navydoc16 Posted 29 May Share Posted 29 May 1360 kind regards g Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aleksandr Posted 30 May Share Posted 30 May 5227 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMB1943 Posted 30 May Author Share Posted 30 May Aleksandr, Welcome to the GWF and also to the intrepid band of Tiger hunters! Thanks for that new serial number. Regards, JMB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil B Posted 30 May Share Posted 30 May 6 hours ago, Aleksandr said: 5227 I would love to know the physical process of stamping the bayonets. This example is well off centre and isn’t the first time we have seen one stamped off centre. Wonder if anyone is still alive that was in the chain of manufacturing bayonets during the Second World War? oh and welcome to the rabbit hole. cheers Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t.ryan Posted 30 May Share Posted 30 May Welcome Aleksandr, I make your new number (5227), # 345 recorded so far; so we are getting close to the next set goal of 350. Keep hunting. As far as the offset smiling tiger faces go, I have clear enough photo's of 295 smiling tiger faces and numbers. Of those,1 in the 1000s, 2 in the 2000s, 11 in the 3000s, 1 in the 4000s' and 2 in the 5000s are well offset. Looks to me like the stamper doing the 3000 series was having a bad day. The newly listed #5227 appears to be the highest of the offset tiger faces recorded so far, all higher numbered faces appear reasonably well centred. Cheers, TR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navydoc16 Posted 31 May Share Posted 31 May @Phil B I think this is one of the few ww1 photos of Wilkinson bayonet production - there is lots of fun little things to see in it, but having seen a fair few bayonets in my time im still at a bit of a loss as to wether the “tigers” and “crowns” were completed by arbour press, belt driven air hammer or hand stamp at various times. But I think most would agree the numbers and dates were completed by hand. kind regards g Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aleksandr Posted 2 June Share Posted 2 June Good afternoon, there is a proposal to create a geographical map of existing tiger specimens. Each owner fills in a Google table: tiger number, longitude, latitude on the map. Then upload this table to Google Maps (who knows how) or in another way. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil B Posted 2 June Share Posted 2 June 58 minutes ago, Aleksandr said: Good afternoon, there is a proposal to create a geographical map of existing tiger specimens. Each owner fills in a Google table: tiger number, longitude, latitude on the map. Then upload this table to Google Maps (who knows how) or in another way. Thank you. Pin drop I guess like the real estate agents do with property. Good luck cheers Phil ps I’m a truck driver and still looking for the any key on my PC ,,,, now where is my TAB? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navydoc16 Posted 2 June Share Posted 2 June Maybe possible, was going to say the same with the pin drop mentioned above, but unfortunately I’m guessing a lot have been pulled from random auctions world wide- so might be difficult to do reliably. kind regards g Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMB1943 Posted 3 June Author Share Posted 3 June Navydoc, That is a wonderfully crisp and sharp photo of the Wilkinson shop at Acton. Judging by the total absence of women from the very large work-force, this must have been taken very early in the war. Regards, JMB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navydoc16 Posted 3 June Share Posted 3 June (edited) @JMB1943 Yes it is beautiful to zoom in on, I may place a couple screen grabs on the unfinished blanks page to avoid sullying this thread- I would have said maybe 1915, before women were in the shop, but judging from a lot of older faces, big facial hair and receding hairlines, early war but still. There is actually only one truely youthful face in the foreground, and no offence to him, he is quite a bit shorter and smaller stature than the men around him- one could gamble he was not fit enough for service at this stage of the war or had an ailment that precluded service kind regards g Edited 3 June by navydoc16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navydoc16 Posted 3 June Share Posted 3 June (edited) Just to follow up on your initial question of the stamping location, I believe there is two contributing factors. the first is that Wilkinson-Latham wrote that Wilkinson factories operated on “Piece Meal” production lines (that’s where the term comes from)- where by each worker in the production line was given a single machining job. At the end of the shift, the foreman would walk around the factory, doing a minor inspection of work, but his main job was to count the work on the bench and record them for the shift- at the end of the shift, workers were paid according to how many “pieces” they had completed. the other part is the nature of the machine in general, I think having looked at my examples- during the war things changed slightly as I think some of the dies were hand stamped- however given the depth of the “Siamese Tiger” and the shear surface area, I don’t think they are done by hand - however in the same breath, the tigers are relatively straight. I think you are probably looking at a small overhead belt or pneumatic driven power hammer with a die, generally these machines are set for production with a “guide” that limits a far left and right of travel of the piece based on placement in the guides by the operator, hence the slight variation on left and right when placed on the guides and the treadle is activated. It is generally a relatively dangerous machine and simple errors result in lack of fingers or part there of. between a large pile of blades to “count”, a speed inclined or newer operator and a lax foreman combined could result in quite a large variation- at the end of the day Wilkinson probably never cared. The contract was likely welcome work for BSA and Wilkinson in general, especially to try and get rid of “war stock” left over. Not soon after it seems there was quite a serious arms embargo on new production SMLE export throughout the 20’s for military end users, only allowing small orders of .303 rifles to select Commonwealth Countries for commercial and military use. kind regards g Edited 3 June by navydoc16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navydoc16 Posted 4 June Share Posted 4 June (edited) 9247 Really feint let scrubbed, but of note is the lack of remnants of a date of manufacture Edited 4 June by navydoc16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMB1943 Posted 5 June Author Share Posted 5 June Navydoc, I might guess that the date stamp, where not erased, has been overstruck by the Siamese numerals. Anyway, another new kitten for the cattery! Regards, JMB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil B Posted 20 July Share Posted 20 July Here we go guys . Got this from Facebook in a post about type 62s and other Siamese rifles . cheers Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t.ryan Posted 20 July Share Posted 20 July (edited) Gooday Phil, I thought that we might have the drought breaker with this one but unfortunately we already have #9091 on the list. Good to see that the search for any stray smiling tigers is still on tho. I think I have been blocked from searching on the worthpoint site, they keep on blocking me without agreeing to their terms. It was a great site for all bayonet types. Cheers, TR Edited 20 July by t.ryan Add extra info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil B Posted 20 July Share Posted 20 July Oh well but here is a bonus pick for the forum . Ian Skennington is bringing out an updated book and features some of my collection. we are so lucky that a world renowned walking book of knowledge is available to answer our questions. cheers Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t.ryan Posted 20 July Share Posted 20 July Well done Phil, looking forward to seeing Ian's new book later in the year. Cheers, TR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navydoc16 Posted 21 July Share Posted 21 July @Phil B good to see a fellow contributor on here, the book will feature a couple pieces from my collection as well. It has been certainly a fun journey kind regards g Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navydoc16 Posted 5 August Share Posted 5 August 5323 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t.ryan Posted 5 August Share Posted 5 August navydoc, I believe that is smiling tiger #5327, the telling points are that the tail of the 3 protrudes down further and from what I can see the start of the tail of the seven is also there. #5327 is a new number for the list. Good to see another smiling tiger show up even though they are getting to be few and far between. Cheers, TR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navydoc16 Posted 8 August Share Posted 8 August @t.ryan apologies, didn’t notice that little tail, but you are correct kins regards g Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navydoc16 Posted 9 August Share Posted 9 August 1658 6363 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navydoc16 Posted 9 August Share Posted 9 August (edited) 7434 Edited 9 August by navydoc16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navydoc16 Posted 9 August Share Posted 9 August 2830 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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