bonney ratchet ?

[thetool]

found a bonney 4098 ratchet at a pawn shop hand marked with zenel on it and property of us navy and nob 1543 hand marked on it also, anyone know anything about the markings ?, and its made in the usa, thanks.

 

[3baygarage]

Well, the 4098 is a fairly common old Bonney ratchet. The fact that it says USN sounds interesting. I wouldn't mind seeing that. Is it stamped in or hand etched?

Zenel was what the steel was called I believe. I have some old Bonney Zenel wrenches.

 

[thetool]

the zenel and property of us navy are hand written

 

[3baygarage]

That sounds strange Zenel is hand written.

 

[3baygarage]

Here is a Bonney box wrench that says Zenel with a line through it.

 

[Flatintoone]

That's interesting. My Bonney catalog ('39 or '40, I believe) says that the 4098 ratchet is made of "'CV'-Chrome Vanadium steel". Elsewhere in the catalog, the CV wrenches are clearly differentiated from the Zenel wrenches.

 

[bonneyman]

Zenel was an early 30's to mid 50's alloy. But it would be forged into the tool, not handwritten.

There's plenty of pictures at Alloy Artifacts. You might want to cruise over there and see if your ratchet style shows up. Be able to better pin it down for you.

 

[thetool]

That sounds strange Zenel is hand written.

just checked, the zenel is not hand wriiten but the property of us navy is, thanks.