Tuesday, December 30, 2014

I'm still alive

I've spent the last couple months getting my other pins ready for a party, and partially finishing my basement.  2 months ago it was completely unfinished and now.. well, it's... partially finished.  I replaced the basement door (it had a hole from a cat door I removed years ago), I painted the steps, I removed the stair noses, I put up diamond plate rubber sheets on the fronts, I covered the foundation wall with drylok, then studs, then insulation and drywall and put some trim up.  I also put down some temporary carpet in the main area which really makes it feel more cozy.  I'll eventually get the rest of the walls studed, wiring installed, and drywall but I wanted at least the entryway to look decent.

Anyway, since the party was last Saturday, I can finally get back on the project.  So one thing I did with the new door, I really wanted to dress it up.  Thinkgeek sells decals for doors (just so happens to be a 32" wide sticker to fit my door exactly), and they had a sale for $50.  Stupidly, I installed it dry, thinking if I went slow enough I wouldn't get bubbles.  Well the material stretched, and bubbles found their way underneath, and frankly it looks like crap (see red circle below).  I might try to remove it, put down some glue, and redo it hoping the liquid glue will float it until it dries.

So onto the cabinet, I ordered new stickers for the new cabinet.  Thankfully bannerbuzz had a 30-50% off sale during christmas, so I took advantage and got decals for next to nothing.  Now I've heard of the wet method before (water with a little soap), but it just doesn't compute to me.  I know that's how they do tinted windows, but glue and soapy water just doesn't make sense to me.  I went ahead and tried it, and I'll be damned if it didn't give me a nice smooth finish.
 
See, no bubbles!  I just applied it, so we'll see how well the glue sticks after it's cured.


I also got the brackets installed for the cherry leaf switches for the flippers.  Turns out the leaf was too long because it was hitting the shooter lane cover, but after trimming it back it fit just fine.  I really like the feeling of cherry switches, feeling that click as you push the button in.

My hope is to get the flippers and ball trough wired up, confirm my wiring is correct, and start flipping.  Once that's going, I'll truly have a flipping whitewood and can start experimenting with ramps, walls, and targets.