I'd have thought the curved end spoke more to a finished product
rather than a blank. Besides, the thing looks cast rather than
wrought. Drop forging comes into play in the early 20th century or
earlier? I'd be inclined to think the things had to do with power
sources and were therefore some form of grate sort of thing.
Lyle Browning
On Sep 10, 2008, at 1:03 PM, Bob Skiles wrote:
> 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.
>>>>
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