Century Wood Wall Phone

[wds]

I had made a post a few months ago about a wood wall phone I had purchased, and the Seller had not packaged it properly, causing serious damage to the wood cabinet and wiring.  I was so upset by the damage that I put the phone back in the corner of the room, and ignored it - until now.  I've finally started the restoration, starting with disassembly and gluing up some cracks in the wood, then the long process of stripping and refinishing.  A few days ago I packaged up all the metal parts and sent them off to Dennis Hallworth to have re plated.  Unfortunately I didn't take any "before" pictures, other than the pictures of the damage.  I got the parts back today, and the parts look so good I now have new motivation to finish the project.  Several of the parts were steel, and badly corroded, but he was able to remove the corrosion the make them look better than new.  Hopefully, not to far into the future I'll post some finished pictures.

[Devansphones]

Good luck with your restoration... we should all remember to forward a letter to the seller saying how we want our phones packaged... I know i would hate to have this happen to one of mine, hope you are able to get her fixed, dhe is a beauty.

[HarrySmith]

NICE!
Dennis did a great job on the plating, don't blame you for wanting to get it back together. I like how you even plated all the screws and washers. It's all in the details

[wds]

Finally finished.  Now I know why no one messes with these wood wall phones!  The wood appears to be Oak, but this wood doesn't have any stain on it.  It's either naturally dark, or the wood has experienced some aging or even wood rot.  I drilled a hole to correct a screw hole, and it was dark all the way through.  The black paint on the transmitter arm is the original black, complete with the brown stencil.  Considering the condition of the phone, I was surprised that the paint was in such good shape.  So, I'm done.  Unfortunately I had already picked up a Swedish American wood wall phone, so I still have one more to go.

[wds]

By the way, if you notice how much shinier the magnets are from the before picture - somehow the dull side of each bar was turned out, so all I had to do was remove the bars, and turn them around.  A little polish, and they were like new.  I need a name tag for the bottom of the door, and a wiring diagram for the inside of the door then it's complete!

[Nilsog]

Looks great! I love working with old wood, I refinished an antique bell with a wooden back and box to cover its mechanism, its amazing what sandpaper and finish will do for a messed up piece of old wood.

[dencins]

Dave

Fantastic job.  You really brought it back to life.  I put the before and after side-by-side and I would never guess it was the same phone.

Dennis Hallworth

[GG]

Excellent work! 

I think the wood is naturally dark.   If there was wood rot, wouldn't the wood be all spongy or crumbly in the rotted areas? 

[wds]

Actually I meant dry rot.  You know how wood gets when you leave it in the attic for too many years?  but the wood was otherwise in good shape, not soft or weak, just dark.  I know there are different types of oak, white oak, red oak, etc and maybe Century used a darker oak on this phone.  I'm happy with how it turned out.  I'll post a side by side shot tonight.

[wds]

Picture compliments of Dennis.

[Doug Rose]

Picture compliments of Dennis.

Beautiful! It couldn't look nicer...Doug

[LarryInMichigan]

It looks amazing.  What did you do to the receiver and mouthpiece to make them look so good?

Larry

[wds]

I haven't been able to find any pictures of Century receivers, but I believe this one to be original.  The cap is a darker color, and is probably a replacement, so I'll be on constant lookout for a correct cap.  The receiver polished up real nice with rubbing polish and doesn't have a scratch on it - except for a crack on the side away from the camera.  Strange crack - looks like the bakelite just split over the years.  If you mean the nickel plated transmitter, hats off to Dennis Hallworth who did the replating.  The bakelite mouthpiece polished up like new also.  The entire phone was in amazing condition (until the ebay seller shipped it improperly) and appeared to have spent most of it's life stored away somewhere.  Just not in a climate control environment as evident by the corrosion to the metal and wood.  All wiring is repaired and in place, and the phone works as it should. 

[jjflory]

I have a B-R Electric Wood Wall Telephone just like yours the only difference is the mine has the B-R Brass plate o it. I see yours have the Holtzer Cabot magneto. Mine has a Kellogg magento, so I am looking for the correct 4 or 5 bar Holtzer Cabot.

[wds]

Why do you think the magneto is a Holtzer Cabot?  If you enlarge the picture of the magnets, they say Century on them?