"Two For" ebay Find - Just Arrived

LarryInMichigan · October 27, 2011, 12:56:41 PM

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280762834937

For $25, I just couldn't resist. The seller doesn't say so, but the picture suggests that handsets are not included. The NE #2 looks like it has some sort of GPO dial, but it doesn't look quite like any I have seen.

Larry

wds · October 27, 2011, 01:41:42 PM

Great catch. How in the world do you keep coming up with those great ebay finds?

gpo706 · October 27, 2011, 01:46:13 PM

He's not telling.

That one on the left is absolutely bizarre, looks like a desk set left out in the sun and it melted.

LarryInMichigan · October 27, 2011, 01:57:39 PM

QuoteHow in the world do you keep coming up with those great ebay finds?

Persistence.

The phone on the left is a Northern Electric Uniphone No. 2 (from Paul F - http://www.paul-f.com/neUNI.html) which is a wall phone. Admittedly, it is one of the more bizarre looking wall phones and certainly not on my list of favorites, but I don't yet have one.

Larry

rdelius · October 27, 2011, 06:48:13 PM

That dial has the newer AE plastic fingerwheel that has been painted
robby

LarryInMichigan · October 27, 2011, 07:39:23 PM

Robby,

I believe that you are correct. I hadn't expected an AE dial on an NE phone.

Larry

GG · October 28, 2011, 12:03:08 AM

Robby: Good eyes, dude!, I'll bet you're right. I was puzzling it out myself, thinking it was South American ITT or some such, which would be an interesting migration, half the length of a continent to get to Canada.

Uniphones are found with all manner of dials: from what I've seen, most often GPO/Siemens, then next most often AE, and most rare, NE 5H.

LarryInMichigan · November 21, 2011, 07:19:29 PM

The phones finally arrived today. The seller said that they had been unable to drive to the PO for a while.

They were packed together in a relatively small box with the cradle ears of the Uniphone rubbing against the side of the 302. Fortunately, the Uniphone shells are pretty thick, so there was apparently no damage.

The Uniphone is missing its ringer. The dial was a newer type of AE dial (AE80/80E style) which had the external finger stop mount hacked off of it and an older style finger stop was installed. A notch was hacked into the plastic face plate to accommodate the finger stop, and a number overlay sticker was stuck to the face plate. That dial is headed for the parts bin. If I can make the shell look decent, I will probably install my spare GPO dial with Canadian face plate.

The bakelite is extremely dirty with plenty of wall paint around its perimeter (someone didn't bother to remove or mask it before painting the wall on which it was mounted.), but it appears to be in otherwise good shape. I am hoping that it will clean and polish up nicely. There is no handset or cord, so one of my spare WE F1s will have to fill in.

The NE 302 has a metal shell which is thinner than the metal shells of my WE 302s. It was dented in several spots around the bottom. Parts of the exterior are covered with thick ugly black paint over the original finish. I hope that the original finish is good underneath the extra paint. It is much more chipped than is apparent from the listing picture.

The base is dated 4/46. The ringer is dated "5-19-42". The NE 5H dial is dated 9-46. The 302 is also missing a handset and cords. Both of these phones have brown bakelite plungers.

Larry

Owain · November 21, 2011, 07:51:33 PM

Quote from: LarryInMichigan on October 27, 2011, 01:57:39 PM

The phone on the left is a Northern Electric Uniphone No. 2 (from Paul F - http://www.paul-f.com/neUNI.html) which is a wall phone. Admittedly, it is one of the more bizarre looking wall phones and certainly not on my list of favorites, but I don't yet have one.

I think once cleaned up and given a complementary handset it will have a certain charm of its own.

LarryInMichigan · November 21, 2011, 08:08:59 PM

I have found that most of the outer surface of the Uniphone bakelite shell is rough like it has been corroded somehow. I don't recall ever seeing bakelite like this. I am having to sand the shell to make it smooth.

Larry

DavePEI · November 21, 2011, 08:14:03 PM

Quote from: LarryInMichigan on November 21, 2011, 08:08:59 PM
I have found that most of the outer surface of the Uniphone bakelite shell is rough like it has been corroded somehow. I don't recall ever seeing bakelite like this. I am having to sand the shell to make it smooth.

Larry

Better to use .0004 steel wool... Final shine using Avon "Skin so Soft"

Dave

wds · November 21, 2011, 08:19:22 PM

That's over 3 weeks to deliver the phones. Will the seller get 5 stars for shipping? Nice phones despite the couple of flaws.

LarryInMichigan · November 21, 2011, 08:56:33 PM

I have a package of grade 00 "very fine" steel wool (from O'Reilly Auto Parts), but it makes scratch marks on bakelite. I suppose that I need the "super fine".

I do not know what I should do for seller feedback on this one. The seller lives in a small town in upstate NY and is probably elderly. I would hate to give them a bad rating because they had health issues which delayed their shipment.

Larry

AE_Collector · November 21, 2011, 09:43:06 PM

A 4 stars for shipping won't hurt anything as long as the main feedback is positive.

Terry

DavePEI · November 22, 2011, 03:21:44 AM

Quote from: LarryInMichigan on November 21, 2011, 08:56:33 PM
I have a package of grade 00 "very fine" steel wool (from O'Reilly Auto Parts), but it makes scratch marks on bakelite. I suppose that I need the "super fine".
Larry

00 is too course for final polishing, but 0000 is what you want for the final finishing. If the finish is very rough, you may want to start with 00 but then do your finishng with the finer steel wool. It works quite well with NE's bakelite, along, of course with SSS for a final finishing coat.

Dave

News:

"Two For" ebay Find - Just Arrived