The Lugzsonian - A Virtual Tour

[Private Lugnutz]

For comprehensiveness, I searched ITCL on several other early "plastics" and alternatives. "Bakelite" shows up in many catalogs from the major portable power tool makers (Skilsaw, B&D, Stanley Electric, etc), used for the triggers/buttons. It also shows up in many other catalogs, but always in reference to what kind of material can be cut with a saw, chisel, or file, similar to "gutta-percha", "casein", and others. "Ebonite" shows up on the handles of Boker knives in 1976. "Polystyrene" shows up for saw handles in Disston catalogs beginning in the 1970's and in Craftsman catalogs beginning in the 1980's.

I'm pretty confident we've captured the vintage hand tool industry with Pyralin/pyroxylin, Tenite, and C/A/B.

As a side-note, this is only one small, quirky example of the informational power of getting catalogs digitized in one corpus.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

The Curator is very pleased with a recent trade that the Acquisitions Dept made with @Cruzan80 for this vintage stencil kit.



Stenciling has many applications, of course, from packing crates to pedestrian crosswalks, and hundreds of others, but perhaps none as iconic as military markings. We are fairly confident in it being plausibly WWII. The C.H. Hanson Company of Chicago had a contract with the US Army Quartermaster Corps and another with Navy Bureau of Supplies and Accounts during WWII...



...and the federal specifications on the lid of the dovetail jointed wooden box can be found in many references dating to WWII.



Inside the box is a brush and two cardboard boxes.



The boxes contain a complete set of 1/2" and 1" brass stencils, as alluded to on the lid, letters A-Z, numerals 0-9, and figures &, period, comma, and apostrophe, in each set.

 

[Cruzan80]

Glad it found a good home! Meant to ask, does the #290 mean anything special?

And does the Acquisitions department now need sizes 2, 4 and 6" versions in their boxes to go with them?

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Here is the 1" set.



And here is the 1/2" set. (Many of these were put away without being cleaned, which has left some residual paint.)



The stencils demonstrate the basic requirement for every functional stencil, something that seems trite, but is not. Note that all interior voids in the letters have to be connected to the surrounding background plate. This is necessary because of letters B, O, P, and R and numerals 0, 6, 8, and 9. Giving all stencils their characteristic appearance.

You may note that the edges of each stencil are formed. That's because these stencils are the "lock-edge type" that I highlighted in the 1943 fed specs summary I included in the previous post. Each left edge slips inside each right edge. It allows the stenciler to join the letters and figures continuously together to make whole words in a straight, uniform line. You may also notice that some of the stencils are blank. These allow the stenciler to handle the entire stencil as one object without touching the letter or number stencils.

Like so...

 

[humber2]

Only 1 of each?

Makes it tricky to spell out Mississippi........

 

[Private Lugnutz]

The brush is newer looking than any of the other stencil brushes in the Lugzsonian, but its shape, features (100% pure black bristles, two brads through the vulcanized bristles setting, and at least three nails through the ferrule) and dimensions (see Pic 5) do exemplify the wartime Fed Specs I have for Type II stencil brushes.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Meant to ask, does the #290 mean anything special?

Not that I have figured out just yet. It may have been an internal stock number.

Only 1 of each?

Makes it tricky to spell out Mississippi........

And many other words! The letters O, T, and N are actually more common than S. To say nothing of not only the frequency but recurrence in the same words as the letter E. Nevertheless, that is how they came.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Now that we have a wartime stencil outfit in the Lugzsonian to go with our wartime metal stamping outfit, we can leave all kinds of annoying proprietary markings all over our tools and toolboxes for future generations to curse us about!

 

[Old Radar]

Only 1 of each?

Makes it tricky to spell out Mississippi........

MS?

And many other words! The letters O, T, and N are actually more common than S. To say nothing of not only the frequency but recurrence in the same words as the letter E. Nevertheless, that is how they came.

In addition to brevity and jargon, perhaps the lack of same-letter stencils contributed to the multitude of military abbreviations.

2LT
SGT
NCO
UXO
ASW
ABN
ACFT
ORD
ETC
ETC
ETC
ACK

 

[Cruzan80]

But you forgot CF, BFE, and FUBAR...

 

[Outlawmws]

I suspect those are "unofficial"

 

[Farmer J.]

For the most part, it seems like most manufacturers improved their plastics by the time the 50s came along. Although I have several Plomb spinners that show signs of deterioration, out of dozens of Proto spinners and screwdrivers I’ve owned none have gone bad. Snap-on in the 60s and 70s had problems with their black plastic handles and are probably still replacing them under their warranty. Here is a set I bought off the truck back then.
-Don

Just now now caching up on the last couple of pages.. great research..
I have some drivers same style as Don's ones above, bought new in the late 1980's so I suppose they are made of tenite. They now stink of vomit. The red one is worse than the black, but prize for greatest stinkiness goes to a clear plastic electrical test light version, that's awful, worse than the Labrador on a wet day!

And now a question: Does anyone know how to stop the stink? Painting them? Clear coat or varnish of some kind?

I don't like the style of new replacement Snap On handles, so unless I can stop the stink I may put these in (airtight!) storage and replace them with wood handles.
I never did like plastic as a materiel. Especially those horrible yellow transparent handles since when I was a teenager one crumbled in my hand and left me with a handful of broken shards and a screwdriver shank sticking in to my palm.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Does anyone know how to stop the stink? Painting them? Clear coat or varnish of some kind?

I clear coated mine. Polyurethane has oils in it, and I generally avoid it for anything that is white (such as decals on a toolbox), which will stain yellow, but it seems to do the trick with no effects.

UNAIU recently did his with acrylic if you're worried about that.

 

[RTM]

I’ve used clear dewaxed shellac to encapsulate the stench.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

 

[Outlawmws]

This was posted in another Fourum:

 

[Username already in use]

UNAIU recently did his with acrylic if you're worried about that.

Yeah, seems to work really well.
This Duro nut spinner was literally starting to disintegrate and causing nearby tools to surface rust.

 

[Farmer J.]

Thanks chaps for all the replies and help with this. I think I will remove scratches from mine and use a clear coat of some kind, to encapsulate the stink! Helpful tip in the video to hang the screwdrivers from tape whilst spraying the handles, I was wondering how I would get an even coating on them.
I am unlikely to be seriously using them for a while, as got some tendon and elbow joint problems so gently moving around doing the restoration will be a good little project.

 

[JjKk40]

Are there any "how to's" on swapping out handles on the drivers?

 

[Arne73]

The reading room adjacent to the Lugzsonian?

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Indeed. For guests. Mrs. Curator has a notoriously corny, cringeworthy sense of bathroom humor. The book to the right with the purloined image of Rodin's statue The Thinker on the cover, titled "To Poo or Not to Poo, That is the Question", is filled with scatalogical statistics feigning to be philosophy. I'll refrain from the framed needlepoint adages. She's the simple in our dimple, the sole in our soul, and the merry in our contrary.

 

[leg17]

Yeah, seems to work really well.
This Duro nut spinner was literally starting to disintegrate and causing nearby tools to surface rust.

Some collectible pocket knives have similar issues.
I believe many of them were some form of celluloid.
Not only handle deterioration but out-gassing rusted the steel blades.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I believe many of them were some form of celluloid

See posts #735 thru #761 on pg 19 and post #761 at the top of this page.

 

[3baygarage]

This week's 'Nowhere else to post them' entry are these rather odd and lethal looking dykes, with raised, angled jaws, that the Acquisitions Dept found at the flea this morning.

I know this discussion is so last month, but...

Found a pair with no markings whatsoever. No brand and no country. There is some grip though.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Attractive grip pattern.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Well, it was bound to happen. We knew if the Acquisitions Dept kept going to flea markets and second hand stores he was going to snag the dreaded Corona eventually. This one is the 9th variant, apparently. (In all seriousness, we have no idea what this is. Some kind of dykes? The interior handle stops make no sense. And it's rather crude. Look at that pivot! A hex nut on a giant and yet rather cool-looking slot head bolt.)

 

[jeffmoss26]

neat stuff as always!!

 

[Arne73]

Interior handle stops may have been for a spring.

 

[RTM]

Yup, a spring or one of those flat metal coils with a fun name. I have lots of Rona garden clippers with those stubs.

Vaccination, or willpower, might prevent it.

 

[Mintgrun]

In all seriousness, we have no idea what this is.

I have a pair of those, but mine are slightly different. They are for picking oranges, according to an eBay listing I read last year; but that was too long ago to dig up the link now, since they delete them after three months. I think they are designed to snip the stem as close as possible, so it doesn't stick out and mar the other fruit. The "interior handle stops" are prongs that a spring fits over.

Tom

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Interior handle stops may have been for a spring.

those flat metal coils with a fun name

prongs that a spring fits over.

You guys are on it! I'm blaming my dullness on the red eye flight. (I found these at Kent's in Tucson last evening, got home at 630AM.)

Volute is the word for that spring. We've discussed them on the 'Pruning Shears' thread. I'll bump it.

Thanks, Tom! Maybe I'll plant a tree.

I'm thinking a product of the Corona Clipper Company in Corona, California. I'll have to keep my eye open for something with a right-sized volute spring to cannibalize.

 

[Mintgrun]

Here's the pair I have, just for fun. Unfortunately, I did not write down the information when I found the pair on eBay. Now, I cannot even remember what all was stamped on them. Mine are too rusty to read it all.







Speaking of CORONA, I bought this clipper sheath new, twenty-five years ago. I've spent two full days every year since then, pruning four large apple trees in my back yard. These #8 Felco pruners are by far my favorite pair. I added the string this year, since they open much farther than they need to, for the little suckers I snip off. I borrowed a heavy duty volute (cool word!) from a pair of piano wire cutters and that overpowers any drag if they're adjusted a little tighter. The original springs are kind of wimpy.



Plant fruit trees! I would have done that if I'd known I'd be (renting) here for so long. How does that saying go? "Young men plant radishes, while old men plant acorns." Something like that.

Tom

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Plant fruit trees!

I've got two crab apple trees that I harvest every year. Black walnut, too. I was referring to planting an orange tree, so I would have something to use the orange pruning snips on, but I was only kidding.

My favorite pruning shears are these Italian jobbies (Pic 1).

I did pick up these shears today (Pics 2 thru 5) simply for the ornate look.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

And I just picked up this nifty hex key pouch in a "blind trade" with Beemer. It says "DORMAN" on the plastic holder (love the whorled finish!) and you can just see the outlines of the Dorman Products winged logo above the snap. I showed a few of my others back on page 17, linked here. Very observant of Beemer to remember our predilection for them.

 

[four.cycle]

? any idea where patent number 54464 is from? Italy?
the scissors are fabulous.
we used to sell those tiny Dorman hex-wrench sets when I was a kid - I remember back then I thought that little leather holder was SO cool.

 

[JjKk40]

Wow I love that Dorman hex key set! They actually made nice stuff back then!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

any idea where patent number 54464 is from? Italy?

That would be my guess.

Wow I love that Dorman hex key set! They actually made nice stuff back then!

I have to admit I didn't know they made anything but chests and bins.

 

[Username already in use]

I have to admit I didn't know they made anything but chests and bins.

Hmm you’ve seen mine before.
Posted HERE in the wrench roll thread

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Out of sight, out of mind!

But now that I'm seeing it again, it's interesting to see the differences. I have not found the patent that the PAT PEND marking on mine alludes to.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

As most of you know, we like to post most of our finds in their respective threads by OEM or type, using this thread only for major updates, "Curator's Corners" features, experiments, or quirky finds that don't really have a more appropriate place, such as this Victory Locking Tweezer, which has the Curator stumped. It's a whopping 10" OAL. The nifty design and operation is as intuitive as it looks and the knurling and recess in the tip look helpful. He has a request in with the Google Books team to unlock the Snippet-Only view of a page from a 1928 Motor Record (see last pic), which kinda sorta implies it may have been made by the Victory Ring Compressor Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan, for, as the ad indicates, pulling pins and shims and just about anything else that has a habit of falling into a crankcase.