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Military tools that don't go bang...

A

ammofo

Well-Known Member
I'm sure there may be some (and I don't blame them one bit !!) who might snarl at this for being 'off topic', but aside from the cool stuff that goes bang, there are all manner of war tools out there that were necessary to the war effort. As you can probably tell, I am a military tools fanatic too - not just entrenching tools and wire cutters, but anything with an arrow on it or an AM mark. Usually stuff is easy to identify, but I've come across this recently and it's giving me the run around. Does anybody have any ideas which they may be able to contribute ?
It's 40cm long and looks like it is designed to perform a twisting function, similar to a blacksmith's twisting wrench but I've also wondered if it could have a connection to barbed wire (I've seen something vaguely similar on the net). No searches have turned up anything conclusive however...
DSCN0044.jpgDSCN0045.jpg
 
Thanks for sharing that Alpini, it's nice to see others enthusing over items that many overlook.
As mentioned in the old thread, Sheffield really was the 'capital' of top quality tool making in England for many generations.
 
I love tools. I think we should create a section for them.

Just a thought on your tool. What about a tool for straightening out the parachute cords? We did that with our hands.

Just a thought.
 
Hi Andy, I'd certainly love a special section for tools, but not sure the administrators would agree !!
As you're based in SA, have you managed to pick up some tools with a Broad Arrow inside the letter 'U' (for UNION of SA). I'd be happy to trade a few tools if you had anything surplus !!
As for your parachute theory... I haven't got a clue, but I'll add it to the list of suggestions and see if I can turn anything up that might substantiate it.
Thanks for your suggestion !!
 
I'm on my laptop so I can't see the image very well. Does it have a part number on it?
 
Hi and thanks for your input,
There is what looks like it could a parts number...it seems to read......7/2323A.....if not, the 7 could be a Z.
Do you know of a cheeky website list of parts numbers ??!!
 
Hi,
about 20 years ago, I bought a wooden chest, with 2 or 3 wooden drawers inside, filled with special tooling "Ammunition Working" of the former NVA (east german army). I had been hoping to get many fuze keyes, but there were only a few inside. Besides wire brushes in steel and brass there were just a handful of general use tools. Most of the tools are very special ones for revisioning artillery ammunition. I already was thinking about offering it to somebody who had more use for tools like that than me.
Bellifortis.
 
glevum said:
It looks like a saw setting tool
Click to expand...
I agree with you it does look like a saw setting tool, but the gaps leading into the holes are all approx. 5-6mm wide and I've never seen a two handled one. Despite that being my initial thought I gave up on it. Even if a saw had two rows of offset teeth (not impossible) 6mm apart, a one handled tool would still be preferable due to the difficulty of juggling such a huge saw and a two handled adjustment tool - unless of course, it was deemed a 2 man job to adjust the 'set' (ie protrusion angles and distances) of the teeth when dealing with such a saw. Despite this a one handled tool would still be easier to manage if the other guy was holding the saw.
 
That's not something you see every day - the tool or the markings. As you probably already know an arrow with a D denotes Australia (WW2), a D either side of an arrow denotes Australia (pre WW2). I see you're based in NZ which could explain an Australian piece in your back yard, but whether the 'A' denotes Australia or not I couldn't say. As a suggestion, could it have been used temporarily (in error or otherwise) in the transition between 'D/|\D' and '/|\D' around the beginning of WW2 ? Worth a thought, perhaps. Great tool though, an excellent example of how these items were essential in the preparation and usage of "things that go bang".
Another example off the top of my head is a WW1 spokeshave I recently sold - it would have been very useful for repairing wooden artillery gun spokes in the field. Without functioning wheels, an 18lbr is just a dangerous paperweight. I might post a few pictures of it if anyone's interested ?
(I've also sent this to your original post to keep it alive)
 
Cheers Tim, I'm more used to seeing them with wooden handles to be honest, but this other WH Clay one is undeniably similar despite the fact that these 'saw sets' generally have different sized holes. All in all, it leaves me little choice but to accept that I seem to have the only 2 handled one on the planet !! (Maybe the notion of needing at least three hands to adjust a saw failed to catch on !!) Incidentally, I also have one of the 'pistol grip' versions of this tool dated 1943 /|\ which looks a hell of a lot easier to use.
 
Thanks to TimG and Glevum for making me go back to square one with this. I've dug deeper and have come across this website...
http://craftsofnj.org/index.php/collecting-saw-sets
There in figure 3 is a two handled saw set with (coincidentaly?) the same configuration of slots. It is for adjusting the teeth on 'medium and large Circular saws'. What annoys me most is that I fleetingly toyed with this idea early on in the process but decided it was way too 'niche' a possibility for a military tool, then gave up on the whole saw set idea altogether. How many circular saws could the army have had lying round with the need for these things to re-set them ? I doubt it was many. Oh well, mystery solved, thanks to all contributors for their thoughts !!
 
Any idea on this wrench ?

Any ideas on this one? Dated "23"

Overall length = 170 mm

Jaw 1 = 19 mm

Jaw 2 = 30.5 mm

IMG_6149.JPGIMG_6151.JPG
 
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