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First specimens...

Started by Fennec, July 17, 2017, 05:54:20 PM

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Fennec

With all thanks due to the forum members for help and advice, I have finally "officially" finished restoration on the first two specimens - this is currently the extent of my "finished" collection, not counting my 1938 AE40, which is immaculate and had only dial serviced :) .

Without further ado, introducing a workhorse metal body 1938 WE304 and a 'King Pyramid" British GPO232 (not dated, ~1934 - 36, from Automatic Electric Liverpool).

Both came to me in an absolutely dismal condition, so I am unsure of value, but these are most definitely NOT collectors' items. Western Electric has been re-wired as 302, body powder-coated, capacitor and all rotten wires inside replaced, feet recovered, new cords fitted, 5H dial serviced by a regular member here, is clean as a whistle, polished and adjusted.

GPO232 is mounted on a 26 bellset, all new British-made cords, rubber feet replaced, additional resistor and capacitor added to bring REN to just under 1, new receiver and transmitter elements, re-wired for operation in NA, and 24C dial is again fully serviced.

Some additional cosmetic work was done, and both are fully functional, dialing out and ringing.

Next in line are "Frankenstein" 302 (thermoplastic, will have to rebuild from donor parts), WE202 & 634-BA (complete, but again - in a state of disrepair)  :)

unbeldi

Quote from: Fennec on July 17, 2017, 05:54:20 PM
With all thanks due to help and advice from the forum members, I have finally "officially" finished restoration on the first two specimens - this is currently the extent of my "finished" collection, not counting my 1938 AE40, which is immaculate and had only dial serviced :) .

Without further ado, introducing a workhorse metal body 1938 WE304 and a 'King Pyramid" British GPO232 (not dated, ~1934 - 36, from Automatic Electric Liverpool).

Both came to me in an absolutely dismal condition, so I am unsure of value, but these are most definitely NOT collectors' items. Western Electric has been re-wired as 302, body powder-coated, capacitor and all rotten wires inside replaced, feet recovered, new cords fitted, 5H dial serviced by a regular member here, is clean as a whistle, polished and adjusted.

GPO232 is mounted on a 26 bellset, all new British-made cords, rubber feet replaced, additional resistor and capacitor added to bring REN to just under 1, new receiver and transmitter elements, re-wired for operation in NA, and 24C dial is again fully serviced.

Some additional cosmetic work was done, and both are fully functional, dialing out and ringing.

Next in line are "Frankenstein" 302 (thermoplastic, will have to rebuild from donor parts), WE202 & 634-BA (complete, but again - in a state of disrepair)  :)

By which date marks did you determine the 1938 vintage of the 304 telephone set ?
Could you show a picture of the induction coil ?   Or is there another topic where this was discussed already ?

Fennec

Here are the pictures of WE304 base and coil date stamps:

unbeldi


Thanks!
And Very nice.
That is the earliest 304 I have seen documented.  I believe it is first-year production of 304.
Is the housing marked H3 ?  Either by vermilion stamp or by engraving above the rear cord exit ?

Fennec

Quote from: unbeldi on July 17, 2017, 06:39:01 PM
Thanks!
And Very nice.
That is the earliest 304 I have seen documented.
Is the housing marked H3 ?  Either by vermilion stamp or by engraving above the rear cord exit ?

H3 engraved (metal stamped) above the rear cord exit. VERY faint now - powder coating is thick, and basically obscures it. Hookswitch assembly also has an extra contact set, just like the ringer. All wires have rotten away though, so I had to completely take apart the assembly, un-solder all remnants, reuse the spade terminals, and re-solder new, Teflon-covered wires to each "leaf"...

19and41

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
— Arthur C. Clarke

HarrySmith

Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

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

tallguy58

Nice job! They look great together
Cheers........Bill

Fennec

And this is a 4th and newest addition - D1 a.k.a 202 with 634BA (high impedance) subset. Same thing - all parts of the phone body and subset housing have been powder coated, all contacts cleaned, 2/4-H conversion dial serviced and calibrated, all new cords from OPW, NOS 557B receiver element, new suede on the base with punched-out holes. Again - fully functional :)

Phone dates to 4-30 (was stamped on the inside of the housing). Not sure of the fair value of the entire set, but this one might be heading to eBay at some point - I have a B1 w/ 2H dial and another 634BA waiting their turn plus a few other projects...

unbeldi

Quote from: Fennec on August 10, 2017, 09:16:48 PM
And this is a 4th and newest addition - D1 a.k.a 202 with 634BA (high impedance) subset. Same thing - all parts of the phone body and subset housing have been powder coated, all contacts cleaned, 2/4-H conversion dial serviced and calibrated, all new cords from OPW, NOS 557B receiver element, new suede on the base with punched-out holes. Again - fully functional :)

Phone dates to 4-30 (was stamped on the inside of the housing). Not sure of the fair value of the entire set, but this one might be heading to eBay at some point - I have a B1 w/ 2H dial and another 634BA waiting their turn plus a few other projects...

Fourth quarter of 1930 is still first year edition of the D1.  At least for books that counts toward collectibility.

Looks like the number plate of the dial is a bit younger.

Looks very nice from a distance, although I am no friend of powder coating.

WEBellSystemChristian

Looks beautiful, Fennec! Definitely a great candidate for a daily dialer!

Quote from: unbeldi on August 10, 2017, 09:23:05 PM
I am no friend of powder coating.
May I ask why not? I think powdercoating is a great alternative to paint for the phone hobby, especially in terms of durability.

If you buy the right powder, have a decent machine, have some experience, and give the coated parts all the proper prep work, you can easily have a finish that rivals paint in almost all aspects.
Christian Petterson

"Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right" -Henry Ford

Fennec

Quote from: unbeldi on August 10, 2017, 09:23:05 PM
... I am no friend of powder coating.

Both my 304 above, and 202 were professionally done, so the finish is very good. However hindsight, I probably should have given more specific instructions to the shop, as they have coated the inside of the housings as well, covering the date stamps (I did take pictures for posterity though :) ).

The other downside is the fact that coating is rather thick, and to some degree obscures stamping on the housings (ex. H3 on the 304).

All of this might be detrimental in the eyes of some collectors.

On the plus side however, powder coating is much stronger and more durable, and if the phone is intended for use rather than just for display, in my opinion it offers a significant advantage over spray painting.

As mentioned, the phones have arrived to me in a rather sad condition, so there was no question about preserving the original finish, or even some of the wiring. As such, I have opted for a complete overhaul, while remaining sympathetic to the circuitry (no mods, ex. electronic microphones etc.)

HarrySmith

Yes, obscuring or blurring the details is one issue the other is it is way to glossy. The phones original finish is almost a matte finish, much less glossy than the powdercoat.
Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

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

TelePlay

IIRC, powder coat is available in glossy, semi-gloss, satin and matte finishes. Christian would know.

WEBellSystemChristian

#14
It amazes me what you can do with powdercoating these days. You can get powders in any color or finish, and the company I use will custom mix colors and textures for you (although their custom color matching system isn't seamless, it should get much better in a couple years).

https://www.prismaticpowders.com/powder-coating-colors/

Scroll through some of their powders, and take a look at some of the examples people posted of that powder below. Check this out too:

https://www.prismaticpowders.com/gallery/


I think it would be interesting to send a sample of a preserved section of a japanned telephone to that company and get a perfect gloss level match for our phones!
Christian Petterson

"Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right" -Henry Ford