Here's a Ball
Shooter lane that's pretty well trashed!!
Take off parts,
exposing the area where we'll be working!
Pretty nasty wear area!!
You'll need 2 different sandpapers for the clean up
- 60 grit and 250 grit.
Fold up the 60 grit as shown, and start sanding down
the bad area! Be Careful! Don't sand over into the
painted areas of the playfield! We'd like to keep
this area level, with no 'dip' or 'valley', so sand
the whole area down as level as possible. In "this"
case, there's so much wear that it's not possible,
but on most jobs, you'll be able to sand this area
down nice, level and smooth to keep the original
appearance.
Sand it down, then every minute or two, put some
water on the area. Doing this will bring out the
grain, or dirt and show you what the final result
will look like. Sand until it looks nice and clean
with water on it!
After you've got it to where there'll be no
black/dirt marks, finish up with some fine 250 grit
sandpaper!
Next , tape off the area like this!... Carefully
note the position "ABOVE" the lane of the tape...
upper left, ... and how it comes to a point. We do
this so that when you're spraying lacquer from
above, ... it will FEATHER out as it hits the
shooter lane, and NOT have a noticeable
lacquer line when you're done!!! Also notice how I
lay down the tape thru the hole and 'edge" around
the playfield black paint line.
Another view showing how we position the tape coming
to a point ABOVE the surface so that the lacquer,
when sprayed, will "feather"!!!!
NOW for the spray lacquer,
.... you'll notice that I had the clear spray
lacquer in one hand while I have a Hair Dryer in the
other hand. (I keep the hair dryer on the LOW speed
while spraying) The main reason for this, .... is to
make the lacquer "hit" the surface even dryer than
it already is, ... and NOT PUDDLE UP!!!!
If you spray too much on at once, it will puddle,
and won't look right!!! so .. DO
NOT try this repair without using a hair dryer!!!!
Keep the hair dryer focused on the area while you
"lightly" spray "mist coats" onto the wood.
just remember, ANYTIME you spray, have the Hair
Dryer on low speed also pointed at the work area!!!
We also use this technique when repairing outholes
as well!!!!
After you've put
on several MIST coats, ... it won't look smoothe,
but will look sort of grainy like above. This
is GOOD!!!! ... .just what we want .... the
lacquer goes on dry and won't puddle on the wood.
Take a break now for 10 minutes or so, and go post
some flames on the newsgroup!! :)
Come back and do it again ... USING the DRYER in one
hand, while you spray the lacquer in the other
hand!!
When
I'm using the dryer, I'll put on about ten light
MIST coats at one time, ... then go take a break for
15 minutes
Remember, it won't be smooth now, .. but will look
grainy...
More spray, ... make sure you
don't hit your FAT belly when you're putting on the
lacquer. See how I'm aiming the lacquer down on the
area where the two pieces of tape come together ...
Spraying from this position will insure that the
lacquer feathers out properly!!!
Now after you've
done this for an hour or so, .... get out that 1500
grit sandpaper, ... get the surface WET, .... then
lightly begin sanding down the area to smooth out
the lacquer, ... Easy Does IT here folks!!!
take your time and lightly sand
Wet sanding the area!!!!
After you're done, dry off the area and you'll see
that it's dull.
Put some Novus 2 on a rag, rub down the area ... and
you'll get a nice HIGH GLOSS!!!
Hey Randy! Look!! I didn't screw up the coil wrapper
this time!!!!!! :)
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When done, ... it will look hundreds of times better
than it did!!! Also, I don't recommend using
the Machine polisher on repairs like this, ... as
the polisher will cut thru the lacquer unless you
have another 30 coats sprayed on!! Just
use Novus 2 after you've used the wet sandpaper!!!
And there you have it, .. another tricky technique,
but easy to do, in order to make those ball shooter
lanes look NEW!!!!!!!
As a final note, even though there's now about 30
coats of clear lacquer on the area,
as you can see above, it can be further protected
with a small piece of mylar!
