Which dial for Federal 802A-1

[G-Man]

The finish on the phone is flat black, but I read on a different website (and on the forum) that these phones had a wrinkle finish. I want to know which one I should use when I repaint it.

Some did and others did not, as I said they were a mishmash of parts and Federal threw together whatever they had on hand.

They were unlike Western Electric and most of the other major manufacturers!

That said, the 804's in my collection all have wrinkle finishes. However I doubt anyone has refinished your set by completely stripping the wrinkle paint so it is probably original.

[G-Man]

The ringer is dated 5-1945, which would explain the WWII type Magneto. The handset is definitely not an WE F1, and is a Federal handset. This was built the same month Germany surrendered.

I don't think there is much to explain since it is common knowledge that telephones were not manufactured for ordinary civilian use during WWII.

These sets were slapped together with whatever was on hand immediately after the War to meet the enormous pent-up demand.

There were acres of warehouses filled with new field telephones and parts which were being liquidated for pennies on the dollar.

The Bell System even used surplus Army field telephone wire on a temporary basis to serve new subscribers.

[WEBellSystemChristian]

Thanks for the info

[WEBellSystemChristian]

The Federal is complete...almost. I still have to get a straight handset cord and line cord, but it's finished in a beautiful satin black coat. I'm also planning on replacing the dial card.

[wds]

Nice paint job.  I have a F804BA that has a different layout on the inside.  The ringer is dated 4-56, the condensor is Western Electric as well as the handset.  Hooked the line cord to L1, L2, and also to the battery terminals and the phone worked just fine.  Without connecting to the Batt. terminals, the receiver would work, and not the transmitter.  The original crinkled paint is in almost perfect shape, just needs a good cleaning.  I noticed the insides are laid out differently than the previous pictures.

[WEBellSystemChristian]

As was mentioned before, Federal used what they could get their hands on. Unlike WE, they didn't make a lot of their own parts, and it is very common for one of these phones to have an F1 handset.

[dsk]

I tried to clean up the diagram: