Solid Copper Tool/Functional Item

[mcl]

Hey Everyone,

I found this piece about a year ago and have always been curious about it. After scrubbing some of the grime off, it appears to be made of solid copper. As you can see, it was made from a rod which was bent several times to form a near-loop on one end and fashioned to a point on the other. It is 8.5 inches long as it sits. Based on the appearance, if I had to guess, I'd say it is a stake. But I'm not sure what for. Further, I'd be curious as to why anyone would have made a stake out of copper -- I'm not well-versed on what the advantages would be as opposed to say, iron. It looks to me like it was done by hand based on the bends as well as the crude sharpening of the tip. The area I found it in is sort of a mixed bag. Most of the stuff dates in two time periods, between 1890-1910, and between 1930-1960. Of course there have been other odds and ends as well -- modern junk and Native American stone artifacts.

My goal here is to figure out whether this is anything interesting at all. If its purpose can be identified as something unique to a time period, I'd like to keep it as is. If it is run-of-the-mill junk, I want to reheat it and twist it into a fun, ancient-style copper bracelet.

Hopefully this will be a sufficient number of pictures to give you an idea of what I have here.




















Thank you for any tips!

- mcl

 

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[Bigcypresshunter]

I wish I could help but Im coming up blank. The only thing that pops into my mind is a pistol cleaning rod with an altered end. But this is just a very wild guess. I dont know if copper would work very well and if its easy to bend, it may be something home made from a piece of ground wire. But I dont know what.

 

[trikikiwi]

Do you think the grime might be residue from burning?

All I can think of this object is related to barbecues.
Maybe a home made kebab skewer, or part of a pair of tongs (just like I used to own) or both?


Edit: As an afterthought - those same tongs, which I once owned - I chucked them because each of the long sides were just jammed into the wooden handle. That is; there are three separate pieces of wire forming the tongs. They lost their grip inside the wooden handles very quickly and would easily fall out.

Have you tested the metal with a magnet?
I don't see Copper, but of course I am not holding the object.

 

[mcl]

I wish I could help but Im coming up blank. The only thing that pops into my mind is a pistol cleaning rod with an altered end. But this is just a very wild guess. I dont know if copper would work very well and if its easy to bend, it may be something home made from a piece of ground wire. But I dont know what.

So you mentioned ground wire (I'd never heard the term), so I started googling around and found something called a "grounding rod", which is a pointed copper rod used for grounding, among many other things, electric fences. Further, a number of them can be purchased with "eyes" or "tie-downs". Here are a couple pictures. Let me know what you think.

 

[mcl]

Do you think the grime might be residue from burning?

All I can think of this object is related to barbecues.
Maybe a home made kebab skewer, or part of a pair of tongs (just like I used to own) or both?
View attachment 1198005

Edit: As an afterthought - those same tongs, which I once owned - I chucked them because each of the long sides were just jammed into the wooden handle. That is; there are three separate pieces of wire forming the tongs. They lost their grip inside the wooden handles very quickly and would easily fall out.

Have you tested the metal with a magnet?
I don't see Copper, but of course I am not holding the object.

Definitely copper. If you look closely at the pictures of the "loop" you can see the hallmark greenish oxidation all over. A couple of the pictures also show where I was able to scrub it down enough to get the surface nice and shiny.

It is definitely shaped like the tongs. The loop is almost identical in shape to the "grabby" part of the tongs. However, I would hesitate to say that this could have been part of a pair of tongs for a few reasons. First, at only 8.5 inches in length, it'd be a rather dangerous set of tongs to use once you account for the space taken by the handle. Second, the piece has a considerable amount of heft, owing to its thickness of about 1/4 inch in diameter. Not only would that make it very heavy once you had the other half, but unless the joint was somehow independent of the two tong pieces (e.g., a spring contraption between the two?), it would take a significant amount of force to close the tongs, and I'm not sure if they would spring back. Finally, because copper has an extremely high thermal conductivity (similar to Sterling silver), it would heat up in the blink of an eye when coming close to/in contact with a heat source, probably making it difficult to handle.

Having said all of that -- I don't claim to have any idea what tongs might have looked like many years ago. The resemblance of the loop is uncanny for sure. I definitely appreciate you calling my attention to that. If I can figure out a "technical term" for it, I might stumble upon what I'm looking for. Thank you.

Edit: If you flip the "tong" around.. it becomes a handmade blacksmithing poker. Still not sure if copper makes sense though.

 

[trikikiwi]

Definitely copper. If you look closely at the pictures of the "loop" you can see the hallmark greenish oxidation all over. A couple of the pictures also show where I was able to scrub it down enough to get the surface nice and shiny.

It is definitely shaped like the tongs. The loop is almost identical in shape to the "grabby" part of the tongs. However, I would hesitate to say that this could have been part of a pair of tongs for a few reasons. First, at only 8.5 inches in length, it'd be a rather dangerous set of tongs to use once you account for the space taken by the handle. Second, the piece has a considerable amount of heft, owing to its thickness of about 1/4 inch in diameter. Not only would that make it very heavy once you had the other half, but unless the joint was somehow independent of the two tong pieces (e.g., a spring contraption between the two?), it would take a significant amount of force to close the tongs, and I'm not sure if they would spring back. Finally, because copper has an extremely high thermal conductivity (similar to Sterling silver), it would heat up in the blink of an eye when coming close to/in contact with a heat source, probably making it difficult to handle.

Having said all of that -- I don't claim to have any idea what tongs might have looked like many years ago. The resemblance of the loop is uncanny for sure. I definitely appreciate you calling my attention to that. If I can figure out a "technical term" for it, I might stumble upon what I'm looking for. Thank you.

Edit: If you flip the "tong" around.. it becomes a handmade blacksmithing poker. Still not sure if copper makes sense though.

View attachment 1198008

You say
"I would hesitate to say that this could have been part of a pair of tongs for a few reasons. First, at only 8.5 inches in length" is a particular point which caught my eye, leading to what I suggested.

 

[mcl]

You say
"I would hesitate to say that this could have been part of a pair of tongs for a few reasons. First, at only 8.5 inches in length" is a particular point which caught my eye, leading to what I suggested.

I missed your "edit" on your post. I believe you're referring to what you said about the tongs being three separate pieces of metal, which would possibly explain a few things about the length/bendy-ness if it really is a part of a set of tongs (e.g., as you pointed out, the apparently short length).

 

[trikikiwi]

I missed your "edit" on your post. I believe you're referring to what you said about the tongs being three separate pieces of metal, which would possibly explain a few things about the length/bendy-ness if it really is a part of a set of tongs (e.g., as you pointed out, the apparently short length).

I don't know for sure. I'm only making suggestions. Might the item be brass?

 

[OWK]

It is a ground rod. Likely spent it's life point-side-down in the ground next to an old farmhouse or barn. It had wire from lightning rods on the roof tied to it, to prevent lightning strike fires. It was probably a bit longer originally.

 

[trikikiwi]

From your pic #13, it looks like possibly a core of a different metal?

With respect, to help with identification, try taking your pictures against a darker (eg. dark blue) background, with natural light, if possible. A white background confuses the camera and the eye. Something I learned from a T'Netter when I first started posting here.

 

[ARC]

Copper lantern hinged door pin...
Or inner part for lamp pull on oil lantern...
Copper wire lantern "wick tender"...
Candle /wick "snuffer"...

My first sight guesses but ? ? ?

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

So you mentioned ground wire (I'd never heard the term), so I started googling around and found something called a "grounding rod", which is a pointed copper rod used for grounding, among many other things, electric fences. Further, a number of them can be purchased with "eyes" or "tie-downs". Here are a couple pictures. Let me know what you think.

View attachment 1198006
View attachment 1198007

The grounding rods that I have used like in the top pic are usually copper coated steel. The bottom pic maybe but I was thinking that someone just used a ground wire to make whatever it is. Maybe its a homemade pin something like a clevis pin.

Is it very flexible and easy to bend?

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

From your pic #13, it looks like possibly a core of a different metal?

If its copper coated steel, its most likely a grounding rod.

 

[ARC]

Copper lantern hinged door pin...
Or inner part for lamp pull on oil lantern...
Copper wire lantern "wick tender"...
Candle /wick "snuffer"...

My first sight guesses but ? ? ?

I will add one more...
Clay pipe / peace pipe "reamer"...

:P heh... now put that guess in your pipe and smoke it.

 

[mcl]

Wow! Lots of replies here thank you everyone. A lot of points were raised, questions asked, etc, so I am going to try to address each of them as best I can. Definitely appreciate the help.

It is a ground rod. Likely spent it's life point-side-down in the ground next to an old farmhouse or barn. It had wire from lightning rods on the roof tied to it, to prevent lightning strike fires. It was probably a bit longer originally.

Interesting. Do you know where I could find a picture of such a setup? That would be very helpful. All I can find are modern ones in which a thick copper wire runs down the side of the barn with staples and then winds around a copper post a few feet away in the grass.

Have you tested the metal with a magnet?

This is by far the strongest magnet I own:



The gaps shown in the following two pictures are the best I could do to demonstrate that the item is non-magnetic without making a video





And just to be clear, this is no puny magnet!

Is it very flexible and easy to bend?

I guess "very" and "easy" are relative terms. I would say no they are not easy to bend. However, I was able to bend the object with my bare hands. Here is a picture of the object the day I dug it up. Note that it is bent in the middle -- I straightened it out with my hands later on.



Just to clarify, it's pretty thick. Here's a caliper + ruler showing its diameter of 1/4 inch.

With respect, to help with identification, try taking your pictures against a darker (eg. dark blue) background, with natural light, if possible. A white background confuses the camera and the eye. Something I learned from a T'Netter when I first started posting here.

No problem. Got as close to a dark blue background as I could find, and went outside to take the remaining pictures. In addition, you asked:

Might the item be brass?

While I have no way of chemically testing brass vs. copper, I made sure to include some other objects in the pictures which, to the best of my knowledge, are made of brass. In comparing, please note that the item still has a layer of oxidation coating most of its surface. There is a fairly decent sized area near the middle of the object however where I have been able to get most of it off -- you can tell this area by its much brighter appearance relative to the rest of the object.











Finally, there were a couple points raised about the piece being bimetallic (i.e., different core metal or coated metal).

From your pic #13, it looks like possibly a core of a different metal?

The grounding rods that I have used like in the top pic are usually copper coated steel.

To address these points, I provide two things. First, here is a cropped image showing a section of the item in which there is a fairly deep gouge on the surface. Note that if it is coated, either a) the coating is thicker than this or b) this particular portion is not coated (but another part (tip?) is).



Second, I attempted to recreate the views provided in picture #13 and similar images. I did clean up the tip a little bit more beforehand using a steel pick, as there were various types of oxidation/grime in some of the surface pits/scratches/etc that might have made the pictures confusing. I did my best at this, although since the specific picture #13 was taken with the item rotated at some angle, I had a difficult time getting that exact angle while also keeping the object in good focus. So, in lieu of that, I took several pictures at several rotations. Hopefully they will suffice.













As for the other comments, such as the project radio ground, the lantern pieces, and the pipe reamer, I did investigate each suggestion but haven't been able to find any examples which are significantly similar to the item in question. If you are able to provide a picture as an example, it would definitely help me out. Either way I appreciate the ideas.

Again thank you everyone for your continued, helpful input. On a board where there are much more interesting "what is it" threads, I'm definitely thankful for all the advice. Hopefully I'm not being taken the wrong way here in regards to my responses. My main goal is to thoroughly investigate any possible ID options so that I can get a positive ID. I don't believe this object is anything particularly special or valuable, so I hope I don't come off as a person being defensive of what he is sure is a "treasure". The reason I care so much about ruling out/in potential explanations is that I am writing a book about the history of the ghost town where I located this piece. Virtually no visible evidence of the community's existence can be seen today, so if the object actually has some meaningful tie to everyday life in that time period, I'd rather save it as an artifact (e.g., of farming, industry, etc) to include in my book than make it into abstract art (as I described in my initial post). If on the other hand it can be confirmed as junk on the level of nails, screws, barbed wire, etc, then it makes more sense to refashion it into a memento of sorts than to add it to my ever-growing junk pile.

SO, thank you, thank you, thank you. I appreciate all the help and ideas everyone is providing. Hopefully we can solve this one!

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

I think he meant someone may have fabricated it to clean a pipe. Well its definitely solid copper but we may never know what it was used for.

My best guess the bent-around part was to get a grip to pull it out of the ground, in and out of a pipe or a pistol or used as a clevis pin, tent stake...etc etc and the point was made to help it push into the ground, the pipe, the pistol, the hole in metal etc etc. We may never know.

 

[mcl]

I think he meant someone may have fabricated it to clean a pipe. Well its definitely solid copper but we may never know what it was used for.

My best guess the bent-around part was to get a grip to pull it out of the ground, in and out of a pipe or a pistol or used as a clevis pin, tent stake...etc etc and the point was made to help it push into the ground, the pipe, the pistol, the hole in metal etc etc. We may never know.

At this point, I'd have to agree that the bent portion is a grip. I searched for hours to find an example of a grounding rod with a similar end and haven't found anything at all to suggest that it was one. I had also considered that the bent portion might be an eyelet for a strap or cable, therefore making the item some kind of ground anchor. However, it doesn't look very secure (there is a gap between the bent end and the body of the piece), and once again the question of "why copper?" would be raised.

From researching this, I've learned that copper is useful as a tool material when: 1) you want to transfer electricity (e.g., lightning rod); 2) when you want to transfer heat (e.g., cooking pot); 3) when water corrosion is a risk (e.g., plumbing); and 4) when you want to avoid the chance of creating sparks. Otherwise, copper has plenty of drawbacks, namely that it is weaker than cheaper alternatives like iron. If the bent part is a handle, most of the benefits don't make sense. No one wants to get shocked or burnt when using a hand tool, and water corrosion resistance in a hand tool at the sacrifice of durability only makes sense in limited situations (e.g., on a boat).

The one thing I have found that seems plausible is called a "Miners' Needle", also known as a "Priming Rod", "Blasting Needle", or "Copper Needle", among other terms. These were used to prepare a hole for a charge when coal mining. Several aspects of these tools make sense in this case. First, the area was a coal mining town, and is less than a mile in several directions from large coal mines. Second, Miners' Needles were mandated by federal law to be made of solid copper in order to avoid creating a spark, which is what the piece is made of. Third, according to a historical source I found, the needles were made from 1/4 inch thick copper rods, which is the diameter of this piece. Fourth, I was able to confirm that these tools were used in similar mines in this state in that time period, and that there was at least one company in this state that manufactured them during the life of the town. The main trouble I see is that this piece would be very abnormally short for the examples of Miners' Needles I have found, the shortest of which was an ad stating "5 feet in length". If it is a Miners' Needle, it must be broken. Here are some images I found on ebay.

















Even though it's a fun explanation, I honestly doubt that it's true. Sadly there just isn't very much about the object that is very distinct that would make it easy to identify or start researching. There are lots of pointing things that have loops on the end.

Unless an expert randomly drops by, you're probably right and we'll never know.

Thanks again.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

The post by Nitric is what I call a quality post.

 

[2Minnesota]

Just a suggestion, the first thing I thought of when I saw it was a hair pin to go through a bun holder. They come in thick and thinner diameter and many different lengths. Could be homemade. just an example I got off the internet.

 

[mcl]

It also might help to know the area or what went on in the area. I thought about every thing from electric fence ground to the project radio ground I mentioned in a previous post. I see you mention mines. What supported the town back then? What was known to be where you found it? Anything else found close to it? It could be from equipment even. Maybe farm or garden, or anything. It's still cool to wonder about. If this is an area you are researching? I've learned in the past to keep everything! lol Even if it looks like junk, just throw in a can and set it aside,document the area where found. You can learn a lot from nails even.This is if your going to do research and figure out the area for your book. The minute you ruin it or throw it away? A day,week,month later you will find out exactly what it is!

Then there are what I call the Grandpa fixes! My grandfather could fix and rebuild anything. He grew up on a farm and was always working on stuff. SO, he would make and fix things with whatever he found laying around. He also saved EVERYTHING! This was the way a lot of the guys that went through the depression did things. And kept on doing the rest of their lives. That is a very good possibility of what you have too. That could have been what's left of a homemade choke rod on a 1930's International Harvester tractor that broke off as an example.

Prior to the 1890s, the land was undeveloped woodlands, according to BLM surveys, topo maps, and plat maps. What supported the town between 1890-1910 was bituminous coal mining. Of course, it also had important staples such as a blacksmith and grocer, for example. The specific spot I found it, according to topographic maps, would have been the location of one of hundreds of company houses rented to miners. In modern times however, the spot is a farming field, and is within 15 feet of a fence line. Between 1910 and 1920, the land (~1000 acres) was vacant, owned by a real estate investor. It was parted out to farmers over time from the 20s onward. Between the 20s and 60s, the area may have had hogs in or nearby (not exactly sure of their confines boundaries), but also may have been used for strawberries, hemp, or fruit trees, according to diaries I've read. After the 1960s, the land has been used strictly for growing crops, except for a period of time around the 1970s when apparently various areas were acceptable community dumping sites.

In terms of what I have found within 20 feet of that spot.. turn of the century brass button cover, clock gears, a doorknob made of stone, hand etched bronze knob, small rail spike, tons of trash, much of which is pottery/glass shards (can't date most of it personally, but some of it was depression-era cobalt blue), modern trash, including 1970s-present soda can stuff, bullet shells, cartridges, projectiles, etc, barbed wire fragments, rusty pieces of broken farming implements -- you name it. The finds reflect all of the time periods listed above, so far as I can tell.