Ruffler & Walker allwin payout knob

[markymark]

Hi
My Fill Em Up allwin is missing its knob!!!!!
With little chance of finding another genuine payout knob, I'm wondering if anyone have found, or used a similar knob (maybe door knob, or drawer knob) that wouldn't look out of place on the front of this machine!!! I need anything just until I find a genuine one... Off to B&Q to sample door handles to see if they'll fit..
Any suggestions or ideas would be appreciated. Thanks!

[treefrog]

Wasn't this one that finished on ebay the other day, decided not to bid on this as there was no handle....also the other types of these machines have hinges and this machine appears to lack them, but if the lock is on the left the hinges should be on the right, unless I am missing something

[raj]

I passed on this also, the seller said it was in working order (How?) and didn't know what else was missing. Anyway to answer the question, I have no idea where a similar knob might be found, unless some generous soul on the forum has one.

[pennymachines]

The first of these machines I was offered had a round brass door knob substituted for the handle. I thought it looked OK at the time, but I'd not seen another to compare. It did the job - you need to get plenty of purchase on the handle to turn the heavy payout mechanism. R&W Ice Hockey uses identical handles (not that that will help).
It's possible this one never had hinges. There is some variation in the cabinet design of these.

[markymark]

Hi Guys,
Yes it was the one on ebay. Apart from the missing knob, everything else is complete.. and despite being filled with the largest range of dead spiders and covered in cobwebs galore, the thing works. Balls flick round, and when a column is filled it trips all the balls and allows the payout, which I currently have a large screwdriver pushed thru and fixed to mech behind. As for that horrible paint (surely these were not painted in that colour!!!!), but I don't care, as I started to scrape off from the front and it has the original lovely wood under it. Case is in good condition, a few worm holes, so treated today. As for the playfield, the backflash and chrome and tracks are perfect, and polish up a treat.
Always wanted one of these, gonna clean it and keep this one!
If I can't get the original knob, I'll make do until one comes along! Anyone got one!!

[funky]

I'm sure you'll make it look good when you have tidied it up... .... Hope you don't mind me asking what kind of money this is worth?.... I have an old mate who has offered me a What's My Line for 500 smackers... It's in good nick and all working, so I'm tempted to snaffle it off him before he changes his mind!!

[badpenny]

If you know the machine, are satisfied it's all complete and in good nick, then I'd buy it. Saves you the hassle of risking an unknown one plus collecting or paying for delivery, perhaps commission as well.

[raj]

£500....even in the very depressed market at the moment, a fair price. The last one I sold went for £725 last year.
The R&W Giant allwins are very well made and as long as the back flash does not get too tatty, will last forever. I've just bought a Your's to be won win a cig, almost mint, to go in the 'not to be sold' ( for a while at least) collection.

[pennymachines]

I think these are great - like a Bradley's Challenger combined with the fun of an allwin.

[markymark]

£500 for the R&W is a very good price. Recent ones on ebay went for 580, but I think they are worth more! My one has been stripped tonight, ready for cleaning. What I didn't know when I went to collect this machine was just how much bigger they are than my "dwarfed" Bryans!! This Fill Em Up is HUGE and weighs a ton (compared with my cute Elevenses!!!!)

My advice: go buy your friend's machine!

[funky]

Thanks for the info..... .....Been in touch with him and I'm going to pick it up when I get paid at end of the month.....then it'll be beans and toast for the month of July...and no beer tokens

[markymark]

On this Fathers' Day... means just one, a day spent stripping the bits from the Fill Em Up toy, and stripping that horrible yellow paint off.
In case anyone is interested, pictures show the sheer delight as the 1st bit of paint is removed to reveal beautiful wood underneath (I'm easily pleased!). The others show how it looks just an hour later, both front and case without the dreaded yellow!
Off work tomorrow sick... so I can sand the wood and wax, then put all the bits back.. that should be fun!

[pennymachines]

Off work tomorrow sick...

Was it the yellow paint, the paint stripper or the Dreaded Lurgy? Well at least your allwin's looking perkier already. One good thing about the paint - it usually makes 'em cheaper to buy.

[markymark]

If anyone gets down this far through this thread..I'm desperate for some pictures of the Payout Handle/knob from any R&W multicolumn, as it looks like I'll have to cast it myself!!! Just need some good close up shots of the knob (that sounds wrong!!!) from different angles, and if possible some rough measurements so I can make the mould.
Thanks

[JC]

As no one, including Marky, has explained the mystery of the missing hinges, here's the answer:
As PM says, there were various different case designs of these machines. On Marky's, the door is flush-mounted and is the same width as the case. The hinges are screwed to the front edge of the case and the rear of the door. If you look at the picture in the original post, you can just see the bottom hinge poking out.

Rather moving off on a tangent, these massive beasts are the only allwins I've encountered whose cases are constructed with dove-tailed joints, which must surely have added to the cost. This combined with the beautifully engineered mechanisms must have made them pretty expensive in their day. They must have been considered good value with operators though, as if surviving numbers are anything to go by, they would have been produced in considerable quantities.

[raj]

here are the pictures and dimensions you asked for. The main knob has a slight chamfer with an outer diameter of 42mm and an inner of 40mm. The depth of the main part of the knob is 28.5mm. there is a second turned part, 20mm diameter, 9.73mm depth, and finally a third, 12.7mm diameter, 5mm depth. The shaft that goes through the casting on the front is 8.5mm in diameter, not sure about the length.
Hope this is of help.

[pennymachines]

He beat me to it
And probably more accurate measurements than mine...
This one seems to be made of monkey metal and is just starting to disintegrate - probably why yours is missing.
Originally they were painted on the knurling insets and inside the knob.

[markymark]

First a huge thanks to both swaledale and pennymachines for the pictures and details of the payout handle, this helps no end! As I mentioned, gonna have a go at creating a mould and have a metal casting session (watch this space!!!).
As for JC your right the hinges are hidden flush and the door is the same size as the cabinet.
For those who are following... today I re-glued the dovetail joints, sanded down both cabinet and door, done some repairs to the wood, the top will need replacing in the future but for now I'll fix as best I can. And I then waxed the whole thing, and WoW, it looked stunning. I'll post some pictures later. Oh and had to replace the back panel as the original was badly eaten away by worms!!! The cabinet is solid as a rock now!

Thanks for all the info on these machines, I have the entire mech in pieces on the dining table (Oops), cleaned and ready to be rebuilt. And JC is right, the way the thing works with multiple payouts is fantastic, and the way the balls stack and release. Still can't get over how big the damn case is!!

[markymark]

Yes it's 2.30am and I got work at 6am... Just spent the evening rebuilding the mech of the Allwin. Need some advice from those of you who own one of these R&W. The pics I've attached show a lever that should move forward and tilt another lever that has a wire going down to what appears to be a lock for payout. The wire lifts the "lock" type lever which allows the payout handle to be turned! However, although everything works fine, I have to lift the "lock" myself, and no matter how I look or where I look I can't see how the top levers are worked. There appears to be nothing attached to them. Hope it's clear enough!
Please help... I need sleep now.. ZZZzzzz

[13rebel]

Markymark-it would be great to see pics and details of your progression of making the mould and casting.