Satinwood telephone???

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Location
Houston, Texas
It has been about 20 years now since I was approached by a man who made a living doing scrollsaw work. He said to me " Shaz, do you want to help me make a telephone for a customer?" Often the dumbest thing to say is yes, before you know the details, but 20 years ago, and it occurs sometimes 20 minutes ago I say sure I will help. The project is long ago done but worth sharing some interesting parts of the job.
#1 how much... $2500.00
#2 WHY??? A big shot for Soutwest Bell or somebody like that wants a custom phone
#3 Split the profit, yes. count me in! (easy money, what could be so hard?)
To be continued
 
OK you started this 2 hours ago...my interest is piqued...tell us about the phone. I want to see a $2500 telephone...must have pics!!!
 
Well all things considered, I figured an old time booth with a ring up phone or something like it, but no. It was to be a desk phone three parts in the same housing, intercom to the secretary, regular corded phone and an inner office connection to a number of other phone hook ups.
"Oh and let's make it out of satinwood to match a picture frame on his desk. It should be no problem as they will give us a working plastic office phone we can use as the model. We just need to make it out of wood." :huh:
 
2500 bucks...........no only 1250 to duplicate a phone...........no way! no-how!
i`m bettin` you`ll have well over 200 hours of labor tied up in that puppy.....maybe if it was for the sake of chalenge.....but at that rate you couldn`t aford to pay the electric bill, even years ago.....tod
 
2500 bucks...........no only 1250 to duplicate a phone...........no way! no-how!
i`m bettin` you`ll have well over 200 hours of labor tied up in that puppy.....maybe if it was for the sake of chalenge.....but at that rate you couldn`t aford to pay the electric bill, even years ago.....tod
You are so right Tod, it seemed like a lot of money and to me it was but the time it took was like getting paid for macrame or weaving. I think your estimate of time too may be close, ( you always seem to amaze me:D ).
Any how at that time Satinwood was $ 15.00 a board foot plus or minus pennies, and it did take the longest time as every thing was , well lets take a look...
 
The reason I say this occured 20 years ago plus or minus a year is evident to me in this picture...Receiver.jpg
This is the finished handset sculpted to handle the ear piece and the transmitter with a hole in the bottom for the cord to come out.
In this the same photo but with an arrow you can see where the hole is for the cord coming out of a piece of wood that caps the end grain. Receiver with arrow.jpg
My daughter was about 2, and I was working out of my garage at that time when a neighbor lady came over, the garage door was up and my little girl was with me. To start with I thought she talked way more than a human should be allowed and we frankly had so little in common :eek: . She always wanted to share local gossip, which notified me that if I confided in her my business was to be the next topic with the next "victim" :eek: . Any how, she picked up my daughter and sat her on her hip and continued talking, knowing now I could not get away, she having possession of my little girl.:doh: Being 2, Lauren, my daughter, wanted a wee bit more attention than just being held by someone whose face is pointed in another direction talking to someone else. My neighbor , being a mom herself satisfies Lauren by giving her the hand set:eek: which was laying on my work bench. This took 1/2 second and the other 1/2 second was the attention span of a 2 year old with my finely sculpted satinwood handset.
The cover for the mouth piece had not yet been screwed on but the area( which now show the patch) had been hollowed out to accept the necessary apparatus. She cracked that down on the corner of my workbench like a timber framer swinging a mallet. Needless to say with my blood in her veins nothing stood a chance of surviving that blow. She is now 23 years old and I am very proud of her :D .
Shaz
 

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Well Shaz, you have my attention once again. I'm impressed with the handset, and the teaser shot of the back of the main body of the phone. So, let's see some more of this creation of yours.

Oh, and congrats on not blasting the neighbor into the ozone! :bang:

- Marty -
 
Cool phone! And cute story. Were you able to refrain from blasting the neighbor?
Thanks Ed,
I don't like sharing even my anger with someone I don't trust :huh: , and actually it revealed a manufacture weakness, which at the time I was not interested in :doh: . It was a difficult situation in which to stay focused on what my neighbor was relating.

Well Shaz, you have my attention once again. I'm impressed with the handset, and the teaser shot of the back of the main body of the phone. So, let's see some more of this creation of yours.

Oh, and congrats on not blasting the neighbor into the ozone! :bang:
Oh Marty, what could I do??? SHE HAD MY DAUGHTER!!!:rofl:

- Marty -
Remember this was 20 years ago and I didn't have a digital camera then so I only have a few more photos, Thanks for your interest, gentlemen.phone guts in lid.jpgfront profile.jpg
 
shaz, i`m still mulling over the ear-n-mouth cap connection question you posed in another thread......but on to relevent issues......who moved, you or the biddy?
 
shaz, i`m still mulling over the ear-n-mouth cap connection question you posed in another thread......but on to relevent issues......who moved, you or the biddy?
Morning Tod,
The gal and her family have since moved away and I wish them well, elsewhere. ;)
Shaz :)
Okay here is the final piece with no guts in it, when it came down to it the only part I did not do was the cutting of the 12 holes for the numbers, but we split the profit.:eek: I am thankful for the opportunity to do it.
 

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nice job shaz. very nice looking piece. and nice story as well. it would have been tough for me not to go loco on that neighbor, kudos for keeping your cool.

thanks for sharing
chris
 
nice job shaz. very nice looking piece. and nice story as well. it would have been tough for me not to go loco on that neighbor, kudos for keeping your cool.

thanks for sharing
chris
Thanks Chris for the compliments. 100% true as I remember, thanks again.

Well done! Story, composure, and phone:thumb:
Thank you Ed, glad you enjoyed it.

This is a photo of the case with all the plastic workings in it. The years have faded the color but it all worked real well back then.:D phone with buttons and wire.jpg
And this a photo from a different angle, set atop a table. It was a real challenge but fortunately it turned out real nice. phone on table.jpg
Thanks for following. This was Episode #1 Shop stories :rofl: .More to come... NEXT..."The Most Valuable Boat Work Photos"...:type:
Shaz :rolleyes:
 
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