North Electric Galion Arrived Today.

[Dennis Markham]

Thank you.  It's trial and error.  But the outward looks has been improved.  The person that owns that Galion phone isn't a collector.  She just bought one phone to use in her home.  It's all good.

[TelePlay]

I have tried a few things.  The Galion phone has a screen with wider squares, very similar to window screen.  I bought some screening material especially for the Galion (meaning not for other phones) at my local Hardware store and it worked fine.  I took a small piece of the original screen with me and tried to match as best I could.  I also bought some fine black vinyl mesh screen to use for different vents, such as the 302 but found that the square openings were too large.

I also went to Jo Ann Fabrics and bought a yard of black chiffon which is very sheer.  For the 302 vents I have doubled it and glued it into place.  It is difficult to cut a straight edge.  Just make sure you don't stretch it while cutting.  I guess it doesn't have to be too critical.

Nothing like starting up a very old topic.

I've been searching for a good 302 vent material and did find that a heavier chiffon is close to the original cotton fabric used by WE but not quite. As for cutting it, I found that putting a light coat of hair spray on each side (letting the first side dry before turning it over, makes it a bit stiffer. As for cutting, if you pin it in between tissue paper and the pattern to be cut out (3/4" by 3 3/4" rectangle). it is very easy to cut straight. The edges can ravel so putting something thin on the edges will stop that.

Today I found what may be a very good material that is 90% similar to the WE mesh used. The image below was scanned using transparency mode so show the semi-sheer weave. It is thicker so stiffer and easier to cut. Only problem is the material is only 5/8" wide. That is just wide enough to cover the 302 vent and not show the bound edges from the bottom but when open, it does not look like the original material (too thin and the edge shows). When in place, looking at it from the bottom looks just like the original WE vent mesh.

Working on finding a source with wider material and will update this if one becomes available.

[TelePlay]

I have my eye on two other sources of hopefully wider mesh but couldn't wait so stuck the 5/8" stuff in this 302 base.

The top or inside picture shows a non-WE-standard mesh but from the bottom, it would be hard to tell the difference between the WE cotton and this modern fabric.

[TelePlay]

Measure the mesh count on the old cotton fabric used by WE in my 1940 302. It has rectangular mesh with a 72 count per inch in one direction and 92 per inch in the other.

A fabric I am looking at, posted in photos above, has a square mesh of slightly thicker thread with a 56 mesh count per inch in both directions. In place, it looks very similar to the WE mesh. I guess with a thicker thread, the mesh count would be less but the visual affect about the same. Holding up both to a light next to each other, I see very little difference.

By comparison, Galion has a larger mesh which is closely approximated with black mosquito netting which is a square mesh with a 36 count in both directions.

Original Galion mesh is also a square mesh and the count is about 30 squares per inch in both directions so it is closely approximated using black mosquito netting.

Also, modern mesh or open fabric material is made with some form of plastic so it will last a lot longer than the cotton fabric used by WE and other companies decades ago.

[Jim Stettler]

Years ago I searched for a fabric mesh to use on AE 40's. I found a mesh that was close enough *,I bought it and quit searching. I bought the mesh at a fabric store, I had to buy 1 yard (@ 2 yd wide) so I have a lot of it.
Currently it is somewhere in the basement stored with telephone stuff.

Jim S.





* I never did a thread count