One of my pinball friends told me about a jack to help level his collection. This was an excellent tip since I just spent an hour trying to level my pinball machine by myself. The pinball jack, as he described, lifts one of the legs and easily lets you tighten or loosen the pinball feet. A level pinball machine will change how ramps and certain shots work. I did some searching around and found a drywall jack on Amazon that looked right.
The jack looked like my friend’s but didn’t fit under my machine’s leg. I did some more searching and realized that I had to modify the base of the jack to fit under the leg and get around the foot.
Here’s what I did to get these cheap jacks to work with my pinball machine…
Remove the Base of the Jack
If you buy the exact jack that I did from Amazon, the jack’s base is held on by two 3/16″ hex bolts. Remove the bolts.
Mark The Cut Line
On the center toe, mark a cut line just after the bolt hole.
Cut Off the Center Toe
Here’s where the real work begins. You have to cut this portion of the center toe so the jack’s base will fit around the pinball leg’s leveling screw. You can take your base plates down to the local maker space and ask someone to cut them off, or you could use a rotary tool like one from Ryobi or Dremel. Use a cut-off wheel designed for metal. I found a three-pack at Harbor Freight.
If you have never cut metal before, I would like to give you several warnings. Cutting metal with a rotary tool creates sparks and heat. I held the jack’s metal base with a wrench on a thick silicone mat. If I did this over again, I would have done it outside. Just take your time, make small cuts, don’t panic. Hold strong. Be careful.
Let the base cool and reattach it to the jack.
Profit.
You now have a set of pinball jacks for less than $40! Give them a try and see how awesome they are. You can now quickly level a pinball machine by yourself. You only have to slip the jack under the leg and pump the jack handle. This will slowly lift the machine so you can adjust the leg leveler screws.
Bonus. Teach Your Kid About Mechanical Advantage
I used to watch Mr. Wizard when I was a kid. I distinctly remember an episode where Mr. Wizard tells a kid that they are going to be able to lift a car with one hand. Well, I got to teach the lesson to my son 40 years later. He loved the idea that he lifted a 300lb pinball machine with his hand.
