Progress On The Bell

 

This post was inspired by fellow blogger Paw-Paw.

 In this previous post, I told of how I re-discovered that I had the mechanical front door bell from the house that was first my maternal great-grandparent's (from Poland). It was then occupied by their children, and finally divided into apartments where my grandparents lived and my mother grew up. The bell was in a box with the keys to the old house and my grandparent's apartment.

The bell had 100+ years of paint on the base plate, gong, the turn knob and escutcheon plate and has been completely disassembled for paint stripping. The gong is made of solid brass that had been chrome plated at the factory, as well as the outer edge of the cast iron base plate. A few days in a pan of Zip-Strip got rid of all the paint on those items. I may media blast the little bit of chrome plating off and just have the gong be naked brass. The mechanism is also all apart for renewal where stripped or worn.

The turn knob and escutcheon plate are a different story. I got all the paint off, except for the initial base layer which is being stubborn. I covered both pieces in fresh Zip-Strip in a small foil pan and will leave it there for a good week. I will hit it with a stiff nylon brush and see where it is at. Both pieces are solid brass. After that it may need some work with a fine wire wheel on my Dremel Tool. I don't want to be too aggressive, because the decorative relief castings are as sharp as the day they were made.

Why my ancestors felt the need to paint over pretty brass is beyond me.

 

 

Below is a photo of what one should look like.

Those raised decorative reliefs are the same as mine. The knob has them too.

Apparently, not only is the word "TURN" there to instruct in its proper use (meaning don't push or pull I guess) but it seems to be the brand name as well. I was surprised that you can still buy this type of door bell brand new. Original ones like this or the other plain varieties run about $40. The real nice ornate ones can be big bucks. Below are a couple of examples