Wireless Set No. 52 Canadian - Project

[David Dunlop]

The repair to the lid has now been sanded down to blend in with the rest of the wood and the interior edge of the lid and case have had all the lumps and runs of NATO Green and Tan/Yellow paint sanded down, ready for a cover coat of the original factory Flat Olive Drab pint.


David

[David Dunlop]

I started the second can of Flat Olive Drab paint I had mixed at RONA last year for this case this morning. Once again it is an excellent match to the surviving factory original paint inside this case. I was not totally sure about this since the second can of paint was mixed about three years subsequent to the first one and I was not certain any of the current tints would have been from the same batch lots as the originals. Clearly I did not have to worry. This can should see me through the complete repaint of this case and the wooden case for the Coils, Aerial Tuning, when its turn for restoration work comes up.

A couple of weeks to let this paint hard cure and then on to the next step for this case.



David

[David Dunlop]

The removal of the post war paint from the case hardware was started today. The first step for the top has been completed. Just five more sides to go.


David

[David Dunlop]

While removing the post war paint from the two latches on the front of the case this afternoon, I was able to uncover the name of the manufacturer of these latches, and because of the larger size of these latches compared to the ones used on the Remote Supply Cover, Tool Box and Spare Parts Case, it was easily readable under cross lighting.

The manufacturer was THE EXCELSIOR HARDWARE COMPANY in Stamford, Connecticut, USA. Their major claim to fame was luggage locks and latches. they started out in 10 May 1910 working with Steamer Trunks and luggage but their hardware also shows up on tool boxes and cash boxes over the years. They were formally dissolved 04 February 1994.


David

[David Dunlop]

These two photos show the case with all the paintwork scraped from the metal hardware, and then after all the metal hardware has been cleaned with a small wire wheel on my Dremel and the eight metal corner guards removed and carefully catalogued for replacement later.

Note the corners of this case have all been trimmed back in the same manner as the ones on the tool box and spare parts case, and the fact these corner guards were always installed at the factory prior to the painting being done.


David

[David Dunlop]

This case has a very slight twist to it, when sitting on a dead flat surface. I thought initially that it might have been a result of the four bottom round head slotted wood screws wearing at different rates over the years, because they actually form the feet this case and the other box and case for the set sit on. But that was not the problem, as they all check out just fine. Furthermore, if I leaned hard on the top of the case, it would almost sit flat, and it still rocks a bit with all the metal corner guards removed.

While getting ready to start sanding the paint down on the case and seeing what it would reveal, I noticed the lowermost finishing nails on the front of the case, used to secure the two interior wooden partitions, were sticking out from the pine board about half a head length each. The other, upper three nails for each partition at the front of the case were just fine and puttied over. These nails should not back up like that over time unless the case was twisting back and forth. No sign at all anywhere that this case had been subjected to a chronic damp environment for an extended period in its lifetime. It is very solid.

Out of curiosity, I hauled the Remote Supply Unit off the shelf, a bottom one thankfully, and placed it in its middle section of this case. The case now sat dead flat. So best I can tell, at some point in the life of this case, the wood either gained, or lost enough humidity to twist, but the 26 pounds of Remote Supply Unit is enough to level it all back out when stored back inside. It is the longest case of the bunch so that extra length, may have just been enough to let a twist set up in the wood. For a nearly 80 year old case, it is entitled, I think.


David

[David Dunlop]

Sanding back the layers of paint on this case has revealed the most complex set of stencil markings I have ever encountered on a piece of Canadian Army equipment from the World War Two era, either vehicular or signals equipment related.

The attached five photos highlight the major finds as I worked my way down through the paint with both power and hand sanders and damp cloths.

Starting from the factory to most current:

On the factory Flat Olive Drab paint is the 1/2-inch stencil in six lines starting one inch below the lip of the case and centre justified. Lead line is the CMC part number for the case and the second line is the CMC version of the ZA/CAN Number.

On NATO Green, a 1/2-inch stencil in six lines starting 1/2-inch below the lip of the case and left justified 2 inches inside of the left hand latch assembly. Here, the CMC ZA/CAN Number has been replaced with the actual VAOS Number for this case.

On NATO Green, a 3/4-inch stencil in six lines starting 1/2-inch below the lip of the case and left justified 2 inches inside of the left hand latch assembly. This stencil also uses the actual VAOS assigned number for the case.

On NATO Green, a 3/4-inch stencil in six lines starting 2 inches below the lip of the case and left justified 2 inches inside of the left hand latch assembly. Again, the actual VAOS Number was used.

On NATO Green, a 3/4-inch stencil in five lines starting 2 inches below the lip and left justified 2 inches inside of the left hand latch assembly. The actual VAOS Number was used but the CMC Part Number was deleted.

On the tan/yellow layer of paint, the final black stencil using the NATO Stock Number data as shown in the photo in Post# 1030.


In addition to all of this, a free floating 1/2-inch stencil of just the actual VAOS ZA/CAN Number was found on either side of the front of the case, centred below each latch assembly, 3.5 inches below the lip. I could not match these up with any other surviving stencil lines on the front of the case, but they were both on a NATO Green background paint, and appeared to have been a one time only application.

What is interesting is the use once again of 3/4-inch stencils. They were also found on one of the two Spare Parts Cases I restored earlier this year; the one that also had traces of tan/yellow applied to the front.


David