OP
Two quick Saturday garage projects. A phone and a clock.
Not too long ago, I installed a phone in my garage that was a reproduction of the old Henry Dreyfuss-designed Western Electric 354. It had touch-tone buttons to replace the dial, but still looked kind of appropriate in a vintage looking garage.
Well, I liked the look of it -- but it kind of bugged me when I learned that I could get an actual Western Electric 354 for about half of what the reproductions sell for. So I picked up one, and was surprised that it fired right up and gave me a dial tone as soon as I wired it to a modern plug. It's kind of strange to dial with the old dial-clicker and not only have it work, but have it connect you to your modern cell phone. Apparently, phone companies are required to support the old dial-type phones. Imagine being able to access the network with your current cell phone in the year 2070. Not only is there no doubt it would have dissolved away to nothing, I'm sure the standards will have changed. But for now, this 1951 phone works just fine. It's amazing to see something built this well.
The phone came with a dial insert with a previous user's phone number in it. I made one for my own number. I learned that the exchange name for my prefix had originally been WEbster.
Next up, the clock. I'm going to move my drill press from the mouth of the garage back to my bench, but doing so will block the view of my clock. And the recent 'shop clock' thread on this board got me thinking about those old two-faced clocks that you'd see in train station and school corridors. So I bought two of the same type of clock and made a bracket to hold them up as one two-faced clock.
Here's the clock I bought -- the frame is red to match my toolboxes.
I cut a very basic bracket out of a piece of aluminum. Here it is on my 'poor man's press brake.'
A little bit of paint and I put it up on the pillar. I like the old-fashioned look of it, and I can see it from either side of the garage -- and also out in the driveway.
Not too long ago, I installed a phone in my garage that was a reproduction of the old Henry Dreyfuss-designed Western Electric 354. It had touch-tone buttons to replace the dial, but still looked kind of appropriate in a vintage looking garage.
Well, I liked the look of it -- but it kind of bugged me when I learned that I could get an actual Western Electric 354 for about half of what the reproductions sell for. So I picked up one, and was surprised that it fired right up and gave me a dial tone as soon as I wired it to a modern plug. It's kind of strange to dial with the old dial-clicker and not only have it work, but have it connect you to your modern cell phone. Apparently, phone companies are required to support the old dial-type phones. Imagine being able to access the network with your current cell phone in the year 2070. Not only is there no doubt it would have dissolved away to nothing, I'm sure the standards will have changed. But for now, this 1951 phone works just fine. It's amazing to see something built this well.
The phone came with a dial insert with a previous user's phone number in it. I made one for my own number. I learned that the exchange name for my prefix had originally been WEbster.
Next up, the clock. I'm going to move my drill press from the mouth of the garage back to my bench, but doing so will block the view of my clock. And the recent 'shop clock' thread on this board got me thinking about those old two-faced clocks that you'd see in train station and school corridors. So I bought two of the same type of clock and made a bracket to hold them up as one two-faced clock.
Here's the clock I bought -- the frame is red to match my toolboxes.
I cut a very basic bracket out of a piece of aluminum. Here it is on my 'poor man's press brake.'
A little bit of paint and I put it up on the pillar. I like the old-fashioned look of it, and I can see it from either side of the garage -- and also out in the driveway.
