Restoration Project

[cihensley@aol.com]

I purchase this for the restoration project implied and the unique lines. It was in sorry shape to say the least. The seller said it was a hotel lobby phone. Since it has no ringer or dial, he is probably right. I searched the name Telematic on the Internet and didn't find anything. The set has a WECo F1 handset, but I don't know if that is original. The case is plastic and the cradle is metal.

I had a local sheet metal shop cut a new base for it the same gauge as the original. I soaked all of the internal components over night in Evapo-Rust. After removal of all of the rust, I didn't do anything further to detail the components. When removing the internal components several of the rusty screws broke off flush with the anchor points. I had to drill them out, destroying the threads. I 3/4 filled the holes with Araldite epoxy and inserted new screws coated in 3-in-1 oil. When they dried, I had restored threads.

I stripped the cradle and japanned it and the new base. The plastic shell and the F1 handset did not have any deep scratches (or erosion in the case of the F1) so all I did was buff them. As you can see in one of the before pictures, a couple of the feet were missing. They are 3/8" rolled (rope) felt. Fortunately McMaster-Carr stocks 3/8" felt rope which I cut to length for new feet. Amazingly, after burnishing the switch hook contacts it works.

Chuck

[dsk]

You have made a great job all reasons to be proud!
Congratulations.

dsk

[Dennis Markham]

Charles, that is outstanding!  Can you show us another view of the other side of the phone?  It looks like new.

[cihensley@aol.com]

Here are the first two before pictures of the Telematic. I attached them to the original post but for some reason they were lost in the uploading.

Chuck

[HarrySmith]

Thanks for adding those pics. I was wondering what they were. I think the reason is they were in TIFF format. Got another of the front after restoration? Great job

[cihensley@aol.com]

Dennis:

Here is a picture of the back side of the restored phone.

Chuck

[cihensley@aol.com]

Harrysmith - You are right. They originally were TIFFs. You can't upload TIFFs?

Chuck

[HarrySmith]

I guess the forum server does not accept tiff. Must be set up for jpg's only.

[Dennis Markham]

Thank you for the additional photos, Charles.  I'll look and see if I can change the configuration to allow for TIFF and other photographic file types.  I didn't realize TIFFs were excluded.

[Craig T]

Excellent job Chuck, I like the paint job, you really have that down!

[McHeath]

Looks fab!! And that new metal bottom was a good idea.

[JorgeAmely]

Chuck:
You are a jack of all trades. Congrats!