Topic: Fireball

[marty]

say nice tables  what kind of handles do you have on the tornado with fireball rods and men are they fireball handles

[FOOZUL]

The Handles on the Tornado are German Lehmacher P4P Handles with that textured rubber on them as a grip, best grips and handles ever..... Both handles and rubber grips were ordered from Germany...

[Will17]

The handles look interesting, are they a little bit bumpy? Is it a slide on wrap or just the handle with nothing covering it?

Its just too bad you have framps...

[FOOZUL]

whole handle is wrapped in the rubber.

The handle looks like this without the wraps:

http://www.kickerkult.de/WebRoot/Store7/Shops/61190833/4609/82EF/23DC/CA8C/DC7C/C0A8/286D/DD33/p4pgriff.jpg


I love one man goalie style, but to switch it up, I also have a flat playfield that I pup right in when needed.

[Will17]

Wow you have it all, thats awesome.

Interesting handle shape.

[BradLaurine]

Great to see!

Thanks for the pictures and the info.

cool stuff,

Brad

[Anderson]

Hey Brad, since you're keeping in touch with this thread, I want to experiment with that multitable idea. I know that someone at Fireball has different bearings for different rods. I would really like to get my hands on a Bonzini set up. I just want to install a three-bar for practice. I posted a pic a while back of a Fireball which had a Bonzini rod installed, Garlando men, some of the German models, Tornado, and others. The bearings had different hole settings to adjust for the height of the players. How do I get my hands on some of that? I doubt you will ever be selling that commercially but I bought my table because the possibilities seemed endless.

[BradLaurine]

Those bearings are specialized to fit a Multi-use table. Ramps move up and down and the bearings will fit most rods.

You would be perfect to sell that table to.

I know of two of them sitting in a couple of warehouses. Austin and Maryland

Sell a table and get one of these. No, I don't know how much, I know I will want to see the one in Austin go to someone. I will ask Dennis how much he wants for it right this minute and get back to you.

Nobody has said a thing about the tic tac video... Guessing, everyone can do it.

Later, Brad 

[Anderson]

So the table is different from the normal Fireball table. I was hoping it was just a matter of switching the bearings. Anyways, it was a really neat idea, but it would be better if one could simply install a different bearing on the normal table. I love the fact that I can switch a Fireball rod with a Tornado rod in a matter of seconds. It's nice to be able to practice with the Tornado men right before going to a Tourney. Nothing can replace an entire table, but most of us can't afford to have a copy of each and every table, but one can easily afford the bearings and a rod or two.

[FOOZUL]

Yes , I agree...This is a temporary thing I did. I wish the Fireball bearings worked on Tornado but they don't fit (Fireball bearing is wider diameter). I can't wait to get the Fireball table so I can just switch rods to any style I want in matter of minutes.

[Anderson]

Unfortunately, the only rods you can switch in would have to be nearly the same diameter and have similar height for the men. I have a few TS rods which I had to cut to length, a Garlando goalie rod I bought for kicks but have no bearings(but the height works), and a Tornado 3-rod. Bonzini appears to be the square peg which won't fit in the hole because the men are taller. Even if there were bearings, they'd have to mount the bar higher. One can dream.

[BradLaurine]

Mr. Anderson,
Stop dreaming and get the Multi-Play table out of Austin. $850. I just got off the phone with Dennis and he wants sell it cheap. It is a heavy table and has lots of options. Freight near the $225.oo

Later, Brad

[Anderson]

Not made of money Brad. In order to do that, I'd have to sell my current table for less than what I got it for($830) AND sell a lung. I like my ITSF model and my lungs. Maybe I can design my own bearings. Still, it's nice to know that you all at Fireball are listening to ideas. Still waiting on foosball.com to get the ball out. I might just be ordering through you soon.

By the way, I got my table in Atlanta last summer and I was wondering what changes have been made to the table since then. I know that the surface slants upward at the walls to keep the ball off the wall. That causes difficulty with some brush passing. Also, the ball gets lost in the ball return mechanism at times. Have you all solved these issues?

Actually, the way you are proceeding, I might be able to interest someone in my table. Maybe it's doable. Most of the players in my area are either die-hard Tornado or die-hard Bonzini, but I think, sooner or later, players will begin to realize how great a table this is.

[Comfort Player]

By the way, I got my table in Atlanta last summer and I was wondering what changes have been made to the table since then. I know that the surface slants upward at the walls to keep the ball off the wall. That causes difficulty with some brush passing. Also, the ball gets lost in the ball return mechanism at times. Have you all solved these issues?

Would be interested in this answer as well. I got my table in Seattle a little over a year ago.  Also, Brad be careful about taking balls out of your pocket, there is a limited supply in there.

[BradLaurine]

Ha Ha, that was funny!

The German's that first ordered these tables about 6 years ago didn't have a clue about a lot of things. I think they enjoyed the way the ball didn't stop or have control. You should see what ball they were playing with as well.
Fireball and Dennis learned a lot from us from the first run to the second. The depth of the slope away from the side rail is about 3/4 of the ball width, compared to the spec of your tables of nearly 2 inches.
The ball drop is not perfect in the second batch but nearly. The first run was never tested. In China, testing is done but at a ridiculously low level or amount. It is very common in the factories to push product out the door without even a thought of how to put it together or testing the parts for compatibility. Whether it is Fireball or Chin's hat factory, they will not test products. In the West, it is standard for us to understand that testing is required. We expect product to be produced that has been tested.

On to the tables that you gentleman have, I too have one. I was feed up with the roll and the ball drop problem. I tore mine a part and screwed an 1" cabinet plywood board to the bottom and flatten that baby out!  The ball drop, I tore that a part and reamed out a couple of problem spot. I then improved the drop angle. When we were playing on it, I had the drop always go to the opponents side to grab and start the serve.

I know that you guys are the first to buy and the first to get good word out. Thank you and I will help as much as I can to improve what you now have or upgrade to a better table.

Thank you, Brad Laurine