More sifting and swinging - Glass Cameos, buttons, marbles, etc.

[OutdoorAdv]

I got back out for 6 hours over the weekend and sifted out a couple keepers. I'm getting the hang of it now, and made some adjustments to my sifting process that improved how efficient I am. I was able to sift double the amount of dirt in the same time, however it is still exhausting work. I have been really wanting to find a pipe bowl... its been my goal each time I went sifting, and I finally found one this weekend. Its only a fragment, but it made the trip for me.

My favorites are: pipe bowl (obviously), glass cameo button fronts, hand carved shell button, and as always... buttons and marbles.




These were the pieces I was able to glue back together from this trip.


I believe these are glass cameo button fronts. They were found about 10 feet apart. They were way too small to be held in my 1/2" sifter, so both were spotted as they fell through. A lot of my buttons were too small, and I caught them before they got reburied. I really have to keep an eye on what falls out the bottom.


The two shell buttons. The one on the right is has a carved design in it.


And the pipe bowl.


Here are the electrolysis and tumbler results from my first two sifting trips. It takes a while for me to process the iron, but these pieces are some of my favorites, so I like to share them once they are preserved.


I never gave nails a second thought, but would bring them home just to clean up a site. I just got a HF tumbler, so I decided to clean up some chains that are too much of a pain to do electrolysis on and threw in a handful of nails with the chain... after tumbling, I noticed that these were colonial era "rose head" nails. All handmade and much older than the other square nails I find. I like iron with hammer marks, so these are really cool to me.


A few of the pocket knives from the last couple sifting trips. I found another one in this hunt that I haven't processed yet. In total, I have dug 8 pocket knives from this site so far.

 

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[DownNDirty]

Thanks for sharing all this. Those glass cameos are very cool!

 

[Erik in NJ]

Hi Brad!

Very impressive what you have been able to coax out of the ground with that sifter. You are getting me interested in trying that at our local historical society grounds where I have exclusive permission. All items will go to the museum. I did sift the dirt when they removed the front porch to rebuild it and found some nice things there. But you are finding some wonderful items--keep up the excellent work!

 

[DashHopes]

Great stuff. Looks like you are ready for a antique sale!

 

[sutphin]

ODA. WHAT A NICE OR SHOULD I SAY HELLUVA 1700S RELICS YOU HAVE THERE FROM THE ROSE HEAD NAILS TO THE CAMEO AND OTHER INTERESTING ITEMS SUCH AS THE POTTERY . DANG WHAT A SITE .

 

[DirtStalker]

Man great digs and sifts. Keep it up and you'll need to build a couple more of those great looking display cabinets.

 

[g-olden years]

Fantastic! Please keep posting your sifted finds as they are fascinating. Andi

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

You've become a sifting psycho Brad, and the results are really showing. Some very interesting finds in this batch, especially those cameos. And nice work on the iron preservation!

 

[OutdoorAdv]

You've become a sifting psycho Brad, and the results are really showing. Some very interesting finds in this batch, especially those cameos. And nice work on the iron preservation!

Thank you Bill! It's true, I am totally nuts for this sifting thing. ha As you know, its incredibly fun. I'm sure you've noticed I tend to over-engineer things... whether it be electrolysis anodes, painted sifter boxes or a display case. I need to work on plans to move even more dirt through this little sifter... something to save my back is definitely needed! What might be the most nuts though, is that I started to tumble my square nails and chains. haha

 

[OutdoorAdv]

Thanks for sharing all this. Those glass cameos are very cool!

Thank you. My closeup picture is actually of them upside down. The portrait is concave into the glass and "fronts" are convex. This appears to magnify the cameo when you view it from the front. Unfortunately, the guys front is too scratched though to see him through. I wish I had the rest of them to know what they went on. Since I found two, I am guessing they were the fronts of buttons.

Hi Brad!
Very impressive what you have been able to coax out of the ground with that sifter. You are getting me interested in trying that at our local historical society grounds where I have exclusive permission. All items will go to the museum. I did sift the dirt when they removed the front porch to rebuild it and found some nice things there. But you are finding some wonderful items--keep up the excellent work!

Thank you Erik! It is a ton of fun. You should totally give it a shot at that historical society.

Great stuff. Looks like you are ready for a antique sale!

Thank you! The display from this site is starting to look like a antique store case. Its got a little bit of everything in there now.

ODA. WHAT A NICE OR SHOULD I SAY HELLUVA 1700S RELICS YOU HAVE THERE FROM THE ROSE HEAD NAILS TO THE CAMEO AND OTHER INTERESTING ITEMS SUCH AS THE POTTERY . DANG WHAT A SITE .

Thank you Stuphin! I like that you like my rose head nails... I was wondering why I was bothering to even tumble those hunks of rust, but when they came out I instantly liked them. They look nice displayed in a pile too.

Man great digs and sifts. Keep it up and you'll need to build a couple more of those great looking display cabinets.

Thanks Allen! Having a great time sifting over here.

Fantastic! Please keep posting your sifted finds as they are fascinating. Andi

Thank you. I will definitely keep you guys posted on what comes out next.

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

Thank you Bill! It's true, I am totally nuts for this sifting thing. ha As you know, its incredibly fun. I'm sure you've noticed I tend to over-engineer things... whether it be electrolysis anodes, painted sifter boxes or a display case. I need to work on plans to move even more dirt through this little sifter... something to save my back is definitely needed! What might be the most nuts though, is that I started to tumble my square nails and chains. haha

With your ingenuity Brad you could probably design and build a mechanical sifter to do all the work for you. Just think how much dirt you could put through that thing .

 

[against the wind]

Great finds ,, looks like fun.

 

[RelicHunter97]

Great finds! I love digging and sifting!

 

[Davers]

Thank you Bill! It's true, I am totally nuts for this sifting thing. ha As you know, its incredibly fun. I'm sure you've noticed I tend to over-engineer things... whether it be electrolysis anodes, painted sifter boxes or a display case. I need to work on plans to move even more dirt through this little sifter... something to save my back is definitely needed! What might be the most nuts though, is that I started to tumble my square nails and chains. haha

Heck I believe The Iron tumbling thing is a GREAT Idea For Sq, Nails & certain Other Pieces, they look good.
How do you clean your pocket Kinves Esp, those with wood attached?

Also what do you coat with , i think you mentioned Wax Once.
Thx Davers

 

[OutdoorAdv]

With your ingenuity Brad you could probably design and build a mechanical sifter to do all the work for you. Just think how much dirt you could put through that thing .

hahaha... Bill, I will admit that I already considered how I could make something like that. Maybe one day!

Great finds ,, looks like fun.

Thank you! Its a ton of fun.

Great finds! I love digging and sifting!

Thank you. One of the best parts is finding high tones in the dirt pile that were previously masked in the ground.

I forgot to mention in my original post, that I dug my first thimble. Its the mangled piece of brass to the left of the porcelain buttons. I was hoping my first thimble would resemble a thimble, but I'll take it.

 

[Vino]

Hey Brad late to the post!
Thats Awesome.
You look like you have been having fun. Love the cameos and still looking for my first pipe bowl.
What is that leg in the pic?
Almost looks like a pipe tamper?

 

[OutdoorAdv]

Heck I believe The Iron tumbling thing is a GREAT Idea For Sq, Nails & certain Other Pieces, they look good.
How do you clean your pocket Kinves Esp, those with wood attached?

Also what do you coat with , i think you mentioned Wax Once.
Thx Davers

Thanks Davers. This is prob more info than you were looking for, but depending on the item, my approach in preserving it changes.

My primary form of iron preservation is electrolysis. I have a 5 gallon bucket with some graphite anodes and a car charger that is very efficient. I do about 95% of my iron finds in there. However, for some mixed metal types, like the fork with some wood left on the handle, I have a tiny dish with a bent SS spoon and a old phone charger. I didn't want to mess with the wood or the pewter part, so I only submerged the iron. It does very well for tiny things like that. For the bone handled pocket knife, I just put it all in my 5 gallon tank and wrapped a wire around the bone handle to make sure the cleaning didn't jar any bone pieces lose. For the small iron buckles and nails I just picked up a Harbor Freight rock tumbler and toss in some small bits of gravel, water and a bit of soap. I tried Evaporust and Apple Cider Vinegar on those small things, but I didn't like how it looked after.

For the drying\sealing I do a hot wax bath. I got an old duel fuel Coleman camp stove at a flea market and have a large pot that I have cheap white dollar store candles melted in. I've been doing it for a few years now and its safe as long as you're careful and keep an eye on it. But basically, I boil them in the wax until water stops bubbling out from the iron under the wax. Then I pull the pieces out and put them on some cardboard. They're so hot, only a very thin layer of wax stays on the metal. For the mixed types like the wood handles, harmonicas with reeds in them still, bone handles... I dry the piece first, and then dip them in the wax very quickly as it cools. That seals it, and in the case of the harmonicas or bone handles, it holds the piece together with a thin layer of wax.

I like taking my pictures in natural light, but the sun was fading fast last night when I finally got around to taking those photos. The iron actually looks much better than those photos came out.

The rose head nails and other tumbled iron has most of the rust removed and just a light brown color to them.


All my electrolysis pieces have a black tone to them. The wax leaves a satin type finish on the items and so far, I have not had any issues with further corrosion.

 

[OutdoorAdv]

Hey Brad late to the post!
Thats Awesome.
You look like you have been having fun. Love the cameos and still looking for my first pipe bowl.
What is that leg in the pic?
Almost looks like a pipe tamper?

Thanks George! I know the pipe bowl isn't the coolest thing I found yesterday, but it was by far my favorite. Since I saw my first one on here a few years ago, I have been dying to find one. I was lifting up some new dirt in a pit and it popped to the top. I had an instant smile as soon as I saw it. ha

So I think the porcelain leg is to a doll... It was about 5 feet from the doll head I sifted a week or so ago. However, they don't seem proportional to me, so maybe its to a different doll. My best guess it that the doll had a fabric body and the rim at the top of the leg is where the fabric was cinched onto the leg to keep it on the doll. I know nothing about this, so I may be wrong... if its a pipe tamper, then it will quickly become one of my favorite finds!