I've made some Cabinets so that my Pachinko Machines could be mounted on the wall instead of in the wall. I initially wanted to mount them inside the wall but the newer machines require a wall cavity that is at least 8" deep. My basement walls are 6" deep so I had to make cabinets to mount them on the wall. I have found now however that I LOVE mounting them this way. First of all because you do not destroy your wall (only a few holes). Secondly because you now have a little room inside your cabinet for a big ball catch box (empty less frequently) and anything else you want to put in there like spare bulbs, jackpot log, pens, whatever.
To build one... all I did was:
I
bought a few lengths of 1"x10" lumber. I bought the cheap stuff (pine) which
ended up looking fine after a good sanding and staining. by the way, 1" x 10" is
actually 3/4" x 9 1/8".
I cut myself 4 lengths. (2) 33 3/8" sides, and (2) 20 1/2" Top/Bottom. This allows almost any pachinko a good snug fit and also allows the sides to extend all the way up for a clean unbroken look.
The dimensions allow the top and bottom pieces to fit inside the side pieces.
(so top and bottom are flush with sides.)
Screw it all together to make a big ol box! I used a countersink drill bit with #10 1 1/4" wood screws.
(pictured
left to right... Top brackets, bottom brackets inside cabinet, bottom brackets
below cabinet). I used BIG L-brackets I bought from Lows
for the bottom 2 brackets and small L-brackets for the top of the cabinet.
My bottom L-brackets are mounted on the bottom of the cabinet and into the studs
in the wall. This way, the entire weight is resting on the bracket itself
and the screw is just there to hold the cabinet in place. I decided not to
have the L-bracket on the inside of the cabinet because then the weight of the
cabinet and machine would be on the screw between the bracket and the case. I
wasn't sure if the screw was up to the task since these machines are HEAVY so I
put the bottom l-brackets on the outside of the case. Since my cabinets
are mounted low (play sitting in chair) you can't see them anyway. Since
the lower brackets do all the work, the top brackets have no load to bear so I
put them inside the cabinet.
Slide your machine in and screw it in! you can choose to screw your Pachinko to your new box from the inside or out. It's up to you. I did it from the outside so that I could have the machine closed and placed exactly how I wanted it before I started driving screws. It is a bit harder to get it exactly the way to want when you have to have the machine open to screw it to the frame from the inside.
You
can double and triple the cabinets together to form a wall unit like I did if
you choose. These are 3 individual boxes just mounted together!
I
removed the locks and made a pull cord to open my machines once in the cabinets.
Sand em, stain em, and call them done.
The width of the 1" x 10" is great because it allows space for a big ball catch
box (.79 cent clear shoe box from K-Mart) and room for whatever else you need
back there. You can see in the picture at the left that the older machines
do not require this much depth. I could have made the cabinet for the older
machine half as deep but I like the freedom of being able to put whatever
machine I want, in any cabinet I want, whenever I want. (I plan to buy and
sell). So having all the cabinets the same is nice. Further, it looks nice when
they all match.
I initially set out to slap them on the wall as quickly as possible. I was quite pleased that despite my care free attitude making a simple box, they came out looking quite nice.