This morning I headed back for 2 hours to a site that archeologists had dug for four months in 2018. The iron here is so bad now, it’s as if someone put the soil into a blender and chopped everything up. 
I keep having to remind myself that this isn’t the same site that I detected for 4 years prior to the arkies making an appearance. I have to reduce the discrimination to ‘0’ and set the frequency at 12hz in the hopes of finding anything non-ferrous. When I first found the miniature iron, I thought it was a broken plow tooth. 
I’m thinking this piece dates to the mid-1800s. Thankfully I put it in my pouch and didn’t toss it in the ditch. I think the nickel-plated brass tube is from a hanging gas lamp, but I’m not sure. 
I also found a small caliber musket ball with teeth and scratch marks on it, and a squished harness bell.
Flat Irons / SAD Irons
“Blacksmiths started forging simple flat irons in the late Middle Ages. Plain metal irons were heated by a fire or on a stove. Some were made of stone, like these soapstone irons from Italy. Earthenware and terracotta were also used, from the Middle East to France and the Netherlands. Flat irons were also called sad irons or smoothing irons. Metal handles had to be gripped in a pad or thick rag. Some irons had cool wooden handles and in 1870 a detachable handle was patented in the US. This stayed cool while the metal bases were heated, and the idea was widely imitated. Cool handles stayed even cooler in "asbestos sad irons". The sad in sad iron (or sadiron) is an old word for solid, and in some contexts this name suggests something bigger and heavier than a flat iron. Goose or tailor's goose was another iron name, and this came from the goose-neck curve in some handles. In Scotland people spoke of gusing (goosing) irons.
You'd need at least two irons on the go together for an effective system: one in use, and one re-heating. Large households with servants had a special ironing-stove for this purpose. Some were fitted with slots for several irons, and a water-jug on top. At home, ironing traditional fabrics without the benefit of electricity was a hot, arduous job. Irons had to be kept immaculately clean, sand-papered and polished. They must be kept away from burning fuel and be regularly but lightly greased to avoid rusting. Beeswax prevented irons sticking to starched cloth. Constant care was needed over temperature. Experience would help decide when the iron was hot enough, but not so hot that it would scorch the cloth. A well-known test was spitting on the hot metal, but Charles Dickens describes someone with a more genteel technique in The Old Curiosity Shop. She held "the iron at an alarmingly short distance from her cheek, to test its temperature..."
Thanks very much for looking,
Dave
I keep having to remind myself that this isn’t the same site that I detected for 4 years prior to the arkies making an appearance. I have to reduce the discrimination to ‘0’ and set the frequency at 12hz in the hopes of finding anything non-ferrous. When I first found the miniature iron, I thought it was a broken plow tooth. I’m thinking this piece dates to the mid-1800s. Thankfully I put it in my pouch and didn’t toss it in the ditch. I think the nickel-plated brass tube is from a hanging gas lamp, but I’m not sure. I also found a small caliber musket ball with teeth and scratch marks on it, and a squished harness bell.Flat Irons / SAD Irons
“Blacksmiths started forging simple flat irons in the late Middle Ages. Plain metal irons were heated by a fire or on a stove. Some were made of stone, like these soapstone irons from Italy. Earthenware and terracotta were also used, from the Middle East to France and the Netherlands. Flat irons were also called sad irons or smoothing irons. Metal handles had to be gripped in a pad or thick rag. Some irons had cool wooden handles and in 1870 a detachable handle was patented in the US. This stayed cool while the metal bases were heated, and the idea was widely imitated. Cool handles stayed even cooler in "asbestos sad irons". The sad in sad iron (or sadiron) is an old word for solid, and in some contexts this name suggests something bigger and heavier than a flat iron. Goose or tailor's goose was another iron name, and this came from the goose-neck curve in some handles. In Scotland people spoke of gusing (goosing) irons.
You'd need at least two irons on the go together for an effective system: one in use, and one re-heating. Large households with servants had a special ironing-stove for this purpose. Some were fitted with slots for several irons, and a water-jug on top. At home, ironing traditional fabrics without the benefit of electricity was a hot, arduous job. Irons had to be kept immaculately clean, sand-papered and polished. They must be kept away from burning fuel and be regularly but lightly greased to avoid rusting. Beeswax prevented irons sticking to starched cloth. Constant care was needed over temperature. Experience would help decide when the iron was hot enough, but not so hot that it would scorch the cloth. A well-known test was spitting on the hot metal, but Charles Dickens describes someone with a more genteel technique in The Old Curiosity Shop. She held "the iron at an alarmingly short distance from her cheek, to test its temperature..."
Thanks very much for looking,
Dave
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