Richard Faust wrote:
mac davis wrote:
On Sat, 22 Nov 2008 20:02:49 -0500, Richard Faust
wrote:

willshak wrote:
on 11/21/2008 10:25 AM Richard A. Faust said the following:
Hi! This was a summer project I created called "Strawbox Lanes."
The kids, as well as the adults love to bowl on my lanes. I am
thinking about making a chute/ramp to launch the bowling ball. It
might make difficult shots a little easier.
I'd hate to be the pin setter!


I should have included a picture of the rack with the original post.
It only takes about 15 seconds to load and set the pins. Pretty nifty
eh?

Rick

Pretty clever, Rick..
How long did it take ya to layout the holes, and was the first rack
the keeper?

I'm thinking of making a few for friends, but being lazy, I'm thinking
of just
using flat stock and routing the gutters... You see any problems I'm
going to hit that way, such as amount of slope or
anything?



mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

Hi Mac,

I laid out the holes on the computer and printed the pattern. I would
say the layout took about 1/2 hour. I spray glued the pattern to the
wooden rack blank and drilled ten pilot holes. I then used the scroll
saw to cut the holes. Had the pins been smaller than .500 then I could
have drilled the holes with a forstner bit. Unfortunately, the pins ran
about .525, thus causing me to scroll saw the holes. The scroll work
took about a hour, sanding included. If you decide to build an alley, I
would be happy to provide the dimensions and a layout for the pins.

Using flat stock and routing the gutters would work fine. I dadoed the
side boards to insure that the alley remained flat. I also made a couple
of wedges to slide under the alley in case the game was played on an
unlevel surface. If you like, you could make a chute/ramp to roll the
ball to the pins. I tried using a ramp, but found that it took some of
the skill away from the game. A chute/ramp might be perfect for a
younger bowler.

I already fabricated a ball return system, which works pretty well, for
my next alley. I have included a few pictures of the business end of the
prototype. The ball rolls down a chute (not pictured) and into the
business end of my prototype. The ball travels over the flipper and
remains in the space between the flipper and the dowel pin. I got my
idea from one of those old fashioned bowling alleys, sometimes found if
a firehouse.

Rick


Here is a picture with the proper progression.

Rick