Author Topic: My Rusty Whatzit Foundry Artifact  (Read 7004 times)

regularjoe2

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Re: My Rusty Whatzit Foundry Artifact
« Reply #15 on: December 10, 2011, 07:12:47 pm »
I've been thinking along the same lines as J&L , but only for use on lower-temp metals (as for babbits & such) , with is my best guess , excepting for the fact that 'after-market repair' oarlocks have been around for quite awhile ...

Cool little do-dad anyways .

talesofthesevenseas

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Re: My Rusty Whatzit Foundry Artifact
« Reply #16 on: December 10, 2011, 08:20:36 pm »
It would be neat to know what it was used for. I suppose that being a crucibal and therefore a foundry tool makes it all the more likely that it was used by gr-gr-gr-great-grandfather and gr-gr-great-grandfather, more so than if it was just a broken piece off of something the foundry produced. That makes it even more cool.
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JoshandLila

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Re: My Rusty Whatzit Foundry Artifact
« Reply #17 on: December 10, 2011, 10:18:35 pm »
heres the way the lead smelter works with the hinge, same general idea with yours
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talesofthesevenseas

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Re: My Rusty Whatzit Foundry Artifact
« Reply #18 on: December 11, 2011, 01:16:22 am »
Hmmm... I am not so sure that is what this is. In the center of the Y-shape there is the remains of a pin and this pin goes through several layers of metal (now splitting apart) with the remains of a screw that once held the layers together. There's no place for the cup in the forks of the Y.
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KC

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Re: My Rusty Whatzit Foundry Artifact
« Reply #19 on: December 11, 2011, 08:37:32 pm »
Not feeling the smelter thingy either.

The first thing I thought of was in the olden days these spiked items were easily tapped into posts/trees to set up clotheslines or lines for drying hides!


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talesofthesevenseas

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Re: My Rusty Whatzit Foundry Artifact
« Reply #20 on: December 11, 2011, 11:44:57 pm »
I took a close look at the layers in the center of the Y. There are remnants of two screws holding they layers or plates together. They are rounded on one side and then they are snapped off on the other side. Whatever was there broke, and I kind of suspect that this was on the bottom of a scrap heap.
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wendy177

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Re: My Rusty Whatzit Foundry Artifact
« Reply #21 on: December 12, 2011, 08:51:36 am »
Probably way off but my first thought  was it is an oarlock for a row boat as regularjoe2 said.

talesofthesevenseas

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Re: My Rusty Whatzit Foundry Artifact
« Reply #22 on: December 30, 2011, 12:57:52 pm »
Here'a an updated photo of the "rusty whatzit" in its new controlled environment. The container of silica is under the cloth.

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talesofthesevenseas

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Re: My Rusty Whatzit Foundry Artifact
« Reply #23 on: December 30, 2011, 06:22:32 pm »
I ran across an 1850's candle holder used in mines called a "sticking tommy". It was hammered into a crevasse in the rock or into a wooden beam. It also could be suspended by a hook. There were apparaently thousands of variations on this design, and looking at them, I am wondering if maybe what I have was a form of this device? The other owner of the foundry was an inventor, so it is possible that this is a unique design. There were also "iron bettys" which were basically the same idea, but an oil lamp was suspended instead of a candle. Some of them had spikes. What makes me question this is that to hammer it into a wooden beam would be awkward, although not impossible.

However, it is also possible that if this was a hanging spike that was in use inside the foundry and a permanent fixture inside, it could have been hammered into a beam first, then the pin and whatever it held were put through the fork of the Y. That would be quite practical in that sense. Additionally, the foundry was swept away in a flood in 1855, then rebuilt on the same spot. It is entirely possible that an item like this could be quite early, and then was buried beneath the rebuilt foundry.

Here's a sticking tommy:



And the lamp in the center with the spike is an iron betty:

« Last Edit: December 30, 2011, 06:24:31 pm by talesofthesevenseas »
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talesofthesevenseas

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Re: My Rusty Whatzit Foundry Artifact
« Reply #24 on: January 06, 2012, 11:26:42 pm »
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