Jennings Governor plating

General vintage slot machine related topics.
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treefrog
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Re: Jennings Governor plating

Post by treefrog »

Ashfords uses an automated email system, which is why you get these messages. I got three chasers for paying after paying two weeks earlier. You get a human when sending a query, sometimes.

I may use someone I know who prepares, polishes items for the platers to finish. He is near me and does mainly motor trade stuff. He also knows what to do with various metal types....we will see as from what I can see, every place has good and bad experiences. I personally would not pay £500 for a Jennings not knowing the outcome. I bought two Jennings Governors with good original chrome from the Elephant 3 years ago for £500 each...
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john t peterson
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Re: Jennings Governor plating

Post by john t peterson »

There's no plate like chrome.
I bow at the knee of the master. !!HYSTERIA!!

J Peterson
Never so puny in America
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coppinpr
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Re: Jennings Governor plating

Post by coppinpr »

There's no plate like chrome.
how true..after all "chrome is where the heart is" :D
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bugdust
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Re: Jennings Governor plating

Post by bugdust »

I accept what Treefrog says, in that, £500 is indeed a hefty sum to pay for re-chroming a Jennings (especially if you can acquire one in good condition for that sum!) but it remains ultimately a personal choice. In my case, the machine was obtained at a very low price due to the poor condition of the chrome and my course was always set to restore it to its former condition as much as possible. Personally, I've always found it a little sad that formerly beautiful pieces (be they Fruit Machines, Allwins or Vintage Triumphs for that matter!) are left in a poor and dilapidated state in the belief that any attempt to restore them will ruin their "Patina" (Which seems to have become a popular euphemism for sellers to positively describe the poor condition of their item in recent years!)
I think the real problem for platers is that, until they actually strip and plate Mazac pieces, even they don't know how it will react. Some areas of the alloy that appear perfectly sound to the naked eye will just refuse to absorb the chrome. A second strip and re-chrome may be subsequently successful on that area, but then reveal several other areas with same problem that were fine during the initial process.
In short, the plater appears to have little to gain from such work, as he risks repeated stripping and chroming to provide an acceptable finish to the customer at financial loss to himself, or runs the risk of negative publicity from a disappointed customer who expected his panels back looking like new.
My original point, however, was that I found it refreshing in this day and age that Doug Taylor Metal Finishing were not only prepared to take on the work having fully explained the risks, but to then strip and re-chrome the items three times before, themselves, being happy with the quality of the work. They could, of course, quite easily have returned the items in a disappointing condition after the first attempt and said "Well, we did warn you!" and still charged me £500.
Anyway, I've used them several times since, mostly for Allwin pieces, and have always been very pleased with results, so I thought it would be useful for others to know. !SAINT!
Last edited by bugdust on Thu May 10, 2018 8:54 am, edited 1 time in total.
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bugdust
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Re: Jennings Governor plating

Post by bugdust »

coppinpr wrote: Thu May 10, 2018 7:31 am
There's no plate like chrome.
how true..after all "chrome is where the heart is" :D
"Show me the way to go chrome" %|%
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treefrog
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Re: Jennings Governor plating

Post by treefrog »

Funnily if you google “recommend platers uk” Doug Taylor comes out top of hit list. Of course my comments were more in tune with Jennings pricing 3 years ago, since then prices went mad. I guess it is all about risk and what value you are willing to lose if all goes wrong. At least Jennings castings are not uncommon I have a few spare sets, it is a lot worse if the item is unique or rare.

I always wondered if manufacturers were just much better in the day as would imagine they had plating plants onsite, or out back were piles of reject casting ready to back in the smelting pot.
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gameswat
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Re: Jennings Governor plating

Post by gameswat »

treefrog wrote: Thu May 10, 2018 9:40 am

I always wondered if manufacturers were just much better in the day as would imagine they had plating plants onsite, or out back were piles of reject casting ready to back in the smelting pot.
Manufacturing and plating do not go well together! Walk around any plating factory and see how corrosive those fumes are!!! Most of the companies outsourced everything they possibly could. When my father visited the Bally factory in the early 1970's he was astounded to learn that the only part they manufactured on site were the pinball wiring looms! Everything else came from other companies that pretty much supplied every other coin-op maker too.
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treefrog
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Re: Jennings Governor plating

Post by treefrog »

I can understand outsourcing makes sense and of course is common in all forms of industry today, but earlier days of manufacturing it was more common to perform things in one place and often in-house, led by companies like Ford who did do this as with a lot of other automotive companies up to the likes of Rolls Royce who would not trust anyone else. Another famous industry performing in-house plating was NCR, National Cash Registers who completed all their Nickel plating in their own factory. Given the size of Mills and Jennings I would have expected them to do the same, but of course they may have passed elsewhere.
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gameswat
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Re: Jennings Governor plating

Post by gameswat »

Tree, coin op machines were generally not built to last very long as they were supposed to be replaced fairly quickly. Consequently they tended to not be built to the same standards as home consumer goods would be. Operators purchased them to make quick money, not long term investments. Wurlitzer would really be the only major coin-op company I can think of who were perfectionists and wouldn't compromise anything. I've restored some of their pre-war machines and they truly are by far the highest quality coin-ops I've ever touched, I consider them the Rolls Royce of coin-op! And of course they were not based in Chicago since they didn't outsource, as far as I know. But just about everyone else was based in Chicago to have easy access to all the specialist suppliers.
cheeky
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Re: Jennings Governor plating

Post by cheeky »

I see that mazac is mentioned again. I know you said it was aluminium BP but everyone I’ve spoken to seems to think it’s mazac. Does anyone know for sure? I am trying to find a plater for a friends Governor. Any more recent recommendations/advice?
mr merrivale
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Re: Jennings Governor plating

Post by mr merrivale »

I have had problems with Ashford Chromeing .the first job was very good but chromed everything ie the sharts even though they were clearly told not to but very goid chrome .the second job lost parts .very poor polishing before chromeing .which means i have parted with Ashford please be aware they sub contract the chromeing i have since been told by my new plateing guys.
mr merrivale
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Re: Jennings Governor plating

Post by mr merrivale »

Just looked new web site .new address ect so maybe a new begining.
cheeky
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Re: Jennings Governor plating

Post by cheeky »

I’ll avoid them from mixed reviews but thank you Peter. Any idea from the troops as to cost of a complete re-chrome of a Governor? I’m thinking £1k. 🤔
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coppinpr
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Re: Jennings Governor plating

Post by coppinpr »

I've used this company a few times for Governors and they were always good and not as expensive as some, BUT it's been a few years since I needed to use them:
https://www.penny-arcade.info/pure-gold-plating

Also, you need to bear in mind that the base metal on Jennings machines was notoriously poor and is not the best base for chrome.
raj
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Re: Jennings Governor plating

Post by raj »

I gave up trying to replate Jennings years ago. The Governor castings are just pot Ali crap and will always fail
Prestige Platers in Mexborough have always done a good job for me at a very fair price. They will plate, but for the Jennings parts, they recommend polishing due to the poor base material. Some Mills castings were made from old warplane Ali, which is very hard to mirror polish, probably better suited to plating. One frequent comment is around triple plating, sold as a good thing. Basically it is copper plate to cover up the crap, followed by nickel plate for the shine, then chrome to protect the nickel. Think about car restoration, all the crap has to be cut back before adding filler and paint. Copper plate is soft, easy to smooth, but wont fix the underlying problem.
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Re: Jennings Governor plating

Post by cheeky »

Around 1988/89 there was an arcade in Great Yarmouth that had 10 Governors that suddenly appeared on the old 5p play. It wasn’t far from Barron’s.

The bandits were in mint condition and I really do mean mint. The chrome work was fabulous and I’m guessing re-done. I can only think that they had gone through the hands of Henry Powell but who knows. :!?!:

About 18 months later the 5p shrunk and the bandits gone. I asked the arcade owner about them but whilst he knew of the machines, he had only just purchased the arcade. The bandits had been removed prior to sale.

Does anyone on this forum remember them. I wonder where they are now. !PUZZLED!
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