Things from in the victorian house

[cheese]

I have been de-constructing an old victorian home, and here are a few of the things I've found. The chinese coins came out of a tin box I found in an old barn I tore down, the rest is from the victorian house. There will hopefully be more to come.

I take these old buildings down for the wood. We carefully de-construct the buildings board by board, pull the nails, metal detect the boards to be sure we got all the nails out (this is how I got interested in using the metal detector). Then we determine what size each board is good for and re-saw them into that size. We then put it in the dry-kiln and kiln dry it at 160 degrees to get it to uniform moisture content and kill any bugs that may inhabit the wood, and then we run it through a moulder that planes the top and bottom and puts a tongue and groove on each side. Then trim the ends square, grade and bundle it. Lots of work, but it's beautiful!

The background in the pic with the old curling iron is my kitchen floor, which is made from this wood.

This pic has a curling iron, some sort of heavy brass comb, and what I think is an ink pen? It says no.15 "Koh-T-Noon" Germany on it.

 

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[Charlene]

Wonderful Cheese and thanks for sharing. Victorian homes are my favortie style of architecture. So much craftmanship goes into building an home back then compared to how we throw them up this day and time. Keep us posted.

 

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[The Seeker]

Great story and nice job....Lumber is huge ,,,the types of wood that no longer are easy to find . Those are the pieces of interest and desireable. Good luck in future demo projects....Seeker

 

[lordmarcovan]

Thanks!

I think the comb is maybe for straightening hair?? Sound right?? It looks as if it has been heated, and appears to be made to stay hot for a while (heavy thick brass, so much that it's overkill for an ordianry comb).

I always thought that the one I found (which is thick and heavy, just like yours), might be a curry comb for horses. But I guess curry combs are those round things that you see strapped across people's palms when they're grooming horses. I might have my terminology wrong. I might also be totally wrong about it being for horse grooming, but that's just the feeling I got. Seems like these thick, heavy combs might've been used for grooming a horse's mane and tail?

 

[trk5capt]

Cheese, Interesting Finds & Some Very Nice Looking Lumber. trk5capt...

 

[allen]

those are some nice finds. what is the oldest find so far?? keep on digging ...

 

[cheese]

I suppose my oldest find that I know of from old buildings is a pair of chinese cash coins that could be hundreds of years old, maybe more. The oldest dated coin I've found in an old building was a 1863 indian head penny pictured in the second group of objects in this thread.

Lmarcovan, I guess the comb could be for horses, but this house was inhabited until recently, and it was found in a modern dresser in the same drawer with the curling iron. I figured that since it was with the curling iron, it would be for human hair, but that's just a guess based on very little. I really don't know.

 

[lordmarcovan]

Lmarcovan, I guess the comb could be for horses, but this house was inhabited until recently, and it was found in a modern dresser in the same drawer with the curling iron.? I figured that since it was with the curling iron, it would be for human hair, but that's just a guess based on very little.? I really don't know.

Well, there goes my horse-grooming theory. Thanks- it tells me a little more about the one I found.

 

[cheese]

I don't know that it totally rules out your theory though. I mean, the thing is really old, and so is the curling iron, so what were they doing in a modern cheapo dresser drawer? Maybe it was just some old stuff that someone like me held onto for some reason and just kept in that drawer. Who knows...I mean, why would someone have an old curling iron that doesn't even heat itself in the top drawer of a dresser in the first place? Unless they were hanging onto it just 'cause it's neat, or old, or an heirloom maybe. At first I thought it was a lice comb, but the gaps in the teeth aren't quite close enough I don't think.

 

[JakePhelps]

Nice finds!! My floors look just like that, but a little bit darker.

 

[tetvet]

Had my wife look at your pics (she deals in antiques). The comb was heated like the curling iron. when you ran it through your hair, it made it wavy.

As an avid woodworker and pre-newbie "digger'' (waiting patiently for my Ace 250 to be delivered), I really envy you. I love to see the old growth lumber being recycled.

BTW, anyone from Western WA (Olympia area) around?

 

[cheese]

Hey tetvet! Thanks for the info! Welcome to the forum!

 

[Paul in WA]

Tetvet, there are a few "206'ers" around. If you can't find any over there, your welcome to come over here to Wenatchee.

Paul