Old tool???

patff

Can anyone identify the item in the attachment. It was found buried in the ground outside a tool shed on a Wexford farm.

It's no more than 1mm thick and is made of steel, but harder than normal and has very little rust even though its been buried for decades, I'd say.

Maybe it once had a handle of some kind, and has an obvious sharpened egde, with file marks still intact.

Smartypantsdig

It looks like a bill hook of some sort. The dimensions are confusing me though.

DeepSleeper

Could it be part of a machine? It doesn't look too old and doesn't look like any of the usual handtools you would find on a farm, so could it be a cutting blade from inside a machine (combine harvester etc.) where most people might recognise the machine but not necessarily the blade that's hidden within it... Try posting on farming pages?

Smartypantsdig

Deepsleeper, you could be right there!!

patff

DeepSleeper wrote: »

Could it be part of a machine? It doesn't look too old and doesn't look like any of the usual handtools you would find on a farm, so could it be a cutting blade from inside a machine (combine harvester etc.) where most people might recognise the machine but not necessarily the blade that's hidden within it... Try posting on farming pages?

Don't think so. As I said before, the tool was found buried outside a tool shed. The ground there hadn't been disturbed for donkey's years. The tool shed was also workshop of sorts for repairing farm machinery and equipment (eg. scythes, sickles, horsedrawn ploughs, etc).

oflynno

when i saw it first i thought of the executioners axe

i found this link and pic

http://www.google.ie/imgres?imgurl=http://www.spiral.org.uk/acatalog/rompen02.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.spiral.org.uk/acatalog/Spiral_Virtual_Shop_Genuine_Antiquities_and_Historical_Artefacts_96.html&usg=__zcDxeiyIapIuctBAlFDZC0a9oC4=&h=198&w=142&sz=11&hl=en&start=185&zoom=1&tbnid=4boJOyWa-YA1mM:&tbnh=121&tbnw=87&ei=bPVeTcyKE4Xw4AaM2OXjCQ&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dexecutioners%2Baxe%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-GB:official%26biw%3D1024%26bih%3D578%26tbs%3Disch:10%2C49730%2C4973&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=132&vpy=247&dur=1197&hovh=158&hovw=113&tx=84&ty=111&oei=sfReTem4AYG8lQehz8XbCw&page=12&ndsp=17&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:185&biw=1024&bih=578

oflynno

also,the fact that it was in wexford and buried,is there a possibility that it is a pike,as in the pikemen of wexford,1796?

does it have any broken edge on it,if it was dismantled or broken in order to hide it? just another thought,very interesting though

katarin

It looks like a hooking tool, for baling. What metal is it made of? It's condition should give a clue as to the age. Looks early 20th C to me..

It's a decent piece, hang on to it. Despite what people think, antique farming equiptment isn't prolific. Things that are kept from the late 19th/ early 20th century dont always reflect the layman's day to day.