Boland Black Beauty, Screen Stars, Brooklands, White City...

[badpenny]

Very nice Mr P.
Am I right in thinking it's veneer?
If so what's underneath?

[widget2k4]

Very nice
Does anyone have a close up of the award card for a screenstar? I'm in the process of restoring two and both were missing the award cards, typical.

[coppinpr]

Anyone know why "the White City" was used as the name on the greyhound racing version. Could some of these have been used at the famous stadium in London? At that time it was the Mecca of greyhound racing in the UK. Where was Boland based?

The red machine in MR P's first set of four photos caught my eye, at first I thought the plate under the reel window said " It's Sh*t" but on closer inspection it says "It's skill" which on this machine is a load of bullsh*t as not in your wildest dreams could any part of playing that machine be considered skill

[13rebel]

Paul, Tom Bolland was based in Leeds - perhaps the White City was in reference to the stadium in Manchester that held greyhound racing - a lot nearer to him than London. Although the greyhound casting on his machines bears a resemblance to the one on the London White City members badge, i.e. straight back and straight tail, as opposed to the logo at the front of Walthamstow stadium for example, with an arched back and curly tail.

[coppinpr]

It could be either I guess, as the logo is from the GRA logo who owned both White City tracks but not Walthamstow. Perhaps it was the London White City, as that was where the greyhound derby was held - not important, just interested.

Amazing how popular greyhound racing was pre-war- at the opening night at White City (London) there were 40,000 punters and a staggering 450 official bookmakers!! But that was before the invention of the world's first electro-mechanical commercial computer, the greyhound stadium tote. Part of White City's original tote is now in the National Science Museum.

[pennymachines]

I keep seeing these 1D Deluxe bandits - and they're beginning to grow on me. Nice castings and a certain minimalist charm. It would be interesting to know if they are, as I suspect, also the work of Tom Boland.

Here's another Brooklands Totalisator I missed from the Silverstone Classic Sale, 2014.

[coppinpr]

Yes I believe they are Boland, I restored the one below which was in very poor condition and the instruction cards had Boland printed on the back of one of them. My one was called "Spinning Reels" I know what you mean about minimalist but they seem to me a bit daunting and off putting to a player, they look and feel like a bank vault and seem to be saying "you won't get a penny out of me! "

[pennymachines]

Looking more closely, I see the one I posted is also called Spinning Reels. Like other Boland bandits, they always seem to be on 1D for fairground as opposed to club use. Stars on the castings seems to be a Boland signature.

[coppinpr]

Interesting Fair play on ebay today.

Always surprises me that there are so many slight variations on the castings. This one has a different name plate and reel window to the one above yet the same coin entry and bottom plate, plus this one has a metal case the other wooden. It's like they were custom made.

[badpenny]

More like 'near enough is good enough' made with these.

[coppinpr]

Made a low offer on the machine above...to my surprise he took it...delivered!

[widget2k4]

Must of been a higher offer than mine then haha

[coppinpr]

£50 and free delivery was asking a bit much widg

[widget2k4]

I did offer a free cuppa when he got here though

[coppinpr]

This young fellow turned up on the doorstep today (the polish courier disappearing over the horizon as fast as I could say thanks) looking like a good rub down with the Sporting Life wouldn't go a miss, but, it has to be said, in perfect working order (the machine, not the polish courier, before BP asks). It's just what I like, not in good enough original condition to be left as is (too many coats of operator's re-paints) and with plenty to do. I'd really like to leave the original metal reel strips as they are, but there is a lot of rust pitting on them. Any advise on these? I'm thinking of just cleaning them and leaving them alone. They have the maker's name on them: "Samson of London".
The expected, very old, 10 stop mech with an unusual brass part (clock operated) that seems to hold back the horizontal fingers during the wind up (see photo below) - is this usual on these? I've had old mechs before but don't remember this part.

It came with the original cash box (full of pennies) but no back door (would that be Mills size (haven't checked with one of mine yet)? I think there MIGHT be a casting missing from above the reel window, am I right?
Still, really looking forward to working on this machine, more old grease than a chip shop in there at the moment.

[coppinpr]

asked three simple questions on above.......not a single person bothered to answer.......Ill have to remember that next time someone asks for help

[treefrog]

Did not answer as do not know fully the answers as less familiar with these machines and early Mills mechs.

The reel strips look great and have so much patina, I would pay for that look. If really bothered there is one of our dearest collectors on here who may have NOS Samson metal strips, I know he had 20 stop one's but may have 10 stop. I have a few metal 20 stop type. I would clean them with WD40 or white spirit

Metal bit on mech, do not know and no where near any of my early Mills mechs

Door, I have seen some with wooden doors and some that re-used the poinsettia cabinets, but added some extra wood at the top, obviously would fit the mills back door. The early mills back doors are very slightly smaller than the later hi top type. You machine looks like it maybe a re-used wooden cabinet but cannot see sides properly

[badpenny]

Sadly they're three simple questions that I, although I am simple, can't answer.

I've had a few Boland throw 'em together machines in the past, but I've never seen one with the arrangement you describe to control fingers. I can't really understand it from the photo you posted.
I've never seen that case before, the gap over the reels does seem to beg for something.
I have to say Bolands seemed to have a mass of different castings that they shoved on any old machine and not just as per a particular model.

Reference the back door .....
I think they tended to use as much as they could from the donor machine for obvious cost reasons, but I guess you're in the best position to answer that one, if you have a variety of Mills laying around. Otherwise tell us the dimensions.

Not a lot of help, which is why I didn't rush to expose my ignorance.

BP

[aristomatic]

Following your last post I have reread the thread in full.

I remember reading the start of this thread and initial banter between you and widget regarding the price etc but not your later posting reference assistance.

If a thread starts with no real request for input assistance or the member sees initial posts etc & they have no particular interest in that item as such, they can soon lose interest in that whole thread and have inertia to continue following it even though later in the thread there may be more interesting content for them, especially if the thread diversifies significantly later in the thread.

I have added what I thought was significant or important new info to an old thread anticipating response(s) to this new information but no response being added. But being an old thread people are less prone to adding to this rather than a new thread.

I think generally on other forums the normal practise is the "bump" where the initial poster raises awareness of their thread or request.

Now getting back to your questions,

I don't remember having any metal reel strips on any of my machines so have no experience of them, maybe hob cleaner then car polish?
But I would wait for others with more knowledge/experience to chip in. If you decide to tackle them, I would proceed with caution and test a very small area first prior to commencing fully on the job.

I don't recall seeing this exact option of cabinet and castings previously. These Bolland machines seem to have different mix & match options so unless someone posts pictures of the same cabinet and castings I wouldn't know.

I have had a few Bolland machines over years but sold them all on very quickly. I don't remember the part and haven't a machine currently to have a look at. Does
the mech play and pay correctly? Hopefully, you get more and thorough responses to your questions.

Finally after rereading your posts it seems the word recognition on your PC has Auto Corrected the word polite to polish......

GP

[gameswat]

Coppin, kind of lame to be complaining when you were the only person who could adequately answer two of the questions? We don't know what recycled cabinet you might have or the dimensions, and you clearly state you have Mills doors at hand, so go try them! If they don't fit then offer some photos and measurements. And since those machines are all bodged together out of any number of random parts and castings you'd have to look at the wood closely for possible bolt or screws holes. How were we going to do this for you? You didn't even bother to tell us why you think there "might" be a missing casting?