Beach find.

[firstbiggestmost]

Hi everyone,
I found this hunting the fresh cuts at high tide. Its made of wood and brass/bronze. I'm guessing its part of a boat or fishing gear?? It looks fairly old. Any ideas??
Thanks and happy hunting.

This one is solved thanks to help from the Director of Archaeology-Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society.
Now all I have to do is figure out how to preserve this thing, oh and what ship it might be from.
Thanks for all the help.
Happy huntingYou have found a wooden pulley sheave with a brass coak. The sheave is the wheel inside a pulley, and the coak acts as a bearing to protect the wood of the sheave from bearing worn by the axle-like pin on which it turns. Judging by the broad arrows, the piece most likely originated from a British Royal Navy vessel. The wood is worm-eaten but looks to be pretty hard stuff, probably lignum vitae. I do not know what the other markings mean, but they are probably decipherable, given enough research. You might search information concerning the equipment of the Roayal Navy. Offhand, the item appears to be from the 19th century.

Some helpful links are below. It may be that your piece was actually made at the Portsmouth mill.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portsm...d_measurement/05.ST.02/?scene=3&tv=truecolor]

 

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[Bigcypresshunter]

Can you make the pic smaller so we can view it in its entirety?

I can see where the toledo worms have eaten the wood. How is the erosion on the Treasure Coast?

 

[bradyboy]

the center ring looks to be a bearing, i can see a grease groove
also see an arrow that could be a timing mark.
I don't get the wood deal
looks to be a bit old with the worm holes on the outside.
maybe a counter weight bearing of some kind.
wouldn't be a sprocket wheel
interesting
Brady

 

[firstbiggestmost]

Thanks for the replies.
Hope these pics are eaiser to see, I also added one of the opposite side. It also has an arrow. Bradyboy I see the groove you mentioned, I noticed swirl marks on the wood too. Some kind of spacer maybe? I think thats in the new pic. Bigcypresshunter- the erosion could be better! The cut I worked was about 2 1/2' high.
Happy hunting.

 

[bradyboy]

the outer edge looks like worm damage
whats interesting is, I'm thinking the worms stayed a certain distance from the metal / copper
which might indicate the original shape
Counter balance, as in a cam shaft type of balance
can you tell if the holes have a thread of any kind
Brady

 

[firstbiggestmost]

Brady,
I dont see any threads in the center hole and the three smaller ones have too much crud in them to tell one way or the other.
The smaller holes are counter sunk on both sides, and the arrows do not point to the same spot on the center hole.
On what I'm calling the back side(only has the arrow) the arrow lays under the DR-94.
Thanks for the interest.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

My guess is pulley.

 

[trikikiwi]

The arrows (The Broad and the Thin) would indicate the part is from a British or British Commonwealth Government owned machine.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broad_arrow

Mike

 

[bradyboy]

are the 3 points of the copper sprockets equal distance and size / shape?
Im wondering if they are different in weight for balance
Brady

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

The arrows (The Broad and the Thin) would indicate the part is from a British or British Commonwealth Government owned machine.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broad_arrow

Mike

Very good information trikikiwi.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Can you tell if the wood heavy? Im thinking its Lignum-Vitae.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

This says "conveyor belt wheel support" to me...

Are you sure that that material is wood?

It does appear that the toledo worms (I may not be spelling it correct)have been eating it. Its a big problem here in the Caribean Basin for wooden yachts. The old sailing vessels resorted to lead and copper siding to stop it.

 

[firstbiggestmost]

The arrows (The Broad and the Thin) would indicate the part is from a British or British Commonwealth Government owned machine.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broad_arrow

Mike

Wow great info! This is starting to get very interesting! Thanks for the pic help Bc. Brady all sides look symmetrical to me. It also weighs 700 grams.

Rando, it is definitely wood.

 

[firstbiggestmost]

Found this:
"Wooden artifacts if they are to be found will typically be found with hardware attached. The minerals from the metal infuse the wood and make it inhospitable to the boring worms."
at http://www.scubavaders.com/scuba/artwood.htm

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

I forgot to tell you that you need to be soaking your find in water immediately to remove the salts, preferrably distilled.

I found a piece of wood on Treasure Beach at a 1715 site that is rust colored and hard as a rock. The iron preserved it. Is the wood hard? Mine only has a few wormholes.

 

[hunterV3]

It looks like it could be a bearing where the shaft for a propeller passes through the stern of an old boat. I think it was called a "packing" box or bearing or something like that. That's my guess.

 

[firstbiggestmost]

I forgot to tell you that you need to be soaking your find in water immediately to remove the salts, preferrably distilled.

I found a piece of wood on Treasure Beach at a 1715 site that is rust colored and hard as a rock. The iron preserved it. Is the wood hard? Mine only has a few wormholes.

Thats a cool piece! The wood on my piece looks like it would be very hard. If you look close in the pic with all the writing you can see where my scoop barely scratched it. I guess that showes how hard it is! I wonder if it is brazilwood?

Thanks for the tip on soaking. Right now preservation has me the most concerned.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

I see the green check. Are you sure this is solved? What is it? and from what era?

 

[firstbiggestmost]

I see the green check. Are you sure this is solved? What is it? and from what era?

Hi, I posted the details in the original post(top). I'll Try to highlight the text. Thanks for the help.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

I see the green check. Are you sure this is solved? What is it? and from what era?

Hi, I posted the details in the original post(top). I'll Try to highlight the text. Thanks for the help.

AH OK thanks. So my pulley guess and lignum vitae wood was correct. You could have posted at the end. cool find.