Building a Payramid

[pennymachines]

Thanks for the pictures - I'm stunned. It looks remarkably like the real thing. Very impressive work.

[nobby.pennytoy]

The machines are just amazing,You must have spent a lot of time building them.It's great to see such dedication.
Nobby.pennytoy

[FruitSim]

Simply beautiful! That really is a work of art, nice!

[wb]

Really good job all round, you must be very proud - it looks nicer than my tooty fruity!

[lukewells]

That pyramid looks amazing! However have I missed a joke as according to the post times that project was completed in under an hour

[pennymachines]

This was one of the first threads posted in the Forum and, as explained in the site WELCOME announcement, it was actually posted before pennymachines.co.uk went public. It records an email correspondence between Scratchbuilt and myself that started in 03/09/02 when he asked if I could supply any Payramid diagrams. He emailed to announce it was complete on 15/10/02 - which is pretty impressive work in my books. He also built a version of the Elevenses, Conveyor and Fill 'Em Up, but I haven't heard from him since December 2004.

[lukewells]

It is a shame that scratchbuilt is no longer around.His machines look amazing and I am sure we would all love to see some more pictures of his work.

I am inspired to re-create some of my favorite machines now.... sadly I never seem to have enough time for all the projects I have on at once. I am sure I will get round to doing one myself one day lol

[pennyforyourthoughts]

This is my first post on the forum!

I find the idea of building a machine very appealing and Scratchbuilt's work very inspiring.
I am considering building a Pyramid or Forks (not sure how long this will take me though!), to this end I have a few questions- I wonder if anyone can help?

Firstly, can anyone tell me what the overall dimensions of Pyramid and forks are ? I have downloaded the patent drawings but need the basic dimensions to allow me to scale the drawings. Also to this end, what ball sizes were used for each machine, I believe that Bryan's used either 1/2" or 3/8"?

With respect to the moulding which forms the instruction / jackpot windows and the ball/fork guide on Pyramid, which I assume is chromed brass, can anyone tell me if the complete assembly is one piece? I have a general photo of a Pyramid which I took at Merivale, but I had not thought of building a machine at the time so did not take a detailed shot of this part of the machine and it's a long way back to Yarmouth...... I notice that there is a photo on the site, but it is fairly low resolution, can anyone post a high res. one of the moulding?

Any help greatly appreciated.

[gameswat]

In a rush but just took some pics for you. Can measure the cabinet on the weekend if somebody else hasn't beaten me to it. The award plate and jackpot are seperate casting than the centre one. Colour appears to be bronze. Hopefully these help a little. Admirable challenge you've set yourself! cheers.

[JC]

If it helps, the bronze coloured castings are likely to be gun metal (a slightly cheaper option to brass).

[pennyforyourthoughts]

Thanks gameswat and Jerry for your kind replies I am most impressed!

The info. is very useful, I am now considering my next move which seems to be to investigate the possibility of (eventually!) doing some casting in my home workshop, which may be ambitious or else making some patterns and getting a foundry to cast them.

Dimensions would still be appreciated when you have the time....

Cheers

[pennymachines]

Early version Payramid:
Height (base to top of shoulder) 28"
Depth (from front to back of base) 10"
Depth (from front to back of top) 6"
Width (from left to right side of base) 15 1/4"

Ball bearings 1/2" diameter

As Jerry mentioned, the castings were gun metal.

If you want to beat Scratchbuilt's record, you have until the 23rd January to finish - starting... NOW!

Email from Scratchbuilt a couple of months ago:

...we moved house to sunny Llandudno five years ago and I'm afraid that the wife barred me from making any more unless I kept them in the shed. Women just don't understand. That's not to say I haven't thought about making a new one. The Ball Past The Arrow is a strong contender but again I need the drawings - are they available anywhere?

As a matter of interest I still have the working drawings for the Payramid so if any of your members fancy having a go I'd be happy to lend them out. I still enjoy playing this machine.

[pennyforyourthoughts]

Hi
Thanks again for the support on this!
I would love to beat scratchbuilt's record, but I know that I will never come near to this, I have several other things on the go at the moment, including the finishing of a 9 year restoration project on a vintage lorry (someone had to be daft enough to take on a pile of bits and try to put them back togther!). Might make some sort of a start over the Christmas Hols though.....

I'm pleased to hear that scrathbuilt is still in touch if not able to make another machineat the moment.

[yaksplat]

As a matter of interest I still have the working drawings for the Payramid so if any of your members fancy having a go I'd be happy to lend them out. I still enjoy playing this machine.

Any chance that someone could get those drawings, scan them and upload them for those of us on the other side of the pond?

Jim

[pennymachines]

Pennyforyourthoughts has offered to post me a disc with a scan of the plans which I'll reduce to a manageable file size and upload to resources (by kind permission of Scratchbuilt). This may take a few weeks...

[yaksplat]

great!

I can't wait to get my woodworking and metalworking tools some use. This will be project #2 for the new shop. #1 is a bunk bed for the boys. #3 is a MAME cabinet. It's all about priorities.