This unusual copper-colored Snap On socket (M-8, G marked, 9/32 drive)

[M-EGT]

Any info on it? It's magnetic, but if it's plated it's very thick

 

[Private Lugnutz]

It is unusual because it has a "G" (1945) stamp and plating with any precious metal was restricted during WWII. If not for that, I'd be tempted to ask if the silver areas are under or over the copper. A common electroplating process was nickel and copper substrates, then chrome. My best hunch is spark reducing for Air Corps, who preferred 9/32-inch drive. Snapmom might know of more examples.

 

[65ranchero]

I did a quick search and came up with this:
My apologies if you already did that search

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1941-Rare-Vintage-Snap-On-M8-9-32-Drive-1-4-Midget-Socket-USA-/124423299995

https://www.collectingsnapon.com/index.php?page=socket_sets/C9-32inch/9-32 intro

 

[d42jeep]

All of my wartime 9/32” drive sockets don’t have a copper finish but I do have a postwar socket with an industrial PM prefix that looks copper plated. Have you tried (in an inconspicuous spot) chipping it off with a blade? It could be that someone used copper colored paint as an identifier.
-Don

 

[M-EGT]

All of my wartime 9/32” drive sockets don’t have a copper finish but I do have a postwar socket with an industrial PM prefix that looks copper plated. Have you tried (in an inconspicuous spot) chipping it off with a blade? It could be that someone used copper colored paint as an identifier.
-Don

I scratched it, does not seem to be paint. Definitely a coating

 

[snapmom]

A thread about it
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=373351&highlight=copper

 

[M-EGT]

A thread about it
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=373351&highlight=copper

Thanks. Looks like snapmom posted a collection of copper-plated Snap On

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Yes, on my thread on this topic. I remembered she had some, but I didn't know if she had any 9/32-inch drive. It would make sense, again, as I mentioned, since the Air Corps preferred 9/32-inch drive for midget work, and they worked in a fuel-rich environment where spark reduction was important.

It would be a neat to put a whole set together. Nigh impossible, too.

 

[snapmom]

Some of mine

 

[Mallen]

Or someone working in a plating shop thought it was a neat idea to toss his unplated WW2 mfg tools in the bath so they wouldn't rust.

 

[firstyearchevelle]

I have this big old Williams doe wrench that is copper plated as well. I always thought it somehow never made it to final plating.

 

[theamcguy]

Remember traditional "Chrome Plating" is realy 3 layers copper, nickel and then chrome; chrome is actually clear and prevents the nickel from tarnishing (turning yellow). There were probably nickel and chrome shortages in WWII that led to Snap-on only using copper for rust protection.

 

[snapmom]

Some with 50s and 60s date codes. Some non military

 

[Private Lugnutz]

There were probably nickel and chrome shortages in WWII that led to Snap-on only using copper for rust protection.

Nickel and chrome plating were completely abolished in WWII. Tools were cadmium plated, natural steel, painted, japanned or treated with chemicals like black oxide and phosphates. Copper was also controlled. Wartime copper tools would be strictly spark resistant.

 

[Mallen]

I have this big old Williams doe wrench that is copper plated as well. I always thought it somehow never made it to final plating.

Is it magnetic? Some wrenches that look like that are low sparking beryllium copper used for working in environments with flammable vapors and gasses.

 

[firstyearchevelle]

Is it magnetic? Some wrenches that look like that are low sparking beryllium copper used for working in environments with flammable vapors and gasses.

Yes, it’s magnetic.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

It being magnetic, as you reported in post #1, does not eliminate it from a spark reducing use case, as I postulated in post #2, all the more credible given its drive size, exclusively favored by the US Army Air Corps and the aviation industry in that era. Spark suppressing tools (i.e., made of BeCu, not steel) and spark reducing tools (made of steel, copper coated or plated) were specified differently. Plomb branded a whole line of copper coated steel wrenches aimed explicitly at the aviation sector as "KOP-R-KLAD", but they certainly weren't the only ones making them, as Snapmom's little trove demonstrates. It's still my bet for your socket.