1991 German wooden desk phone

[countryman]

It is not a decorator, prototype or novelty phone. It is a DFG (Deutsche Fernsprecher Gesellschaft) 01-093 Eiche. Clear as mud 
The design is better known as Deutsche Post Tel 01LX. It continued the FeTap 7... series, but with new innards.
The DFG 01-093 is just a private version of it, and came in a number of colors with the regular plastic shell. The Eiche (oak) version is not seen often. The parts were machined out of wood blocks, that must have been a quite complex operation and I wonder what it may have cost?
The phone came filthy. Washing the wood parts with soda lye took away the grime and the sticky feeling also. To my surprise the phone did not work after re-assembly. The hookswitch refused to make any contact and required intensive cleaning. Did they save on contact metals already? However, the phone works now.
The Tel 01LX had some new features for official German post phones:
-solid state speaking circuit with Siemens PSB4500 integrated circuit
-both elements dynamic, amplifier for transmitter on main PCB (piezo crystal versions also exist)
-permanent pulse/tone dial setting on PCB, temporary tone dialing can be activated by a combination of keys
-function of R key can be set to earth signal or flash signal by jumper on PCB
-(limited) redial function

[tubaman]

Very nice indeed and very practical with the tone dialling.

[Key2871]

Agreed, all wood.
Nice design

[countryman]

Thanks guys :-)
I found this diagram in a datasheet for the integrated circuits. It may not be exact for this phone but close.

[LarryInMichigan]

Very stylish, but I would expect that a wood handset would not be especially hygienic.

Larry

[FABphones]

...but I would expect that a wood handset would not be especially hygienic.

I remember the antibacterial properties of wood being discussed many years ago alongside the introduction of plastic chopping boards for food preparation.

The Antibacterial Properties of Wood
'...tests results indicate that the surface of a wooden board will actually stop dangerous bacteria from multiplying and the germs simply die out after a period of about three minutes.  Following the experiment, the scientists at the University of Wisconsin found that 99.9% of the bacteria placed on the wooden chopping boards had died out completely within minutes'...

Further details re the scientific study here:
https://www.rowandsons.co.uk/blog/myth-fact-antibacterial-properties-wood/

[countryman]

I can confirm the handset DID look and feel filthy    (although it is varnished with a type of clear heavy duty coating)
But cleaned up well.
I have restored some furniture over the years and soda works quite reliably on wood. But as usual, better try on a hidden spot.

[TelePlay]

Sodium bicarbonate or carbonated water, or something else?

[countryman]

I think the correct term for what I used would be washing soda (sodium carbonate).

[FABphones]

I can confirm the handset DID look and feel filthy    (although it is varnished with a type of clear heavy duty coating)...

...soda works quite reliably on wood...

Soda in the US is a fizzy drink. 

I think the correct term for what I used would be washing soda (sodium carbonate).

The study mentioned in reply #5 above would only apply to untreated wood, so in this instance where the protective coat (varnish) may have worn away over the years (my standard routine is to Anti-Bac everything prior to working on it. Many products are available on the supermarket shelf boasting 99.9% effectiveness).

Your phone has cleaned up nicely. A nice addition to your collection.

[LarryInMichigan]

My concern would be about the porousness and grain of the wood.  All sorts of filth, including bacteria, have plenty of places to collect and hide around the surface, unlike on smooth plastic which can be easily wiped down.  Being that there are electronic parts in the handset, one would not be inclined to regularly rinse the handset as they would a wooden cutting board.

Larry

[countryman]

Handsets have been a concern for hygienists since they exist. As we all know, even behind the smoothest transmitter cap ugly things can wait for the restorer  .
I have not found out yet the original price of that wood phone, but it must have cost much more than a regular plastic phone with the exact same performance. So who bought it, and why?
The answer is, it was a status symbol to show off or self assure the owner of his/her individualism. Practical aspects often enough have to stand back behind such intentions. I have only read a brief extract of the linked book (mentioning a different German "design" telephone) but I think the author's criticism of form no longer following function is often applicable.

German book "Hypertrophied design and consumer behaviour"

[TelePlay]

In 2014, the FDA almost shut down the Wisconsin massive statewide cheese making industry by banning the use of wood boards, upon which the blocks of cheese were placed, to age the cheese over long periods of time, a practice in cheese making going back hundreds of years. Cheese makers strongly objected to the ban knowing wood did not grow stuff and after some thought and study retracted their ban because the unfinished wood boards stopped the growth of bacteria, were safer to use than plastic. As usual, the "government" which never made cheese, in its existence, got it wrong.

https://www.eater.com/2014/6/12/6208255/fda-retracts-ban-on-cheese-aged-on-wooden-boards

Varnished wood would be the same as a plastic surface and not stop stuff from growing. I've used unfinished wood cutting boards in the kitchen for decades and have never seen anything grow on them ever, even when not washed off during times of non use, even if they were filled with knife cuts.

=====

And, yes, the fizzy drinks of soda pop are CO2 laced water, carbonated water, which is a weak (carbonic) acid and can be used to dissolve stuff, slowly.

Baking soda, also known as sodium bicarbonate or bicarbonate of soda, is a popular baking ingredient and cleaning product. Produces CO2 when mixed with acidic stuff to raise breads, cookies and cakes.

I've used both to clean different things (coca cola with its carbonated water and phosphoric ingredients is a great rust and stain remover) over the year. Just curious as to what "soda" meant across the pond.

[FABphones]

...curious as to what "soda" meant across the pond.

Example screenshot below taken from one of the larger supermarkets after searching for 'Soda'. These are probably the three most common uses of the word.

Then there is the more in depth 'science bit'  - Caustic Soda etc.

A flavoured fizzy drink is usually referred to by it's name eg 'Cola' or generically, 'Pop'.

[TelePlay]

Yes, hadn't thought of that chemical because caustic soda is sodium hydroxide, drain cleaner also called lye, which will take skin off the bone.

Nasty stuff that gets hot in water but does a nice job of opening clogged sink drains. Also used to make soap from animal fats through a chemical process called Saponification. NaOH is a base that is as nasty as sulphuric and nitric acids at harming skin quickly.

Don't know what caustic soda would do to wood.