http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280762834937 (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280762834937)
For $25, I just couldn't resist. The seller doesn't say so, but the picture suggests that handsets are not included. The NE #2 looks like it has some sort of GPO dial, but it doesn't look quite like any I have seen.
Larry
Great catch. How in the world do you keep coming up with those great ebay finds?
He's not telling. ;)
That one on the left is absolutely bizarre, looks like a desk set left out in the sun and it melted.
QuoteHow in the world do you keep coming up with those great ebay finds?
Persistence.
The phone on the left is a Northern Electric Uniphone No. 2 (from Paul F - http://www.paul-f.com/neUNI.html (http://www.paul-f.com/neUNI.html)) which is a wall phone. Admittedly, it is one of the more bizarre looking wall phones and certainly not on my list of favorites, but I don't yet have one.
Larry
That dial has the newer AE plastic fingerwheel that has been painted
robby
Robby,
I believe that you are correct. I hadn't expected an AE dial on an NE phone.
Larry
Robby: Good eyes, dude!, I'll bet you're right. I was puzzling it out myself, thinking it was South American ITT or some such, which would be an interesting migration, half the length of a continent to get to Canada.
Uniphones are found with all manner of dials: from what I've seen, most often GPO/Siemens, then next most often AE, and most rare, NE 5H.
The phones finally arrived today. The seller said that they had been unable to drive to the PO for a while.
They were packed together in a relatively small box with the cradle ears of the Uniphone rubbing against the side of the 302. Fortunately, the Uniphone shells are pretty thick, so there was apparently no damage.
The Uniphone is missing its ringer. The dial was a newer type of AE dial (AE80/80E style) which had the external finger stop mount hacked off of it and an older style finger stop was installed. A notch was hacked into the plastic face plate to accommodate the finger stop, and a number overlay sticker was stuck to the face plate. That dial is headed for the parts bin. If I can make the shell look decent, I will probably install my spare GPO dial with Canadian face plate.
The bakelite is extremely dirty with plenty of wall paint around its perimeter (someone didn't bother to remove or mask it before painting the wall on which it was mounted.), but it appears to be in otherwise good shape. I am hoping that it will clean and polish up nicely. There is no handset or cord, so one of my spare WE F1s will have to fill in.
The NE 302 has a metal shell which is thinner than the metal shells of my WE 302s. It was dented in several spots around the bottom. Parts of the exterior are covered with thick ugly black paint over the original finish. I hope that the original finish is good underneath the extra paint. It is much more chipped than is apparent from the listing picture.
The base is dated 4/46. The ringer is dated "5-19-42". The NE 5H dial is dated 9-46. The 302 is also missing a handset and cords. Both of these phones have brown bakelite plungers.
Larry
Quote from: LarryInMichigan on October 27, 2011, 01:57:39 PM
The phone on the left is a Northern Electric Uniphone No. 2 (from Paul F - http://www.paul-f.com/neUNI.html (http://www.paul-f.com/neUNI.html)) which is a wall phone. Admittedly, it is one of the more bizarre looking wall phones and certainly not on my list of favorites, but I don't yet have one.
I think once cleaned up and given a complementary handset it will have a certain charm of its own.
I have found that most of the outer surface of the Uniphone bakelite shell is rough like it has been corroded somehow. I don't recall ever seeing bakelite like this. I am having to sand the shell to make it smooth.
Larry
Quote from: LarryInMichigan on November 21, 2011, 08:08:59 PM
I have found that most of the outer surface of the Uniphone bakelite shell is rough like it has been corroded somehow. I don't recall ever seeing bakelite like this. I am having to sand the shell to make it smooth.
Larry
Better to use .0004 steel wool... Final shine using Avon "Skin so Soft"
Dave
That's over 3 weeks to deliver the phones. Will the seller get 5 stars for shipping? Nice phones despite the couple of flaws.
I have a package of grade 00 "very fine" steel wool (from O'Reilly Auto Parts), but it makes scratch marks on bakelite. I suppose that I need the "super fine".
I do not know what I should do for seller feedback on this one. The seller lives in a small town in upstate NY and is probably elderly. I would hate to give them a bad rating because they had health issues which delayed their shipment.
Larry
A 4 stars for shipping won't hurt anything as long as the main feedback is positive.
Terry
Quote from: LarryInMichigan on November 21, 2011, 08:56:33 PM
I have a package of grade 00 "very fine" steel wool (from O'Reilly Auto Parts), but it makes scratch marks on bakelite. I suppose that I need the "super fine".
Larry
00 is too course for final polishing, but 0000 is what you want for the final finishing. If the finish is very rough, you may want to start with 00 but then do your finishng with the finer steel wool. It works quite well with NE's bakelite, along, of course with SSS for a final finishing coat.
Dave
Have any of you tried detailing clay ?, I had great success with it for overspray and dirty contaminated surfaces. VIM might be another good product as the abrasives are a plastic instead of silca like other scrubbing products.
Quote from: LarryInMichigan on November 21, 2011, 08:08:59 PM
I have found that most of the outer surface of the Uniphone bakelite shell is rough like it has been corroded somehow. I don't recall ever seeing bakelite like this. I am having to sand the shell to make it smooth.
Larry
Larry...I have seen bakelite get course on a WE F1 receiver cap only. It gets the consistency of an orange peel. Once they get like that, I toss them. I have never been able to get them anywhere close to the way they should be. Its funny, but on on a WE F1 receiver cap. I have never heard an explanation for this...Doug
Doug,
I have seen plenty of receiver caps like you describe. I assume that the problem is caused somehow by the physical contact with the ear (skin oil and/or ear wax). The surface of the Uniphone shell is somewhat like that, but not nearly as bad. I am wondering if it was exposed to some substance which caused a chemical reaction. The base plate and internal parts look normal though. The roughness is coming off with Micro-Mesh sanding. The next time I can stop at a hardware store, I plan to look for right steel wool.
Larry
Larry...good news.....try a medium steel wool on it....nice phones at a great price....Doug