Daughter found old "sword" - any help to ID this?

[PlanMan]

My daughter and I are new hunters. We found this is South Mississippi about 4inches down in the woods. My mother used to find a lot of arrowheads in this particular area. Also, how would you identify and clean such a piece. It's fairly heavy and pretty solid. Appears to be in the shape of a bayonet or sword or something like that.

Update: After 3 day soak I took it out and cleaned it a little just out of curiosity. It is very pitted and still has significant rust on it so i'm going to let it soak the full two week maybe lightly scraping it every few days. Still not sure exactly what this is. I did find a hole a few inches down from the 'tip'. The end of this thing seems tapered and sharp but past this hole seems 'less sharp'.... so I am not sure of the significance of that either. I've looked at old farm mule plows and such like that and I can't find any matches for this piece. I grew up on a farm and have never seen anything like this on a piece of machinery nor vehicle or anything like that either. Anxious to see it after some more rust buildup comes off. Will update again after some more soak.

 

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[pgfhgs]

very cool no help however!

 

[PlanMan]

Thanks anyway. We thought it was cool. She's 7 and kept everything we found including old tags and stuff. Ha. This was the most interesting thing we found that appears to be "something"....what I'm not sure. Definitely not an old saw file or something. I read up on electrolysis a little - going to look into wire brushing and then maybe try that (after I make sure I know what I'm doing).

 

[jamey]

nice,id soak it in some cider vinegar for a couple weeks.then look for some marks on it.

 

[PlanMan]

Okay, thanks! That will give her something to check on every day. Wasn't sure what to soak it in or how long to get the process started.

 

[jamey]

you sound like a good dad

 

[jamey]

would like to see it again after the soak.

 

[PlanMan]

Okay, I have to actually go get some today and we'll update photos as it becomes more clear. Pretty exciting stuff. Have to have patience I guess.

 

[smalltowngirl13]

Congrats on the find, welcome aboard and happy hunting to ya both ...

 

[PlanMan]

would like to see it again after the soak.

Jamey I updated my original post with a couple of update pictures and thoughts. Jury is still out on this. I am going back this weekend to the same spot to see if I can some other things near by.

 

[jamey]

the soak is working good i see,was just thinking about it and was happy to see the update,not sure what it is though

 

[PlanMan]

Update 1/27/2015 on 'sword' looking find.

Update 1/27/2015: I let it soak for a couple of weeks and then cleaned it pretty good. No marking and it's pitted to hell and back. It has what appears to be a hand-made hole about 6 inches from the sharpened end. Past the hole towards the other end it appears to be blunt.... but it is 'tapered' in width from end to end. I'm really confused on what this might have been. I thought it might have been an old 1" brace piece that someone hand sharpened but then it would make sense to be tapered like that. That is no tang per say that I can tell. I guess it will remain a mystery! Meanwhile, I found a 12" long! axe head. Never seen one that long. Will post pictures of that as well. Also found a 1917 wheat penny.

 

[NHBandit]

Don't want to pop your bubble but to me it appears to be part of an old barn door hinge. I hope a good cleaning proves me wrong but the holes are the dead giveaway.

 

[Hitndahed]

I would NOT wire brush it at all,,,

That will for sure destroy or alter any markings / etching that may still be present.

Just my pennys worth

Hit

 

[PlanMan]

Thanks. There is only that one hole in the entire 16". The back hole where it is broke off is extremely large and looks like it was made that way. I'll check into that direction as well though. Good thought! I don't believe its a sword anymore, my daughter found it and called it that immediately so we stuck with that for naming purposes. Still curious as to what it really is though! Found on old farm of logging family.

 

[Dave44]

Cool axe head. You should visit the axe head showroom in collections, might match it up?

 

[jamey]

how is her sword.heat it up,bang it sharp,and build her a handle.