So without further delay here are the pics:
Lights off:

Lights on:

I’m really happy about how it turned out. It will certainly add to the nostalgia of the bowling lane area in the basement. I want to continue to slowly expand the decor around the lane downstairs until we have a nice retro bowling area. Eventually I would love to have the Pindicators actually work the way they were meant to, but that will be a future project. For now it will just light up and I will look at it and smile every time I roll one down the lane.

Here’s how I made it. The outside frame is made of pine 1×2s. I routed a groove on the inside of them that is wide enough for the MDF and acrylic sheet to slide into. The red you see is 1/4″ MDF with a couple coats of red paint and a couple coats of polyurethane. The acrylic sheet rests just behind the MDF. I searched for the right font and tweaked it a bit (to try and match the original Pindicator font) and printed the numbers on self-stick clear matte paper and stuck them on the front of the glass and behind the MDF. I used a 6 foot rope light inside and I took another piece of 1/4″ MDF, painted the inside white (to make the inside lights a little brighter) and attached it to the back of the unit. Finally I printed my Basement Bowling logo on sticker paper and stuck it on the front. Done and done.

In other news I did redo the pit area. It is no longer flat, it now slopes away from the bowler. Hopefully this will prevent the ball from occasionally rebounding back onto the lane when it is rolled very hard. I’m still finishing that up though, I got distracted/hypnotized by the Magic Triangle and wanted to finish it.

I also wanted to let you know that I added 3 new pinsetter pics to the gallery. It will give some more detail about my previous blog entry about the pinsetter.

That’s all for now, thanks for reading.

Here is an overview of the current ball return: The pinsetter (person, not machine) picks up the ball from the pit and places it on the ball return track. The track is a flexible plastic track that I believe is used for sliding patio doors. I am always thinking about bowling stuff. I go to a home improvement store and I may see something that is made for something else completely different but to me it’s “Hey, I can use that on the bowling lane!”

It works pretty well but the track is a bit narrow so I had to put guides on each side of it to keep the ball from falling off the track. It works pretty well but I am not happy with it aesthetically and I have had to make some adjustments (the ball was wanting to come off the track near the ball return rack). If you look in the video you can see how the ball actually wore some paint off the wall at the front of the return rack. I have since made the adjustments but since it is so tight where the return is (between the side of the lane and the wall) it is a pain to try and get to it to make adjustments, so I am redesigning it.

The new design incorporates side-by-side 3/4 inch PVC pipes spaced farther apart than the current narrow track is. This will eliminate any chance of the ball falling off to the side and will eliminate the need for the guides and will look much nicer and perform better.

I also had some issues where a bowler who rolled the ball really hard would sometimes have the ball rebound back onto the lane. I have restructured the pit floor from being perfectly flat to having a decline. I also took out the super-thick cushioning at the back pit wall that was also contributing to the rebounding of hard shots and made a new pit curtain out of a heavy duty rubber mat that should work much better. I will post pics when I get it all finished.

Here is the new YouTube video. A special thanks to my film crew (my daughters) for helping me record the videos. Also, my apologies as my camera is having problems with recording sound. So long for now bowling fans.

One option is to deepen the pit (it currently extends 16 inches behind the lane) but that would involve removing the rear wall and back end of the sidewalls and i really don’t want to have to do that.  Also, I am concerned with the pin boys and pin girls being able to comfortably reach up to the headpin spot on the pin table when setting pins if they are moved back further.  And finally, I really don’t have any more room in my basement to extend it anyways so that’s not really an option.

Although I have 16 inches behind the tail plank, the padding (pit cushion) on the back wall was around 4 inches thick when I surrounded it with vinyl so it was really more like 12 inches or less.

So, last night I removed the vinyl and padding from the back wall of the pit and I am playing around with a hanging pin curtain.  It is basically a stiffer floor mat with black carpet on one side and a rubber backing on the other.  I am thinking this will absorb the impact of the ball and pins without rebounding the ball back onto the lane when it is thrown hard.  I am working on this now and will update it when I finalize it.  Initial results show that it works great when the ball is rolled so it stays on the lane and hits the curtain, but when the ball goes into the gutters and exits into the back corners the curtain isn’t “catching” it and it loudly hits the corner of the back wall.  I have an idea and made another trip to Home Depot today so we’ll see how that goes.

I have such a love for bowling, the nostalgia that surrounds it, and the way the equipment and pinsetters work, but I have absolutely no experience working in a real center or on real machines.  I am trying to learn all I can online and I am spending more time at www.bowltech.com trying learn all I can and soak up info like a sponge from all of the knowledge and know-how that goes on there.  I still have a dream of coming up with a fully automatic half-scale pinsetter to go along with my lane.

I am also still working on my AMF Magic Triangle style (with Pindicators) masking unit and am excited about it and will also share pics of that project soon.

That’s all for now bowling fans.  Thanks again for reading and if any one has any ideas on improving the lane or other good resources for me to expand my knowledge of pinsetter design and operation please share it with me.

-Chad

Here’s a description of it: My pinsetter is suspended above the pindeck and raises and lowers via plastic coated wire cable suspended on an overhead pulley down to a consistent position where the pins can then be placed in the holes that are just wide enough to accommodate the pins. This forces them exactly where they belong and doesn’t allow room to be placed off-spot. Once the pins are set in the holes a handle is pulled down which raises the pin table and the pins are ready for the next shot. The handle locks in place so that the table cannot inadvertently drop due to impact or any other effect. I also added an aluminum deck shield for authenticity.
A great feature is the pin table is very sturdy but light enough that my 8 year old daughter had absolutely no problems lowering, raising and locking it into place.
Yes, you still need someone in the pit area setting pins and returning balls but this definitely makes the job easier, cuts down on the time it takes to set the pins, and forces the pins to be set accurately. And it’s fun! I will put up some pics of the finished (for now) pinsetter soon.

Also, I took some video tonight and have edited and uploaded the first one to YouTube. It is a video of me rolling a nice strike (you can see how you can realistically hook the ball) and my daughter lowering the pinsetter, returning the ball down the ball return, setting the pins and raising and locking the pinsetter. All of this is seen from the bowlers perspective. I put up a crude, temporary masking unit. But I have to tell you that not seeing the person back there setting the pins (other than the occasional arm/hand retrieving some dead wood) seeing the aluminum deck shield lower and then you see all of the pins there as it raises makes it so authentic! The sound on my camera was all messed up so I dropped the audio and spliced in a “regulation” roll and strike sound. It works really well. Here’s our YouTube debut and thanks for reading.

First, I would like to apologize for not putting a new post up here for such a long while.

We are continuing to bowl on and enjoy our basement bowling lane.  It still looks brand new (the laminate lane surface has held up beautifully) and has given us many many hours of enjoyment.

I have to tell you that this has exceeded everything that I imagined when I thought of doing this site.  I have heard from dozens and dozens of people who either shared a similar dream or have done a similar project or are planning on doing one.  I have tried to respond to all of the e-mails but I know there are still several of you that haven’t heard back from me.  I am going to try and respond to all of you here as soon as I can.  I want to thank everyone for all of the many messages I have received that have been filled with compliments and questions and stories very much like mine.  We have had over 10,000 visitors to the site now.

I know I’ve said this before but I am planning on putting up some new pics and some videos as soon as I get the time.

Thanks again for all of your comments, compliments and stories.  See you soon.

Just a quick note to say that I’m still here.  I hope to find the time to finish up the pinsetter and masking unit soon.  I worked on and constructed a pinsetter design but it didn’t function like I wanted it to so I had to tear it down and rethink it a bit, (Hey, stuff like this happens when you are doing a project like this) then life and work got super busy and now my weekends are currently filled with my supporting my daughters sporting activities (bowling and basketball), but I am still working on pinsetter ideas. 

We are continuing to bowl on our lane and we all love it!  It’s holding up perfectly.  I think everyone should have one of these in their home.  Tonight my youngest daughter (8 years old) bowled 4 games and she had her highest score ever in her last game.

I hope to take some video and post it up here soon.  Thank you for continuing to visit the site and please continue to share your stories with me.  Many of you have written me, some of you telling me about your own lane projects.  I am truly enjoying this. 

Everyone have a safe and joyous Thanksgiving and I’ll check in with you soon.

I finally finished putting all of the laminate lane surface on the lane. I am very happy with it. It performs perfectly. I can roll the ball with some hook on it and it will roll and then react. The lane is perfectly level. I can slowly roll the ball down the lane and it stays perfectly in the direction I rolled it.

I did all of the calculations and determined where the lane markings should go and what size they should be, based on half-scale of course. I have 7 dots on the approach / foul line area and I did a set of arrows down the first part of the approach. Standard arrows are at 12-16 feet past the foul line so mine are around 6 or 7 feet down. Standard arrows are 1 1/4″ x 6″ so mine are 5/8″ x 3″. I used a circle template for the foul line circles and I made a template for the arrows and measured them out and drew them with a black sharpie. It was nerve-racking knowing that any mistake would be permanent but everything turned out great and I am very happy with them.

I added a protective strip at the foul line to protect both the edge of the lane and the bowlers’ fingers.

I added a nice tailplank in the pit area at the rear of the pindeck.  I slightly rounded the top of it so the any pins that fly around and hit it won’t get damaged.

I am also working on the pinsetter and will have more info on that later.  There’s still lots to be done there but things are moving along, and the bowling is tons of fun!  I am also going to be taking some video and posting it here in the coming weeks.

Thanks for reading and please feel free to leave comments or questions and I will do my best to answer them for you.

I have also finished and attached the cushion in the back of the pit. I am very happy with it.
My wife bought me 5 yards of black vinyl for my birthday (Thanks Honey!), WAY more than I needed, but that’s fine, especially since I have zero experience in working with vinyl.
Basically I measured how much of the area needed to be covered with vinyl. Allowed a couple of inches of extra material on each side and cut it. I attached the bottom first (from the inside) then inserted my “padding” (a couple of 16″ pillows that together span the 32″ pit), pulled the vinyl tightly over it, pulled it over the top/back of the pit, folded it under itself and then put some heavy staples in it. Not sure if it was the best way or not but it works for me and I think it looks great.

Since I now have the lane leveled the next step will be to attach the 1/2″ MDF underlayment for the lane surface. I’ll let you know when I get that finished and probably take some more pics.

I also need to add some polyurethane on the gutters. I used 3 coats of oil-based paint and they look great but I want to give them a little extra protection.

Thanks for stopping by and I’ll keep you posted.

So…. I took some other laminate that I had (the same that I used for the approach area) and quickly made a lane surface. I was a little nervous because no balls had really been rolled down the length of the lane (other than rolling a ball down the gutter and sending it back down the ball return). Also, the pit area isn’t finished yet, still have a little painting and polyurethaning (is that a word?) to do, and I have not attached the cushion at the back of the pindeck yet. But people were eagerly lining up and I heard the kids calling out “I’m first, I’m second”, etc. so I made a makeshift cushion with some padding and the vinyl that will be used for the official cushion and let them have at it.

I can’t really explain the feeling of watching people get so much enjoyment from using something that I created over the past couple of months. I poured my heart and soul into it and it was a big moment. What if they didn’t like it? What if it just didn’t feel right? What if it wasn’t realistic? Would the laminate truly work as a lane surface? What if it broke when people actually used it? LOL!

I think my smile was just as big as everyone who took turns rolling the ball down the lane and knocking down pins. My youngest daughter went |9|-|, |X|X|, |X|X| in her first 3 frames! Much better than I did! The pin action was very realistic. The laminate seemed to be a perfect surface. The ball actually had some revs and hooked or backed up, depending on who rolled it.

My Dad and I had just as much fun setting pins and sending the balls back down the return as everyone else did bowling. I couldn’t have been more proud. I can honestly say that everyone who tried it really enjoyed it.

After about 45 minutes I cut everyone off and we headed upstairs to watch my daughter open her presents, eat some cake, and play some board games. All in all it was a great night, and a huge test was passed. My only regret is that I was so into what was going on that I didn’t take 1 single pic of all of us bowling.

The actual maple lane surface that I will install onto the lane came this morning, can’t wait to get it installed. The “full-sized” bowling league starts tomorrow night at the local lanes. Life is good!

I really like them.  They look to be from the late 70’s early 80’s.  One side has an animation of a bowler going through his approach.  The other side has graphics of balls and pins.  They have a vector/skeletal style and a very colorful look to them.  I think they’ll look great up on the wall next to the lane.  They are nearly 23 feet long together.