North Fat Shaft

[wds]

Grabbed this North Fat Shaft from Ebay.  It was completed except for the transmitter and cup which I had already.  Turned out pretty nice.  The only bad spot is a chip in the paint on the base.  I will have to send out the transmitter and cup to be nickle plated.  I had an old rattlesnake cord that seemed appropriate for this candlestick.  I have a question though - on the front and back of the stem at the top are two holes.  The pictures I've looked at show screws in both of the holes, but only the front hole is threaded on mine.  since the other side is not threaded, should I just leave it as is?

[Doug Rose]

Dave...I saw it and thought it was a North. One of my favorites sticks....looks GREAT!!...Doug

[rfkimba]

Dave,
I purchased a beautiful NE thick shaft about 7 months ago on EBay for 3.5x the price from a retiring collector. It arrived with a similar flat head slotted in the center shaft, and two round head slotted at the top. I recall one top screw threaded well and the other was just jammed in the hole . I subsequently replaced it with one with slightly smaller threading and it went in nicely. It is very possible one was left unthreaded by the manufacturer as yours was. If you go to The Morphy's auction in Pa  and examine the NE  Thick Shaft exhibit #62  in the amazing Pete D'agosta collection you may have your confirmatory answer.   
I had a NE transmitter from a very old NE box that was peeling and needed renickeling.  Dennis Hallsworth had a difficult time renickeling the pot metal but proved his  determination and prowess  and overcame the difficulties. My NE transmitter metal  on my thick shaft looks like the metal on the old NE box transmitter. I'm not so sure  some of these were meant to be nickeled. Perhaps someone who has more knowledge about oldNE transmitters can advise.
Bob Farber

[wds]

I've looked at many pictures of the NE fat shaft, and a lot of them do not have the screw in the back hole, which seems to confirm that this hole was not threaded.  Attached is a picture of one that also does not have the screw.  This stick appears to have not been touched in many years so the missing screw appears authentic.  I thick people have been jamming screws in that hole when they probably should not have been. 

Another interesting note is that you have to remove the entire switch assembly from the inside of the stem to attach the cords to the receiver and subset. 

[dencins]

The North Electric transmitter that Bob refers is probably the most horrible I have worked on.  The face plate is pot metal.  When pot metal ages it develops "veins" in the metal.  What looks like a small black dot can turn out to be the beginning of a larger problem under the surface.  This is especially a problem if the area with the veins is around the lettering.  The "veins" are corrosion in the metal leaving oxide that needs to be removed.  Each "vein" has to be drilled out to remove the oxide.  Once the oxide is removed the part is copper plated using alkaline copper (acid copper eats the pot metal) then filled with solder.  Any spot that is missed will leach out when nickel plated.  I have attached a picture showing the copper bleed out from the pits.  Fortunately I was able to reasonably clean up the pits and get a reasonable nickel plating on it.

Another issue - if you try to take this transmitter apart be aware the carbon granules are held in what looks like a felt ring.  There is no carbon module holding the granules.  If you remove the four screws from the back of the transmitter, the carbon granules will fall out.  Also the diaphragm is not metal - it seems like a thin carbon disc.  The only way I could put it together was to hold the transmitter upside down (face plate toward the ceiling) and put the screws back in from underneath otherwise the carbon granules fall out.

Dennis Hallworth       

[wds]

Here's a picture of the front and back of the transmitter plate.  i can see brass showing through the scratches of the black paint.  When I scratched the back of the plate, I saw brass, but when I dug deeper, it turned silver.  The plate is pretty heavy, like brass.  Judging from all the pits on the faceplate, I'm guessing this one can not be nickle plated?

[Sargeguy]

Are you sure the brass isn't gold paint?

[wds]

The brass color is on the back also, under where the diaphram is - the finish on the back looks pretty original.  The black paint is only on the front.  Maybe its a coat of brass or copper to help prevent corrosion. 

[Doug Rose]

Mine is pictured below, one of the coolest sticks. This is all original including the receiver marked North....Doug

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=9962.msg105908#msg105908

[dencins]

"When I scratched the back of the plate, I saw brass, but when I dug deeper, it turned silver.  The plate is pretty heavy, like brass.  Judging from all the pits on the faceplate, I'm guessing this one can not be nickle plated?"

Could be a copper layer under the paint but if it turned silver under the copper then it is most likely pot metal.  There may be some places that can plate it but I am not one of them.  As Kenny Rogers says - "Know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em".

I have heard there is a company in Canada that plates old pot metal but I do not have the name.  I think it is somewhere around Montreal.

Dennis Hallworth