Fill in the blanks

What we still need to shoot, film or write down, in priority order. Each item says what it turns into. Send raw video — Claude can pull frames out of it; don't bother extracting stills.

7.1 What we've got so far

7.2 Priority one — identify the machine

Mills built several mechanism families in the 1930s, operators and restorers mixed cabinets and mechanisms for decades, and Bursting Cherries are rare enough that ours has probably been touched. Parts, spring specs and adjustment procedures don't cross families. Nothing else in this chapter is worth ordering parts from until this is done.

FILL IN — photos, ruler in frame: - [ ] The "P 2" / "C B…" stamps from IMG-02, close up and straight on - [ ] Any other numbers stamped or cast into the chassis base plate and side plates - [ ] The cabinet serial number — where it is, exact stamping - [ ] Numbers cast into the inside of the front casting - [x] Award card — done (IMG-03). Still need the red header line legible. - [ ] Coin head / escalator, showing the denomination stamp

FILL IN — notes: - [ ] Handle style (ribbed / sword / round rod) - [ ] Count the symbols on one reel strip (stops per reel) - [x] Count the slides in the stack — six: A2 B3 C4 D4 E5 F2

Turns into: §8.1, the mechanism family, the right pages of Fey's manual, and real part numbers in Chapter 9.

flowchart LR
    S[Stamps + serial + casting numbers] --> F[Mechanism family known]
    F --> P[Right parts & spring specs]
    F --> M[Right manual pages]
    F --> X[Spot mixed / replaced assemblies]
    X --> J[Explains 'impossible' jackpot faults]

7.3 Priority two — the orientation series and the discs

Chassis out (Level 2), on the bench. Shoot these before any close-ups, so every later photo can be placed.

FILL IN — photos: - [ ] Front / rear / left / right / top / underside, straight on - [ ] Four 45° corners - [ ] Cabinet interior with chassis out — the front casting from behind - [ ] Jackpot assembly from behind: inlet, overflow outlet, primary door + latch, reserve door + latch if there is one, trip lever, reset lever - [ ] The handshake: the exact spot where the chassis trip tab meets the cabinet jackpot lever - [ ] Each code disc face, straight on, every hole visible (lift the stop, turn the reel as needed) - [ ] Count the fingers behind each reel; film reel 1 set on cherry, then bell, clock frozen (§3.5 — one finger or several?) - [ ] With the clock frozen: which slides move for 5, 10, 14, 18 (see §3.6) - [ ] The unidentified horizontal cylinder at lower-left outside the chassis in IMG-02 — what is it?

Conventions: name files with the ID (IMG-14_READ-disc1.jpg), sticky note with the ID in frame, ruler in every close-up, same light and distance for anything you want compared.

Turns into: IDs on real parts; Chapter 3's generic diagrams redrawn as labelled drawings of our chassis; disc hole maps with any plugged holes flagged; the jackpot open questions in §8.5 answered.

7.4 Priority three — the quarter trace and capacity count

One marked quarter, filmed from behind, at each fill state.

FILL IN — video + notes: - [ ] A: till empty/low — quarter in, through the escalator, into the tube - [ ] B: till full — which part flips the route, where the coin exits, and which chute it takes on a play where it goes to the vault vs. a play where it goes to the cash box - [ ] C: the split count — twenty consecutive plays, till full: for each, win/lose and where the quarter went (till / vault / cash box). Is it every Nth coin, or a condition? - [ ] D: vault full — what stops it, and where the next vault-bound coin goes instead - [ ] Counting from a low till: quarter # when the till overflows, and roughly how many plays it takes the vault to go from dumped to full

Turns into: our own routing diagram replacing §3.2 with the splitter mechanism named, the vault's fill ratio, and the capacities in §8.3 — the service spec for hand-loading the machine.

7.5 Priority four — the truth table and the jackpot trace

Clock frozen (§1.4). Set each award-card combination by hand and note which hammers drop, which lever moves, which slide fires, how many quarters come out. Then several near-misses to confirm nothing pays.

FILL IN — notes (one row per combination):

Showing	Card says	Fingers through	Lever	Slides that move	Paid	Jackpot
Cherry / Cherry / any	3					none
Cherry / Cherry / Lemon	5					none
Cherry / Cherry / Bell	5					none
Orange ×3 (or /BAR)						none
Plum ×3 (or /BAR)						none
Bell ×3 (or /BAR)						none
BAR ×3						?
near-misses	0				0	none

For BAR BAR BAR, separately: ordinary slide fires? (which) · quarters metered from the till · trip tab travel, reaches the cabinet lever Y/N · quarters dumped · cycles until primary relatches · cycles until reserve transfers · cycles until reserve door re-closes.

Video: the BAR BAR BAR chain end to end, and one ordinary win, both at 120 fps if the phone does it.

Turns into: §8.4 verified, §8.5 answered, and a payout baseline to sit next to the timing baseline in §1.7.

7.6 Whenever — the reset survey

FILL IN — video: one slow hand-cycle of the chassis at Level 2, filmed close, then run the §3.8 checklist and note anything that comes home slow, partial, or not at all.

Turns into: a spring health baseline and a ranked suspect list, before anything fails.

7.7 Per-batch checklist

• Files named with IDs
• Ruler in every close-up
• One line per file: what it is, what you noticed
• Numbers with units
• Anything surprising, called out
• Which revision of this book you worked from

7.8 The order

flowchart TD
    A[7.2 identify the machine] --> B[Chassis out — Level 2]
    B --> C[7.3 orientation series + disc faces + jackpot]
    C --> D[7.6 hand-cycle, reset checklist, note anything slow]
    D --> E[7.4 quarter trace + capacity count]
    E --> F[7.5 truth table + BAR BAR BAR trace, clock frozen]
    F --> G[Send the batch → v6 of this book]
    G --> H[Only then: clean, replace what we've identified, adjust — one subsystem at a time]
    H --> I[Appendix: the inventory, when there's a rainy weekend]