Big Al Posted December 27, 2018 Report Share Posted December 27, 2018 Greetings, everyone. I had the amazing luck recently of finding an ammunition box for the Model 1895 machine gun at an army-navy store for a mere $19.99. I was walking to the register with a Marine Corps M1941 pack set and M1942 bandage pouch when I saw this just sitting there on a stack of M19A1 ammo boxes. Naturally, I couldn't just leave it there. So, it came home with me. It is what I understand to be the early kind without the carrying handle on the end. As you can see, the box is in remarkable condition its age. It has, however, suffered some damage to the lip along each edge of the sliding lid. I would like to restore the functionality of the lid by splicing in some appropriate wood and trimming it to size. If anyone knows what kind of wood this box is made of, it would be greatly appreciated. I suspect it is pine, and that would be convenient as I have some scrap old growth pine to hand. But, I would like additional opinions as to whether that is the case or it is some other kind of wood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jl7422 Posted December 27, 2018 Report Share Posted December 27, 2018 If it were me, I'd leave it as-is. Unless you're very good with wood, the "splice" will show, and be more of a detriment than an addition to the presentation of the piece. Consider the missing wood "historic patina" and enjoy it as found. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Al Posted December 27, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2018 (edited) I am not talking about splicing in wood to patch the chunk missing from top edge of the vertical piece of the box. That I am leaving as-is. What I am intending to repair is the lip along each edge of the lid itself, which runs in slots cut in the inside of the vertical pieces. The repair would involve carving out wood along each edge, gluing in an oversize piece of stock in the carved-out area, and trimming it down by various means until the stock is of the proper dimensions to slide into the slots, thus duplicating the now broken-off lips which used to be along each edge of the lid. Edited December 27, 2018 by Big Al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Got Uzi Posted December 30, 2018 Report Share Posted December 30, 2018 I could sure use that box for my Colt M1914 Digger I have coming.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Al Posted December 31, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2018 I saw that Digger in your post! Congrats to you, Got Uzi! Unfortunately, I am not interested in selling the box. I rather like it, and it is in a way my excuse to get a Digger of my own someday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m3bobby Posted December 31, 2018 Report Share Posted December 31, 2018 Rather than repair it, could you not leave as is but have a number of reproductions copied from it. Id imagine there would be a market for a good quality repro. I know Id rather use a repro and keep an original safe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Got Uzi Posted December 31, 2018 Report Share Posted December 31, 2018 I would be in for a repo box Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim c 351 Posted December 31, 2018 Report Share Posted December 31, 2018 Big Al,If every $20.00 part that you have accumulated so far will necessitate buying a machine gun to go with it, you will probably have the largest MG collection in the world some day. M3bobby,I like your idea of using the box as a pattern to make some repro's to knock around. Jim C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Al Posted January 1, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 1, 2019 Big Al,If every $20.00 part that you have accumulated so far will necessitate buying a machine gun to go with it, you will probably have the largest MG collection in the world some day. Jim C Only half-joking, Jim. That's what I say about buying bayonets and cartridge belts. Rather than repair it, could you not leave as is but have a number of reproductions copied from it. Id imagine there would be a market for a good quality repro. I know Id rather use a repro and keep an original safe. That is an interesting idea, m3bobby. I will give that some serious consideration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Al Posted January 5, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2019 Alrighty. After much thought, I decided that a reproduction is perfectly within my capabilities. As a first step, I drew up the box's components in CAD. This is just an initial draft. I will dimension and label it further. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Al Posted January 7, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2019 Alrighty! The drawings and quantity take-off for materials are finished. I will be going to a local lumber yard today to select a wood. I will probably go with yellow pine, unless anyone knows different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Got Uzi Posted January 8, 2019 Report Share Posted January 8, 2019 Im waiting to know pricing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Al Posted January 8, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2019 Well, I went to two lumber yards close by me and they did not have suitable material. I will keep looking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adg105200 Posted January 8, 2019 Report Share Posted January 8, 2019 Well, I went to two lumber yards close by me and they did not have suitable material. I will keep looking.Got any sawmills nearby? That's what I do probably about 90% of the time for my projects (unless it's for plywood of course) because they have just about every type of wood, and it's way cheaper than Home Depot or other lumber yards even with the extra couple bucks for them to plane it for me. Not that pine is expensive haha. Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Al Posted January 9, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2019 Thank you for the suggestion, Andrew. That will be my next move. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnsonlmg41 Posted January 10, 2019 Report Share Posted January 10, 2019 Im waiting to know pricing.Find me a nice Marlin box and I'll swap ya a Colt box. A couple years ago a guy repro'd some marlin boxes and IIRC they were around $150? I believe he sold them all, but I think they were Marlin pattern? Looks to me like they are poplar, not pine? Menards would have everything including the 2x4 for the end piece I think. Home depot, doubtful, but possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Got Uzi Posted January 10, 2019 Report Share Posted January 10, 2019 Whats the difference between the Marlin and Colt boxes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnsonlmg41 Posted January 10, 2019 Report Share Posted January 10, 2019 The height at which it sits in the tripod to feed the gun (higher on the colt if put into a marlin tripod bracket), and the slots are narrower where it mounts to the tripod. I am sure there are others I haven't taken much notice of, but those are the obvious when trying to put a Colt box onto a Marlin tripod......they don't really fit. I'd guess (since I don't have a colt tripod here) that the marlin boxes fit on the colt tripods, but sit low? HTH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Al Posted January 13, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2019 Im waiting to know pricing.Find me a nice Marlin box and I'll swap ya a Colt box. A couple years ago a guy repro'd some marlin boxes and IIRC they were around $150? I believe he sold them all, but I think they were Marlin pattern? Looks to me like they are poplar, not pine? Menards would have everything including the 2x4 for the end piece I think. Home depot, doubtful, but possible.If you could remember that man's name and his contact info, I would be interested in talking with him to get some pointers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnsonlmg41 Posted January 13, 2019 Report Share Posted January 13, 2019 The thread was here, or part of it? https://1919a4.com/showthread.php?70833-Marlin-digger-boxI don't have any contact info, but others here did purchase some and may be able to provide info? HTH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Al Posted January 13, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2019 (edited) That was a great help! Thank you! Poking around the board, I found the original thread where discussion of the Pennsylvanian's repro boxes first started. In it, it was mentioned that the material was, "...ash or other suitable material.", and mention was also made of white oak. I will price it both in ash and white oak, and explore other options with the sawyer once I settle on one. This seemed appropriate to include. Edited January 13, 2019 by Big Al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnsonlmg41 Posted January 13, 2019 Report Share Posted January 13, 2019 Glad you were able to find it. For the record I've never seen one in oak, but I've not seen more than a dozen in person and only have a couple here. What I've seen is a light colored wood, little grain, pretty soft. Could be ash or poplar? Seems too soft and light for ash, but density and grain is regional for all wood species. I assume they were made locally in the northeast near the plant somewhere so that will narrow down the wood. Best of luck in your project! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Got Uzi Posted January 14, 2019 Report Share Posted January 14, 2019 It wouldnt be a bad thing if repos were made out of oak or another hard wood. Would help with the durability that plauged the original ones. It would also be nice so down the road someone wouldnt try to pass off a repo as an original. Look at the trouble there is now of trying to tell the difference between an original Thompson parts tin and the repos Gordon made.....just a thought Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Al Posted January 14, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2019 The boxes will be marked internally to show that they are reproductions. The markings will consist of my name, the year of manufacture, and possibly some other information (as yet undetermined), burned into the insides of the pieces before assembly. As for the durability of the originals, the connection detail between the major pieces seems to be just 4d finish nails into the end grain. I am going to supplement that connection detail with some glue, and possibly a biscuit-type connection detail (which would be invisible from the outside) for added strength if I can figure out how to do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron_brock Posted January 15, 2019 Report Share Posted January 15, 2019 I would probably be in for one too. Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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