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I was looking at this rol-a-top on ebay. He states that the cash box, and some thing else are original. The insides and outside look like it was made yesterday. I am not interested in buying this machine, just trying to educate myself. Is this rol-a-top mostlyl orginal, and if it is how do you restore/clean/etc a machine to that degree?

Thank You, Lambow

You never said which Rol-A-Top you were looking at but it is very simple how they get them to look like this. You bead blast the mechanism, brass or gold plate the castings, replace the reel strips and do an incorrect flashy paint job and there you go. This is mostly what you see for sale. I liked the guy who wants $6995 for one of these and states that you might find one cheaper but you will never find one better. These people are delusional.

Watlingboy

Sorry forgot the link
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Watling-5c-Coin ... 462b4f00ed

What's up with the statement: This is the only Watling on eBay that has all metal clock gears as opposed to plastic ones.?

Dave wrote:What's up with the statement: This is the only Watling on eBay that has all metal clock gears as opposed to plastic ones.?

The Seller is a well-known restorer/dealer, but he seems to be a bit of a character;
the last time I dared to question one of his machines, he got all huffy and told me to never email him again,
so I cannot ask him what he means; perhaps someone else could.

Here is what I THINK he means:
Some (Many? I have no idea) Watling slots have pressed fiber gears (rather than metal) in the clock;
they wear more quickly and are easily damaged.
Apparently they are impossible to repair and hard to replace.
Another well known/reputable restorer has made some replacement gears out of hard plastic; see flebay item 400761635910,
and offers them to collectors who need to rebuild a Watling clock.
This seems like a good/ valuable service.

However, the Seller has no way of knowing how many (if any) Watling slots up for auction have the replacement gears unless the listing so states.
Seems like a strange and unjustifiable claim to me.
Perhaps he meant to say he replaced the original fiber gear with a more durable metal one.

The guy did not plate the castings but he did bead blast the inside of the castings, replace the strips, bead blast the mechanism and paint it incorrectly. Bead blasting removes all the original look and patina of the castings and mechanism and leaves them with this brand new look. Some people like it which is why it continues to be done.

Watlingboy