The longest timescale for a project

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grains
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The longest timescale for a project

Post by grains »

I found an old mash potato tin in the garage which contained lots of screws and parts from an Aristocrat Arcadian machine I purchased around 1990. As teenager at the time I was full of enthusiam and undaunted by the shabby brush painted case and the front perspex smashed and held together with electrical tape.

I paid £60 for the machine at an antique fair and left with a smile on my face. I'd just got myself a one arm bandit! Took it all to pieces, got the case re-coated as I couldn't afford the chroming and did my best to get it looking presentable but never really finished it.

Sadly there was no forum to refer to at that time and the reels only span a few positions when the mech was cranked so I gave up on it after that. There were quite a few parts left over after my efforts and I chucked away the electrics for the lights!

For some reason I kept the machine and have decided now to try and put right the mistakes from 30 years ago and finish what I started. I wondered if other forum members had started projects a long time ago and are hoping to finish them one day?
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special when lit
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Re: The longest timescale for a project

Post by special when lit »

Not quite as long as that, but around 2009, I bought a Hi top. It needed work to the case & the mech didn't work, but it was clean & had been re-chromed.
Stripped all the flaking laminate off the case & re-finished it, & re-built the mech. I then stripped & tried to re-paint the castings. For various reasons, I couldn't get a decent finish, so in a huff, I chucked them to the back of the shed.
F/F 10 years & I'd got fed up of tripping over them, & decided to have another go. Got a half decent finish this time, so put it all together.
I was hoping for a lot, really as the mech didn't work at all. After investigation, I found lots of bent things, vertical fingers, the arm that pushes them back, the reel spindle & the axles on the payout discs were all bent & causing problems. No worries, after a bit of hammer work, got it all working fine, & is now one of my favourite machines.
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badpenny
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Re: The longest timescale for a project

Post by badpenny »

We had a similar thread running several lots of years ago.
At the time I confessed to having a S&L Conveyor which had been festering away in my shed for simply oodles of time.
I sorted that out by carrying it around for another 5 years, 3 homes and 2 women. I then sold it on after having done nothing to it.

Now at the top of my heap of embarrassment I have an early Bradshaws, front opener (which I've also mentioned on here before) Well it's all there, and I've still done nowt to it, except for hiding all the brass plates and locks etc away somewhere safe !PUZZLED!

I've had this one for about 20 years, 6 homes and 6 women.
My excuse is it only needs a front glass, so I never bother.

Challengera.jpg

BP :cool:
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badpenny
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Re: The longest timescale for a project

Post by badpenny »

Further to my previous post above, things regarding project machines are not improving. In fact it's safe to say it's all festering nicely.

Every day is a school day …

I only started collecting machines in 1971 (I was 17), it followed 4 years of helping Uncle Gordon over the summer holidays in his arcade in Paignton.

Now I'm 68 and, I have learnt today that I have too many projects laying around.
I didn't work this out for myself, somebody else saw the light and felt the need to share it with me.
I bet you can't guess who?
Well, it was then pointed out to me, of course how selfish it was of me and that it was embarrassing when guests came round.

I tentatively suggested that there may well be a jot of exaggeration being portrayed here as, when it came to machines in general I really hadn't crammed them into every room of the house as was being claimed.
There was only one in her bedroom, and only seven in mine.
None in the bathroom and only a lonely one at the top of the stairs.
The kitchen is empty, err … no, actually there's two and the back room is a moving number, it currently stands at a mere six. Which is the same number as the front room.

The workshed, I can't use because six or maybe 7 are out there and the lockup may have 9/10, perhaps.
When it comes to projects I can guess at about a dozen.

So who can beat these …

Bryans Gap Win – 3 years
Bradshaw Challenger pre-war oak case not 60s formica – 20+ years
Jennings Galaxy – 25 years
BMCo Allwin – 3 years
2 x Gunther W English conversions – 6 years
Columbia Groetchen double J pot – (I forget)
Electro Mech Drop case – 6 years
Aristocrat Clubmaster – 1 year

I now realise there's also a 60s flasher, a couple of bandits and a wall machine or two that SWMBO thinks are projects, but actually just came my way and are here under disguise.
It's these buggers that are stopping my collecting as I am now under an embargo.

Is it only me that experiences this, are others drowning like me too?

BP :oops:
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coppinpr
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Re: The longest timescale for a project

Post by coppinpr »

in this case "drowning" is a relative term that is the result of a complex mathematical formula (AUP = (HS/AM/SO) +/-- ((ST x (CA>50) +UR))

acceptable unfinished projects = available ground floor rooms/ available money/number of SWMO's in the house +/- number of stairs in the house x the collector's age over 50 + the number of rooms on the upper floors. (please note the answer might be a minus figure :#:
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john t peterson
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Re: The longest timescale for a project

Post by john t peterson »

Who says coin-op collectors ain't smart??

J Peterson
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badpenny
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Re: The longest timescale for a project

Post by badpenny »

Thanks both .... I guess that's what I'll do then.

BP !PUZZLED!
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badpenny
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Re: The longest timescale for a project

Post by badpenny »

A special thanks to the helpful individual who pm'd me suggesting ....
"In line with the traditions of the mid 60s, you should have a bonfire on the beach"

BP
livinginthepast
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Re: The longest timescale for a project

Post by livinginthepast »

badpenny wrote: Thu Apr 29, 2021 8:30 pm 6 homes and 6 women

At least no one can accuse you of being a misogynist!
pennymachines
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Re: The longest timescale for a project

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"Divorced, beheaded, died. Divorced, beheaded, survived." !!UHOH!!
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john t peterson
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Re: The longest timescale for a project

Post by john t peterson »

BP is the Catman....9 lives.
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coppinpr
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Re: The longest timescale for a project

Post by coppinpr »

badpenny wrote:
6 homes and 6 women
your travel and vitamin expenses must be huge..and it seems like an extreme way just to get extra rooms for your projects !!SUICIDAL!!
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badpenny
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Re: The longest timescale for a project

Post by badpenny »

No need for vitamins.
As soon as I reached retirement age I ceased all such unsavoury activity. !SAINT!
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