1928 "Societe Des Telephones Grammont", Paris"

[DavePEI]

Ok, on to the next project - the 1928 Grammont Intercom, made by the "Societe Des Telephones Grammont", Paris". Its greatest problem was a screw broken off flush with the plunger which held the hook-switch in place. I managed to drill it out with the Dremel, as there was nothing to grab it with to turn it out, and then re-thread it and replace the screw and hook. I think you will find it quite acceptable. Wiring-wise, it is in great shape, a small problem with one button which I will attack next, then waxing. Nice, short enjoyable project, and a nice phone!

Has anyone got any very tiny tacks? One of the station identifying placards is missing its two tacks, and I don't have anything that small....

Bottom photo: Site of the Grammont Factory today thanks to Google Street View.

[Ktownphoneco]

How small are they Dave ?      I have some fairly "slim" brass round head nails / tacks (I'm not what constitutes a tack as opposed to a nail).     If you have a micrometer, could you measure the diameter and I'll see how close I can come to it. 

Jeff Lamb

[NorthernElectric]

Has anyone got any very tiny tacks? One of the station identifying placards is missing its two tacks, and I don't have anything that small....

Maybe 'escutcheon pins' are what you need?  These are readily available, still made from brass, and easy to cut to length and resharpen if you need shorter than what you can find. 

[DavePEI]

How small are they Dave ?      I have some fairly "slim" brass round head nails / tacks (I'm not what constitutes a tack as opposed to a nail).     If you have a micrometer, could you measure the diameter and I'll see how close I can come to it. 

Jeff Lamb

Hi Jeff:

Now, you know me and know how good I am at reading a micrometer withthese lousy eyes! However, the pins.tacks, whatever you want to call them are little more than a millimeter thick - extremely thin... I only need a couple to re-attach the line tag which is made out of some sort of celluloid material...

Dave

[Ktownphoneco]

And you know how I am with metric measurements.   According to an internet conversion table 1 mm is equal to .0393 inches, so 39 thousands of an inch.        I have a bunch of escutcheon pins (thanks NE for the linguistic assistance) made of brass, that are .048 inches, or 48 thousands of an inch.
If they'll work, I'll put a few in an envelope and send them.      How long do they need to be ?

Jeff

[DavePEI]

And you know how I am with metric measurements.   According to an internet conversion table 1 mm is equal to .0393 inches, so 39 thousands of an inch.        I have a bunch of escutcheon pins (thanks NE for the linguistic assistance) made of brass, that are .048 inches, or 48 thousands of an inch.
If they'll work, I'll put a few in an envelope and send them.      How long do they need to be ?

Jeff

Hi Jeff:

Ok, I got around the problem - I slightly drilled out the celluloid and used a couple of tiny screws salvaged from another phone some time back. So the cards are all back in place...

So thank you anyway, but they won't be needed now.

Now, here is some wild speculation. The lines on this phone are labelled, Atelier (workshop), blank, M. Currey, Fichier (roughly archives or records), another blank one, then Service Installation, then Magasin (store), and finally Telephoniste (Operator) The two bottom ones are blank. I wonder if this might actually be a phone once used in the factory offices? Pure speculation, of course, but we may never know where this phone was used. The blank line labels might once have been labelled in pencil or pen, but all readable markings on them are long gone - the others are engraved into the celluloid labels beside the keys.

The phone is now complete after a few more hours of work - it has been polished, and the few scratches on it no longer show. The handset and hook-switch have been polished, and truly gleam. It looks almost unused! It is a beauty!

Dave