Next challenge: Turning a table lamp back into a WE 50AL

[oyang]

I've been really enjoying tinkering.  When your job involves sitting in front of a computer all day, interrupted by meetings and people peppering you with questions, using your hands to fix something broken really feels good.

I couldn't resist getting this table lamp for the challenge of turning it back into a working phone.  I can't believe anyone would be tasteless enough to take such a beautiful object and ruin it.  The whole thing has been slathered with a thick coat of puke-green paint; they could at least have left it the original tasteful black.  I'm going to need to collect a bunch of parts, and welcome any advice about that.

I'm assuming from the hookswitch it's a 51AL. The paint is so thick I can't tell if there is a marking on the perch, or any patent dates anywhere. With some effort I've mostly disassembled it. The dial is missing the works; one screw is stubbornly preventing me from removing it from the base. The transmitter shell appears to be filled with plaster of paris to set the bulb receptacle; I don't know if I will be able to get it out.

I'm attaching pictures showing all the parts I've been able to salvage (not showing the base cover, which is good).

Otto

[twocvbloke]

If it is plaster of paris (the stuff used to hold broken bones), then soaking it in water should dissolve it and make it go away quite easily...

[Sargeguy]

That is a notched transmitter cup, which was used on refurbs during the Depression and WWII.  This is most likely a 151-AL, not a 51-AL.  This gives you a little more flexibility with your choice of parts.  You can use a 4H dial, a 337 or a "bulldog" transmitter, and a 706A receiver.

[Sargeguy]

That's a #6 dial with curved fingerstop.  If that is original to the phone it means this was probably some sort of switchboard phone or railroad dispatch apparatus.  I am curious to see what is stamped on the perch.  If I was restoring this phone I would do the following:

-Swap out transmitter cup for one with holes
-Get a 337 transmitter with AT&T markings (or a 635A "bulldog" transmitter if you prefer)
-Get a 4H dial (preferably with dial with celluloid plate and brass fingerwheel)
-Order the cords from Old Phone Works or off of eBay
-Send base to Dennis H for re-sueding if necessary
-Get a 144AW (or 706A receiver if using a 635A transmitter)
-Re-paint it with semi-gloss black paint

[unbeldi]

Perhaps this item has more appeal and utility as a lamp than as a telephone.  Perhaps add some more colors. 


The dial came from a switchboard originally,
...when it was still a dial.

[oyang]

Apparently this lamp already went through at least three colors; chipping off the paint it has at different times also been red and yellow.  Certainly it has more utility as a lamp right now, ha!  But that would be too practical and no fun! 

So here are a couple more pictures.  It is indeed a 50AL based on the stamp on the perch; and the configuration of the hookswitch seems similar to another I saw posted....  I also noticed that the configuration of the perch is different than the 151AL I just restored.  From the side view, it is more squared off at top.

The original dial for a desk stand would have been a 2H? I also read that the earliest ones had AE dials because WE did not make them yet.  Alternatively, if this was a switchboard/dispatch phone, it would have a later dial because the stand was a recycled earlier part?

Now that we know it is a 50AL, what parts would I need?

The plaster of paris is not going away easily.  It is not water soluble once hardened; that is why doctors use saws to remove casts, and they don't dissolve when people get them wet. It takes an acid solution to dissolve, which is obviously a problem with metal parts.  I'll try vinegar first, since that is a fairly mild solution of acetic acid, but I'm not too optimistic about that. The other thing I may try is heating the metal; if it expands and then contracts it may loosen the plaster.  If the shell is brass, it should be pretty sturdy; I assume it's not made of pot metal?

[unbeldi]

The correct dial on a WEco candlestick is a 2A. The 50AL came out in 1919. A second letter specifies the type of number plate.
The 2H was created for the handset mountings starting in 1927.
This will likely be the most expensive part, 2As often sell over $100, but sometimes bargains can be found at $80.

For parts documentation you should pick up the No. 4 or No. 5 catalog, but here is the page from No. 5:

[NorthernElectric]

I also noticed that the configuration of the perch is different than the 151AL I just restored.  From the side view, it is more squared off at top.

One of the common modifications made by 'lampers' is to grind or file the perch to allow the transmitter cup to be mounted facing upward.

[Greg G.]

I can't believe anyone would be tasteless enough to take such a beautiful object and ruin it.
Otto

I used to be as puzzled about that as you, until I learned that many of these were turned into lamps as Boy Scout projects back in the days when these phones were plentiful but outdated and considered mere "junk", not worth anything.  I remember my step-dad saying he remembered seeing truck loads of these phones being taken to the dump when he was young, probably sometime in the late 30s.  Somewhere in this forum somebody posted a scan from an old magazine that detailed the project.

[NorthernElectric]

I can't believe anyone would be tasteless enough to take such a beautiful object and ruin it.

Have you seen the topic on Lamp Phone Atrocities yet?

Somewhere in this forum somebody posted a scan from an old magazine that detailed the project.

I was curious to read that article, but haven't found it yet, here or elsewhere.  I did come up with this ad from the September 1956 issue of Popular Science though.

[andre_janew]

I have taken a closer look at the dial on this phone and it is a #6 dial.  I know this because there is a 6 stamped on the side of the finger stop.

[unbeldi]

I have taken a closer look at the dial on this phone and it is a #6 dial.  I know this because there is a 6 stamped on the side of the finger stop.

The finger stop is not original to that 'dial' either, a No. 6 dial is not flat on the rear.

[rdelius]

They gutted a #2 or 4 dial and used the chassis to support the #6

[Sargeguy]

Looks like you need a new perch.  This definitely looks like it was Franken-phoned. 

[oyang]

One of the common modifications made by 'lampers' is to grind or file the perch to allow the transmitter cup to be mounted facing upward.

Drat it IS sawed off.  Darn those Boy Scouts!