Jump to content

Saving a M1943 Ames E tool


phantomfixer
 Share

Recommended Posts

Found this Etool last Spring at a flea market...many layers of paint, no handle, and a frozen lock nut..was happy to see it was a 43 dated Ames, not rare, but better than a 45 dated Ames...

 

With the lock nut frozen, and nothing would break it free, I let it sit in a vat of penetrating oil for a little over 5 months hoping to break the nut free ..

No joy, I ended up snapping the welds off of the threaded bushing the nut rides on...

 

Using a grinder, I cut a the nut in half around it's diameter, then two cuts to split the one side of the nut, then pried off the two separate halves of the nut, leaving one half of the nut still attached to the threaded sleeve..

 

I was able to get vice grips on the sleeve, and break free the shorter nut...then welded the sleeve back to handle sleeve...

 

And I was going to leave it like that, as the nut, though shorter still worked...but no! LOL

I put the the two separate halves of the lower piece back on the threads, lined everything up and taped them in place...and used JB Weld to fill the gaps and bond the nut back together...

while not a museum piece, it is fully functional again

post-155518-0-64884500-1573154562.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice work. I grabbed one recently that was made by Wood in 1945. I wasn't familiar with Wood. Couldn't pass it up though for $10. even though I had no need for it. Just addicted to militaria I guess, especially cheap stuff.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Now that is a labor of love, wanting to save that poor shovel.

 

That has the most clear US, date and mfg stamp I've ever seen on one of these shovels.

 

Mikie

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks guys!

mikie one thing I noticed about the date stamp is the 3...it is a different font than the 194...the 3 is a block style stamp, where as the 194 is a slimmer style font...kinda cool

 

I really jacked up a AF&H 43 dated e tool...to the point where I had to weld the shovel in the open position..I was glad to have this one functioning..

 

Peep, the value is hard to say without seeing the shovel...but 45s are very common...with the early carrier, maybe 45 or so...without the early carrier 25.00ish...that is Ebay retail type pricing...I don't pay more than 10.00 when I find them in good solid working condition..

 

Sundance, I hear ya on not passing up on militaria if the price is right!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...