Reproduction 3D resin printed Wehrmacht wire splicer used for communications wire. Sold as a set of 5 splicers with 2 spare knobs.
The splicer is fitted with 2 rubber gaskets, one around the divide in the main body and one under the knob to create a reasonably tight seal. There is a gap in this seal where the wire comes in from either end. The wire was supposed to fill this space to make a nearly water proof container for the wire connection. Issued FF33 wire would have been a nice diameter to achieve this.
Field phones, as a general rule, used only a single line, using the ground for the second. Inside there is a knurled nut inside for a secure connection. A great communications accessory which has become hard to find over the years and which has always been under utilized in the hobby, in my opinion. You can actually interchange the top or bottom with an original, but the knob itself is not usable on an original.
These are quite hefty in construction, but the knob is the weakest link. It works just fine and will work for a long time provided you don't ask a gorilla to put it together. You do not need to wrench this down hard, a snug fit is plenty. The wire connection is made inside with a steel nut so cranking this down as hard as you can isn't going to improve anything. The knob is prone to breaking around the threaded area if overtightened. I made this area as strong as I could without distorting the dimensions too much, but the interrupted thread that holds the knob onto the body is slightly larger. To remove the knob, you have to pull it outward a bit and turn it backwards as it is a left hand thread.
These are provided lightly assembled and straight off the printer. They look good and are usable as is, but you can sand down the little bumps left over from the support material and hit these with a clear coat for a great finish but that's just for the over achievers out there. When you're done with that, I would recommend gluing the threaded stud into the base and maybe glue the washer down as well.
If there is actually a decent demand for these, I might revisit this again later and go a little bit further with more metal components to re-enforce the knob. But for now, I honestly don't know if this is just something that only I care about or if other comms guys want more of these in the hobby as well. At least now you can have 5 for less than the cost of one original. I was always a bit worried to take out my originals, too easy to misplace or have one of the line runners just loose or not collect.
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