Hi Kelly,

Exactly what I was thinking ... it's the right size/shape for 
bar-stock/blanks for railroad spikes ... but it clearly is not a completed 
spike. I was thinking it might be rejected blanks from a mal-adjusted early 
"Swett Rail Road Spike Machine" (or perhaps another off-brand non-patent 
spike machine). Swett had patents on these machines back to the 1840s ... 
with many improvement/patents through the 1870s. The Treadgar works started 
patenting improvements to his patents in the late 1870s (when the form had 
been pretty well standardized into what is still used today).

If not railroad spikes, then perhaps some type of blanks for large spikes 
for boat/ship/bridge construction?

The name of the mill / foundry would go a long ways toward identifying what 
type of products they made from historical records.

Bob Skiles

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kelly Cooper" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, September 10, 2008 11:28 AM
Subject: Re: unidentified iron bar


> Maybe related to railroad? like a tie or spike?
>
> On Wed, Sep 10, 2008 at 12:24 PM, Bob Skiles <[log in to unmask]> 
> wrote:
>
>> Hi Melissa,
>>
>> What is the name of the village / foundry / mill ?
>>
>> Bob Skiles
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Melissa Diamanti" 
>> <[log in to unmask]
>> >
>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
>> Sent: Wednesday, September 10, 2008 10:28 AM
>> Subject: unidentified iron bar
>>
>>
>>
>> I am looking for help in identifying an iron bar artifact from a late 
>> 19th
>>> century village & foundry & mill site in Pennsylvania. Multiple examples 
>>> of
>>> the same iron bar with a curved end have been found by the folks doing 
>>> basic
>>> brush removal and clearing at the site.
>>>  The photos are not great, since they were jsut taken in the field with
>>> car keys for scale. But I have posted two views of the iron bar (top and
>>> side) on Archaeoseek at
>>>  http://archaeoseek.ning.com/xn/detail/578807:Photo:27542
>>>  I hope I did this link correctly. If not, just check the new photos for
>>> two labeled iron bar.
>>>  If you are not a member of Archaeoseek and do not wish to subscribe to
>>> this free service, I can also send them directly to anyone interested in
>>> helping me out. Thanks,
>>>
>>>  Meli Diamanti
>>>  Archaeological & Historical Consultants, Inc.
>>>
>>>