Western Electric Stamp Kit R-2315 - Craigslist find

[Greg G.]

Now I don't need to have stamps custom made.  I appears to be WW2 era and also appears to be military by the color and style of the stencil on the case.  Four letters of one of the alphabets were taped together to form "CA" (California?) and "MO" (Missouri?).  I'm wondering about the stamps that have electrical symbols and lettering, like the "Amp" stamps.  Was this kit for phones, or something else?  It can certainly be used for phones in those cases where I accidentally destroyed the markings.  The vermilion, white, and black paint tubes may be usuable, they're still "squishy", although I'll need to be careful getting the caps off and the white tube is stuck to the case.  The yellow tube is solid.  Paid $30 for the kit.  Other odd stuff - a roll of gauze, what appears to be a sort of "painters pallet", a small stamp pad (the silver colored tin), and a piece of sandpaper with heavy cloth backing.  There was a small brush but I can't find it now.  It was dried up and useless anyway.

[Greg G.]

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[DavePEI]

Now I don't need to have stamps custom made.  I appears to be WW2 era and also appears to be military by the color and style of the stencil on the case.  Four letters of one of the alphabets were taped together to form "CA" (California?) and "MO"

It is a Nueses (distributed as Western Electric R-2315) N-2315 stamp kit, and not military - the green just happens to be the color they were made in until the later plastic cases came out.

They still make these:
http://www.pkneuses.com/www.pkneuses.com/numb.htm

You can still order replacement parts and ink tubes in different colors from Neuses.

A) Neuses N-2315 stamping and lettering kit - used to stamp identifying marks and dates on switchboards, phones, etc. Yet later, versions were issued under the number R-2315 and later issued in plastic cases by Western Electric and Neuses, also made by Neuses. Neuses were the manufacturer of the WE ones. Yours is one of those later R-2315 versions, only in the early metal case issued prior to the plastic.

The " Amp" stamps were for labeling fuses used in exchanges, the 1 1/3 amp stamp most commonly used for Strowger switches.

Nice find - the vintage metal ones like yours and mine can be hard to find these days. This photo is just one off my web site showing a number of items purchased for my tool collection in Sep, 2007.

Note: For more info on numbering - BSP Section 069-399-201 -  Lettering and Numbering - General Requirements and Methods below photo:

Dave

[GG]

A couple of wild guesses:

The long pole with the red tip and the cord & socket appears to be some kind of high voltage detector (a fluorescent bulb would be screwed into the socket and glow when the probe is held near high voltage sources)

The yellow item with the black thing at the end is a toy rocket launcher:-) or it's an early version of a cable puller's gun for shooting the rocket-shaped object across a drop ceiling trailing a fishing line or something, with which to haul back the desired bundle of cables. 

--

Re. alphanumeric stamp kits: something like this was available from office supply stores about 25 years ago and may still be made for all I know.  It consisted of a stamp into which fit movable type, and an ink pad.  Nowhere near as elaborate as what you have there, but usable for various purposes.

Re. your paint: take those tubes to an art supply store, they may be able to find modern equivalents.  The WW2-era paint may contain lead or other toxic substances that are not used in modern paints. 

[DavePEI]

A couple of wild guesses:

The long pole with the red tip and the cord & socket appears to be some kind of high voltage detector (a fluorescent bulb would be screwed into the socket and glow when the probe is held near high voltage sources)

The yellow item with the black thing at the end is a toy rocket launcher:-) or it's an early version of a cable puller's gun for shooting the rocket-shaped object across a drop ceiling trailing a fishing line or something, with which to haul back the desired bundle of cables.  

Ok, inquiring minds want to know, so... See photo above!

A) Neuses N-2315 stamping and lettering kit - used to stamp identifying marks and dates on switchboards, phones, etc.

B) Dynatel 745 - microprocessor controlled Subscriber Loop Tester - Used to check the incoming loop for such things as loop voltage, current, opens, loss, Will measure the number and type of ringers on the line, will measure resistance, inject a test signal into the line, and more.

C) "Stop Lite" Voltage Tester - Used to check for hazardous voltages on telephone equipment in contact with electrical lines.

D. B Voltage Tester and case - used to check for dangerous voltages on shared poles.

E) Connecticut Tel. and Elect. Co. Ltd. Pocket Volt/Ammeter from the early 30's or 40's. The company which made this was a manufacturer of telephones, intercoms, and of other electrical items. Despite its age, when it arrived, I decided to see if it worked, and voila, after many years of sitting in someone's sock drawer, it still worked! These meters were used to check the voltage of batteries used in local battery telephones, etc.

F) "Banjo" 6 wire Modular adapter - for using a butt set or loop tester on modular lines. Gives a place for larger test leads to connect.



'Nuther test. Tools bought Oct 2007 See photo below...

A). United Seal Company HC7 lead seal hand presses- used to install lead seals on payphone money boxes to prevent tampering.
B). So far unknown.
C). ATI Handset Cap remover.
D). Bell Systems - Cleverly - probe with pointed end to puncture wire Insulation and clip lead cord.
E). Bell System "D" Crimpers HKP INC Crimps Sleeves used on Drop Wires, 20 gauge "JKT" first generation copper/steel jacketed pair/triplex or quad inside wiring cable.
F). 840A Tool - tool used to trip off excess wire after splicing with WE/ATT/Lucent modular 710 connectors in OSP.
G). So far unkown (connector)
H). Bell System - Number not currently known - tool to punch a hole in the sheath of lead cable for insertion of an air fitting.

Finally, a Western Electric KS-21250 L1 Coin Crafts Test Set - Checks payphone coin relay, sidetone, Refund/Collect Function, etc. Shown at centre top.



Final Test for the day, See Bottom:

Shown bottom, an assortment of various bending/adjusting tools from WE and AE. The top two are the wire unwrap, then wrapping tools. The third down is a double dog bender, the fourth, a tool for assembling the earliest type of wipers, and the fifth, an armature arm bender for SXS relays. It adjusts the amount of contact travel relative to the top of the armature when it is attracted to the core. This is in combination with the backstop position. Effectively it determines how far the armature sits from the core when the relay is released. The 6th and seventh items down are, in order, an armature stop bender, and a double dog bender. The bottom 3 are relay contact adjusters from N.E.

[cihensley@aol.com]

Dave - the only thing I would add to your Neuses description is to order new ink, and any other items needed, sooner rather than later. I have two Neuses kits that I decided to restock fully with new ink about six months ago. While I was on the telephone with the service representative placing my order, she mentioned that Neuses was planning to drop all of the stamping items from their line because of falling demand. She did not say when this would occur.

To the suggestion of obtaining the ink from an art supply store; most of the block ink sold by art stores does not have the permanence on plastic as Neuses ink.

Chuck

[jsowers]

Dave, you have enough "whatsits" there to post one a week for a year. It would be very educational to learn what each one of those tools did, but in small doses like one a week. That "double dog bender" is something I wouldn't "double dog dare" anyone to know what it is. We all come from such different backgrounds, and you are correct that inquiring minds want to know. That "rocket launcher" probe reminds me of the high voltage probe I used on TV picture tubes in my TV servicing days.

[Wallphone]

There was a discussion on the TCI Listserv about Neuses earlier this year. Here is a copy of some of the posting. -----

"I bought a bunch of items from Neuses  last year. They do have a $50 minimum order, but by the time I bought one each of the 4 different color inks, drying accelerator, a few inking plates, a new ink spreader (putty knife) and some refills for my Neuses burnishing tool I spent $50 easily.

I'd suggest giving the a call at  (847) 253-6555.

Note, back when I placed my last order they did say that once stock was gone it would not be replaced. Seem no one uses the stenciling kits anymore.

If by chance you know a printer who still uses a wet-plate press, that ink may work.

As far as modern acrylic or artist's oil paints as Ink, I tried every kind a craft store sells and none worked properly, The ink never dried on plastic telephone housings or the backs of metal dials . Even the Neuses ink doesn't dry properly on plastic without the proper drying accelerator.

The trick is to use their inking plate and putty knife and get the ink spread out as evenly and thinly as possible. If stamping on plastic a drop of drying accelerator has to be added to the ink. " -------

Those that are members of the TCI List and have a Yahoo account, go to the homepage/messages and search for "Neuses". There is a lengthy discussion about it.
< http://groups.yahoo.com/group/singingwires/messages >

Doug Pav

[cihensley@aol.com]

Dave - Paul Mikkula, in Florida, is an avid and long time collector of WECo tools. You may want to hook-up with him and exchange thoughts.

Chuck

[Greg G.]

Re. alphanumeric stamp kits: something like this was available from office supply stores about 25 years ago and may still be made for all I know.  It consisted of a stamp into which fit movable type, and an ink pad.  Nowhere near as elaborate as what you have there, but usable for various purposes.

Believe me, I've been to many office supply stores looking for adequate alpha/numeric stamp kits that had the right size and style font for phones, they just don't have them.  All they seem to stock is stuff for mailing and the other more common office uses: http://tinyurl.com/3kxvj68.  The best Office Depot could do for me was to custom make an acceptable "LOUD" w/arrow stamp.

[DavePEI]

Re. alphanumeric stamp kits: something like this was available from office supply stores about 25 years ago and may still be made for all I know.  It consisted of a stamp into which fit movable type, and an ink pad.  Nowhere near as elaborate as what you have there, but usable for various purposes.

Tro-Dat used to make one which was perfect for stamping numbers on dial cards. I bought one in the early 80's, but haven't seen them since. This is the same idea as what GG was talking about. It contained aside from the changeable type, three holders which would hold  1, 2, or 3 lines of type, a stamp pad, and a pair of tweezers for inserting the type into the holders. I used it for years until I got a proper HOMS number stamper...

Dave

[GG]

Alternately, save your original number labels as-is, scan them & photoshop them to create blank ones, print those on heavy paper, and then use a typewriter to type in the variable parts of the telephone numbers.

Here's a trick for using a typewriter:

All the fonts on manual and basic electric typewriters are "fixed-width" fonts: the space for each character is the same width.  So:

Print your number labels with cross-hairs above & below marking the vertical center of each one.

Position your page of printed number labels such that the vertical cross-hair for the one you want is lined up at the center of any space on the typewriter carriage (right in the center of the little doohickey where the type will hit the page.

Now press the backspace key once for every two characters you need to type.  A seven-digit phone number with a dash in it is eight characters: so press the backspace key four times.  This will put the carriage in the correct position to type the phone number correctly centered on the number label.  (A five-digit phone number with a dash, is six characters, thus three backspaces.)

[cihensley@aol.com]

GG - that is little elaborate. You can do the whole thing in PowerPoint.

Chuck

[DavePEI]

GG - that is little elaborate. You can do the whole thing in PowerPoint.

Chuck

Or do it with a Homs Stamper and have the real deal 

[Greg G.]

GG - that is little elaborate. You can do the whole thing in PowerPoint.

Chuck

Perhaps, but it gives me an excuse to find a working vintage typewriter!