Test Your Fate: Construction

Runner:
In order for the board to sit within the box securely runners where added to the sides of the base to provide a shelf for the board to sit on. This supports the board ensuring it won't move when the perspex is placed onto but also makes it easier to take in and out if necessary. This was a simple process which involved creating a 70mm deep line within the box so that the board would sit in the box but leave enough space for lights to be attached to the side (see figures 1-4). Furthermore the thickness of the board itself, 18mm was also considered within this measurement. Once the line had been established a piece of MDF was cut and drilled into the base by first making holes within the piece of MDF to help guide when drilling into the box (see figures 5-9). Another key consideration was not to drill all the way through the MDF as vinyl will be used on the sides, therefore the aim within construction is to minimise marks that could cause issues when applying the vinyl.  The runners also don't go from end to end of the base as space needed to be left for the mechanisms which will sit under the board. This allows the handles of the flippers to be hidden from the player but still allow the flippers to move up and down when playing the game (see figure 9).

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Figure 9

Holes:

In order to mark out where the holes will sit, the blue vinyl has been used to create points which represent the centre of each hole. This allows a hole saw to be used as the drill bit goes within the centre of the whole whilst the saw cuts around the circle, leaving disks (see figures 10-12). The ball holes have been created to the specific size of the drill bit, allowing for the perfect circle to be cut. In order to avoid damaging the MDF the hole saw was used until around halfway on each side until the disk came out (see figure 13). This process was used to avoid putting too much pressure on the MDF which could have caused the wood to split. Some issues occurred when aligning the holes as this was difficult to do without sticking the vinyl down first (see figure 14). The vinyl could be stuck down first as it would have been damaged when drilling into the wood for both the holes and mechanisms. Therefore wood filler was made using dust from MDF and PVA wood glue to fill in the unwanted holes, being sanded once dry to avoid disturbing the vinyl when stuck on (see figures 15-16). The disks produced from this process will be used as the buttons for the plunger and flippers (see figure 12). 

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