Gold Crown 7 Revealed

I take it back, I think the channel for the ball return are plastic, not bent sheetmetal. They seem curved in cross section from the pic, which is not usually done with metal. They might be extruded plastic due to the curve. Extruded plastic is cheaper for tooling than molded plastic, and a good choice for a tunnel. Plastic would be better for a tunnel than metal (in general) because it won't rattle when the ball hits it.
 
iusedtoberich said:
I take it back, I think the channel for the ball return are plastic, not bent sheetmetal. They seem curved in cross section from the pic, which is not usually done with metal. They might be extruded plastic due to the curve. Extruded plastic is cheaper for tooling than molded plastic, and a good choice for a tunnel. Plastic would be better for a tunnel than metal (in general) because it won't rattle when the ball hits it.
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Good critique. Once a mechanical engineer always a mechanical engineer. You're a good man brother.
Will miss you up north. You're good for the game.
 
Bob Jewett said:
It looks like there is a straight run through from one side pocket to the other. ;)
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It does look like that. So maybe if you hit the ball in one side pocket hard enough it come out the other.

Didn’t Diamond add a diverter because of that? I've seen it happen on a valley before.
 
Never played on a table with steel frame that I’m aware. Wonder how the 7 frame would differ compared to the previous GC gens with wood.
 
iusedtoberich said:
From looking at the pic and with a manufacturing background, I can offer:

The frame is made of bent sheetmetal in steel. NOT extruded aluminum. (the Rasson is extruded aluminum). That's a much better choice, imo, because each frame member can be customized for no additional cost. All the holes and fasteners are put in automatically during the punching/laser cutting process, then it's bent. Extruded aluminum needs secondary machining operations to get all the fasteners and cuts in. Or, you end up with sliding fasteners in the T-slots of the extrusion that can move all over the place.

There are lots of off-the-shelf fastening systems for sheetmetal, including fasteners with built-in thread-locking mechanisms. They are called PEM fasteners, and are the industry standard, and are pressed into the sheetmetal. I can't tell from looking at the pic which was used, but I'd imagine one of them was. If so, that means no loose nuts to lose, (the nut is pressed into the sheetmetal and becomes permanent to it). Or, the screw can be pressed into the sheetmetal, (its then called a stud), and the nut is loose. This is good for us so less chance of the mechanic leaving stuff off.

The ball return looks very well integrated into the design. Less things exposed to break, or fail in the field. Also possibly save on shipping size. The tunnels also look to be bent sheetmetal in a "U" shape. Better than the older GC wire tracks, imo, that if they move slightly, the balls fall out and/or get stuck.

The pedestal base looks like they are possibly two pieces that stack on top of each other? If so, that might be to reduce the cube-size (shipping size). Or, it could just be an aesthetic line and is all one piece underneath.
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What do you think of the table not having a center beam to prevent sagging? Every time I see tables constructed like this I think, “ that in 10-20 years there’s going to be a low spot in that slate”.
 
TrxR said:
I wonder why Brunswick didn't think of that?
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I will say if I had designed that table (without the prior Diamond knowledge), I would have made it symmetrical just like Diamond did and Brunswick did on the 7. (and probably all the antique tables that had a wooden gulley system in the middle of the table).

Designing with symmetry is natural to the eye, and in CAD, is easier. You just press the "mirror" button. Plus during assembly, there is not a unique left and right part that needs to be kept track of, and during manufacturing, a left and right part that has to be made/inventoried/etc.

If it were not for that Diamond barbox side pocket pop-out video, I doubt anyone would even dream of it happening. It's possible the GC7 designers were not aware of it, and/or, it's such an obscure thing, even if they were, they left it be.

Most design companies will have a list of issues from prior designs. It's called DFMEA (Design Failure Mode and Effects Analysis). Every time they make the new generation, they will consult that list, to make sure the same mistakes aren't repeated. They'll also assign a severity to the issue. Such as if the issue is present, does it lead to injury, low perceived quality, etc. There is also a frequency scale of the issue occurring. They will multiply the severity with the frequency, and the highest numbers will be given the most attention.

With a company like Brunswick, they theoretically have 150 years of that. But who knows "now" if any of that is still used.

It's also important to have all that written down, and not "tribal knowledge" precisely for the reason when people quit/retire or the company is sold.
 
jtompilot said:
What do you think of the table not having a center beam to prevent sagging? Every time I see tables constructed like this I think, “ that in 10-20 years there’s going to be a low spot in that slate”.
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I'm no engineer but it looks like with those cross beams you basically have three rectangles of steel beams making up the frame. I seriously doubt sagging is going to be an issue. I'm sure that was looked at during the design.
 
iusedtoberich said:
From looking at the pic and with a manufacturing background, I can offer:

The frame is made of bent sheetmetal in steel. NOT extruded aluminum. (the Rasson is extruded aluminum). That's a much better choice, imo, because each frame member can be customized for no additional cost. All the holes and fasteners are put in automatically during the punching/laser cutting process, then it's bent. Extruded aluminum needs secondary machining operations to get all the fasteners and cuts in. Or, you end up with sliding fasteners in the T-slots of the extrusion that can move all over the place.

There are lots of off-the-shelf fastening systems for sheetmetal, including fasteners with built-in thread-locking mechanisms. They are called PEM fasteners, and are the industry standard, and are pressed into the sheetmetal. I can't tell from looking at the pic which was used, but I'd imagine one of them was. If so, that means no loose nuts to lose, (the nut is pressed into the sheetmetal and becomes permanent to it). Or, the screw can be pressed into the sheetmetal, (its then called a stud), and the nut is loose. This is good for us so less chance of the mechanic leaving stuff off.

The ball return looks very well integrated into the design. Less things exposed to break, or fail in the field. Also possibly save on shipping size. The tunnels also look to be bent sheetmetal in a "U" shape. Better than the older GC wire tracks, imo, that if they move slightly, the balls fall out and/or get stuck.

The pedestal base looks like they are possibly two pieces that stack on top of each other? If so, that might be to reduce the cube-size (shipping size). Or, it could just be an aesthetic line and is all one piece underneath.
Click to expand...
Without testing that frame in person its hard to say how much of an improvement over wood it would be if at all. In the middle of the long rail there is not only a large hole in the main vertical section but also a large cut out for the side pocket in the horizontal section. Both will weaken the long rail substantially. A good example of how metal can look strong but be quite flexible are the frames from the mid sized GM car line (the full frame era of 60's-80's before uni-body). The frames appeared to be very sturdy until the body was removed, at that point the frames were very flexible.
 
fastone371 said:
Without testing that frame in person its hard to say how much of an improvement over wood it would be if at all. In the middle of the long rail there is not only a large hole in the main vertical section but also a large cut out for the side pocket in the horizontal section. Both will weaken the long rail substantially. A good example of how metal can look strong but be quite flexible are the frames from the mid sized GM car line (the full frame era of 60's-80's before uni-body). The frames appeared to be very sturdy until the body was removed, at that point the frames were very flexible.
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Agree. If it’s equivalent to a wood GC it’s good enough.

From a manufacturing perspective it might be better. More design flexibility. Less/none machining. No warping to worry about. Etc.
 
fastone371 said:
Without testing that frame in person its hard to say how much of an improvement over wood it would be if at all. In the middle of the long rail there is not only a large hole in the main vertical section but also a large cut out for the side pocket in the horizontal section. Both will weaken the long rail substantially. A good example of how metal can look strong but be quite flexible are the frames from the mid sized GM car line (the full frame era of 60's-80's before uni-body). The frames appeared to be very sturdy until the body was removed, at that point the frames were very flexible.
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I'd bet pretty high that frame is strong as fk. The main reason for metal is cost and consistency. You can make every frame exactly alike without worrying about wood's variables.
 
garczar said:
I just asked my buddy in KC and he said the shelf is a little deeper than the GC4's they had but not as deep as a Diamond. He's gonna play on it later and will give me more info.
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Can you ask him for any closeups of the cushions and/or rail construction? Beggars CAN be choosers:)

Edit, also the leveling system.
 
iusedtoberich said:
Can you ask him for any closeups of the cushions and/or rail construction? Beggars CAN be choosers:)

Edit, also the leveling system.
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