1929 Bradley Challenger restoration

[mei-mei]

Topic split, moved & merged - Site Admin.

Got ya, thanks.
Do you still have these? If so how do I proceed? I have not done this before. Thank you, Mei-mei.

[pennymachines]

Slotalot posted them so we can make our own.
Not easy to reproduce convincingly. Have a look at this thread: Restoring, inpainting & reproducing machine plaques etc. and see what Gameswat achieved here: 1940s Hi Top restoration questions
If you succeed, post a picture and win the undying admiration of us all!

[mei-mei]

Hi, thanks for the heads up. I have emailed the guy who makes up the plates and will let you know if I get any response. I don't think my skills run to the efforts of the other guy, so will keep my fingers crossed. Mei-mei

[mei-mei]

Hi, the guy that does the plates has got back to me. He can make them easily enough, but needs measurements of the plates, the distance between holes and a real clear pic to work from. Does anyone have this info, as my machine has no plates at all? Mei-mei

[pennymachines]

Hi, the guy that does the plates has got back to me.

Is that vintagebrassplates.co.uk ?

Have you talked prices?
My Challenger (whose rear I photographed for you recently) has no plates either. I suspect there are others who might need some of these too.
I have original plates on another machine, so if the cost is sensible, maybe I could post them (recorded) to the company for accurate copying. Perhaps this would be preferable to sending images?

[gameswat]

Oh, so simple brass rubbings are good enough for foreigners to Westminster Abbey but not good enough for you PM?!

[mei-mei]

Have talked prices and estimated at £120.00 before I gave him the correct measurements. I bought my machine at a low price so the addition of £120.00 is not a prob. I will be experimenting with taking a mould in silicon and making a replica in acrylic. Will let you know how I get on, though prob won't have anything to work with until Jan Feb next year.

[mei-mei]

Ta Daaa! With the exception of a little touch up paint work that I just spotted on the photo, she is now as near to original as I can make it. Bit touch and go removing the appalling laminate on the exterior as I did not know what condition the wood was going to be in underneath. I don't use clear varnish on my machines as it leaves a harsh glare, but use Button Polish which is not a polish as it sounds. (An old french polishing trick I learned years ago) as the layers build up it gives a nice honey tone to the finish while leaving a durable seal to the wood. Before and after pics below, I left the glass off to reduce the reflection in the pic.

[pennymachines]

That looks like excellent work Mei-Mei - a transformation. Those furniture restoring skills will be very useful in this hobby. I'm just sorry to see Father Christmas didn't bring you that tripod.

I also like a bit of the old button polish, usually applied by brush rather than rubbing pads, on the basis that post '30s production probably didn't afford time-consuming, high gloss French polishing on these games.

While hiding machines from my family this Christmas I discovered another Challenger without instruction plates. I'm thinking some of that £120 you were quoted must include set up costs, so maybe it will come down a bit if we were to order a quantity. I might give the fellow a call in the New Year.

[mei-mei]

Hi, thanks for the tips. I am a bit worried by the bloke that does the plates. He email me back after I had sent the correct measurements and there was a wait of 2 days until he got back to me saying, 'My email site has gone down and I have to set up a new one before I can get back to you with costs and time scale, prob in the New Year'. Very concerned that this might be a scam as how the hell does your site go down if you are professional? Suggestions?

[mei-mei]

P.S. with regards to the button polish: The high gloss shine can only be achieved if you apply the final coat of wax polish and linseed oil. Stop me if I'm preaching to the choir! I find the shellack finish is as tough as old boots and just gives enough shine to match the age and condition of an old machine.

[badpenny]

No no, tell us more.

It's only by sharing skills that we all benefit. Approach it as if nobody knows anything.
It doesn't matter if only one of us learns something.

Perhaps you could do a beginners guide to Effective Polishing and shove it in "Tips" ?

[mei-mei]

Like you said it is rather a labourious job especially with all the knobs and vents and handles sticking out. I think it would rather put people off. But I recommend you try a small patch of wood using all the technique to see the difference between painting it on the using the 'rubber' method. It really does bring out the grain and natural lustre of the wood.

[mei-mei]

Hi, to all Challenger owners who are short of instruction plates. I have made contact with a guy who can make up these plates exactly to spec. He is quoting aprox 60.00 - 70.00 for the set of 3 if more than one of us needs them. He can do them in either brass, aluminium or stainless steel for the same price. The plate can have a black coloured overlay or just left plain for you to paint your own. I direct you to his website for examples.

http://vintagebrassplates.co.uk/

To get these plates normally the cost is 120.00 because of the set up for artwork and lazer cutting of screw and lock holes. I have listed below the sizes of the ones I am going to get cut, so please check your sizes to see if they match. Mei-mei


The sizes of the three pieces is as follows:

Triangular

Length along the top - 17.5 cm
Length along the side - 8.5 cm
Diameter of the large hole - 2 cm
Diameter of the 5 screw holes - 2 mm

Rectangle

Length along the top - 11.5 cm
Length along the side - 2 cm
Diameter of the 2 screw holes 2 mm.

[pennymachines]

Just a reminder to anyone that needs a set of Bradley Challenger instruction plates - now's the time to order them.

I just spoke to Chris at vintagebrassplates.co.uk and will be sending him my original plates to ensure the copies are as accurate as possible. The originals were brass, electroplated, so the best option (to avoid the extra expense of plating) will be to have them made in bright stainless steel, with black painted inset. Chris says the polished steel he uses is a very good match for nickel plate (not as bright/cold as chrome). Black is the only available inset colour, but of course this could be over-painted in a different colour, if required.

There are many reports on the internet of work done by vintagebrassplates.co.uk, all of them very positive, as far as I can see.
Mei-mei mentioned a quote of around £60-70 a set, which seems very fair to me. Chris will provide exact pricing when he has the plates and knows how many are required.

[mei-mei]

Hi Penny Machines, glad you were able to sort something out and hope that others read your email to make good use of the offer. Mei-mei

[pennymachines]

The left hand instruction plate shows the machine number. As Gameswat noted (in the definitive Bradley Challenger thread), your machine's number can also be derived from the number on the locks, minus 1000 (provided they're original). So my locks are 2256 and my machine number is 200/1256. The first number refers to the model and should be the same on all but the variants. The Shooting Star is 202, proving, as might be guessed, this came after the Challenger. I'll get Chris to include the 200/ so the unique number can be engraved later if known/desired.

Treefrog also mentioned possible modern replacements for the original brass Vaun locks. I've used these Lowe & Fletcher long barrelled locks in the past - not perfect but can be made to do the job. However, they don't seem to be readily available now.

[mei-mei]

Thanks for the heads up, I will now refine my lock search. Mei-mei

[pennymachines]

Instruction plates arrived today - can't fault them. There were a couple of Challenger wrecks (with chopped-down cabinets, sans instruction plates, castings and locks) in yesterday's EH auction, but bidding started above what I would have thought reasonable for junkers/spares.

[arrgee]

They look very good Mr PM
The plates............ not the machines