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Hi all,
Just finished the Jets - what a nightmare they have been, took me nearly 18 months off and on. The first hurdle was to design the jet so it catches the penny. The first jet I made was too big as the 8 jets were touching each other. After a few more attempts I finally got it right.

The jets are made out of glass fibre. Again we had problems with this. The glass fibre mat would not bend as there were so many tight angles and bends even fibre glass tissue would not work. In the end we used very fine muslin. This seems to work OK but can make marks in the gel coat. I must have made at least 200 before I got them right. I had three rockets cast for the coin entry. It just gives it a bit more jazz. Got it all assembled yesterday and found out you could not lose (what a shock). That nearly ended up at the wall, a bit of re jigging and got it spot on. We are taking it out for first outing on Saturday , will try and video it. Pete.

Looking forward to it Pete.

BP

Hi all,
Took the Jets out today for the first time, what a cracking money taker. I have put a clip on Utube, just type in old time penny arcade Jets. I will try and see if PM can post it on his site. Bad light today, so not one of the best videos
Pete.

Looking good.

love it

Looks superb, congratulations on your fettling. Never seen anything like it. Yes, it seems to swallow money so good operator profit. Malc

Wish I had the ability to make one. Well done, Pete.

Hi all, thanks for the praise. I wish I had the Jets & Waltzer 20 years ago when there was more money about. I am finding money getting very tight but thankfully we are still going OK. We do 20 goes for one pound. With the Jets & the Waltzer you don't need to explain how they work, they just put their money in, as with the Allwin most of my customers have never seen them and you have to explain how they work. I find with all the gadgets that the kids have these days they still like putting a penny in these old machines. As regards to making things - have a go. I make a lot of things out of cardboard - shoe boxes are great. I made the Jets out of cardboard and super-glue for the pattern then made the proper mould out of silicon. The Jets and the clown heads were wax cast, very expensive as they could only make one at a time. I have a couple more things on the drawing-board to work on over Winter. Pete

Keep at it Pete, you're an inspiration to us all.

BP

20 for a pound, I think that's really good value especially for families. When I went to Isle of Wight at Arreton Barns (think the slots may be gone now?!?), it was 10 old pennies for a pound.