A Lead Whatsit?

[trikikiwi]

A Lead What'sit?

Hi everyone. I had the pleasure of an interesting hunt with sasnz yesterday. I will post all our finds in Todays Finds but we are both puzzled by this little beauty I dug up.
It appears to be sheet lead which is sandwiching some other material, forming a ribbon - and this in turn is folded around what appears to be the remains of timber of some sort. The timber would have been approximately 2 1/2" x 5/8" and the lead overall is 3 1/4" x 2 1/4" x 1 3/8"
It weighs in at about 2lbs or just under 1 Kg. Both the timber and the lead cover have been painted.

The nails showing each side of the lead appear to protrude into the timber but don't go all the way through the piece.






The area where this was found has a lot of colonial history, including the Maori Land Wars.

Any suggestions on identification are most welcome.
Cheers, Mike and sasnz

 

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[Montana Jim]

Re: A Lead What'sit?

I agree with the description... LOL... but have NO clue about what it might be.

 

[Kiwijohn]

Re: A Lead What'sit?

Could it be a crude way to reinforce a butt joint of two pieces of timber?
Owned a shotgun once that had the broken wooden stock repaired by winding copper wire tightly
around the break and sheet lead wrapped over that and hammered smooth.
John

 

[trikikiwi]

Re: A Lead What'sit?

Thanks for the replies Guys
Kiwijohn, you're probably on the right track. It is crude and it does sort of look like a bandage.

Any ideas on what the lead 'ribbon' material is
and what is so important, you wrap a 2 lb hunk of lead around it ?

Mike

 

[BioProfessor]

Re: A Lead What'sit?

I agree it is a piece of lead rolled into a thickness to give it strength and then wrapped around something and nailed to it to either tie it together or reinforce it. Lead has been used for thousands of years for just about everything. Using it to repair things was a common use. It was easy to cut, bend, nail, etc. And it was cheap.

Daryl

 

[CRUSADER]

Re: A Lead What'sit?

I agree it is a piece of lead rolled into a thickness to give it strength and then wrapped around something and nailed to it to either tie it together or reinforce it. Lead has been used for thousands of years for just about everything. Using it to repair things was a common use. It was easy to cut, bend, nail, etc. And it was cheap.

Daryl

Exactly, I was going to say a 'running repair'.

 

[capt1989]

Re: A Lead What'sit?

Any ideas on what the lead 'ribbon' material is icon_scratch
and what is so important, you wrap a 2 lb hunk of lead around it ?

Possibly a horse drawn wagon? I have absolutely no experience here, but that would seem pretty important to me for the time period. Just a shot in the dark...

 

[trikikiwi]

Re: A Lead What'sit?

I agree it is a piece of lead rolled into a thickness to give it strength and then wrapped around something and nailed to it to either tie it together or reinforce it. Lead has been used for thousands of years for just about everything. Using it to repair things was a common use. It was easy to cut, bend, nail, etc. And it was cheap.

Daryl

Thanks Daryl, your explanation about the rolling to the required thickness was enlightening. It explains the wrapped ribbon effect I see.

Likewise, Thanks Crusader

and

Any ideas on what the lead 'ribbon' material is icon_scratch
and what is so important, you wrap a 2 lb hunk of lead around it ?

Possibly a horse drawn wagon? I have absolutely no experience here, but that would seem pretty important to me for the time period. Just a shot in the dark...

Good thinking capt.
I guess we are unlikely to ever know for sure, what it 'bandaged',
but I do appreciate everyone's input.
HH All
I'm going to put the Green Tick Of Solved, against this thread.
Cheers, Mike