john k Posted January 27, 2022 Share #1 Posted January 27, 2022 I finally found something interesting on craigslist. "WW2 Grenade lamp" Listing had no pictures. It's really nicely done, and clearly has been a lamp for quite a long time. I paid an old lamp price, not a Mk2 with story price, but the seller did say it was his grandfather's and his grandfather had been on Guadalcanal. The body has a rougher, less defined casting than other Mk2s I have. I don't see any casting marks at all. I was barely able to catch it in pictures, but the bottom hole is threaded (not for the lamp conversion). I'm guessing this is an earlier Mk2 body that had a second life as a trainer, and a third life as a lamp. Any thoughts on what this body actually is? Thanks, john Link to comment
Kaptainssurplus Posted January 28, 2022 Share #3 Posted January 28, 2022 The grenade is a early type 1 MK2 body, with what I am guessing is a M10 series fuze, hard to tell without photos of the fuze removed and photos of the top of the spoon. The bad news is whoever made it ground down the bottom of the grenade body significantly, as that body type would have came down almost to a point just as wide as the bottom fill hole, they probably did it to make it sit better on the wood mount, as the bottom would have been a bit unstable with the narrower bottom of the body. It also looks like it was repainted with some type of crinkle paint, possibly covering up the makers marks, maybe that's why you can't see them. Link to comment
john k Posted January 28, 2022 Author Share #4 Posted January 28, 2022 Thanks for the reply. When I took it apart I couldn't see any markings on the top of the spoon, either inked or stamped. Most of the area has a hole drilled through but not so much that it would have covered typical markings. Crinkle paint, Huh? I hadn't thought that, but now I see what you are seeing. I can't say for sure either way. I did just look at it closely with a LED flashlight and I can see blue paint remnants in the low areas that I hadn't noticed before. The feel and patina of everything seems super old. Like it came out of the home of a 50 year smoker. Link to comment
john k Posted January 28, 2022 Author Share #5 Posted January 28, 2022 This is the bulb that was in it (to show the grime). It still works. Link to comment
Kaptainssurplus Posted January 28, 2022 Share #6 Posted January 28, 2022 The grenade body could very well be just grime, buildup, oxidation etc, instead of crinkle paint, hard to know for sure without it being in my hand personally. Especially with how that bulb looks! Ir may be a good time to give the whole thing a good cleaning, bring it back to life unless you like the patina look its has now. Link to comment
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