4 foot piece of Shipwreck found

[titleist_buddy]

Last weekend I found what seems to be a piece from an old shipwreck The piece is about 4 to 5 feet long noticable wooden dowels, 6 or 7 solid bronze pins, 1 protruding out of the wood about 2 inches, curved piece. Just wanting to know more about it and what i need to do to protect it

 

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[seekerGH]

More information on where this was found is needed.
Depending on the location, there are certainly more timbers with bolt holes that come from other sources than shipwrecks. In reality, I am not certain the bronze pins and wooden dowels at intervals equates to a ship timber. Depending on where you found it as well. While the squared end looks to be cut, the rounded end appears natural? that does not point to a ship timber in my observation.

Is there some reason that you want to spent the time and effort to preserve this?

Assuming it was found in salt water, if you want to preserve it, you would need to soak it in fresh water, and keep changing it out, until the salt levels in the water have gone to background.

The pins will be an issue, as they will swell over time if not properly conserved. The wood treatment can vary, depending on what the original wood/use was.

 

[vpnavy]

1st - Noticed this is your very first post - so, Welcome Aboard! You didn't list your state (or country) in your profile. So, you might consider jumping over to Sub-Forums: Select Your Area.... and selecting location information (i.e., clubs, hunts, finds, legends, maps, etc.) directly related to your state (or country).

2nd - Pretty neat find - if you preserve it - please post a picture.

 

[titleist_buddy]

I found it in Kitty Hawk NC, southern shores, NC on the outer banks u know the graveyard!! opposite of the square side is the end that was broken not sure if u can see that well in pics

 

[titleist_buddy]

I guess not really "preserve" but i do wanna make a cool hanging light fixture with nautical rope , and would like for it to last. but just fresh water and keep changin it out to rid of all the salt? Do u think if i do that, that it would last ? I would like to know what type of wood it could be and around what time era it could b from. Im stoked that I came across this. Never before have I seen anything like it.

 

[Salvor6]

If you're that serious about preserving it and willing to spend some money, take a sliver of the wood to your local university and have them radio carbon test it. They may also do it for free. This will tell you the date the tree was felled, what kind of wood it is and maybe even what forest it came from.

 

[MPH200]

If it came from a shipwreck ... FIND THE SHIP. Maybe more than wood on it.

 

[seekerGH]

I guess not really "preserve" but i do wanna make a cool hanging light fixture with nautical rope , and would like for it to last. but just fresh water and keep changin it out to rid of all the salt?

Yes, this is a very good beginning. In reality, if you just want it to hang, just let it soak off in the freshwater for a few weeks, this will get rid of much of the salt, and the smell. Then let it dry....

The freshwater will take some of the salt out of the metal to keep it from spalling as it oxidizes.

Natural look or typical wood oil will make it look nice, depending on how you want it to look.

 

[titleist_buddy]

Yes, this is a very good beginning. In reality, if you just want it to hang, just let it soak off in the freshwater for a few weeks, this will get rid of much of the salt, and the smell. Then let it dry....

The freshwater will take some of the salt out of the metal to keep it from spalling as it oxidizes.

Natural look or typical wood oil will make it look nice, depending on how you want it to look.

got it soaking in bathtub so i an refresh the water everyday

 

[Boatlode]

Yes, this is a very good beginning. In reality, if you just want it to hang, just let it soak off in the freshwater for a few weeks, this will get rid of much of the salt, and the smell. Then let it dry....

The freshwater will take some of the salt out of the metal to keep it from spalling as it oxidizes.

Natural look or typical wood oil will make it look nice, depending on how you want it to look.

Question: After soaking out all the salt and completely drying, wouldn't it be a good idea to apply some sort of sealant or lacquer? I am curious, because I know nothing about shipwreck wood preservation.

 

[bay pirate]

Hell no! If anything, some lemon seed oil or teak oil and you can cut it with a little turpentine to thin it up some. All dried out hard woods appreciate a little oil

 

[seekerGH]

Linseed oil is actually one of the best treatments. It is not UV stable, but if the artefact is inside, it will work wonders. "boiled' is the easiest to work with.

 

[ARC]

Wood Conservation - Conservation Manual - Conservation Research Laboratory - Center for Maritime Archaeology and Conservation - Texas A&M University

 

[titleist_buddy]

anyone have an idea of what this is i see some small wooden dowels in it? part of a shipwreck or no?

 

[gunsil]

A larger part of the wood found on beaches is not from shipwrecks, but from buildings, docks, etc that have been washed into the sea or down rivers into seas. Sadly it will likely never be known where your piece of wood came from. Also there are many modern wooden boats all around the world so some of the wood we find along the shore comes from those. There is not much wood left on any ancient shipwrecks that can come ashore these days, I wouldn't get fired up about there being a valuable wreck of any kind near where the wood was found.

 

[silverking]

Remember too that most shipwreck wood is (due to age) very likely to be completely waterlogged, and thus is normally "exposed" (by removal of sand during a large storm for example) as opposed to simply floating up onto shore somewhere.

Certainly waterlogged wood can be pushed around by a big enough storm, but those situations seem rare enough that I'd consider the above first.

 

[ARC]

Gunsil my friend...

Crew works to save oldest-known shipwreck on N.C. coast | News | pilotonline.com

 

[villagenut]

Not sure if salts in wood is the same as salts in an iron artifact, but in the case of iron artifacts I use distilled water to bathe the artifact in. It is ideal for leaching the chlorides out of the rusty iron as the distilled water has no salts within it. Your regular tap water does contain chlorides, and tends to not leach out the salts as good as distilled water.With iron ,I have to chnge the water out every few weeks until the ppm chlorides is reduced to an acceptable level. Of course this would mean a huge tub of distilled water for your wood object.