Old Chisel?

Yesterday my Mom sent me a picture of this interesting iron tool she found at the "Saw Pit" site where I found so much stuff at recently.

So I was wondering what you guys think it is. Is it a chisel? or some other wood working tool?

Also the markers mark is kinda fancy which tells me it was not just a ho hum tool but something important. Besides google, is there a source that can help us find info on old markers marks. I am sure there is but I don't know it.


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Please let me know your thoughts.
Thanks, Jared

It's a mystery to me, Jared, although chisel seems like a logical guess. The maker's mark definitely has a 1700s look to it.

Wow, that thing is too cool. It looks like it would be hafted to be thrusted rather than swung. Maybe it's some sort of tree bark spud or peeler?

Interesting find! Did you do the electrolysis on it? It looks really well done. LOVE the maker's mark too. It's not a chisel because the tang is meant to go in a wooden handle. You wouldn't want to be pounding on the wooden handle with a hammer while you're chiseling something. It's got a very unusual flare at what I assume would be the top of the handle. It looks to me like the flare prevents the metal from sinking deeper into the handle as it is being used, sort of like a hilt (in reverse). I wish I knew what it was. Be sure to let us know if you do find out! Thanks for sharing and happy digging! Dave.

I think you both are on to something. I do not see hitting the back end of that tool with a hammer so it makes sense that it was driven into a shaft or handle and the handle would go all the way up to the flares. So maybe it was a small hand chisel or some other type of tool like a bark peeler.

Thanks for your thoughts!

I bet that this is a colonial plane blade much like this one!

https://teddawsonantiquetools.com/pr...profile-wedges

DOD you nailed it! Thank you!

Nicely identified DoD!! I found a medieval plane blade back in April but the style is nowhere as nice as Jared's!

Jared - with some of these finds you are getting, you may want to consider hooking up with an Anthropology department at your local college. Not sure exactly where you live, but it would be easy enough to find someone who might know these items. Here in Milwaukee, we have UW-Milwaukee and they have an excellent Anthro dept. Now I just need to find some cool items... I had a few relics over the years that I showed pictures to them and they of course already had non-dug examples. They were pretty nice about the whole thing, but I think there still is an underlying "metal detecting people are hacks" syndrome that these people have.

With what you have been finding "up North" is something I would certainly bring to them in person to help identify. Univ of MI has a good Anthro Department.

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Originally Posted by badgers325

Jared - with some of these finds you are getting, you may want to consider hooking up with an Anthropology department at your local college. Not sure exactly where you live, but it would be easy enough to find someone who might know these items. Here in Milwaukee, we have UW-Milwaukee and they have an excellent Anthro dept. Now I just need to find some cool items... I had a few relics over the years that I showed pictures to them and they of course already had non-dug examples. They were pretty nice about the whole thing, but I think there still is an underlying "metal detecting people are hacks" syndrome that these people have.

With what you have been finding "up North" is something I would certainly bring to them in person to help identify. Univ of MI has a good Anthro Department.

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I've tried contacting the university people about some finds of mine, specifically a couple items that don't exactly align with the current historical narrative of the area-you know, those "what the heck is this doing here?" type find. Even with e-mails documenting the items and photos, they went unanswered, and phone messages were never returned. I eventually gave up.

In case you are wondering, one item was a flax bale seal which I later found a person who keeps a database of these and similar seals over in the UK where they are typically found. According to him it's the only one known to have ever been found on this side of the Atlantic, and he was also just as dumbfounded as I was as to how it came to be here.

The other item was a medallion that I was able to research as being a sailor's luck token, often worn as a pendant to keep them safe at sea. The artwork and symbols are found over a span of over 2000 years, but this particular medallion I found through size, material, and variation to date from around 1800, and made in Prussia. Being a maritime artifact, I took it to a local maritime museum where the curator took a lot of interest in it. The medallion is currently on loan to the museum and on display there.

That's cool DOD. At least your find is going to something useful for others to see as well.