Bryans Locks

General vintage slot machine related topics.
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arrgee
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Re: Which lock?

Post by arrgee »

Bryans certainly used the square type Yale locks on their machines, whether it was door or drawer, if it was my machine I would match the lock arrangements that exist
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JC
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Re: Which lock?

Post by JC »

Most Bryans machines I have seen used the Yale cam lock on the doors with the smaller 'flat key' locks on the cash door drawers
I wouldn't want to argue with you Argee, but I really don't agree. From my observations over many years, my view is that Bryans used flat key locks on both the main and cash box doors on their earlier allwins, but at some point changed to the square Yale cam locks on later machines. That's not to say you haven't encountered machines with mixed locks, but I very much doubt they were built that way. Why would they do that? As ged8 says, it just looks wrong.
Locks go missing - I've restored a good number of machines with one or more missing locks, and I guess some collectors have simply used whatever they could source. For many years, the Yale cam locks were easily sourced (if you knew who had them - I think he's sold out now). Personally, I would always ensure both locks matched when restoring a machine, but not everyone is as fastidious as I am. Pictures below of two fairly early Bryans allwins that I sold last year, both with flat key locks.
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BR24.jpg
BR23.jpg
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treefrog
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Re: Which lock?

Post by treefrog »

The square Yale cam lock is still available and widely available from locksmiths and online. Prices vary widely, but I bought 12 at £10 each including the tabs from a locksmith in south London not long ago......
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Re: Which lock?

Post by coppinpr »

Locks go missing
They also get broken. Keys broke in locks or keys got lost, these machines were very busy, operators must have had to replace locks from time to time. It's quite possible operators even contacted Bryans for replacement locks years after Bryans stopped using the original style and Bryans actually supplied the new locks for old machines leading to a mix of locks.
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arrgee
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Re: Which lock?

Post by arrgee »

JC wrote:From my observations over many years, my view is that Bryans used flat key locks on both the main and cash box doors on their earlier allwins, but at some point changed to the square Yale cam locks on later machines
Take your point JC, which seems a reasonable conclusion
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Re: Which lock?

Post by pennymachines »

A square Yale on the mech and inset cabinet lock on the cash door seems standard on the later Bryans allwins. The Forks patent shows a Yale. I don't recall how they appear on the flyers.
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Re: Which lock?

Post by arrgee »

pennymachines wrote:I don't recall how they appear on the flyers
Like this Mr pm showing both types but as JC points out, not mixed.
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00A Bryans flyer single ball machines.jpg
005A Bryans flyer 3 ball machines.jpg
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Re: Which lock?

Post by pennymachines »

Interesting. The streamline versions usually have a Yale for the mech and a Lowe & Fletcher type cabinet lock in the horizontal centre of the cashbox door, like these. It seems weird that the more secure lock isn't on the cashbox.

I think Jim Bryan was using round-bodied cam locks throughout by the 1990s.

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arrgee
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Re: Which lock?

Post by arrgee »

Intriguing Mr pm, the plot thickens as Bryans were using circular cam locks in the 1970s. If you look (very close up) at the photo of the Bryan's Works Stand for 1973 in Paul Braithwaite's book, it shows a Fivewin and Tencup with circular cam locks on the door and cashbox door and a Pilwin in streamline case also with circular cam lock on door and possibly the L & F type cabinet lock on the cashbox door. The photo also shows a Gapwin with the square Yale type cam lock on door and cashbox doors, there is also a U-Win with a square type Yale Lock on its cashbox door, the main door lock is obscured by the Pilwin. I think the Elevenses on the extreme right of the photo also has the circular cam locks on both door and cashbox.
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Re: Bryans allwin locks

Post by ged8 »

Thanks for all the info on the locks. I have another dilemma regarding the strike/keep of the locks. Mine on the the door is just a drilled hole. I expect it should be some sort of metal arrangement. On the cash draw, mine has a central lock which has nothing - just two screw holes where something should be screwed.
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arrgee
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Re: Bryans allwin locks

Post by arrgee »

ged8 wrote:....... just 2 screw holes where something should be screwed
Not sure how the original locks were retained ged8 I have seen quite a few variants, however, this was salvaged from a wrecked Bryans Tencup, it is a small metal block 1" high with two screw holes for fixing it to the internal side of the case and was used to retain the cam of the lock, it looks original and has traces of the 'Bryans blue' paint on it.
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cam-lock-keepa.jpg
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Re: Bryans allwin locks

Post by ged8 »

Yes, thanks agree, that looks like the one to fit the cash draw. Now I know what to look out for, great. The front door has me baffled, as my pic shows just drill holes that the lock bolt goes in, but did it have a slot cut into the side of the case when it was new? I think I have the right lock “Yale” with a flat key.
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Re: Bryans allwin locks

Post by pennymachines »

Here's the keep on a streamline mech door (same as above, but with the horizontal latch pin in place).
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door-mech-keep.jpg
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arrgee
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Re: Bryans allwin locks

Post by arrgee »

pennymachines wrote:but with the horizontal latch pin in place
Often wondered what that little hole was for, now I know, thanks Mr pm
ged8 wrote:but did it have a slot cut into the side of the case when it was new
Maybe the 'butchered' slot could have been dug out over the two original screw holes for the keep block. :!?!:
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Re: Bryans allwin locks

Post by ged8 »

Yes maybe but I can’t see how this keep would work with an ordinary lock with a bolt. I can see it works with a cam lock. The Yale lock I have on the front / Mec door is not a cam lock and I think it’s the right one as all the screw holes line up, the dia of the key hole is correct. This is my lock.
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Re: Bryans Locks

Post by pennymachines »

That's right, the metal keep is for a cam lock.
The bolt on your lock looks thicker than usual and the cross-head fixing screws aren't original. I wonder if it's been swapped. Is the bolt too short to project into the cabinet side? Does the rather rough hole in the cabinet side even line up with the bolt? !PUZZLED!
Could you post a front-on image of the game.
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