North of Zuma beach, sandhill dunes, N side of pacific coast hwy

[Tom_in_CA]

mitchel, thanx for loading the pix. Good photography.

Is it possible it's just a random steel object? Like even a hand-held garden machette or sickle type thing, of modern origin. Or just random household iron debri (like the kind of stuff that used to get mixed in with rip-rap concrete and stuff when corps of engineers used to go load up material on the beach in an effort to stem seawall erosion, etc...). Random demolition household industrial type debri, when exposed on one side to the abrasive action of surf, to attain a knife like sharp end. I've even seen RR spike type stuff, for instance, take on a nearly needle like sharp tip point, because it got eroded at one end (sticking up out of bedrock), while the other end remained embedded until dislodged during storms.

And if truly a knife, might it not simply be a modern kitchen knife? People take knifes to the beach all the time in their picnic lunches. Hence the reason silver wear is such a common find on beaches, d/t picnics. The same would hold true for knifes, if they brought them.

 

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[MitchelN]

When I hold this piece of metal I am not given to the impression of it being any type of kitchen knife. One of the reasons I wanted to leave it encrusted was because it would help to age it. Now that it is gone down to bare metal it has a sound, weight and texture which is not like a normal knife. Under the exterior patina is a silver metal that seems much denser than any stainless steel that I could imagine. I will find someone locally that will know metals better than me who can give me some ideas. A teacher I know and an engineering friend are my first choices to show it to now.

 

[boogeyman]

Mitchel,
Excellent job on the photos!
Have you thought of a ab bar (abalone pry bar)? The shape of the blade with it being either broken or erroded away would hold close to the ab bars we had back in the early 60s. Might be one fashioned earlier if you're find was in an area that abalone were. Even though there aren't any abalone there in shallow water today there possibly were tons long ago. Places we used to wade to get legal sized abs today are completely void of them.

 

[MitchelN]

That might be a good suggestion. This 'knife' was found near LAX in the shallows there. I don't know the possible abalone in the area in the past before the airport expanded. Still of great interest to me would be some sort of estimate on how long it would take for that item to become encrusted. Is that a process of 10 years or 50 years? The age and make of the item itself would be something on a time line separate from how long it was in the water. As you suggested, I had thought that this could have been an item that dropped over the side of a sail boat or cruiser that had be anchored near. This could have been long before they dredged Marina Del Rey or sometime after. It has stimulated me to do some research about the area, about the artifact and musing about other things that have nothing to do with the item itself. Thanks for your interest and taking time to write a reply.

 

[boogeyman]

That's one of the best things about this hobby! You find things, then do the research and end up with a pile of interesting information and knowledge.

You might try and see what company dredged Marina Del Rey to find out where they dumped. Years back when Shellmaker dredged Newport Harbor my buddy & I made friends with one of the guys. He set us up with a chart showing where they were removing material & where they were pumping it out to build up the beaches around Balboa & Lido. The real bummer was most of it was dumped out past where the Wedge is. As far as deterioration etc. Try taking a visit to the Natural History Museum in LA. They used to be really eager to help answer questions & help. The plus was even if they couldn't offer much help you got some of the areas you'd (public) nevver see otherwise. Also, pay a visit to Bowers museum in Santa Ana. They were a good source of help too.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Mitch, you say:

" ....Still of great interest to me would be some sort of estimate on how long it would take for that item to become encrusted. Is that a process of 10 years or 50 years? ...."

Yes: as little as 50 yrs. As I said above: I have found these encrustation iron blob thingies that even have coins fused into them, that are as recent as copper memorials. Nothing but a rim of the coin sticks out, till you break it apart, to reveal the coins. Or as I said before, more recognizable items like RR spikes (which ..... even after much corrosion, the shape is immistakable ) And since RR's are VERY datable, to find the time-line when the RR reaches various parts of the state (in the case of RR tracks going right past the beach front, where the spike was found at), it becomes a no-brainer to be able to say: "This had to be lost sometime after 1882" or whatever. And from that date, and looking at the level of corrosion, I can safely tell you that these crustation blobs can be fairly recent, and in no way necessarily "spanish", or whatever era.

 

[MitchelN]

Ok, over 50 years is a good starting answer for me. Some of my friends had told me less than 10 years and I don't know how that could be.

 

[tapoutking]

Near LAX? Maybe aircraft related?

 

[stefen]

Near LAX? Maybe aircraft related?

LAX Airport for approximate reference only...Million to one odds if related to aircraft...airport still inland of the coast.

Google Earth or Thomas Bros maps will provide a better picture.