Number Please

[its_virgil]

If you are old enough to have had a telephone operator ask you that question (Number Please?) or if you watch "The Andy Griffin Show" (Barney is hilarious) then you will recognize this. I bought my wife a real one for her birthday and noticed that all of the parts are round.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

 

[ericw95]

Beautiful. I know a former operator that use to say it. Does my mother count?

Is it for sale Don? I know a phone collector that may be interested.

 

[Tubby]

Very nice phone Don. I bet SWMBO was impressed []

Ed Jordan
Wichita Falls, TX

 

[low_48]

That's really nice Don. We were on a party line on the farm until 1967. Our ring was a long and two shorts. Our number, 30R52. When the connection wasn't that good we had to ask the neighbors to please hang up so we could hear better. No joke. My uncle would call from Chicago and tell the operator that was the number. He would always get the same reply, "Sir, that is not a phone number."

 

[its_virgil]

Sure, I would sell it or make another with some better quality wood. And, the handset is hanging in the cradle on the wrong side. It should be on the left. I goofed on the drill press. Show it to him and we can work out a deal if he wants one.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

Originally posted by ericw95
<br />Beautiful. I know a former operator that use to say it. Does my mother count?

Is it for sale Don? I know a phone collector that may be interested.

 

[PenWorks]

Hey Virgil, lookin good [] I remeber Lilly Tomlin as the operator on Laugh IN [] [] I was waiting for the mouthpeice to come off and out comes a PEN, kinda like the famed Gavel pen [] I bet you can't demo this phone in less than an hour []

 

[its_virgil]

Now you've given me anohter idea. This phone probably took 5 hours with all of the measuring. The cradle for the ear piece took as long as the rest of the piece. There are several failures on my shop floor.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

Originally posted by PenWorks
<br />Hey Virgil, lookin good [] I remeber Lilly Tomlin as the operator on Laugh IN [] [] I was waiting for the mouthpeice to come off and out comes a PEN, kinda like the famed Gavel pen [] I bet you can't demo this phone in less than an hour []

 

[Jim15]

That is really nice.

 

[badwin]

Don
That is some great turnings. Nice imagination. I bet you could sell some of those to people who collect communications memorabilia.
Brian

 

[Darley]

very nice Don, but can't hear you[], reminder me of the British comedy ' Hallo- Hallo ' look great, is that you new mesquite crop?

 

[Ozzy]

That is a great looking phone, Don. I remember party lines and the Andy Griffith Show; Barney was (and is, I still watch it from time to time) funny.[]

 

[pete00]

Originally posted by its_virgil
<br />If you are old enough to have had a telephone operator ask you that question (Number Please?)

good news and bad news
good news i like it, cool idea
bad news i remember .[]

 

[its_virgil]

Thanks to all who commented. It was a fun project and I'm sure I'll be making more of these and use some wood without the cracks. I just grabbed some mesquite pieces I had and started turning.

Serge,
The moicrophone on top of the candlestick phone and the hand piece hanging in the craddle are from some pieces I had from the bowl blank cut offs I just cut. I made 40 more bowl blanks this week. They are going to start hauling off the pushed up trees as soon as the trucks can get to it.

Do a good turn daily!
Don

Originally posted by Darley
<br />very nice Don, but can't hear you[], reminder me of the British comedy ' Hallo- Hallo ' look great, is that you new mesquite crop?

 

[Dario]

Very nice Don. I agree that there possibly is a market for some of these.

 

[beathard]

Your showing a little age with this one! [] Nice work. How is the sound? and How many people are on your party line?

 

[Hiram33]

a very nice job and a nice piece for an office

 

[wudnhed]

Way cool, Don!

 

[ericw95]

Hey Don - I showed this to my co-worker and although he was not interested in purchasing he was impressed with your eye for detail. He did tell me that you actually made the limited edition phone that was made especially for lefties.

 

[its_virgil]

So, I guess the price can be raised and I should stop telling that I drilled on the wrong side by mistake. [] Thanks Eric.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

Originally posted by ericw95
<br />Hey Don - I showed this to my co-worker and although he was not interested in purchasing he was impressed with your eye for detail. He did tell me that you actually made the limited edition phone that was made especially for lefties.

 

[johncrane]

very nice work Don!also you could ad a cable to it l reckon your onto somethink here Don.[]

 

[pendemonium]

That's awesome.

 

[bradh]

Originally posted by its_virgil
<br /> This phone probably took 5 hours with all of the measuring. The cradle for the ear piece took as long as the rest of the piece. There are several failures on my shop floor.

Don,
When I looked at it, the cradle looked to be the only non-turning, how did you end up making that part?
Looks fantastic, I might have to try my hand at one of these. These phones were gone before my time, but I have always loved the look of these old phones.

 

[its_virgil]

Thanks Brad. The cradle was the most difficult part. Several tries but I finally did it. I used a bandsaw to saw out the basic shape, but when I tried to saw the arms they kept breaking. I finally used some drum sanders in a Jacob's chuck on the lathe and sanded the cradle to its final size. That seemed to work very well. The HF item # is 42006 but it is not on the online catalogue. I could post a piture with measurements if there is any interest.

Do a good turn daily!
Don

Originally posted by bradh
<br />

Originally posted by its_virgil
<br /> This phone probably took 5 hours with all of the measuring. The cradle for the ear piece took as long as the rest of the piece. There are several failures on my shop floor.

Don,
When I looked at it, the cradle looked to be the only non-turning, how did you end up making that part?
Looks fantastic, I might have to try my hand at one of these. These phones were gone before my time, but I have always loved the look of these old phones.

 

[Mudder]

Don,

You are aware that we live in the 21st century and they have those thingy's that don't have wires anymore?

Very nice work. I'm impressed.

 

[ed4copies]

Mudder,

Don's has no wires either. Just can't make "long-distance" calls (over 25 feet!)

 

[its_virgil]

Ed and Scott: I just haven't found the right "chord" material for the wire. The phone won't remain "wireless" forever. thanks for looking.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

 

[ed4copies]

Don,
My recollection is that they used a simple two wires in one sheathing, similar to an outdoor extension cord (16 ga type). I know it was before the time of the "curly" hand-set wires.

Shouldn't be hard to make something convincing. About 4 feet long IIRC.

Yes, I am old enough to remember them and my mother had one in the house for eons - didn't work, just kept it on her desk.

 

[bob393]

Very Cool

 

[Texas Taco]

Originally posted by its_virgil
<br />If you are old enough to have had a telephone operator ask you that question (Number Please?) or ......

That's how they did it before the push buttons? Wow learn something new everyday! [}]


Ok I do remember that and Barney. The only phone like it that I used had the cradle on the right side as the one you built.

I like it Don.