atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums Wiring - Telecom Carriers - Trunks & Services Cabling Telephones Systems Wiring Jumper wire length.

wire hook on one end / spudger on the other . Sandman says "you ain't a telephone man without one "

Please forgive me, Uncle Arthur!
Technically the other end of the yellow stick would be a spudger, depending on if it's flat or hooked, right?

You got it Jeff.

Sam

I looked up "orange stick" and what I found was nothing like the original orange sticks. The ones I found had square ends the originals were rounded, I've got a few around, if I can dig them up. I was kind of surprised they were still around, but then some days I'm surprised I'm still around.

The "orange sticks" that I have used have one end round and the other wedge shaped.

I think "orange sticks" are one of those type of things that will never go away. Way to handy and very cheap.

There were two trades that used orange sticks back in the day-

Telephone men and elevator constructors. The elevators in those days were heavily relay driven so it makes sense.

But here's a blast from the past. I remember my mother, back in the '50s, using an orange stick to "do" her cuticles when she did her nails. I remember being shocked when I discovered that my mother's grooming tool was a telephone man's friend.

Sam

The pointy end of an orange stick is perfect for holding a wire-spring relay operated or unoperated, during testing. There was a little yellow plastic tool that you could use, but the orange stick was always right there, along with your mechanical pencil, spudger, dial removal tool made of a piece of drop wire, and a ball point pen, in your plastic pocket protector, the one that said "Ask me about Custom Calling Features" (No one ever did.)

Arthur,

I remember cutting a piece of drop wire about 4" long and stripping it. I would cut the tip off on one side and the ring on the other. One stripped end was left straight for use as a dial remover and the other got a 90 degree bend for use as a wire hook.

An old friend, long gone to that big MDF in the sky showed me that trick. At that point I thought I'd seen everything and was delighted that there were still new tricks out there.

I think it was 1974.

Sam

One thing rookies (including me) always made the mistake of doing was to use a conductive spudger (screwdriver). Big no-no and big trouble.

Great tool Sam.

Can't even find good drop wire now a days.