I'm new and I have some questions!

[MrsMacwhyte]

Hello everyone!

I recently inherited 2 Mills slot machines from my late grandmother. When I was a child, one of my favorite things to do at grandma's house was to "fix" her prized slot machines. (Which usually just meant un jamming them or tinkering with them to figure out how they worked.) She passed away about a month ago, and despite having a very large family, only left one thing in her will to one person- the slots go to me.

I know one of the machines is a Mills 5c black cherry. The other is also a Mills and takes half dollars, but I cant find an exact model in all of my googling. I even tried to look up the serial and model number with no luck. I think it is a hi- top or a jewel bell, but it is slightly different. I'm also wondering if it was customized or cobbled together with odd parts. If someone knows what it is I will appreciate you forever!

Neither of them work. They are missing some parts and have their own issues. The green one looks like it was dropped, and the black cherry one is slathered with...crisco? Whatever grease it is it's congealed into a hard sticky substance. Also I'm not sure if the guts of the black cherry are supposed to be painted black? It looks like it might've been but it could just be the iron oxidized over time. It is my mission to restore them to their former glory. I don't intend to sell them, but I do want to try to keep them as close to their original design as possible. I would be eternally grateful if anyone can share their wisdom or resources to help me with this quest.

[collector1]

I looks like you have been quite busy by the picture of your mechanism. i will send you a pm and go over everything that is on your mind

[collector1]

WELL BY LOOKING AT THE PICTURE THERE IS ONLY ONE VERTICAL FINGER THAT GOES THRU THE DISCS WHEN YOU GET A WINNING COMBINATION. DO YOU HAVE THE REST OF THEM. WERE THEY REMOVED?

[collector1]

Also I'm not sure if the guts of the black cherry are supposed to be painted black? NO

[MrsMacwhyte]

WELL BY LOOKING AT THE PICTURE THERE IS ONLY ONE VERTICAL FINGER THAT GOES THRU THE DISCS WHEN YOU GET A WINNING COMBINATION. DO YOU HAVE THE REST OF THEM. WERE THEY REMOVED?

Sorry it's not a great picture! Yes it has all the vertical fingers but they dont have the springs.

[MrsMacwhyte]

Also I'm not sure if the guts of the black cherry are supposed to be painted black? NO

There's a black coating on most of the parts that comes off pretty easily when I wipe off the grease, I don't know if it's paint or some kind of coating like on a cast iron skillet. There was a family member living with my grandmother who might've tried to fix it themselves rather haphazardly, so I can't rule out anything really.

[collector1]

HI , MUCH BETTER. ANOTHER FINE MEMBER PUT A LINK ON THE FORUM AND NOW YOU NEED TO CLEAN THE MECHANISM AND SLIDES AND HERE IS THE LINK HE POSTED AND I THINK YOU WILL FIND IT VERY HELPFUL. LINK POSTED ON THE BOTTOM.
WHEN YOU GET TO THE SLIDES PUT THEM TOGETHER AS IN THE PICTURE AND ONCE YOU DO THAT GET A BOWL AND PUT WATER AND DAWN , DECREASE THE SLIDES AND INSIDE THE AREA THAT THE SLIDES WERE REMOVED FROM AS YOU DO NOT USE OIL IN THAT AREA OR THE SLIDES WILL STICK AND THE PAYOUT WILL BE ERRATIC. LET SOAK .WHILE THAT IS BEING DONE START ON THE MECHANISM CLEAN THAN LUBRICATE ALL HINGE POINTS. CHECK THE CLOCK TO MAKE SURE IT TURNS FREELY. LIGHT OIL WILL WORK WELL THERE. IF YOU FINISH AND THE REELS DON'T SPIN FAST ENOUGH YOU CAN BEND THE FAN BLADES ON THE CLOCK AND THE REELS WILL SPIN FASTER.ONE STEP AT A TIME AND DO THE SAME ON THE 50 CENT HI TOP. POST PICTURES AFTER YOU CLEAN THE MECHANISM ALL SIDES SO MEMBERS CAN POST INFO IF THEY SEE ANY POTENTIAL PROBLEMS. OH LOOK UP DAVE THUNDERFIVEFIVE AS HE HAS THE REPLACEMENT SPRING KITS HE RECOMMENDS. HE IS ON EBAY AND BONANZA. I HOPE THIS INFO HELPS YOU.
HERE IS THE LINK PROVIDED TO THE FORUM ON ANOTHER POST.
http://slotrestoration.blogspot.com/
VERY INFORMATIVE.