An NSR Absolute Block instrument

Doing my best The only thing that may not remain original will be the front face with will have to be redone, probably with a transfer

 

Hmm, WD40 has only had limited success.

Other parts were soaked in original brand coke, but didn't give brilliant results. White vinegar may be a good shout on that !

 

Over the past few days I’ve been having limited progress.. until last night. Wife on nights and Zack fell asleep just after 7pm so after half hour working on something on the computer I opted to remove the door from the block instrument and work on it away from everything else. It’s all got to come apart for the wood to be cleaned anyway.

I then begun the big strip down - here follows a number of my reference photos for knowing how things go back together, and a little bit of a light bulb moment!

first to be removed was the sprung lock that prevents the whole selector disc being rotated backwards - split pin and washer secure.
And removed

at the bottom is a bar and spring that is behind the lower plunger. This is the release bar to allow the selector wheel to rotate.
Another selector arm. This is a drop lock. Again split pins!

and the side panel metal work removed… now here is where the unexpected occurred when the silver drop lock and metal work around it was removed, it allowed the selector plate to move forward on the shaft as it was still under spring tension - and then this showed up! A collar and securing screw!!!

So now I can start to strip this section down
The inside is a screw collar. Pliers in the two opposite holes and twist.
Screw out in the other side and all comes apart. Simples!!
The selector plate from the front.
Everything on the tray. Ready for some refurb!

Another night.

 

work has started on cleaning back the door.

This is before I did any cleaning.
To be fair, doesn’t look much different after cleaning in camera but to the naked eye it’s much better after a gentle sand and wire wool and wipe over with meths.


And this is the inside. Much better than before as it had some horrible marks on it.

I think it may need a little more gentle cleaning back to get it somewhere close to the new upper structure (if the shellac hasn’t stained it of course!)

that just leaves the main body to clean back and prep and we’re ready to start new shellac and assembling.

 

Woodwork
Thursday night I had 4 hrs to myself, so after a quick trip to grab some more paper for sanding, I set to on cleaning back some of the wood ready for a new coat of Shellac.

here are the before photos of the main body.


And these are of it afterwards.
There are still a number of dings and dents. They will remain mostly as it just gives it some patina.

 

Metal work


I then progressed on with the whizzy wheel on the end of the dremel (or whatever brand mine may be but you know what I mean) to polish off some of the years of crud in the brass work on that central plunger/selector wheel.

quite good but don’t last long. Thankfully I have a fair sized bag!


before. The outside casting for the plunger.

and after.


by comparison .. the next bit compared ti the last bit.

half way through.


and done. Next may be some painting of the black back side of the selector dial.

still not sure what to do with the damaged lettering. May have to be a transfer.

 

Am working on it... keep you posted.

 

The replacement bell stand has arrived from Peter..


as dispatched, very dark and tarnished..

quick -15 mins with the whizzy wheel in the dremel, and shiny! and in its intended location..



The bell will move to this new support, the down side and surprise is that they are not both the same thread. So I can’t move the knob from one to the other. The base is also much more smaller in diameter compared to the original. What I may do now with having gained this additional part rather than having a new one made is I may use the old one as the hammer rest as it has the screw thread in it already and just cut it down and have the top reprofiled in a lathe.

 

The time came on Sunday evening to have a try with the spare trim at making the beading for the glass front.
From the end, the one on the left is mine, the one on the right is a sample supplied to match to.. I’m a little wide I think.

not bad to say this was actually done with a sanding pad disc on an angle grinder! Probably a little too heavy for the task.

but it doesn’t look bad.
And the fitment is quite good too!

Finally, it had a day out and was back in a signal box for a few hours..
Thanks to Dominic for this photo.

 

Just to add to my fun (yes I am looking to recreate half of a block shelf by the looks of it!) I’ve decided to acquire a telephone that will sit with the block and bell when all restored.

as advertised on eBay. Cost me £30 + £7 p&p, so can’t complain.
Some minor soldering to do.
Wiring diagram
The handset isn’t connected.. more on this later..
Where the handset should connect.
All this for when you lift a receiver!
Some more gubbins!
Trembler bell mech, but missing the actual trembler. Hopefully I have a friend with spares.
Where some bits are missing from.
Diaphragm from the ear piece.

More in next post

 

inside the hanset, this is inside the ear piece under the diaphragm



this is the microphone part,
As it’s red, I’m guessing it’s come from another phone.
See if I can save this rather than replacing.
“Listen before ringing”.
A photo from Peter of what a complete trembler bell insides should look like.

Now, back to the handset. This is a microphone end and apparently mine is the wrong hand set, which probably accounts for why it’s not wired in and is a bits. As you can see, it’s only 3 terminals.
where as the one Peter has has 4!

so guess what’s in the post! We have also found that for about £9, you can buy replacement original braded cords, so one may be on the cards in future.

https://telephonelines.net/index.ph...ducts_id=406&zenid=8m24oiltr2522ugelh1valltl7

more as we progress!!

 

Just a few other photos from the original vendor so you have a reference for what I started with.

 

Any help/advice always welcome..