Exhibit 7.1 FILING AGREEMENT -----------------Filing Agreement • September 2nd, 1997 • Evans Thomas M Jr • Metal forgings & stampings
Thomas Mellon Evans died on July 17, 1997, owning beneficially 4,050,786 shares (the "Shares") of Common Stock, par value $2.50 per share, of Fansteel Inc. (the "Company"). The Shares represented 47.11% of the Company's outstanding Common Stock. The Last Will and Testament of Thomas Mellon Evans dated April 7, 1994 (the "Will") named his wife, Betty B. Evans; one of his sons, Thomas M. Evans, Jr.; and The Putnam Trust Company of Greenwich, a division of The Bank of New York as executors (the "Executors"). On August 21, 1997, the Connecticut Court of Probate accepted the Will for probate. At that time, pursuant to Rule 13d-5 under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, beneficial ownership of the Shares was acquired by the Executors.
