Duo Mat restoration
Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2020 7:14 pm
So I've had the good fortune and pleasure to have a few projects come to fruition at the same time over the past week. Here's another. Many will know the Gunter Wulff Duo Mat. Being quite new to this hobby I knew very little when I got it and wasn't sure it was really for me, tending to think I was going more for the EM stuff. However, having spent some time on it, I totally love this machine now!
This one was a non-runner. It had the linkage between the handle and the main mechanism missing and whole thing was gummed solid. A complete strip to clean the old grease off (a couple of tricky moments when I was worried I would break it rather than free a couple of axles and bearings) - the suggestion of a heat gun was gratefully received! Thanks to starter images from this site and a bit of Photoshop I managed to create some new pay cards to replace the missing ones (just got them printed as photos via Snapfish). Stripped and resprayed all the metalwork and sanded and re-varnished the case. I also had to re-glue some peeling veneer and replace the whole veneer on the bottom edge of the case as too much was missing to save. I couldn't manage to remove the two metal trims from around the machine outer and the play window as I think I would have done too much damage, so ended up masking and spraying in situ which actually turned out ok.
This one had previously been converted to thrupenny bits. For those who haven't had the pleasure of playing one, a coin and one turn of the handle sets the thing in motion. Both wheels spin. The top one stops first on an amount (still in Pfennigs). The bottom one then stops. If the bottom one stops on red or black you get 2 coins back. If it stops on green you get the amount shown on the top wheel - except you don't due to the conversion. 40 gets you 2 coins, 60 or 80, 4 coins, and 1 dm gives the grand jackpot of 6 thrupenny bits.
It is an ingenious mechanism and runs so smoothly. It keeps drawing the mechanic in me back! The striped veneers on the case and the birds eye maple (I think) on the front are just stunning. Can you imagine anyone going to that much trouble on a more modern machine?
This one was a non-runner. It had the linkage between the handle and the main mechanism missing and whole thing was gummed solid. A complete strip to clean the old grease off (a couple of tricky moments when I was worried I would break it rather than free a couple of axles and bearings) - the suggestion of a heat gun was gratefully received! Thanks to starter images from this site and a bit of Photoshop I managed to create some new pay cards to replace the missing ones (just got them printed as photos via Snapfish). Stripped and resprayed all the metalwork and sanded and re-varnished the case. I also had to re-glue some peeling veneer and replace the whole veneer on the bottom edge of the case as too much was missing to save. I couldn't manage to remove the two metal trims from around the machine outer and the play window as I think I would have done too much damage, so ended up masking and spraying in situ which actually turned out ok.
This one had previously been converted to thrupenny bits. For those who haven't had the pleasure of playing one, a coin and one turn of the handle sets the thing in motion. Both wheels spin. The top one stops first on an amount (still in Pfennigs). The bottom one then stops. If the bottom one stops on red or black you get 2 coins back. If it stops on green you get the amount shown on the top wheel - except you don't due to the conversion. 40 gets you 2 coins, 60 or 80, 4 coins, and 1 dm gives the grand jackpot of 6 thrupenny bits.
It is an ingenious mechanism and runs so smoothly. It keeps drawing the mechanic in me back! The striped veneers on the case and the birds eye maple (I think) on the front are just stunning. Can you imagine anyone going to that much trouble on a more modern machine?
