Topic: New (to me) table! Tornado Twister and a question on ball return.

[lbeckm3]

Ok, found these forums AFTER I got my table, and I realize most will say "what? twister, 1st gen, home model... JUNK". But hey, I'm no pro player and this was at a price point that the wife didn't flip out over. She needs some work to be sure, but at $60 I couldn't go too wrong!  (Craigslist - I owe you one!)

I put some pics and documented the issues here;

http://willysprojects.blogspot.com/2014/10/foosball-tornado-twister.html

My question is - this thing has ZERO ball returns?!  It literally just has an open bottom and when you shoot a goal the ball hits the floor. I thought maybe the mechanism was just removed/lost/stolen etc. but then after looking the cabinet over - there isn't a hole anywhere to be found on the cabinet?!

I have plans to make a central return and build up some wooden catch/ramps to make it convenient to play, but has anyone seen that before?

-Lyle (fyi at the blogspot site you can see shots of where the table is at now and my plans to fix it up some for home play with friends/kids/spouse).

[kman22]

EEk. Someone may have been halfway to create the side return and just not finished the job. Its not normal for the ball to 'Fall to the floor' at least from the limited experience I have.
It is normal to not have side returns, my older HM2000's are like that. One had an end return and the other you had to reach into the goal and retrieve the ball. I have since made a return using parts from tables I have demolished (Harvard and Sport-craft) and some extra parts I purchased.

These ball catch boxes from warrior foosball were perfect for the side wall return catch which was the only thing I didn't get from demolishing the tables.
link removed. spam. sorry

That playfield looks like a problem though. You can replace it but that may be a cost you don't want.
Broomstick handle! Thats a little unique too.
Southern foosball has some good prices on used parts. I have purchased from him and been happy with the service and parts received.
http://www.southernfoosball.com/
Good luck.

[lbeckm3]

Yea it was funny, the guy that I got the table from said he put buckets under the ends to catch the balls as they made shots.  Crazy!

I know this thing is pretty rough, and the play-field is definitely an issue (looks bigger the way I took the shots, but again it's still "rough").  My evil side-plan is to get everyone hooked on playing and then I'll have an easier sell later to "upgrade" to a coin-op table.

Thanks for the links, I'll do some poking around there.  If nothing else that warrior link gives me a nice "pattern" for making the box myself! 

I'm hoping to have no more than $100-$150 into this to get the table playable and presentable (has to look good too - WAF approved!).  If I go too hog wild I'd have been better off getting a good coin-op to start with.  Again the evil master plan comes into play.... mwwaaahahahaaa!!

-Lyle

[kman22]

You would be surprised what you can find on craigslist RE: good(tornado/warrior/ts/bonzini/garlando/dynamo) foosball tables. If you wait long enough the right deal can come along and the table will be 100 - 150 maybe less. It does happen.

Then again your master plan could reap something even nicer ....