Buckley Jewel Box Digger restoration

[slotalot]

It's looking good Can't wait to see the finished item.... Good luck with it

[arrgee]

I gave up trying to draw it in Google Sketchup but may try again using other software

Try Inventor Fusion 2013 Mr pennymachines, great little programme

[gamblingman]

I know it has been a while since I posted about the digger, so I thought I would throw out an update. A lot has happened since I made the mold for the Buckley door.....I sent it to the foundry and the owner called to tell me it needed work, but he also told me he knew a guy that had good originals of the door and a lot of the other parts I was looking for, and he only lived a few miles away. Long story short, I called the guy and talked him into taking a whole lot of pieces to the foundry to have casted. Great guy, and he never charged me a dime! I was smart enough to have extras made, and as it ended up I wound up with a bunch of great and impossible to find parts for very little cost. Shortly after I had the castings made, I found another Buckley digger that was missing a bunch of pieces, and I bought it off of ebay with the intention of using it for parts. Once I got everything apart on both diggers, I soon realized with the extra parts I had made, I had enough for TWO diggers. The only thing I was missing was the faceplate....which I figured was going to be impossible to find. I called the collector back to see if he had a face he would loan for casting, and to my surprise, he said he had a Treasure Island face he would just sell me outright! So the project of two diggers is now fully underway. I disassembled everything down to the brass washer, and cleaned and detailed every piece. I sent a huge lot off to be nickel plated, and I also sent the castings off to be polished. Last week I got all of the parts back and I am now underway in assembling and fitting the mechanisms. I'll be done in a week or two and will start on the cabinets next. I've already stripped one and it is ready for paint.....I counted no less than 7 layers of very thick paint that were stripped away (what a chore). The other cabinet was too badly damaged to salvage, so a local cabinetmaker is creating a new one for me. The only dark cloud came when I picked up everything from the plate shop and they told me they had caught some of the tin work in their buffing wheel and had creased it pretty severely. Luckily Jim Roller had another set that he sent me, and I will be having it plated later next week. I hope to be completed with both diggers by the end of winter, and I an anxious to post some pictures of the finished products. I've restored slots for years, and when I first looked at the digger I bought, I thought "how hard can it be". Little did I know how detailed those things are, and how many parts they have.....the guys that made these were geniuses! It's been quite a ride just talking with people. finding parts, and getting tips. A big thanks goes out to all of you for the help in getting me started. They are both going to look great when done, but then I am never doing a digger again.....lol OK maybe one or two, but my wife tells me she wishes I would go back to slots so she can feel like she has a husband again. Anyway, that's the update for now.....thanks again

[gameswat]

Gambling, look forward to some pics. Thanks for the update, sounds like you've done a first class job. Always sucks when someone else buggers up parts though. As a consequence I always do the prep work for plating myself, and helps keep the price down as a nice benefit. Back in the old days I was always pissed when sometimes the parts came back with the previously sharp edges rounded off. Or with ripples in the once flat surfaces, which the brand new plating would then accentuate. And once the idiot polished the wrong side of the part, and it was easy to see that side had never been polished in the first place and had been protected against the cabinet!! Then i had to mark each piece so they wouldn't do the same thing again. Those were old time platers and did a decent quality job most of the time, the best we could find for jukeboxes. But eventually they got too old and closed. That's when i started stripping and polishing myself and telling the new platers, "Just nickel plate, don't touch them, don't even look at them!" haha.

[gamblingman]

Definitely good advice for sure. I am building a framework for the new set of metalwork I got, so it will be a lot sturdier, and just as you said, I am going to do the prep work myself. My hope is the frame will keep them from catching the metal in the buffer again....it will be a little cumbersome to work with, and cost me a bit more in plating, but it is going to be worth it for sure. Life lesson learned....I'm just thankful it was a part I could replace. The shop did such a great job on the first one I sent them, I never dreamed this would happen....... I do have to say, at least they told me about it and took ownership of the issue and didn't try to hide it.....which is a lot more than I can say for some shops.

[gamblingman]

Topic moved & merged - Site Admin.

With the help of a couple of folks on this Forum, I finally finished the restoration of the Buckley Jewel Box Digger that I have been working on for the past year. I started with pieces to this puzzle, and the intent was to do a simple restoration on what seemed to be a simple arcade game. By the time I got to the end of the journey, I had restored a second (Treasure Island) Buckley digger, and spent countless hours tracking down parts, and putting these things together. Thanks to everyone who supplied pictures and information to me.....it really helped a bunch.

What started the journey..............

Pics of the Treasure Island. The colors are not as bad as they look.....the camera flash made them look much different.

Buckley Jewel Box Digger.

[coppinpr]

Very well done, a really great job.

[wembleylion]

Wow, what a brilliant restoration job; the Jewel Box especially looks really fabulous. Well done.

John

[pennymachines]

I've enjoyed following this little saga. When you originally asked for assistance with the missing casting I wasn't optimistic but your results prove once more what can be achieved with perseverance plus a little help from our friends. First class!

[gamblingman]

Looks like this gets in your blood.....I just purchased two more old unrestored Buckley diggers from a picker in California. One is a Jewel Box, and the other is a Deluxe. Both are in a little rougher shape than what I started with on this last project. I should be able to bring both back to life though. And the saga continues...........................

[badpenny]

You need help mate ..........

[gamblingman]

Yes I do......but I warn you, I am flying into Heathrow in August in an attempt to spread some of the sickness across the pond............

[clubconsoles]

I have an original CAST IRON treasure Island trap door. PM for further details, measurements etc!