Tumbling the holidays away - Recent tumbled Relics

[ANTIQUARIAN]

I've been keeping myself busy over the past few weeks tumbling my more interesting finds from 2017. Here's an overview of what I've tumbled and the results. I tumbled all of these pieces for a total of 36hrs in a mixture of 1/2"-3/4" gravel medium, a 1/2 cup of beach sand, soap & water. Every 12hrs I would change the mixture. After 24hrs, I would then tumble one last time for another 12hrs with only the stone medium, soap & water. Let me know if you prefer the 'out-of-the-ground' look or the 'tumbled' look.

I wish I could say that there were some undiscovered treasures in my tumbled finds from 2017, but it wasn't to be. The ring on the left I found in a farm field in October, the Saddle Makers shield nameplate and the ring on the right I found at the c1865 schoolhouse site. You can also see here some of my utilitarian non-ferrous finds, which consist of mostly farmhouse and field found relics. I have a small early faucet, I've been told that this was screwed into the base of a milk can for sampling the milk. I have a couple of toe-taps, a large bovine syringe, a lighter, a radiator cap, a large 'mystery hook' of some type made of aluminum, some decorative finials which were likely from the top of a pot bellied stove, a padlock escutcheon plate, a ring that I tumbled in the first batch then re-tumbled and a lead final likely from the lid of a tobacco jar. My favorites of the ferrous metal finds are the buggy step and the skeleton key, I thought the 1956 Rabies Tag/iron loop tumbled up nicely. I put a new handle on the old knife, not my best work, I just didn't want it to look 'too new'. I have here a horse curry comb, a 'Mickey Mouse' smokehouse padlock, a horse harness buckle and a 'Bowie' type knife. I picked up the replacement handle for the antique horse curry comb in September. I managed to refit a handle onto the antique Bowie Knife this winter as well. I also discovered that the iron reins guide actually had a silver wash or possibly a nickel plating below the rust.

I was finally able to get enough information off the circular chewing gum tin and found the online info below.
I also included a pic of what the tin looked like when it was new.

Silver Gem Chewing Gum Tin c1900. "Nice artifact from the early days of chewing gum distribution. Distributed by Sibley and Holmwood in Buffalo, N. Y. the Silver Gem tin once contained a chewing gum wafer(s). Predating the Colgan's product by about a decade, the possibility exists that the Silver Gem round tin was an inspiration for the Mint and Violet Colgan's Chips. The tin measures approximately 1 1/4" in diameter and 1/4" deep. From the research that I did, it is likely that the tin contained only gum and no other products".

Thanks very much for looking,
Dave

 

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[Carolina Tom]

You are an inspiration Dave. You really do things the right way. Awesome restorations, the knife handle is cool. Thanks for sharing.

The skeleton key, pad lock, buggy step and gum tin are my favorites. I’ve never seen a gum tin like that one before. I do not like the vet syringe. That will give me “maniac doctor” nightmares!

I like the tumbled stuff, especially the brass items. Here is a pic of a hinge and keeper from an old ice box, that I tumbled in sand and pea gravel.



Please keep showing us your restoration projects. Good luck braving the cold winter weather sir. Congrats to you sir.

 

[digger460]

You have some great relics there. 5 stars on the resto

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

You are an inspiration Dave. You really do things the right way. Awesome restorations, the knife handle is cool. Thanks for sharing.

The skeleton key, pad lock, buggy step and gum tin are my favorites. I’ve never seen a gum tin like that one before. I do not like the vet syringe. That will give me “maniac doctor” nightmares!

I like the tumbled stuff, especially the brass items. Here is a pic of a hinge and keeper from an old ice box, that I tumbled in sand and pea gravel.

Please keep showing us your restoration projects. Good luck braving the cold winter weather sir. Congrats to you sir.

Thanks very much for your post and for the pics Tom.
Your hinge and keeper from the ice box looks similar to a piece I found years ago. I was told it was a Victorian curtain rod holder.
I've mailed the vet syringe to a buddy of mine in British Columbia. He and his wife keep horses and he still uses syringes like these to dose the horses.

I have a couple more batches of iron to tumble, but my trade show season is starting this week, so now it's just a matter of finding the time!

Take care my friend,
Dave

You have some great relics there. 5 stars on the resto

Thanks for your post and for the thumbs up digger!
Dave

 

[Carolina Tom]

I was also told it was a curtain rod holder, apparently by a guessing amateur.

While hanging with an old guy one day. I noticed that he had an ice box, I instantly recognized the keeper. Here is pic from the internet, of that piece.

Thanks for getting rid of that giant nightmare provoking syringe. Whew, I feel better now.

Best of luck to you Dave. You rock sir!

 

[pepperj]

Items cleaned up well Dave, since you stated this when I though I'd try my tumbler out YOU Quoted: "I'm sorry to tell you this buddy, but you need to finish your house before you can play with your finds." I guess your right...

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Items cleaned up well Dave, since you stated this when I though I'd try my tumbler out YOU Quoted: "I'm sorry to tell you this buddy, but you need to finish your house before you can play with your finds." I guess your right...

Thanks for your post Jim.
With the recent cold snap here in Ontario, doing your indoor finishing work sounds like a great idea!

I'm heading for Las Vegas a week Monday to work the World of Concrete Show, debating whether I should take the Deus along.
Not sure what the detecting by-laws are in Vegas regarding detecting city parks?
It's much easier to pack a small hand-held digger then my relic shovel though.

Dave

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

I was also told it was a curtain rod holder, apparently by a guessing amateur.

While hanging with an old guy one day. I noticed that he had an ice box, I instantly recognized the keeper. Here is pic from the internet, of that piece.

Thanks for getting rid of that giant nightmare provoking syringe. Whew, I feel better now.

Best of luck to you Dave. You rock sir!

Thanks for the pic Tom, nice to hear you were able to I.D. your ice box latch.

I find so much stuff over the year, I can't keep it all, might as well send it to a buddy who appreciates it!

Dave

 

[A2coins]

Really cool relics I gotta table some things myself Well done

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Really cool relics I gotta table some things myself Well done

Thanks Tommy, it really just gives me something to do during the long winter months.
Dave