Went over to my friends shop and grabbed a box of old Arachnid parts he had. Wanted to show you how the set up works.


This 1st pic gives you an idea of just how deep the segments are. This particular segment is the small pie area right outside the bull on each number. This segment alone could store hundred's and hundreds of broken tips after they are pushed through.

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I took the cover off the back of the segment to show how deep it is. The actual tip of the darts hits nothing but air when the dart lands. You can see the tip just barely sticking through here.

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This pic gives you an idea of just how many small broken tips a segment can store. This small pie segment could last years without ever having to empty it. Also depends on it's location on the board. Just as in steel tip, we had to rotate and sometimes replace segments if they are a high target area. Like the 20 or the bull.

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See the 2 small x's? Those are what hits the electronic pad and registers the scores. A 1/8 inch thick rubber pad rests on the back of the segments and covers the touch sensitive pad.

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An older Arachnid bullseye segment. This one doesn't have a split bull. The entire area would be worth 50.

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very cool to see JD, thanks!

Ton of old parts still new in the box. This stuff should be worth a little bit to the right person restoring an old board.

Here's a brand new card reader.

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Also have a few brand new motherboard chips.

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Great pictures JD.

Just wondering as I have never thrown at a soft tip board , do you have to throw the darts straight or will they still go in with an arc type throw?

Coming down into the board at an angle I mean?

Cheers.

They will still go in but will land straight in the board

Got you

And when they land straight, like a Deano throw for example, it really messes with some steel tip players the 1st time they play. Some steel tippers are used to there dart standing up with the flight a bit higher than the point. Adrian Lewis is one. When they go to soft tip that is completely eliminated. So they would struggle a bit more because they wouldn't be able to use their normal "marker" dart.
That's one thing that makes soft tip a bit more challenging for some.

On the other hand I've had soft tip players come over my house and they are amazed at how their dart lands in my steel tip board. I had a Bosnian friend over the other week and he had NEVER played steel tip. He asked why his darts were standing up in the board. Thought it was very hard to play steel tip because he wasn't used to his darts doing that.

Sound more and more intriguing, I keep putting off getting a soft tip board but think I will have to take the plunge - bit expensive so may have to wait until I get me bonus at work

The always straight landing darts, along with the bigger double and trip section means you seldom (if ever) are blocked. No switching down to 19 as in steel.

I do believe this is the main reason I tear so many dart flights, I thow for what ever segment I need - even if I bounce out I will get the number I thow at. Hell on the flight though, maybe another reason why -older soft tippers in the US play with slim style flight (the other reason is the lighter weight of course). I am myself testing some of the new style flights to see if I can gain an edge on delfections.

Thats very interesting seeing those pics, never thought it would be so deep. So how sensitive is the contact with the conductor because I guess it needs to be able to register a hit even if the darts hits the very corner of that segment.

Clever stuff though, thanks for posting JD

Rebel wrote:

Sound more and more intriguing, I keep putting off getting a soft tip board but think I will have to take the plunge - bit expensive so may have to wait until I get me bonus at work

Puma now make a soft tip practice board. No electronics or fanciness, just the board.

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getagrip wrote:

Thats very interesting seeing those pics, never thought it would be so deep. So how sensitive is the contact with the conductor because I guess it needs to be able to register a hit even if the darts hits the very corner of that segment.

Clever stuff though, thanks for posting JD

There is a screw that adjusts sensitivity. So it's pretty easy to get a machine dialed in. Very rarely will you ever get a false reading.

If you tap the segments with the tip of your finger while game is in play it will register. Yet it's not so sensitive that a segment next door will go off by accident.

Great stuff JD. Always wondered what was behind the grids and how they worked. Thanks