Chisel As Found in January.This chisel is ten inches long and the head is 2 inches by 1.5 inches.
I like it better with the crust, but it started to deteriorate so I decided to clean and preserve it to keep it from falling apart.
I should have immediately put it in a solution of water and sodium bicarbonate and let it soak until I got around to cleaning it.
Don't take the crust off until you decide to clean it though. The crust can actually prevent further rusting.
I don't know why I didn't think of doing that at first. When it started to deteriorate I decided to clean it.
Even though I didn't do everything the way I should have, it has been a good experiment. It took several days of electrolysis to clean it this well.
Same Chisel After Several Days of Electrolysis.Electrolysis takes a lot longer for a larger item like this than for smaller spikes.
I wanted to see if there were any marks on the chisel that would help me identify it better. I could find none other than the a long series of parallel lines along the one side. You can see some of them in the photo up near the head of the chisel on the narrow side.
I have what appears to be a bronze chisel that is much smaller that didn't need any cleaning. It came off of another Treasure Coast shipwreck beach.
If you want to read what the experts have to say about treating iron artifact, here is a good link.
http://search.aol.com/aol/search?query=iron+artifact+conservation+tamu&s_it=keyword_rollover
On the subject of iron artifacts, Bill P. thought the strange iron item that I showed in my 5/8/11 post might possibly be a caltrip. That is certainly as close to the mystery object as anything that I have seen. I'll probably never know what that strange item is because it is too far gone.
Nonetheless Bill P's message was very helpful. It gave me one good idea of what the iron item might be, but it also pointed me to a very good web site about pirates and nautical items in general.
First, here is the link if you want to learn what a caltrip is.
http://www.thepirateking.com/historical/caltrop.htm
The web site containing that information is loaded with all kinds of good information on a wide range of subjects that will be of interest to anyone interested in shipwrecks or pirates.
It includes information on sailing ships, weapons, historical documents, etc. etc. It is so good that I added the link to my Treasure Site Link List, which you will find to the left of my posts and under the survey and Followers List.
It is the first link on the link list. For now I have it listed as A Great Nautical & Pirate Web Site.
Take a look at that link as well as the other links in my link list.
The survey isn't done yet, the results have been pretty much the same all the way through.
Most people travel by car when they travel to detect. That isn't surprising. It is easy to throw your detector and other equipment in the trunk of the car. When you travel by plane and cruise ship, you have all of the security checks to go through and everything. There is one thing about that survey that if the results don't change by the conclusion surprises me a little.
You might want to take a look at your Mercury dimes. Everyone knows that the 1916- is the key, but there are other interesting dimes in the series that are of interest. In fact some are even higher to find than the 16-D in higher grades.
Here is a good article about that.
http://www.numismaticnews.net/article/1931-mercury-dime-reflection-of-its-time
Treasure Coast Beach Forecast and Conditions.
There is nothing going on in the tropics and the wind is now coming out of the west. There is nothing to change beach conditions, but the water will be getting flat.
Tomorrow the sea will be really down. And it will remain flat for about a week. It looks like the best hunting might be in the water for this week.
Remember, no detecting in the salvage lease areas.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
