Over the years i have gotten several tools marked for military use. I have several Snap-On military marked tools. Tons of Plomb Wright Field tools. I picked up a Plomb chisel this past weekend marked U.S.N. I have a pair of Proto compound leverage pliers marked U.S. I use to have a Coleman lantern marked U.S.A.F. that my late father in law got me.I guess most of the tool companys made tools to help us win the war. I also have a set of very small files marked U.S.N. Most of my U.S.N. tools were bought at a garage sale across the street from the Mare Island Navel Shipyard in Vallejo Calif while i was living there.

EvilDr235

Dad was a Navy cook in WWII ( his overseas duty was in the Marshall Islands) & somewhere along the line he must have picked up a few mess hall souvenirs.
Anyhow, we still have a couple  U.S.N. stainless steel spoons & forks, and my sister kept the cookbook with recipes for 500 & 1,000 portions.

I have some Giller tools, but no US markings on them.   I had an uncle in WWII, in the Pacific, and worked his final six months as a cooks helper.   When he got back to the farm he wanted to show his mother that he could bake bread.   So, he started with a 50lb. bag of flour!   It was a disaster.  Must of been reading that cookbook. 

I have a U.S.N. stainless spoon out in my shop. Me and my wife have a a lot of Navy history in our family. We were both born on navel bases and lots of family were in the navy. i will keep collecting military tools just for the history. Maybe some day we might donate them to a museum.

EvilDr235

I have a garden cultivator marked US with some remnants of Air Force blue paint.  There's the anvil I posted a while back (no markings but only made for the army).  In the kit that I'm building up there's a farrier's hammer marked US on both sides of the head.  The oldest military tools I have, though, are three planes branded Ordnance Dept 1863.

I have a pair of pliers that are not military,but are marked Made in Germany U.S.zone.

EvilDr235

Somewhere I have a honkin big wrench deeply marked 'Torpedo room' , I have always
wondered what thing in the torpedo room needed a wrench that wasn't needed anywhere else in the sub. Or perhaps the fellow in the torpedo room just got tired of his tools wandering off...;P

That's a pretty neat Bick Iron there!

I've got almost a full set of silverware marked for the military...

I've also got a big brass tire gauge used, presumably, on the duallys of WWII-era vehicles. Deuce and a halfs and such.

Actually, I've got and use a lot of military stuff... not a lot of tools though.

Haha, I'd like to see the Torpedo Room wrench! :P

I have a fairly modern 11/16's box/open that is not marked G.I., but it is finished OD green. I'm not sure what the coating is, but it's tough. Maybe a powder coat. Defiantly not just paint.

How are US military tools marked?
In Australia there is a D^D, middle one is an arrow. Department of Defence.

Batz

In the boiler room on the big boat I don't remember seeing USN on our tools,
just which boiler room they belonged in, 4MMR-2AUX-BR shop...

I'm sure there were some marked somewhere on that big boat.

Quote from: Batz on July 20, 2014, 12:54:02 AM
How are US military tools marked?
In Australia there is a D^D, middle one is an arrow. Department of Defence.

Batz

In my experience, the majority are marked with a simple US.  Some have more specific markings, like the wooden planes I mentioned that are marked Ordnance Dept.

I spied a small shovel at an antique mall, bigger than an entrenching tool, short handle.   Clearly stamped on the blade and handle, A.E.F.,  Engineers, which would place it to 1918, didn't buy it as the price was high and the backside of the blade, where the handle ferrule starts, twas badly rusted through.    I do have a set of butter knives, 1920s or so, very nicely engraved  not stamped, U.S.Q.M.C.  United States Quarter Master Corp.  Probably from an officers mess.

Look for tools with numbers on them as pictured below. These are spec'd for military use. This example is a 15" AUTO WRENCH by Universal Metal Products Co.

There were many tools the US Military bought from manufacturers spec'd to their exact tolerances. You will find many different makers of the same wrench for some military vehicle tool kits.

Some had the numbers from the maker struck onto them, some did not.

Does not necessarily have to have a U.S., U.S.N., etc. to be military.

This wrench was for some of the heavy equipment tool kits. 41-W-450 is the numer that corresponds to this wrench in the specific Ordinance Manual.

I know on older Snap-On military tools had the letter G as part of the part number. It stands for Government. You can see this by looking at the Snap-On tool mfg.date codes chart.I am told Snap-On will not replace tools with a G as part of the part number.I guess Snap-On gave the Feds a very good price on the tools with an agreement that there will be no replacing them if they break.

Sgt.EvilDr235