American Tel & Tel Co 1919 Candle Stick Phone & bellbox

[HarrySmith]

I agree, if you can clean up the copper leave it. The copper subset Dennis did a while back was awesome looking. I have been hoping to find one since I saw his so I could do the same.

[wds]

The metal underneath the copper was rusted pretty badly in spots, so black it is.  The copper that was good shined up real nice, just too bad about the rust.  Judging from the amount of rust, I'd say that ringer box must have spent part of it's life at the bottom of a lake.  I saved one spot on the inside of the lid that will remain copper.

[bingster]

Your comment about the rust might provide a clue as to the copper's purpose on some subsets.  I wonder if these were designed for damp locations.  Bell had all sorts of equipment specifically designed to be unaffected by humidity, and I wonder if the purpose of the copper plating might be to resist the corrosion of the steel that would certainly become apparent in a damp place.

[wds]

I finished the subset.  The lid and bottom plate were copper plated, as well as the inside of the bells, and part of the ringer.  Interestingly, the outside of the bells were painted black, and showed no sign of being copper plated.  There was enough brass showing through the paint that I'm sure there's no copper under the paint.  The bottom mounting plate was very rusted - all that copper couldn't save it from the rust.  With all those contrasting colors, black, brass, copper and aluminum, I'll bet this was a sharp looking box when it was new.

[Doug Rose]

Outstanding job.....Doug