This whole project started off rather simply. I needed a new coffee table and everything out there was either too expensive or too boring. I wanted something unique but didn’t want to pay an arm and a leg. Not sure how it happened but the idea of building a table out of a pinball machine struck me one night and got the gears turning. The biggest problem is that I’m not exactly what you would call “handy” with power tools. Luckily my grandfather is and usually when I bring a cool idea like this to him we build it together.

So off I went to design and figure out how to cram a pinball playfield into my living room in the form of a table. The first thing I did was find an old beat up pinball table online. I searched over Craigslist, local classifieds and eBay and finally found one there for less than $50. It was just the playfield from a pinball game called Tri-Zone, which was perfect for me since I didn’t want to destroy a working or refurbishable pinball machine… they ain’t exactly rolling off the production line much these days.

Read on to see how it all went together and I have a ton of pictures of the project!
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