Pickaxe dimensions

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Bruce Parker

What do period British civilian picks look like? Do they also have the narrow shank and metal reinforced helve? Or is that unique to army picks?

See David's earlier reply:

Originally Posted by David Herbert

In my experience all civilian British picks look exactly like the one in the above post #25. It is only British military picks that have the metal reinforcement at the business end of the handle. I have always assumed that this was because they were stowed separated and repeatedly separating the civilian type would cause wear to the wood. The Americans presumably just went with standard civilian tools. As usual Canada got caught in the middle !

[rob love]

I was looking at a copy of the "factory photos" CD that Clive Law sent me, and ran across the photo with the tool layout. With the excellent resolution of the photos, I was able to enlarge the photo to come up with the manufacturer's name "hercules". The same logo can be seen on the HUP photo Alex posted with the pick axe handle stowed.



I did find some Hercules tools listed on the net, but they seem to have migrated over to fiberglass handles now. I guess the challenge to the true CMP nuts will be to find vintage Hercules handles to stow on their vehicles.


When I enlarge the photo of the tool layout, you can also read the nomenclature on the shovel. It is not the manufacturer but rather a label for GM's stock room.

[Colin Alford]

Rob,

Good find!

The Hercules name prompted me to do some searching.

I found the attached logo, and the trademark description for the US parent company here:

https://bizstanding.com/p/hercules+w...orld-106131991

My read on Rob’s enlarged version of the Factory Photos image is that the bottom banner differs from the US version. I believe it reads “Canadian Turner Day Handle Co.”

A search for “Canadian Turner Day Handle Co” returned few results but this website identifies the Stratford, ON company as being associated with Welland Vale Mfg Co.: http://yesteryearstools.com/Yesterye...ale%20Co..html

My presumption is that Welland Vale was contracted to supply two types of pick axes: The British military type for Universal Carrier and Valentine Tank contracts, and the “Standard Commercial” type for other vehicles including CMPs. We also know that Welland Vale produced the “Bulldog” shovels that were supplied with most Canadian vehicles.

I think it is likely that a correct handle for a CMP would have this Hercules logo, but the head (helve) would likely be produced and marked by Welland Vale.

Does anyone have a “Standard Commercial” type head marked WV with a wartime date?

Colin

D2634358-B874-48D3-8770-36844DE34866.jpeg D68BC78A-3CD1-473A-9980-463AEEBB91E8.png

[David Herbert]

Colin and Rob,

What a great piece of research, well done !

David

[Colin Alford]

Gents,

In post number 16, Alex included an image from the factory photos showing the rear end of a HUP.

A closer view of this photo reveals another manufacturer for pick handles on-hand in Oshawa.

Please see the attached close-ups.

Colin