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  • Help Preserving a Wooden Artifact

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ID:	416769 I was lucky enough to find a wooden sabot for a 24lb cannonball. This was dredged up with the ball probably still attached but broken off when the bulldozer was pushing the sand. I found most of the chunks of the ball. I am going to try and put it back together. The case shot was all around it. Well my question is if anyone has any ideas about preserving this sabot. It has been in saltwater for 150 years. The first thing I read to do is to actually put it in the upper part of a toilet to help flush out the salts I've read many different methods such as using linseed oil or tung oil. Then I read not to use these natural oils. From what I've read and heard it is very rare to find one of these they usually rot away guess the ocean slowed the decomposition of it. Any thoughts out there on how to preserve this unique artifact would be greatly appreciated thanks everyone! I included a picture of what a wooden sabot looks like sitting behind a ball this is a European ball but same principle.
    N.C. from the mountains to the sea

  • #2
    That's a cool thing to find. I've never seen one before
    NW Georgia,

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    • Sugaree
      Sugaree commented
      Editing a comment
      Thanks SurfaceHunter!

  • #3
    That sure is an interesting find. I hope you find your answer. My mom would preserve all things wood with linseed oil and turpentine mixture. Why wouldn’t just keeping it dry preserve it? Anyway, It’s pretty cool.
    South Dakota

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    • Sugaree
      Sugaree commented
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      Thanks Gary I believe the problem with just letting it dry out is the salts expand and deteriorate the wood.

    • SDhunter
      SDhunter commented
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      I see

  • #4
    Congrats on the find Marshall.. awesome man.... how'd u find it. Metal detecting? Was.the shot and ball metal or stone? Found in a salt Marsh?. Or at beach?
    SW Connecticut

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    • Sugaree
      Sugaree commented
      Editing a comment
      Thanks Red! Yes it was a beach metal detecting find. The ball fragments and other metal parts set the detector off. This is from the same hole my previous Civil War finds came from a few months ago. The case shot is lead while the ball fragments were iron.

  • #5
    Cool Find Mon!
    This product seems made to order..

    Wooden Sabot Treatment
    We pride ourselves on offering our customers fine wood treatment and leather care products. Our non-hazardous products are used by museums, professional restoration specialists and wood workers around the globe. These products will preserve and help you restore the original qualities of your wood and leather.


    We pride ourselves on offering our customers fine wood treatment and leather care products. Our non-hazardous products are used by museums, professional restoration specialists and wood workers around the globe. These products will preserve and help you restore the original qualities of your wood and leather.
    If the women don\'t find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.

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    • Sugaree
      Sugaree commented
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      Wow Olden that's actually who I contacted about my finds and where I found it. Thanks man that's awesome!

    • Olden
      Olden commented
      Editing a comment
      Sounds like you'll be doing some rust removal on the steel you found - Bruce would be the go-to-guy for any advice on that I think.

  • #6
    That is a very unusual piece of history Marshall.
    Do you know what the purpose of the wooden sabot was?
    Bruce
    In life there are losers and finders. Which one are you?

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    • Sugaree
      Sugaree commented
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      I believe the wooden sabot was used to better seat the ball in the cannon barrel. This was done so the ball wouldn't bounce down the barrel for better accuracy and trajectory.

  • #7
    What are the odds of that? That is awesome man. Don't know about treating wooden artifacts but Id keep it some where the temperature doesn't change very much. It will probably be around long after where gone.
    keep on keepin after

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    • Sugaree
      Sugaree commented
      Editing a comment
      Thanks PointHound! Hopefully I can give it a better chance of being around long after we're gone.

    • PointHound
      PointHound commented
      Editing a comment
      I would treat it too. Better to be on the safe side.

  • #8
    Hi,

    I have no clue about wood preservation techniques but that’s a really cool find!

    Von

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    • Sugaree
      Sugaree commented
      Editing a comment
      Thanks Von I have it sitting in the solution now it still has several more weeks of soaking. It was a real challenge getting all the saltwater encrustations off the wood without damaging it. I got most of it off but there is still some there. I'll add a picture of what it looked like after most the crust came off. Eventually I'll post a finished picture.

  • #9
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    N.C. from the mountains to the sea

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    • #10
      May split when it dries. I’d say if you found a dry artifact like in a cave , keeping it dry would be the way to go. Since yours is wet or has been maybe it cured in the water and can be dried with no problems other than a crack or two. Would like to see a pic with the metal ball pieces and how your displaying it

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      • Sugaree
        Sugaree commented
        Editing a comment
        This sabot has been in saltwater since 1863. Since it was in saltwater the salts needed to be removed before it dried out not allowing the salts to expanded cracking it. It immediately went into a freshwater tank with constant water changes. I used the upper tank of my toilet after a thorough cleaning. This way the water was always changing and flushing out the salts. It is now sitting in the solution that Olden found out about. I owe him! It will sit there for another month. When I get it displayed I will post some pics. Thinking I'm going to put half cannonball chunk in it halfway filled up with caseshot. It took me weeks to get crust off the outer layer exposing the original wood.
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