My new candlestick (*gasp*) lamp

[Phonesrfun]

Not bad for $20 at an antique mall

Much more than $20 in parts here.

[Dennis Markham]

Great find, Bill!  What dial is that?

[Kenny C]

looks like a #6 dial because of the wraparound operator

[Phonesrfun]

It is a #6 dial badly in need of a lube job.  

It has a #337 transmitter, originally dated May 1927, refurbed in II of 35, but dows not appear to be good when checked with the ohm meter.  

Receiver is a 144 with no diaphragm.  I will check it out for conductivity later.  Has an F1 transmitter cap, rather than the original receiver cap.

Hookswitch is in great shape, but missing a single screw.

Has a ratty and broken fabric coiled brown handset cord attached to the receiver, just for looks.  Not connected and wouldn't work if it was due to its being so crappy.

The tie-down pads and wiring harness from the 50AL are missing inside.

The good news is that the socket is soldered, rather than welded to the perch.

The AC (lamp) cord was very brittle and the insulation was all coming off.  Evidence that this has not been used (as a lamp, or as a phone   for a long time).

Maybe I'll just put a new cord on it and leave it as spare parts masquerading as a lamp.

[McHeath]

Great find, and now you can read a book at night while you use the phone!

As much as we dislike these lamp conversions, they have probably saved more than a few old phones from the trash. 

[Doug Rose]

Great find! Did they drill or use an adpater that comes right off the transmitter mount?...Doug

[Phonesrfun]

I am not sure what you are asking, but as far as the lamp socket goes, they just soldered the base of the socket to the tips of the perch.

[Phonesrfun]

Doug:

Maybe this is what you are referring to:

They did drill a hole in the top surface of the cup mount to pass the AC wire up to the socket.

[Doug Rose]

Yep...that's what I was asking. Every once in a while you get fortunate and they are not drilled out. Still a great find....Doug

[Craig T]

Nice candlestick for $20 Bill! 

[Phonesrfun]

OK, everything polished up real nice.

Even though the socket is only soldered onto the top of the perch, the perch is still toast because they ground the rounded tips of the perch to the square in order to accomodate the socket base.  The transmitter cup also has a hole drilled through the top of the cup mount to pass the cord through.

I re-oiled the dial and it works nice and smoothly now.  The transmitter tests out good, and the receiver, a 144 tests out good too.  I replaced the F1 transmitter cap that was on the receiver with a reproduction 144 cap that I bought a while ago on e-bay from Adele.  I had a new receiver cord that I bought from Odis Levrier ages ago before he sold to oldphoneworks.  So, I have a lot of good parts here. 

However, I thought that maybe a telephone lamp would be kind of a nice "go-with" if you know what I mean.  I have several other sticks, so I am not needing another stick just for the sake of having one.

Therefore, I did the unthinkable.  I rewired the lamp!

The AC cord was brittle and the insulation was crumbling.  Since the lamp socket already has a switch on it, I DID NOT  re-wire it to operate through the hookswitch to turn on the lamp when the receiver is taken off the hook!.  The reasons for that are twofold:

• The switch is not designed for AC voltages at those currents.
• Even though it it technically insulated from the metal frame of the phone, I do not trust it to always be that way.

After rewiring,  I went shopping for a lamp shade that would be suitable.  This socket does not have the attachment for a lamp-shade "harp". 

There are two other methods of attaching lamp shades.  One is a wide round circle that goes over the diameter of the socket.  I think these are called a "halo".  The problem with these is that of the available shades, they all seem to ride too low.

The second alternative is the kind that clips onto the bulb.  There are very few of these available.

The two pictures below are of two lampshades I have tentatively purchased.  Item number one, I think looks better from the style standpoint but I think it rides too low.  It is the halo version, and I got it at Wal-Mart for $9.95.

The second one is the clip-on variety and rides higher, but it is not very stylish.  It was $14.95 at K-Mart, and was the only clip-on I could find in town anywhere.

I have left the plastic on both because one or both are going to go back to whence they came.

I am looking for opinions on which, if either, lamp shade looks ok with the phone.  I know, I know, we are talking total blasphemy here.  Try to think outside the box!

Ha ha

[AE_Collector]

Hi Bill:

I think a phone lamp or two around the house is perfectly acceptable.

Shade #1 doesn't look much lower than #2 although maybe it is the angle of the picture. Shade #1 does look more "antique" than #2 so #1 would be my choice. The size of #1 is better in my opinion as well.

Also, shade #1 will allow you to use a compact flourescent bulb where as shade #2 won't. Soon, incandescent bulbs are going to be antiques, like your phone!

When I rewired my two AE 40 lamps I used 3 conductor computer type power cords, cutting of the end that plugs into the back of the computer. I attached the grounds to the back of the dial as well as the base plate of the AE 40. The reason that I wanted to ground the dial is that like you, I went with the original switch for the lamp which in the case of many AE phone lamps is the dial itself. Dial an odd number to alternate between off and on. I know it "isn't good" but it IS just too cool!

Terry

[Dennis Markham]

Bill, first of all, I like the Aqua phone.  Terry makes some good points.  I think the first shade does look a bit low but it seems to be the right size.  The smaller one looks too high and too small for the lamp/phone.  And the incandescent bulb thing is a concern, so the halo type is better.  So if I had to vote between the two, I'd go with #1.  But I'd like to see something in size between #1 and #2.  Can you work on that??

[Kenny C]

I bought a candlestick lamp today it was supposed to be a lamp. Itis black on the grip and base and reciver and transmitter, but the rest is brass.

[Phonesrfun]

.....But I'd like to see something in size between #1 and #2.  Can you work on that??

I would if I could.  I have scoured this one-horse town all day, and like your 334 and B1, I now have more time and gas into this than is really warranted,  Maybe if I were to go to "one of them-thar big cities" I could find one.  Walla Walla with a population that is not quite 40k is hard to find things like that.  Even the Goodwill was a no-go, and they had not phones to boot!

I kind of like shade #1 as well.  

At least I was not the one that did the deed of the lamp conversion.  So at the risk of getting drummed off this forum and kicked out of TCI and ATCA, I think I will keep it as is for now and use shade #1.  Remember, this is a bunch of candlestick parts posing as a lamp.

I like two of Terry's points too.  One is that it is ok to have a phone lamp or two around the house.  Two is the incadescent bulb factor.  I think I have about 70% of the lighting in my house now on the energy saver flourescent bulbs.  With shade #1, I can use one of those in this phone, errrr lamp too.