WESTERN ELECTRIC DREYFUSS LUCITE 302 TELEPHONE HANDSET eBay 320767640440

[Doug Rose]

Have you been watching this? No WE or Bell System markings. What are your thoughts?....Doug

http://tinyurl.com/5sdkudq

[rdelius]

this would not be a F1 handset. Notice the extra contacts  opposite the uasual ones.handle looks like the thinner 1937 grooveless ones.I think this was real to test the concept.
Robby

[Wallphone]

I asked Ray K. and it's not one of his. He says that on the handsets that he makes he puts the logo on the handle.
Doug Pav

[GG]

Seller sais it's NOS from the estate of a retired WE machinist.  In which case it could be a one-off that the machinist made for himself, or it could be an extra one from a short production run.  

Speaking of Ray K, what sort of price range does he charge for complete phones?  Are we talking something less than $1000, or $1k - $2k, or more than that?  (Here's me thinking of a light green AE 40, and also thinking there's no way I could afford that.  And I'd sooner not ask him for a quote only to have to say I can't afford that right now.)

[Doug Rose]

this would not be a F1 handset. Notice the extra contacts  opposite the uasual ones.handle looks like the thinner 1937 grooveless ones.I think this was real to test the concept.
Robby

Robby...It does remind me a grooveless early black (no F1 Marking on it) bakelite handset, but this has no markings at all. No Bell System or Western Electric. It is beautiful, but I am suspect of the origin. it appears to be solid, Ray's creations are not solid. I'd love to have it, but am not sure it's real.....Doug

[HarrySmith]

I saw that, I am thinking prototype to test the early "F" design. Especially if it was in the hands of a machinist, it was probably not meant for release. Absolutely stunning, no yellowing at all! I would love to have it but I think it is going to go pretty high!

[TelePlay]

Here's a similar, none lucite, handset up for sale on eBay.

http://tinyurl.com/3f3vshm

Is it an AE product?

[LarryInMichigan]

Here's a similar, none lucite, handset up for sale on eBay.

http://tinyurl.com/3f3vshm

Is it an AE product?

That is an AE type 41 handset used on AE40s and 50s and others.  The caps with the chrome bands make it worth much more, but these don't look like they are in great shape. 

Larry

[GG]

Oh, I'd say that AE handset would look fine with a good clean and proper buffing. Though, don't buff the chrome bands or you can partially remove the chrome. 

That WE handset is now up to $152, and I see the seller is in Boonton NJ.  That would be close enough to Bell Labs that the handset could plausibly have originated at Bell Labs. 

I'm going to guess that the final price will be in the range of about $300. 

[Kenny C]

Just ended $481.99 with 22 bids

[AE_Collector]

Just ended $481.99 with 22 bids

Don't know who the buyer is. Only 39 feedback.

n***a 588 negradio was the next highest bidder at $476.99
5***9 947 195bdwy went $320
a***t 1571 attic00attack went $300

Terry

[Doug Rose]

Terry....we know the three second place contestants, I do not know the winner. This is a lot of cash for an unmarked handset. I have my doubts on this....just my humble opinion. Five bills buys some quality phones.....Doug

[kleenax]

Speaking of Ray K, what sort of price range does he charge for complete phones?  Are we talking something less than $1000, or $1k - $2k, or more than that?  (Here's me thinking of a light green AE 40, and also thinking there's no way I could afford that.  And I'd sooner not ask him for a quote only to have to say I can't afford that right now.)

Ray K. charges $900.00 for a Water-Clear WE302, and it DOES indeed have a solid F1 (marked) handset. I used to make the later, hollow handset like are on the colored 302s, but switched to the solid after the first year of casting these (2004).  Both versions (Clear solid/seamless, and Hollow) were cast in Clear by Western Electric incidentally.

Nile Green (that's the original light green) AE40 would be $750.00 with Chrome trim.

As for the Clear F1 on eBay, it's possible that it could be an engineering specimen, but in the days that this one was cast, it would be a real pain to make a mold just for one handset. The molds that they used back then were huge, and made of thick metal for injection-molding processes.

Cheers,

And don't EVER be afraid to ask what a phone costs to cast!  You might catch me at a weak moment! ;-)

Right now, I am working on several projects in Clear:

Clear D1 (202) mount with Clear E1 (seamed) handset
Clear #4 Western Electric dial
Clear 183 AE Spacemaker
Clear AE Model 4A (look it up)
Clear Princess housings (both dial & TT)
Clear AE Model #2
Clear Kellogg 925 (Ashtray)
Clear Kellogg 1000 (Redbar)
Clear and colored Siemens Neophone (British)
Clear Siemens 200 series (pyramid) with integral bellset

But before ANY of these will be created, I have to get all of my orders filled! :-(

Ray Kotke
http://telephonecreations.com
Recumbent Casting, LLC

[GG]

Hi Ray- 

Re. AE 40 in Nile Green, yeah that's near-affordable depending on me getting my back invoices out to clients (one in particular).  Does this assume a "donor" phone with all the electrical components in good order?  (I have one with a cracked housing that I could save with the "acrylic repair" technique, or could use for this; I also have a couple of NOS AE dials.)  Do you do those with solid color handsets or only with chrome rings, and would I need to come up with a handset with chrome rings as a parts donor for that?  (If the latter, does your price include re-plating worn rings?)

While we're on the subject, what's your price for an AE 1A in Nile Green, with Nile Green plastic hookswitch cradle, and chrome handset rings?  And what sort of donor parts would I need to come up with for that?

I thought of another potential project if this interests you: 

I have a GPO HES-2 that was actually made by/for PMG Australia, identical to this except in _gray_ and minus the drawer: 
http://www.britishtelephones.com/ericsson/bulletin/5_23.htm    and 
http://www.britishtelephones.com/hes2.htm
   
The shipper packed it abysmally badly, resulting in the left side of the housing being smashed.  I did the acrylic repair routine on it but the result isn't perfect so the crack line is visible in some places. 

Question is, can you create a new housing for that, or is the cost of producing the tooling prohibitive?  And/or if it isn't possible to create a new housing, then should I just send what I've got to someone who can coat the whole thing in color-matched Polane or similar? 

Re. the Siemens 200-series (GPO 232), someone in the UK is producing some components for those in color: the hookswitch cradles and plungers, and bell set covers.  So if you produced the main housing plus the handset parts, you might be able to work a deal with the folks in the UK for the cradle parts, thereby saving a step in getting to complete 232s in ivory, red, and green. 

thanks-
-GG

[AE_Collector]

Aahhh, the 183 is still on your list! Glad to hear that.

Terry