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I'm new to this forum - but wow!

Started by FABphones, February 16, 2018, 09:06:33 AM

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FABphones

Hi

I'm new here, but I have been collecting phones since the mid 80's.

I've looked at a few of your photos of phone rooms - wow! I'm not from the U.S.A. so I can honestly say I have never seen 99% of them before. My collection is British phones, and the odd French phone which was so cheap (5e) and in such good condition, I couldn't leave it in the junk shop. I need to find out how to enter it into your find of the month section maybe...

I guess you could say my collection is under control - I have just 10 phones (does anyone else give themselves restrictions on their collection? I only collect vintage phones, they must have either a dial or push button. And only phones in Ivory, Black or Grey colours. And only phones that I like the look of. And only one of each model).   :)

Sooooo, my latest additions to my collection have brought me here (I was looking up info on how to restore Bakelite), as I have just purchased 3 Bakelite phones to restore, taking my collection up to thirteen once done (I'll add on before and after pics in due course, I've never restored before).

This is the first phone I'll be restoring (photo below - hope it shows ok, it doesn't show in the preview).
Am starting with this one as this is the phone which is in the best condition:
A collector of  'Monochrome Phones with Sepia Tones'   ...and a Duck!
***********
Vintage Phones - 10% man made, 90% Tribble
*************

twocvbloke

There's a few of us Brits about on the forum, so you're not alone here... :)

As for north american phones, there are occasionally some on ebay for sale that go under the radar and sell cheaply, they're certainly worth getting hold of as they're a great comparison to british telephones of similar eras, and of course you get the ringers that we often hear on television shows from the US... :)

Doug Rose

Welcome to the Forum!! Bakelite is very easy to restore. I start with a fine steel wool and use Noxon or Brasso which are a mild abrasive polish. It will remove any paint spatters and give you a nice warm shine. I use Avon Skin So Soft (Howards Wood Polish also works well) after to really shine the Bakelite. Bakelite is porous and will drink in the moisture. Wipe off any excess and you will a very shiny Bakelite phone.  Just make sure it is Bakelite as steel will will scratch Tenite and Catlin. Try it on the inside first to be sure.....good luck...Doug
Kidphone

FABphones

Quote from: twocvbloke on February 16, 2018, 09:24:38 AM
There's a few of us Brits about on the forum, so you're not alone here... :)

As for north american phones, there are occasionally some on ebay for sale that go under the radar and sell cheaply, they're certainly worth getting hold of as they're a great comparison to british telephones of similar eras, and of course you get the ringers that we often hear on television shows from the US... :)

I like the look of the 554 Western Electric wall phone, do they convert ok for use in the UK?

It's only the shipping price that stops me from buying one, but if I could get one to work I might be tempted...  Maybe there is one available in the for sale section of this site...  ;D
A collector of  'Monochrome Phones with Sepia Tones'   ...and a Duck!
***********
Vintage Phones - 10% man made, 90% Tribble
*************

twocvbloke

Quote from: FabPhones on February 16, 2018, 09:42:20 AM
I like the look of the 554 Western Electric wall phone, do they convert ok for use in the UK?

It's only the shipping price that stops me from buying one, but if I could get one to work I might be tempted...  Maybe there is one available in the for sale section of this site...  ;D


They work fine in the UK, you can convert them to be 3-wire as per BT regs, but it's far simpler to use them as 2-wire as they don't suffer the same bell tinkle issue that a GPO phone does due to them having ringers designed with bias springs that prevent such problems... :)

As for getting one, like I say, you can come across them on ebay UK from time to time, I got myself a Canadian version in black a couple years back and it worked fine, but for coloured ones, yeah, they're more common across the pond... :)

FABphones

Quote from: Doug Rose on February 16, 2018, 09:39:30 AM
Welcome to the Forum!! Bakelite is very easy to restore. I start with a fine steel wool and use Noxon or Brasso which are a mild abrasive polish. It will remove any paint spatters and give you a nice warm shine. I use Avon Skin So Soft (Howards Wood Polish also works well) after to really shine the Bakelite. Bakelite is porous and will drink in the moisture. Wipe off any excess and you will a very shiny Bakelite phone.  Just make sure it is Bakelite as steel will will scratch Tenite and Catlin. Try it on the inside first to be sure.....good luck...Doug

Thanks for the reply.

It's your old post re restoring Bakelite that brought me here and it's your method that I will be using. I will post before and after photos regardless of my result (it's my first renovation).

Interestingly, in the UK at least, it appears that SSS have changed its ingredients, it now has Jojoba in the bath oil  (also I'm told they are stopping selling their bath oil). I've had a quick look on their UK website and I can't see it, just the dry oil spray (which I have, don't know if that's the same stuff though and ok to use?).

So not having any SSS, I've bought a litre of Mineral Oil, some #5 polishing paste - and I have some elbow grease if needed.  :D

A collector of  'Monochrome Phones with Sepia Tones'   ...and a Duck!
***********
Vintage Phones - 10% man made, 90% Tribble
*************

FABphones

Quote from: twocvbloke on February 16, 2018, 09:51:50 AM
They work fine in the UK, you can convert them to be 3-wire as per BT regs, but it's far simpler to use them as 2-wire as they don't suffer the same bell tinkle issue that a GPO phone does due to them having ringers designed with bias springs that prevent such problems... :)

As for getting one, like I say, you can come across them on ebay UK from time to time, I got myself a Canadian version in black a couple years back and it worked fine, but for coloured ones, yeah, they're more common across the pond... :)

Oh oh. That's gone and done it. I'm off to look for one in cream now I know it will work, I have just the gap for it in the kitchen...

;D
A collector of  'Monochrome Phones with Sepia Tones'   ...and a Duck!
***********
Vintage Phones - 10% man made, 90% Tribble
*************

twocvbloke

That's the trouble with this forum, it's full of temptation...  ;D

RB

Quote from: twocvbloke on February 16, 2018, 11:08:26 AM
That's the trouble with this forum, it's full of temptation...  ;D
A slippery slope headin on out into the next purchase...
Welcome to the madness FabPhones!

HarrySmith

Welcome to the Asylum! You are now in the grip of full blown Phoneitis! Everyone here is infected with this progressive, incurable disease. The only remedy is more phones!
Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

"There is no try,
there is only
do or do not"

ThePillenwerfer

Quote from: twocvbloke on February 16, 2018, 09:51:50 AM
They work fine in the UK, you can convert them to be 3-wire as per BT regs, but it's far simpler to use them as 2-wire as they don't suffer the same bell tinkle issue that a GPO phone does due to them having ringers designed with bias springs that prevent such problems... :)

Doesn't a two-wire 'phone make the others tinkle if they are types with British bells?

twocvbloke

Quote from: ThePillenwerfer on February 16, 2018, 11:57:56 AM
Doesn't a two-wire 'phone make the others tinkle if they are types with British bells?

Only if they're wired up as a 2-wire setup, it's the internal capacitors inside a phone that causes the ringer motor to tap the bells when another dial on the line pulses, hence why BT came up with the master socket idea where they located one ringer capacitor for all the phones in an installation... :)

Dan/Panther

Welcome to the forum. Great bunch of people here.

D/P

The More People I meet, The More I Love, and MISS My Dog.  Dan Robinson

.....

Welcome to CRPF FabPhones.

I have a 1965 GPO 332L that my wife brought back to Canada from Ireland two years ago. It was from the brother in laws family.

Pourme

Welcome to the forum! Great place to deal with your phoneitis. ......

Benny
Benny

Panasonic 308/616 Magicjack service