Mechanical Slots Restoration

[hd474]

here are some of my restoration projects....

1. Tura Bell (German made based on a Mills mechaninsm, ca. 1933)



2. Jennings Sun Chief (USA ca. 1955)



3. Jennings Govenor (USA ca.1965)



Each job took about 3 months. Next project is another Jennings Govenor I just bought for $200. Condition is pretty bad, but this means more fun.....

[stayouttadabunker]

That's beautiful! 
How did you get the chrome and metals to shine like that?
What did you use?

[slotsteve]

great job  top of the line  , those  jenning 5p,s we use to buy in london for 35/50  usd each those were there days

[pinballmike49]

SUPER SHARP !!!......A++++++++++++++

[Foster]

Super Sharp and Nice Looking!!

Great Restoration!!

[hd474]

Thanks for your comments!

@stayouttadabunker:
Basically all parts are completely new plated. Each machine was completely disassembled, each single part was cleaned and re-plated. The casting of the Jennings machines were chrome plated, the casting parts of the Tura (machine on top) was just glassball blasted and polished to mirror finish (this is a dirty job, believe me....)

@all
I've shown some pictures of one of the Jennings jobs here in the forum some time ago, but I believe the forum moved and the pictures are gone (I even had to register again). I remember one of the replies to that former thread was very interesting. Someone asked the question, if this kind of restoration wouldn't be over the top and if this would not destroy the history of such a machine. That made me think for while,  because at that time I was planning to restore a old Bally Bingo Game from the 50's. I still haven't started that Bingo restoration, but I decided to do all my future restoration on the same level like the slots I've did. But I still find the question interesting..... What's your opinion?

[stayouttadabunker]

ha! You kidding me?
Who's going to want to buy an old rusty machine with chrome and paint peeling off?
What you do in your restoration only ADDS to the value I would think!

The same goes for antique cars...

[Ron (r273)]

ha! You kidding me?
Who's going to want to buy an old rusty machine with chrome and paint peeling off?
What you do in your restoration only ADDS to the value I would think!

The same goes for antique cars...

 

Ron

[Op-Bell]

Really excellent craftsmanship, K+. I take it you do this for fun, and not for profit? Or perhaps you own a plating shop.

[hd474]

Thanks Guys,

I started to believe I would be the only one with that opinion. Looks like I've spoken to too many Juke collectors in the last time. Re-plating of chromed parts is often seen as "NO-GO" when you talk to them. But restoring for me always meant, that the item should be taken back to a -like new- condition. Like you said, nobody would prefer a vintage car with dents and rust over a fully restored version with a perfectly done new paintjob. (I assume the work under the paint to be perfect too.....)

@Op-Bell: You're right, I do this just for fun. But paying for the plating always makes me cry......

[Paladin]

Very impressive!    As for the restoration question, I don't know how someone could look at the before and after pictures and say they like the before better.  How would anybody know what these looked like when they were new if no one restored them, from old black and white photos?

[stayouttadabunker]

Almost every old machine I have ever seen look like your "before" photos...
It's kinda like valuable old coins that are tarnished....
You can restore them back to their original shine and
you can ruin the value of them - if it's done incorrectly.
There are many guys here who love fixing up their old machines
and restoring them back to nearly factory specs.
Some guys like to build, tinker, and do modifications with them
while others do a bad job...
You, on the other hand, even though a bit costly - get it done right!

[Op-Bell]

It's kinda like valuable old coins that are tarnished.... You can restore them back to their original shine and you can ruin the value of them - if it's done incorrectly.

Coin collectors are anal about that, but I think that's because they regard the tarnish and oxidation from age as actually part of the coin. You do not, after all, regularly clean and polish the coins in your pocket, whereas people do wash and polish their cars (so I'm told I own the filthiest car in Las Vegas). So my attitude is that if it's something that people would normally clean, polish, repair and maintain in normal use, then restoring it to as-new condition is a right and proper thing to do.

On the other hand, there's such a thing as being too well restored, and I've seen machines attract poor bidding at auctions because they were so fine they looked like modern reproductions. When something's fifty years old it's all right for it to have a few lines and wrinkles - you expect your wife to look more or less her age - you wouldn't want her to have the body of an 18 year old now, would you?    (probably a bad example - don't answer that).

[StatFreak]

Those are amazing restorations; keep up the good work. 
K+ and thanks for sharing those pictures.

What kind of paint do you use and how do you go about matching the original colors? Do you buy reproduction strips, find NOS replacements, or clean the originals, and if you clean them, what do you use?

[hd474]

The machine on the top has a Mills 10 stop reel mechanism, reproduction strips are pretty easy to get. Both Jennings still have their original strips. I cleaned them very carefully. The newer Jennings (Govenor) has plastic strips anyway, so no big deal there. But it also wouldn't be a big problem to do new strips on my own, since I scanned all symbols and the rest would be just a little Photoshop and Freehand magic. All paytables/top sign on the machines were made that way.

For the paint I've choosen colors which I believed to be close to the original. The paint scheme for the machine on top was slightly visible after I removed that "Camouflage look", Jennings machines just have this red square at the front, which is straight forward. I didn't use any special color, I took what my local hardware store had in the shelfs.

I just wanted to add two new pictures, which I really like.... both pictures show the same machine before and after, just from different angles. the base plate is not painted, just blasted.

[stayouttadabunker]

Night and Day...Beautiful!

[william]

         Very nice work