WWII/KW-era Navy NAF 1156-1 Fastener Kit

Private Lugnutz · Jun 22, 2019

As I was saying on the 2019 Garage Sale thread, I found a small parts cabinet at the flea market this morning that turned out to be something much much better than just any old small parts cabinet.

It was in a huge liquidators' lot of tools and junk. I had already made a circuit around the entire flea market, so when I saw several guys already pawing through some of the toolboxes, I was not optimistic. I was standing there surveilling the whole lot, biding my time on one of the boxes when I spotted this cabinet. I almost missed it, because it was tucked in between some other stuff with something on top of it.

Initially, I was just interested in it for the cabinet. Ironically, when I pulled a drawer out I was annoyed that it had a lid on it, hinged in the back, since I had to pull it all the way out to see what was inside.

When I flipped the lid open and saw the Lift-the-Dot fasteners and such...

...and a packing label on the lid with AN 227- and NAF 1155- part numbers, I knew immediately what it was.

So I checked all the other drawers and tried to maintain my composure for the negotiation. When the seller asked if I wanted "the stuff inside" or just the cabinet, I knew he didn't know what it was, and I was going to get a good deal.

This is a complete US Navy NAF-1156-1 Fastener Kit, with a lot of NOS pieces inside of it still in their correct drawers, and all the drawers have the original packing labels. The part numbers on the labels are wartime, and the contents match the contents in the 1944 Navy Aviation Supply (ASO) Office Class 41 Stock Catalog...

...with a few caveats. The cabinet has AN 230-B2 / NAF 1155-42 and AN 230-B10 / NAF 1155-40 fasteners, and the 1944 ASO Class 41 does not. Note also that the drawers inside the cabinet depicted in the wartime catalog don't have the nifty hinged lids. And finally, some of the hand presses and some other pieces thrown in there also seem a little newer. So it might have been postwar, or perhaps used for awhile and then forgotten.

Either way, it's amazing and rare. I have seen maybe two or three others, neither as well-preserved, neither with all the packing decals, and neither with this many NOS pieces remaining.

Private Lugnutz · Jun 22, 2019

Here are a couple more views of the cabinet shell.

Private Lugnutz · Jun 22, 2019

Here are all the contents, drawer by drawer.

Drawer 1

Private Lugnutz · Jun 22, 2019

Drawer 2

Private Lugnutz · Jun 22, 2019

Drawer 3

Private Lugnutz · Jun 22, 2019

Drawer 4

Private Lugnutz · Jun 22, 2019

...and Drawer 5.

This is where a PO was throwing some extra things, such as the upholstery punches. The screwdriver (a Forsberg) and the dies are original, but need to be sorted into some of the other drawers.

Private Lugnutz · Jun 22, 2019

Finally, here are close-up excerpts from the 1944 Navy ASO Class 41 Blue Book, documenting the contents matching the drawer packing labels.

txvwnut · Jun 22, 2019

That’s really cool that it is still well stocked and in good condition.

Private Lugnutz · Jun 22, 2019

txvwnut said:
That’s really cool that it is still well stocked and in good condition.

Except for the rusty scratches on top and a few minimal rust spots on some drawer faces, it could be a time capsule. The interiors of the drawers are like opening up a deposit box in a bank!

Stuart in MN · Jun 22, 2019

Neat find. Is the green paint original? I would have expected some shade of battleship grey.

Private Lugnutz · Jun 22, 2019

Stuart in MN said:
Neat find. Is the green paint original? I would have expected some shade of battleship grey.

It's been re-painted, Stuart. You can see the brush strokes on that Kelly green on the back. But only on the outsides. The original paint can be seen on the inside of the drawers and lids. The shade is somewhere between an OD green and a steel grey.

ttpete · Jun 22, 2019

At one time I had the bench press and all of the dies and punches for those fasteners. A friend went into the boat cover business and I sold it to him.

Outlawmws · Jun 22, 2019

Lugs are those primarily the tent type snaps and grommets, of are some the WWII "canteen Snaps"? I'd like to get a few of those canteen snaps somewhere... would you know a source?

Oregon rock crusher · Jun 22, 2019

A very nice find Lugz. Great compartment loading of the hardware in that vintage kit. Nice when the compartments are packed tight with the right stuff. Even has the installation tools. Those lift dot sockets and studs are very similar to the snaps securing the rag tops on British sports cars. You've been finding lots of the really good stuff lately. Ed.

d42jeep · Jun 22, 2019

Are you thinking of removing the exterior brushed on paint and exposing the OD? Cool set either way!
-Don

gpw_42 · Jun 22, 2019

+1 to Don's question. If you're going to remove the kelly green, I'd like to know how you go about it, as I still need to remove the blue spray on my armorer's cabinet.

That set is really nice, great addition to the Lugzonian! The contents just "make it."

Outlawmws · Jun 22, 2019

your best bet for rattle can and house paint is Simple green you just have to work it slowly as it will also attack the original paint, jsut not so fast... (exception for Coleman paint, that stuff came off with ANYTHING!)

RubiconJK · Jun 22, 2019

Congrats Lugz! Awesome find.

Private Lugnutz · Jun 22, 2019

Thanks, guys!

Outlawmws said:
Lugs are those primarily the tent type snaps and grommets, of are some the WWII "canteen Snaps"? I'd like to get a few of those canteen snaps somewhere... would you know a source?

There are several different sizes of United-Carr type snaps and grommets/washers that were standardized across the technical branches, hence the Federal Stock Numbers and the "AN" (Army-Navy) numbers correlated to the NAF- numbers, and they were used on shelter halves, tarps, sleeping bags, overall buttons, etc, and all kinds of tool bags. My WWII canteens all have Lift-the-Dot (LTD) type fasteners. If you send me a photo and dimensions of the snaps you're referring to, I'd bet I have them in this box.

Oregon rock crusher said:
Those lift dot sockets and studs are very similar to the snaps securing the rag tops on British sports cars.

Yup, and there are three different sizes of LTD's in here!

Private Lugnutz · Jun 22, 2019

d42jeep said:
Are you thinking of removing the exterior brushed on paint and exposing the OD?

Yes, Don. I'm going to try. And if worse comes to worse, I may just do my magic on it. Here are some more pics. You can see how ridiculous they boogered this thing up. They just pulled the drawers out a little and sprayed the Kelly green on the face and as far back as the drawer was pulled out. See Pic 1 & 2. Pic 3 is to show the contrast of the Kelly green and the original color on the on one of the drawers.

gpw_42 said:
+1 to Don's question. If you're going to remove the kelly green, I'd like to know how you go about it, as I still need to remove the blue spray on my armorer's cabinet.

I am going to start with Simple Green. Outlaw is correct. I learned the hard way that it will remove not only overspray but original paint if left on long enough. If that doesn't work, I will try Evaporust. I also learned the hard way that it will also remove certain paints if the piece is left in it long enough. I am hoping either one softens it up enough to wipe off.

Private Lugnutz · Jun 22, 2019

I found these United-Carr fastener punches a few years ago. Now I have a more suitable place (top drawer) to keep them!

gpw_42 · Jun 23, 2019

Private Lugnutz said:
Yes, Don. I'm going to try...I am going to start with Simple Green. Outlaw is correct. I learned the hard way that it will remove not only overspray but original paint if left on long enough. If that doesn't work, I will try Evaporust. I also learned the hard way that it will also remove certain paints if the piece is left in it long enough. I am hoping either one softens it up enough to wipe off.

Thanks, Lugz and Outlaw both for the insight on Simple Green. Picked up most of a gallon at an estate sale on Friday, so will use that to go after the blue on my kit. Thankfully, it's all external, nothing on the drawers to have to clean up.

I recently submerged a vise in about 1.5 gallons of SG - in a few days, the vise was clean as a whistle, and subsequently primed & repainted well. https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=7921618&postcount=7165

Aerospace Eng · Jun 23, 2019

Somewhat off topic, but there are laser paint strippers now that are color tunable so you can remove the topcoat and leave the primer, or striping/lettering without messing up the base coat.

They are $500K machines, but if you can find someone that has one it might be a way to go depending on the price difference between original and repainted.

Private Lugnutz · Jun 24, 2019

Just a little out of my project budget, AE!

But finding someone with that kind of capability would be cool.

Farmer J. · Jun 24, 2019

Watching this thread in anticipation to see Lugz pull off another perfect 'looks like original' paint job..!

MenkeJ · Jul 18, 2019

I just bought the same thing from an older women in Central Florida. The drawers are in upside down. Drawer 5 the tallest one should be on the bottom. Flip the cabinet 180 degrees and reinsert drawers top to bottom 1 thru 5. Now with that said each drawer compartment has the Die, Chuck or Punch number if required listed and they should be in that slot with the buttons. Drawer #5 should have the press that holds each of those Dies and Chucks which is missing. Each die and chuck has a number on it which corresponds with the listed item on the labels.

JoCoSawdust · Jul 19, 2019

Man what a find! That thing certainly found the right home.

Private Lugnutz · Jul 19, 2019

MenkeJ said:
I just bought the same thing from an older women in Central Florida.

Sweet! Please post photos.

If yours has one, I am especially interested in seeing the nomenclature decal that went on top. Mine is missing. All that remains is the outline of the decal where they sprayed that kelly green right over the top of it.

Some colleagues and I believe this NAF 1156-1 is late war (and no earlier than March 1944), at the earliest, and might be post-war. For a few reasons....

- Other found examples of USN 1156-1 are a darker, semi-gloss green (the original paint on this one, under that Kelly green, is more like a flat steel green)

- Other found examples of USN 1156-1 do NOT have hinged drawer lids, and therefore, no contents labels, matching the figure of the cabinet in the March 1944 copy of the US Navy ASO Catalog I have, as shown upthread.

- As already mentioned upthread, my example of an NAF 1156-1 contains three (3) fasteners that are NOT included in the contents listed in the March 1944 copy of the US Navy ASO Catalog I have, as shown in post #8.

MenkeJ said:
The drawers are in upside down.

Yeah, I noticed that the cabinet was upside down when I went to strip it and saw the outline of the decal that I knew was supposed to be on top, on the bottom instead. That deeper drawer and the numbering system should've been a cue, anyway. Thanks.

MenkeJ said:
...each drawer compartment has the Die, Chuck or Punch number if required listed and they should be in that slot with the buttons.

Yup. As I alluded to in Post #7...

Private Lugnutz said:
The screwdriver (a Forsberg) and the dies are original, but need to be sorted into some of the other drawers.

Private Lugnutz · May 14, 2020

I started 'Pandemic Project' #7 yesterday.

It was a beautiful day, perfect for working outside. After my daily Post Office drop-off walk, the sun was fully up, 55*F, and I was all set up on a portable table out back by 10AM. Latex gloves. Stripper. Acetone. Several pads of 0000 steel wool. And lots of rags. It was a little embarrassing to have to put everything away for today when it struck me that I had gotten just a little ahead of myself and I needed to empty all the drawers first!
:withstupi

If you recall, whoever spray bombed the chest itself with rattle can Kelly Green THANKFULLY only bothered to spray the facing and only a few inches of each drawer. If you look back, or at some of the new pictures I just took and posted below, you can see how the drawers were pulled out and stacked haphazardly on top of each other when he painted, creating lines between the original gorgeous Olive Drab and the Kelly Green. :lol:

I thought I could get away with stripping the Kelly Green on the lid and the face of each drawer without emptying the contents, but I didn't want that goop dripping in the drawers, and I couldn't turn them over, either. So, first things first and the chest itself could wait.

It turned out to be a break-breaking all-day job. There are thirty-three (33) separate compartments! And, I took a healthy scoop out of each compartment, soon to be shipped to a friend and fellow WWII collector and colleague of mine who also has the same NAF 1156-1 Fastener Kit, but empty, like most of them are typically found. So, sixty-six (66) Hefty quart bags, all labeled with the contents with a fine point Sharpie!

After an hour I was audibly cursing. After two, I grabbed a chair, and the little red devil on my left shoulder was recommending just dumping it all and sorting later.
:evil:

Have you ever tried to remove hundreds of Lift-the-Dot, Anzo, Segma, and Durable buttons, studs, sockets, and clinch plates in five different sizes, including too-big-for-stubby-fingers tiny, from 2" x 2" compartments?! I went from fingers to a spoon to a magnet to "Hey sonny boy, c'mere and help me with this...," to "Just friggin' shoot me!"
:lol_hitti

But, it was worth it. I am ready to get this thing back to its original finish glory today.

:thumbup:

Username already in use · May 14, 2020

Nice! Looks like a fun project. You might not even need the paint stripper. I'd give it a go with the acetone and the steel wool first to see how it goes.

I'm anxiously awaiting the 'after' pics!

Private Lugnutz · May 14, 2020

Pics 1 & 2 are a couple more BEFORE shots.

You can see what I'm dealing with. The faces of the drawers were absolutely slathered in the Kelly green, and then just the front of the lids lightly sprayed with it. Everything else is original OD. Thankfully, they didn't touch the inside at all, also all original OD. I would bet dollars to donuts they painted these with the drawers loaded!

Pics 3, 4, & 5 show two (2) drawers after paint removal with brush cleaner and 0000 steel wool, with some scraper action around the label holder.

As soon as I started rubbing the first drawer it became very obvious why they did what they did. There was bad box rot and box rot stains in splotches on both drawers. The problem is they painted right over the rust. I wish they had removed it first, and used OD. When I am done all five (5) drawers I will reconsider next steps, but I am torn between doing nothing and OD refinish. It will all depend on the chest, which I haven't touched yet. Unfortunately, I think that was probably rusty, too, and they slathered it for that reason. It looks like a PO found it, it was pretty much roached on the outside, and what I am removing was his sloppy lazy solution.

turbowoodworker · May 14, 2020

Nice, Lugz. Way to save a cool piece of Navy tool history.

Private Lugnutz · May 14, 2020

Thanks, turbo. I hope to have it back to an original if slightly worn state tomorrow.

RubiconJK · May 15, 2020

Watching with interest! Great project.

Private Lugnutz · May 15, 2020

Warm day here (already 65* F) and I started in on the cabinet shell early before a pre-summer thunderboomer moved in.

There is a layer of OD under the Kelly green on both sides, but it's going to be next to impossible to save. Rubbing with even the mildest of solutions affected both layers. And even if I were to go small and precise on the remaining Kelly green areas and heavy streaks, I don't think enough would be left for me to consider it 'preservable'. See Pics 1, 2, & 3.

There was no OD left on the top, except, oddly, a perfectly rectangular area were I am guessing the kit label used to be. See Pics 4 & 5.

There was no OD whatsoever left under the Kelly green on the bottom. See Pic 6.

The only place where there is an original layer of OD and no Kelly green paintbomb over it was the back. See Pic 7.

Private Lugnutz · May 15, 2020

The way this cabinet is designed, with the lids hinged on the back of the drawers, you can't just pull a drawer half way out and remove fasteners. The hinged lid won't let you. The intent is to pull a drawer all the way, put it on a bench or on top of the cabinet so you can flip the lid all the way open, check the contents label, and remove the stud, socket and clinch plate for the type of fastener you need from the correct compartments. (Journeyman and expert upholsterers obviously wouldn't need to consult the labels, but still need to pull the drawer all the way out.) I hate to re-finish vs. preserve, but when it's past the point of preservation, I don't mind. In this case, the drawers are totally preservable except for the faces and a little of the front on each lid. The cabinet shell is not except for the back. But I think a combination of my 'barn find' look re-finish on the cabinet and the drawer faces only blended into the original finish of the drawers will look completely original, preserved, but well-used. I can imagine it done with some drawers pulled out part way, and one drawer all the way out and it being convincing. And that's the way I am leaning.

Username already in use · May 15, 2020

Sorry to see that the sparybomb isn't coming off without some sacrifice to the drab green underneath. I'm living in a similar hell right now on my cabinet.

Private Lugnutz · May 15, 2020

Username already in use said:
I'm living in a similar hell right now on my cabinet.

That's strange after the drawers were so accommodating. Sorry to heat that.

Private Lugnutz · May 15, 2020

I've finished removing every last lick, smidge, or spot of that offensive Kelly green. Again, you can see the motivation. I reckon this box sat around for years and years. Most of the drawers and all the fasteners, which are absolutely immaculate, were protected from the elements. The exterior was roached and the creeping crud went a few inches inside on the lid and underneath on each drawer. I just wish whoever found it hadn't painted right over the danged rust with whatever danged color they had on hand.

WWII/KW-era Navy NAF 1156-1 Fastener Kit

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