :) Lots of talent :) Its a really cool art piece !! I hope other people don't copy you !!! As far as the idea of a pin coffee table ? That is definitely an awkward stance for playing. You either are playing on the knees, or in a chair far away. At that rate a controller(xbox/dual shock) might make sense. With pinball, I love that it is a good break from sitting down / computer work. The standing while playing is SUCH a relief. It keeps you awake and more focussed. Having beer while standing is usually more fun than sitting and usually the only times we get to enjoy that is with pool or darts... Maybe the pinball Gods will even out your karma if you repaired/restored a few games and got them back into circulation ? Every time someone restores a game, it brings years/decades of joy to some other kid in the future. All the metal spikes on the outside is REALLY cool ! Custom buttons & decals are cool ! Must be an interesting seal on the playfield glass. In order to save the table from a coffee spill it must have a good seal, but then how to get the glass off for maintenance ?!?`meh? Maybe, after you've had this table for a few years you can do an update :) Would luv to know ur high scores and overall outlook on the project... As a skilled craftsman & a pro pinball player I definitely respect passion projects & encourage them. However, honesty is honesty ;p

[@williamthomas6106]

I remember when video game developers were trying to make hybrid pinball video game machines that fit into a standard coffee table Video Game format and they were not very successful. I had always wished they simply ditch the video game aspect and simply make "compact" pinball machines. I would love a pinball machine at home, but my townhouse really doesn't have a good place to put it. I'm currently "settling" on a mini Virtual Pinball machine from VirtuaPin. It's really fun, but a computer simulation of pinball just isn't quite the same as the real thing. But it's the only thing that fits.

[@xliquidflames]

Yeah, I do not care either way, but I was curious what the comments were like from pinball enthusiasts. Would they be horrified that this original machine was so heavily modified? It seems overwhelming positive. I think it's cool as hell. I wish I had one. I bet these would sell like hotcakes if you had the resources to mass produce them. I would definitely buy one. What a work of art.

[@tonyedwards7200]

I'm a professional amusement/pinball technician of many years here in Australia. I wanted to shout Nooooooooooooo!!!!! at you when I first saw the notification & description come up in Facebook. But in short, that's amazing, excellent work..just a fantastic result & thanks for sharing the video..

[@funstuffonthenet5573]

Very cool. Indeed. Pinball building has everything. Circuits, Mechanical engineering, Programming, Art, and all that cool shop stuff, welding and sweet tools. Very challenging

[@mitchelwb]

nice work. I don't have any issue with turning YOUR pinball machine in to a not-pinball-machine... but a Centaur? That makes me sad. The way you "glammed" it up just seems so wrong compared to the style and feel of that game. It's like a Milan fashion show featuring the hottest looks in biker gang gear.

[@scharax]

.....i have no words about the result....i am trying to fix little by little my pinballs but you man you have done this on another level...i have no words to describe about the boards replacement, playfield is better from new, plastics are shine like NEW, new plastics also.? Oh my god....you are the man....No1 restoration ever, even if it is a coffee table now the restoration is ouaouuu !!! I have never see this before....braaavo!!!

[@MrJozza65]

I'm still torn on this; it's an awesome bit of work, but Centaur is my all time favorite pinball, and considering how rare it is, it seems sad that it has been refactored and changed so much from original. Having said that, I suppose it's no different to taking a Ford Pop and turning it into a Hot Rod custom ride, and I do like those! And it's good to see it all working, rather than just languishing in the back corner of some warehouse, gathering dust and slowly rotting away. I was surprised there were only 3700 or so of these machines; it's no wonder I can't afford one for myself!

[@d1btd3265]

Came into the video skeptical, thinking you were going to destroy a machine. Left it a subscriber who has never seen such an amazing display of skills and knowledge. Really inspiring.

[@retroelectrical]

I'd buy this pin if it were sale commercially. So would a lot of other people.

[@DigitalCircus777]

Wow, something most everyone can't do without extreme time and money, but glad you were successful and shared your vision and build. Now, how about another video showing its use live and some play time? I would love to see your Pinball table in action and keep up the great work! 😁

[@OzStick]

I think a lot of the "hate" comes from the fact that pinball machines mostly had very small production runs and a lot of passionate people become concerned that machines that could otherwise be restored are being "wasted on stupid projects", making a rare title even rarer. This is simply NOT the case with your machine, as you've used what you could and then donated the remains to a friend for use on a Centaur he is restoring. Amazing work with the re-engineering of certain boards for scoring, sound etc as it shows what can be done with Arduino boards that could possibly become an alternative for others with similar solid state machines with faulty boards in them!

[@TooManyHobbies786]

I was worried at first as well, but man that was something epic! Nicely done!