Wood in fuse?

[John M. Brooke]

We have all seen examples of bullets in wood, how about wood in fuse. At first glance I thought it was just paper time fuze but after close examination it appears to be preserved wood fibers extending completely through the fuse and even filling up the spanner holes. The fuse itself looks brand new without the usual oxidation from being in the ground. I guess this one spent a lot of years in a tree.

[Dave the plumber]

        whoever found it originally, should have left it in wood - it would be worth 20 times a regular fuze adaptor value.   That looks almost like saw kerf marks on the threaded side, what do you think ??

[John D. Bartleson Jr.]

Are those kerfs just on the one side of the fuse body? I don't think the wood caused them, how about shrapnel from a case shot?
Regards,
John

[joevann]

Those definitely look like kerf marks from a large circular blade.  Probably when the tree was being milled into lumber.

[John M. Brooke]

I'm not sure they are saw kerf marks. The inner diameter of the fuse hole is pushed in to form a D shape. I would think if it were a saw mark the base of the fuse would still be round. It would take a great deal of pressure to cause this, more than just a saw blade making contact with the fuse. Also it is not a straight cut, it is concave almost like hitting a round object such as a rock. Why does the patina of the fuse match the cut mark, it should be bright copper not green like the rest of the fuse. It may never have been cut out of the tree. Over time the tree could of broke down around the fuse leaving only the wood inside preserved by the copper salts that inhibit bacterial growth. Only a guess!

[joevann]

With the additional photos I withdraw my previous remarks.

[divedigger]

I agree with Mr. Brooke. All patina matches and a saw would not deform the opening as well as shining up the sawmarks. It is easy to see how the departing fragment turned in and dug out the grooves.

[MR282]

Could the artillery officer simply have want to shell with a bolt and driven a wooden dowel into the fuse rather than installing a time fuse?.........I think this is more common than we think. In the heat of battle.....I think so.The wood is to uniform to be anything else.

[6lbgun]

I've been meaning to make the same observation that MR282 has, but hadn't got around to it.  Looks to me like it is from a shell that was converted to a bolt with a wooden dowel.  As I understand it was not a rare occurrence.
Dan

[joevann]

How does that account for the wood in the spanner holes?

[6lbgun]

Depending on the original size of the dowel before it was driven it could have been mushroomed over quite a bit.  I for one would have beat the heck out of it to make sure it was tight and a good seal to prevent detonation in the tube.  Another thought, is the stuff in the spanner holes truly wood?
Dan

[Jim T]

I bet this was once a "fuse in wood."  My digging friend found a Parrott fuse in a 10" section of wood from an old tree.  I suspect that the damage to the fuse was done during the explosion.  That would better explain the wood in all the nooks and crannies!

[CarlS]

Interesting fuse and ideas on what might have happened.  One thing about war battle items is they are in an explosive (pun intended) environment and so many things could happen.  IN this case the shell might have exploded sending the fuse flying into who knows what.  Or the nose piece might have impacted something from the side ripping the fuse from the iron.  And as Divedigger mentioned, the flying fragments of the shells explosion might have struck the fuse somehow.  Perhaps the gouging happened after the war but long ago enough for the fuse to develop a patina.   Maybe the fuse was on/in the ground and some other flying projectile stuck it.  I once found a 30 pounder Parrott bottle nose bolt in a hole with another one.  The one on top hit the first one and broke it in half.  So much flying metal will lead to some very odd things for sure.