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Tuesday, May 19, 2020

Restoring a splitting maul I found at a historic site

In metal detecting we often see "surface finds" - items just laying out in the open.  In this case I was exploring a historic site near my home that dated back at least 100 years.  Hidden against the brick wall of the building was this 8 pound splitting maul head with just a scrap of the original shaft remaining.  It was in great condition, this is what it looked like when I found it:
I'm guessing it is around 50 - 70 years old.

I decided to make a new shaft for it so I could use it for splitting my firewood.  I had an Ash board that I cut down the middle and glued up to make it thicker:

Then I cut and shaped the 32" handle on my band saw and belt sander:





I finished the handle and secured it to the head with a wedge I made from a scrap of rosewood.   (I pounded in the wedge with the 3lb cross pein hammer I dug up in my yard last week).  I put on a coat of linseed oil and went out to try it on some pine.  It works perfectly!  At 8 lbs this is a BEAST of a splitter!





Friday, May 8, 2020

Pocket watch dug on the Meeting House lawn


I haven't posted recently because I have been detecting on the town school property and not finding anything exciting.  Lots of gum wrappers, pull tabs etc.  I did get about $4 in coins over that last week or so though.  I call this my "Get Rich Slow Scheme".  It's nice to get out during the pandemic and do social distancing and enjoy the nice sunny spring days.

I am a Quaker and I help to maintain the Meeting House building and grounds and have been doing some garden maintenance for the last few days.  Today I decided to go over the lawn with my detector again.  In the past I had not found much, but the ground conditions are ideal - moist soil is more conductive so I can find deeper signals.

As I explored the lawn area I found several items that were over 8" down.  The best find was this pocket watch, I bet this was missed by the person who lost it!

Here are some closer pictures:




And I found this item that seems to be a brass button with the initials RMR with a C around them.





I also found a quarter and a few pennies.  Not bad for a half hour!