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I Finally Finished My WE 302s!!

Started by Doug Rose, December 01, 2018, 01:42:23 PM

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SunriseEarth

Quote from: Doug Rose on February 16, 2019, 07:03:40 AM
I put the new handset on early this morning, couldn't sleep thinking about it. I am pleasantly surprised that they match so well. Handset cord matches the line cord as well They look like they came together, not an add on many years later.. This was an expensive add but well worth it to me. How often do you see this phone in nice displayable condition. Phone and handset do have a few nicks in the paint, but for a painted phone older than I am, I'll take it!...Doug

What a beautiful pairing!   IMHO, that handset was absolutely worth every penny for the end result to be that stunning!
Tony Stokes

TCI Member; ATCA Member #4893

Doug Rose

Quote from: SunriseEarth on March 05, 2019, 08:29:22 PM
What a beautiful pairing!   IMHO, that handset was absolutely worth every penny for the end result to be that stunning!
thanks Tony. I thought there was really no chance they would match. WRONG!  It was a lot, but yes, it was worth every penny.....Doug
Kidphone

Key2871

In all my years collecting I have never seen one of those, and that E1 really sets it off. Congratulations on a really nice phone.

Ken
KEN

Russ Kirk

Most of these factory painted phones are missing paint. Yours in "Old Brass" is exceptional.
- Russ Kirk
ATCA & TCI

poplar1

#19
Quote from: robert_m on March 05, 2019, 09:45:25 PM
IMHO, that plastic dial would never be authentic to that vintage of phone. 

It is true that all new 1939-1941 color 302s with metal housings -- in the "metallic" colors such as oxidized silver -- had 5H dials with matching (painted metal) finger wheels. (Metal 302s painted old rose, Pekin red etc. had 5J dials with unpainted stainless steel fingerwheels.) (Thermoplastic color phones, introduced in 1941, had 5J dials with clear fingerwheels.) However, the production of all new color 302s was discontinued by August, 1942 (BSP WR-C30.011 Issue1, 8-5-42). New color phone production resumed only in 1949 (BLR v27, p. 43, Jan. 49).

Metallic color (old brass, statuary bronze, oxidized silver, dark gold) 302s from 1949 or later were issued from the WE repair shops only, not from the WE factory. As Doug pointed out in reply #7, this phone has a 1951 base. It also has the white stamp on the base pan as was done in the repair shops. Note that in the 1950s ad, all the color 302s had 5J (or 4J) dials with white cases and Lucite finger wheels by that time.

There have been no new metal 302s reported later than 1946. This set was apparently assembled in the repair shop in 1951 or later, so the clear fingerwheel, on a 4J or 5J dial, is correct.
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

KaiserFrazer67

Just wanted to say congratulations again, Doug.  (My original congrats was deleted earlier in the melee.)  You have got one beautiful phone there.  I hope someday I get as lucky with my own "wish list."  ;)
-Tom from Oakfield, Wisconsin --  My CO CLLI & switch: OKFDWIXADS0--GTD-5 EAX

"Problems are merely opportunities in workclothes." -Henry J. Kaiser

jsowers

Quote from: Russ Kirk on March 05, 2019, 09:13:42 PM
Most of these factory painted phones are missing paint. Yours in "Old Brass" is exceptional.
Doug and the auction he bought the handset from say it's Oxidized Silver. So which is it? That ad is a little misleading since it doesn't show the shading on any of the phones and the color is a bit off. I'm with Paul--I'd like to see all the colors lined up in a decent photograph, or at least the metallic colors since Doug is finally finished. And the last one to me is the best looking of them all. Amazing luck, Doug.
Jonathan

Doug Rose

It is definitely an oxidized silver -8. Old brass is a much deeper color. I do have an Old Brass as well....thanks...Doug
Kidphone

Doug Rose

Here are my 302s ...Doug
Kidphone

RotarDad

Very nice Doug!  Question - first pic, second row, the gold with brown handset.  What is the story on that one?
Paul

Doug Rose

Paul...It is a metal set with a copper plate. I got it years ago when I first started collecting, it was painted black. I stripped the bad paint and found copper! I think the plating is too thick to have been a WE metal protection coating so someone must have had it plated at some point. I just added a Brown WE handset and a 6D dial....Doug
Kidphone

jsowers

Doug, many thanks for taking and posting those pics. I attempted a comparison montage with the color ad to show what they looked like in real life and I hope I got the gold ones right. There isn't a lot of difference between Dark Gold and Old Brass. Let me know if I need to fix anything. I am no Unbeldi. He was the 302 color expert. I don't even have one color 302 in my collection. But I've always been amazed at the finish work they did on these phones.
Jonathan

Doug Rose

#27
thanks Jonathan...really nice job on the comparison.

Karl's knowledge is missed. I recommend the Forum to him when he was a customer of mine. We certainly didn't always agree  8) but his knowledge is sorely missed on the Forum.

David's (poplar) and Robby's (rdelius)  knowledge is unsurpassed. They have forgot more than I will ever know!..Doug
Kidphone

rdelius

Regarding the copper plated 302 set ,COT might have sold  some .Copper was the first layer when plating chrome the copper would be the thickest and might hide small flaws if repolished before nickel and then chrome are plated.The copper might have not been perfect enough to complete the process so was left  on and sold with flaws or left as  copper

Western Bell

Quote from: Doug Rose on March 09, 2019, 04:46:03 PM
Karl's knowledge is missed. I recommend the Forum to him when he was a customer of mine. We certainly didn't always agree  8) but his knowledge is sorely missed on the Forum.

Who is Karl and why is he no longer helping members if what you say about him seems to say he was of great value to the forum? Did he die or something?