Jennings prices

[pennymachines]

...the end result can be maintained quite easily with good quality mirror finish polish (not Autosolve).

Can you tell me why you don't recommend Autosol and what brand of mirror finish polish you use?

[raj]

AutoSol is a very good general purpose polish, however it is too abrasive for mirror finishes (as per the instruction sheet) and will dull a good high polish finish, if only slightly. I use Briliant metal Polish for stainless and aluminium, and it does what it says on the tin, if the instructions are followed correctly. Extensively recommended by bikers and custom car fanatics, it is quite dear, but lasts a long time.
http://www.briliant.biz/

[pennymachines]

Cheers!

[polaris]

Hi raj,
You seem to be very knowledgeable about Jennings - what advice can you give to a novice like me when purchasing one of these machines? What do you mean by straw board? Why do I see some solid wood sides with numbers etched on side?

[raj]

An expert , not for another few decades yet, I think.
Anyway, I've had a good few over the years, so have seen many versions of the machines.
They were shipped out from the US in the 1000s after the UK gaming laws were relaxed and export lines were set up. These are generally the best to buy, often with an 18coin/6d top flash, however many were made for Cruise ships, Casinos and US armed forces around the world. They would typically have wood sides with mahogany or similar stained sides and a blockboard/chipboard base, or a 'Executive' genuine Formica square edged side version. Other options would include the highly sought after vertical light strips in the front casting, in different colours. An untouched item should have matching side and mech numbers, but mechs were often swapped around.

Sometime in '6os there were production lines set up in Cyprus, amongst other places, to recycle the worn out models, and they were rebuilt using inferior materials. Copy castings, strawboard bases and re-manufactured mech parts made from junk metal started to appear. Later, in the UK, other local companies were producing copy cabinets and castings for operators to do their own upgrades. Even escalators have been copied. Back doors were replaced often, as they are easy to break into, and are still manufactured today in the US.
That's it, enough for now. Others will no doubt throw in their thoughts...