Old Slot Machine lock

[dmdomus]

My mother has an old slot machine that was her fathers, but no one has been able to find the keys.

I am a very novice, but interested, lock picker so I wanted to see if I could look at it. It was initially very confusing vs the normal pin tumblers I have practiced on. The pins seem to be on the sides and the right side pins slide up while the left side slide down (at least the ones in the front).

I found a couple of references to Mills Bell locks, but thought I would ask here first if anyone can confirm that is what this is before I go to far with that assumption.

Also, any tips? I saw a video from locksmithlawyer that seems to be the best option for instructions that I have seen so far - but he swaps tension wrench from top to bottom as he progresses. Would I be better off looking into a forked tension wrench, or would that still interfere with accessing the pins?

Any advice appreciated.


https://ibb.co/bgv6kQwm

https://ibb.co/Z1hJzJwF

[jimdoc]

Does it have a lock on the back door also? It shouldn't be too hard once you know the type of lock.

I have always wanted to collect those, but they got too expensive. And there are repros out there that you don't want to pay genuine price for. When I got my first tattoo the artist had a nickel machine that the jackpot was full of Buffalo nickels. It was around 1980? After that I always wanted one.

[billdeserthills]

Lots of Mills locks on Ebay
https://www.ebay.com/itm/226623701942?_ ... R7D78fauZQ

As you can see from the key, the Mills is considered a high security lock due to it's side milling. Makes originating a key difficult...

I hear some folks just break then replace the lock with another Mills lock to preserve the value of their machine

[stratmando]

Think It May Be Like The One With The Green Key Tag, Inner Grove Both Sides, I Have Some, But Think Says Bell If I Remember Right