WE/American Bell 295a subset restoration

[Pourme]

After much thought, and consulting with one that has been there before (Thank you, TelePlay),  http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=16425.msg171929#msg171929  I have begun the restoration of the 295a subset that I bought off EBAY recently for $25.00 + $22.00 shipping.

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=17904.msg184805#msg184805

Not going for NOS here. I plan to mate it with the 20AL I recently purchased from SargeGuy. I have wanted one of these for quite sometime. This one started life as a Type 124-A Wall Set, as pointed out to me by Popular1. I can't be sure of the exact dates of it's origin but I believe it to be well over 100 years old, I'm privileged to have it. 

As you can see I have disassembled it and cleaned it up with a bit of fine sandpaper and steel wool with Howards finish restorer. I have bought the supplies and plan to proceed with the black finish as John did on his in the above link. This should yield a original looking finish, complete with certain  marks it received in service over the years, rather than a stripped and repainted finish. The one difference I will insist on, I will polish then gongs. They will offer a nice contrast to the black subset and the black 20al as well. In my research I have found documentation of 295a's with polished gongs, so I'm not doing something that's unprecedented.

I will post here as I proceed, as always your comments are welcome!

Benny

[Pourme]

What I have discovered (some of you already knew) the gongs aren't brass, thus aren't pretty when stripped. They shall remain black. 

[WEBellSystemChristian]

What are they, steel?

You could always have them nickel plated. However, black is correct. 

[Sargeguy]

If you are going with black I would just strip the entire box and repaint it with semi gloss enamel.  Remember there is a coat of shellac under that paint that will complicate any restoration efforts

[Pourme]

Exactly Christian. They are steel, the black paint came a bit scratched up. Since the gongs are on the outside rather than inside the box,  I have removed the paint and am in the process of polishing them as best I can. Thw metal isn't smooth but kinda like orange peel. I know black is original, I would like a little contrast to all the black, could always be painted back black very easily.

SargeGuy, I'll post pictures soon, the black is looking good with the treatment prescribed by TelePlay.  A strip & repaint would look a bit too good for this set, in my opinion. I'm going for a cleaned up original look, well...except for the polished gongs.

Benny

[WEBellSystemChristian]

I would give the gongs a clear coat after you polish them. You wouldn't believe how fast bare, polished steel rusts...

[Pourme]

Good point...Thanks!

[Pourme]

Disassembly, clean up...parts are ready to reassemble. The original wires cleaned up nicely with Woolite. The gongs cleaned and sprayed with clear coat.

Some brass wood screws will be replaced, other fasteners were cleaned with ultra sonic cleaner & polished. Coils cleaned and clear coated. I hope to have it put back together & working by the weekend!

[poplar1]

A guy from Atlanta who retired from the Western Electric repair shop here said his first job here (probably in the 1940s) was to refurbish these wooden subsets. He said that, at one time,  the best paid job at the repair shop was that of the cabinet makers. Guess that was the "high tech" job at the time.

There were many manufacturers of telephones starting after Graham Bell's patents expired in 1893. Many of those sourced the electrical parts from other manufacturers and hired their own cabinet makers.

The last "survivors" of the Western Electric "woodies" were probably the 495BP subsets with cow gongs. These usually have 101A induction coils inside, and black paint like this 295A conversion.

[Pourme]

Reassembly began today. I'm pleased with everything except the fact that it shows very little signs of life. I'm testing it with my BK 1045a, I assume it should ring and I should be able to pick up a dial tone with a but set. I don't make a effort to ring and all I get is a hummm... no dial tone. I've double checked the wiring with a schematic I downloaded off the  TCI libarary. I;m wondering if I have a bad induction coil or condenser....after all they are quite old...

Interesting, Popular1 that you meet someone that used to convert these...

[Sargeguy]

Those gongs sure look nickel plated to me. Did you test them with a magnet?

[Pourme]

Ya know...I didn't....I'll do that now...

[TelePlay]

What happens if you unhook the bias spring and try to ring the phone? Do you get more action than a hum? Spring may be too tight. Might be something else.

[Pourme]

I'll try that, John...The thing is, the red indicator light on the tester don't flicker when I try to make it ring. That leads me to believe something is wrong with the subset, somewhere.

Gongs not attracted to magnet...I think you're right!

[TelePlay]

Do you have a DVM to measure resistance? If so, disconnect the two wire from the ringer and check the resistance. Should be about 600 + 600 or 1200 ohms, give or take a few. If so, the coils are good.

Does your volt meter measure capacitance? If so, check the capacitor to see if it has an issue. I don't  know what it should be but .5 to 2 uF is usually in the ring circuit, IIRC.

Just two things to rule out.