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Any ideas on what this is?

Started by Nomad, November 17, 2019, 12:24:20 PM

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Nomad

While resawing some stuff the other day, we pried this out of an old hand-hewn beam.  It was embedded in the surface.
It's coal black.  It barely registers on a metal detector.  Can't scratch it with a knife, hacksaw, or file.  Both ends and one face are broken.  The rest is a polished curve with small raised lines on it.  It's about 1/4" wide.  The beam had been inside a building and was in good shape.  Maybe part of an old circular sawblade?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Buying a hammer doesn't make you a carpenter
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btulloh

Interesting.  Curious results with the file and metal detector.  

Probably not of this planet.   Maybe the same material that is used in alien implants I've read about.   :D
HM126

Nomad

Buying a hammer doesn't make you a carpenter
WoodMizer LT50HDD51-WR
Lucas DSM23-19

redbeard

Something used from a Musket as Ammo back in the Day,
Probably entered the tree first then sawn into a beam.
Always fun too investigate odd objects.
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btulloh

The third picture down looks a bit like the base of a minie ball.  Unusual for it to be so hard, but in a pinch they'd stick anything down the barrel.

(Nomad - maybe a picture with a little more light would help?)
HM126

jeepcj779

Could be a rock (mineral for snobby rock collectors). Anything with a hardness above 6.5 (steel file), like quartz (7.0 hardness) up to diamond at 10.0 hardness will not get scratched by the steel file. Can't say how it got into the finished beam.

jeepcj779

Might be rutile or one of the other titanium bearing heavy minerals found in NE Florida.

Kainkelly

Quote from: redbeard on November 17, 2019, 12:41:55 PM
Something used from a Musket as Ammo back in the Day,
Probably entered the tree first then sawn into a beam.
Always fun too investigate odd objects.
I was thinking the same thing, if you look at the bottom it looks almost as if it broke off of something.

Ljohnsaw

Quote from: redbeard on November 17, 2019, 12:41:55 PM
Something used from a Musket as Ammo back in the Day,
Probably entered the tree first, then sawn into a beam.
Always fun too investigate odd objects.
Looks like a fossilized Mastodon tooth :D
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Nomad

Quote from: redbeard on November 17, 2019, 12:41:55 PM
Something used from a Musket as Ammo back in the Day,
Probably entered the tree first then sawn into a beam.
Always fun too investigate odd objects.
Naw, the beam was hand hewn and it was barely breaking the surface.  This got there after the beam was in use.
Buying a hammer doesn't make you a carpenter
WoodMizer LT50HDD51-WR
Lucas DSM23-19

Nomad

Quote from: btulloh on November 17, 2019, 12:47:18 PM
The third picture down looks a bit like the base of a minie ball.  Unusual for it to be so hard, but in a pinch they'd stick anything down the barrel.

(Nomad - maybe a picture with a little more light would help?)
Way too small to be part of a minnie ball.  Too hard, too.  Took the pics with a cell phone, so...
Buying a hammer doesn't make you a carpenter
WoodMizer LT50HDD51-WR
Lucas DSM23-19

Nomad

Quote from: jeepcj779 on November 17, 2019, 01:20:53 PM
Could be a rock (mineral for snobby rock collectors). Anything with a hardness above 6.5 (steel file), like quartz (7.0 hardness) up to diamond at 10.0 hardness will not get scratched by the steel file. Can't say how it got into the finished beam.
Agreed.  But how do you explain the raised lines and the polished surfaces?
Buying a hammer doesn't make you a carpenter
WoodMizer LT50HDD51-WR
Lucas DSM23-19

Nomad

Quote from: jeepcj779 on November 17, 2019, 01:27:13 PM
Might be rutile or one of the other titanium bearing heavy minerals found in NE Florida.
Possible, but I believe this came from Ohio.  Certainly not from anywhere around here.
Buying a hammer doesn't make you a carpenter
WoodMizer LT50HDD51-WR
Lucas DSM23-19

Nomad

Quote from: ljohnsaw on November 17, 2019, 02:39:10 PM
Quote from: redbeard on November 17, 2019, 12:41:55 PM
Something used from a Musket as Ammo back in the Day,
Probably entered the tree first, then sawn into a beam.
Always fun too investigate odd objects.
Looks like a fossilized Mastodon tooth :D
Where do you find pigmy Mastodons? :D
Buying a hammer doesn't make you a carpenter
WoodMizer LT50HDD51-WR
Lucas DSM23-19

Nomad

Quote from: Kainkelly on November 17, 2019, 01:49:37 PM
Quote from: redbeard on November 17, 2019, 12:41:55 PM
Something used from a Musket as Ammo back in the Day,
Probably entered the tree first then sawn into a beam.
Always fun too investigate odd objects.
I was thinking the same thing, if you look at the bottom it looks almost as if it broke off of something.
It certainly is broken off, on three sides.  I don't understand this.
Buying a hammer doesn't make you a carpenter
WoodMizer LT50HDD51-WR
Lucas DSM23-19

scsmith42

It looks like a broken gear tooth to me.
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and a mix of log handling heavy equipment.

Magicman

Gotta be a Highly Valuable Walnut egg.  I've heard that they are as scarce as "hen's teeth".  :o
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Kainkelly

Quote from: Nomad on November 17, 2019, 05:02:35 PM
Quote from: Kainkelly on November 17, 2019, 01:49:37 PM
Quote from: redbeard on November 17, 2019, 12:41:55 PM
Something used from a Musket as Ammo back in the Day,
Probably entered the tree first then sawn into a beam.
Always fun too investigate odd objects.
I was thinking the same thing, if you look at the bottom it looks almost as if it broke off of something.
It certainly is broken off, on three sides.  I don't understand this.
Must be part of a tool....

jeepcj779




Actually there are several minerals that have surfaces like that right out of the ground. If it was embedded on the outside of the beam, it could have come from anywhere between Ohio (where it came from) and Florida (where I assume it was sawed last). That rock/black ceramic/mini-mastodon tooth/walnut egg could have been picked up from wherever the log was put down during handling.

Kainkelly

Quote from: Nomad on November 17, 2019, 05:02:35 PM
Quote from: Kainkelly on November 17, 2019, 01:49:37 PM
Quote from: redbeard on November 17, 2019, 12:41:55 PM
Something used from a Musket as Ammo back in the Day,
Probably entered the tree first then sawn into a beam.
Always fun too investigate odd objects.
I was thinking the same thing, if you look at the bottom it looks almost as if it broke off of something.
It certainly is broken off, on three sides.  I don't understand this.
Any chance this beam could have been from a blacksmith, or any sort metal/machine shop? It's possible this is hardened steel that got stuck with a (most likely sledge hammer) that would also explain why it's broken on three sides if it came off a corner.

Nomad

Quote from: scsmith42 on November 17, 2019, 06:32:12 PM
It looks like a broken gear tooth to me.
Not a round gear, but maybe part of a gear rack.  That's the best idea I've heard yet!  If it shattered, it could've hit the beam hard enough to embed itself.
Buying a hammer doesn't make you a carpenter
WoodMizer LT50HDD51-WR
Lucas DSM23-19

OldMasterTech

Are you friendly with any local scrapyards? Take it to one with an alloy analyzer and ask to test it.

Do it while you're selling scrap or there will probably be a charge.
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Nomad

Quote from: OldMasterTech on November 18, 2019, 08:31:04 AM
Are you friendly with any local scrapyards? Take it to one with an alloy analyzer and ask to test it.

Do it while you're selling scrap or there will probably be a charge.
Not a bad idea either.  Does it destroy the sample?  How big a sample do you need?
Buying a hammer doesn't make you a carpenter
WoodMizer LT50HDD51-WR
Lucas DSM23-19

kantuckid

A magnet test would say more! If it's hard I really doubt even a frontiersman would have shot it in their prized possession rifle!!! My guess is a shot in the wind that it's a machinery fragment, best guess is part of a circle saw tooth locking part. 
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