Several old pieces, any information is appreciated.

Fooleeze · Jul 7, 2018

Here are pics of several old pieces I pulled from a property. I would love any information about them to help understand if it's worth me to keep hitting the site.

The first is a not quite oval iron ring measuring about 4 inches the long direction.

The second looks like an old brass / copper bowl of some kind. Hard to measure the size, it's so mangled, but I'd guess it would be around 5-6 inches in diameter.

The third photo, on the right, clearly a suspender clip, how old would this be? It also appears to be brass. The piece on the left looks like some kind of buckle, also brass.

The fourth photo, are these clock parts? They were found in the same hole. Appear brass again.

The last is a button, the first I've found. I thought it was brass, but it's certainly worn. Any info on this would be appreciated.

Thanks for your time!

matmit · Jul 7, 2018

It looks like most of your items are already identified.
It's hard to say just how old they are, probably around 1900.
Where were you hunting?

Fooleeze · Jul 7, 2018

Yeah, I've got guesses, but was hoping someone would be able to give any more specifics if they are available. Like "Oh, that's an old xxx button made in the late 18yys."

Tt's a home that was built around 1920 here west of Akron, OH. The house was recently demolished. The property was between an 1800s cemetery and an 1800s homesite.

matmit said:
It looks like most of your items are already identified.
It's hard to say just how old they are, probably around 1900.
Where were you hunting?

duggap · Jul 8, 2018

In your third picture the item on the left is a buckle shield. It is used on horse equipment to keep the horse's tail from getting caught in the buckle. Those were patented in the late 1800s. The other item in that picture is most likely off a woman's garter belt.

Fooleeze · Jul 8, 2018

Ooh, excellent, thanks. Just found this picture on eBay, looks like a match.

duggap said:
In your third picture the item on the left is a buckle shield. It is used on horse equipment to keep the horse's tail from getting caught in the buckle. Those were patented in the late 1800s. The other item in that picture is most likely off a woman's garter belt.

Foragist · Jul 8, 2018

It's all old enough to show the site is of worthy age. Should be some old silver around there too.

waltr · Jul 8, 2018

Foragist said:
It's all old enough to show the site is of worthy age. Should be some old silver around there too.

Yes it is. Silver as well as other older coins, Indians, Buffalo's, etc.

Some of the old rusty and brass stuff is very hard to ID. I have a bucket full from an old farm site.

Keep hitting that site.

Dsm_mechva · Jul 8, 2018

Your 1st pic reminds me of this trunk handle ..I assume it's a trunk handle anyway.

Fooleeze · Jul 8, 2018

That sure looks the same as the one I found. TRUNK HANDLE IT IS! I assume.

Hm, could it be something like this?

Dsm_mechva said:
Your 1st pic reminds me of this trunk handle ..I assume it's a trunk handle anyway.

Dsm_mechva · Jul 8, 2018

I've found several like that at various sites they are fairly big and heavy duty so I assumed it's overkill for a drawer pull or etc. so I decided it was from a truck or something of that sort.

Fooleeze · Jul 8, 2018

I'm going to use this piece as my first pass at electrolysis. We'll see how it goes and see if it reveals anything under the crud.

Dsm_mechva said:
I've found several like that at various sites they are fairly big and heavy duty so I assumed it's overkill for a drawer pull or etc. so I decided it was from a truck or something of that sort.

jimther · Jul 9, 2018

Those are definitely clock parts.

Jim

Fooleeze · Jul 13, 2018

Well, my first pass of electrolysis went pretty well. This piece was heavily crusted and it took about 5 days total, but it worked!!! I can positively confirm this crusty mess was a trunk or wagon or barrel handle of some kind. Here are the before and after.

HuntinDog · Jul 13, 2018

Amazing results.
Great job with that electrolysis.
Could hardly see the shape in the before pics and in the after... No doubt

waltr · Jul 13, 2018

Great job cleaning that handle.
What steps did you do after removing from the electrolysis bath?
All the stuff I have done is black. How did you get the dark brown color?

Fooleeze · Jul 13, 2018

The process I used was pretty close to the videos below. I didn't scrub with steel-wool afterward, but only because this was really just my test item. But this was pretty much the process I used.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W13T55YQRCA&t=7s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrJfF7mWgiw

I posted these same results in the 'cleaning' section. . .
http://metaldetectingforum.com/showthread.php?p=2975377#post2975377

waltr said:
Great job cleaning that handle.
What steps did you do after removing from the electrolysis bath?
All the stuff I have done is black. How did you get the dark brown color?

waltr · Jul 13, 2018

Thanks for posting links.
He did not state what was used for electrolyte.
Sodium carbonate or sodium Bicarbonate?

It may be the electrolyte or wire brushing that makes the difference in final color. I'm going to brush the stuff I did more.

Fooleeze · Jul 13, 2018

I used Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda (Bought at WalMart). It is Sodium Carbonate.

That 'brown' color you're looking for may be more the coloring of the photographs. Mine is still pretty dark.

waltr said:
Thanks for posting links.
He did not state what was used for electrolyte.
Sodium carbonate or sodium Bicarbonate?

It may be the electrolyte or wire brushing that makes the difference in final color. I'm going to brush the stuff I did more.

Foragist · Jul 13, 2018

Nice! That's better than I guessed it would turn out. Thanks for posting the results.

waltr · Jul 13, 2018

Fooleeze said:
I used Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda (Bought at WalMart). It is Sodium Carbonate.

That 'brown' color you're looking for may be more the coloring of the photographs. Mine is still pretty dark.

Thanks for answer.
I have found this week a very technical paper of cleaning finds and covers electrolysis in detail (I'll post a link in a thread). I have been using baking soda which only raises the pH to 8 whereas Washing soda can take pH to over 12. Seems that the higher pH is helpful for iron electrolysis so I need to hit the store for some washing soda.

I have a thread on my finds from the 1800's farm but haven't yet posted pictures of cleaned iron. I am going to try wire brushing more to see if that helps.

Anyway, your handle looks great.

Several old pieces, any information is appreciated.

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