Western Electric glass front 240/Sunburst Tandem Restoration

[Sargeguy]

CLeaning up nicely after I removed a couple of layers of old shellac.  Underneathe all the grime the nickel was mostly intact on the binding posts and they polished up well. I used a steer-horn hook as it originally would have had.

[Key2871]

That steer horn hook definitely makes it now. Looking good,
And that wood, looks gorgeous, the nickel shining, keep up the good work! What I find!!

[RB]

That's beautiful...he said drooling...

[oldguy]

Looks amazing Greg, good work.

[Sargeguy]

Thanks, it is almost finished

[Jim Stettler]

It is looking very nice.

[Sargeguy]

Thanks! I lucked out that it cleaned up pretty easily.  There were a couple of small sections that I had to restain, and a few more spots that needed shellac, but the finish is mostly original and the areas that were shielded from the elements match the other parts.  The top box is lighter than the rest of the phone.

[Sargeguy]

I  found a Western Electric tandem with a TYPE 44 walnut top box that was for sale.  I consider myself lucky because this phone has not had a #5 arm attached to it.   Originally these came with #242 arms, but so many people were getting shocked by them that ABT Co. replaced the vast majority of them with the #5 arm.  This process involved drilling several holes in the backboard and removing the L&LD placard. This phone was not modified, and as a result when it was converted to a 240, the #10 arm was placed using the same holes as the 242. 

[Sargeguy]

This is the last time I buy a  sunburst tandem from IKEA!!!

[HarrySmith]

Is that the one in the picture from the other day?

[Sargeguy]

Yes.  It came from a collector in Australia who broke it down for shipping.

[HarrySmith]

WOW! I guess "broke" is the operative word here!

[Sargeguy]

The parts all fit back together, the side panels of the battery box are made of two piecec of wood, as is the shelf.  They slide into the shelf vial a dovetailed joint.  The box is stableized by two battery shelfs.  The front door is removeable.  It is an interesting arrangement.  I'll post pictures when I take it apart again to clean.

[HarrySmith]

Really? It is supposed to come apart like that? Pretty cool.

[Sargeguy]

I wouldn't say it was designed to be taken apart, more like simplified construction. The halves of the side panel slide into the front half of the writing shelf.  This is repeated for the other halves.  Then the two shelves installed.   The box and shelf are screwed to the backboard f