Identifying a possible part

YTSupport · Jan 28, 2019

I had an unusual request today from a woman emailing our business. Their 8 year old son was digging around in one of the fields on their land and came across two plates buried in the field. She thought they might have fallen off a tractor in times past and gradually buried themselves. Didn't look like it to me. I was thinking possibly off an implement though. Each plate has 3 troughs in it. I told her I'd post and see if anyone else had any ideas. They wanted to let their son in on what his find was.

Here is the photo I received.

Larry EC-OH · Jan 28, 2019

Well, At first take, this looks like 4 pieces that have oxidized (fused) themselves together. With the penny as a size reference, may be nails.

grizz02 · Jan 28, 2019

serrated jaws for a small vise , but don't see mounting holes , what's the back look like?

YTSupport · Jan 28, 2019

Don't know, that's the only photo she sent. They are going to clean the rust off and send another photo.

Billy Shafer · Jan 28, 2019

Looks like a foot rest. But I have never seen them that small.

shaun wallace · Jan 28, 2019

Look to like inserts for tongs. Used to titen/loosen drill pipe.

Janicholson · Jan 28, 2019

Step cleats from a horse drawn wagon or ? that were attached to wood or something that rusted faster than they did.
It would help if we knew where they were found due to the variety of crops and tools that are associated with
location in the _world_. Jim

YTSupport · Jan 28, 2019

I'll find out.

jm. · Jan 28, 2019

I have never seen vise jaws with that rough serrations , would tell a lot if we could see the back and see if their is any mounting holes.

YTSupport · Jan 28, 2019

I just sent her a message asking what region it is in and if there were any mounting holes, possibly rusted shut.

rustred · Jan 28, 2019

that is a set of tong jaws from the pipe tongs from a drilling rig. used to clamp around the pipe to make and break the connecton. have the same things in the shop, I can post a picture tomorrow. kinda similar to vise jaws.

rustred · Jan 28, 2019

that's what they are.

rustred · Jan 28, 2019

meant to say" Tong Dies", as that's the actual name of those.

FBH44 · Jan 28, 2019

Let them sit in pure vinegar for a couple of weeks, the rust will turn black and drop off, leaving shiny metal. No need to put them on a drill / brush / grinder.

LAA · Jan 28, 2019

They are tong dies as rustred mentioned, they won't have any
mounting holes because they are concave and are driven into
a slot on the tong jaw, the jaw has a hole top and bottom for a
small pin or bolt to keep the dies from popping up or dropping
down. They are tungsten steel.

YTSupport · Jan 28, 2019

I pointed her to this thread so I'm sure she'll have seen your advice. Did that myself recently and was surprised at what a good job it did.

YTSupport · Jan 28, 2019

That's two votes for Tong Dies, sounds like we probably have an ID. I wonder if their well house is anywhere near where he found them. That would also let them date them since there might be records of when the well was drilled.

rustred · Jan 28, 2019

those dies are still being made today and still in use.

YTSupport · Jan 28, 2019

To an 8 YO, I'm sure the age probably isn't important. But we have another up and coming rust-covered iron fanatic ;-). When our son was about 7, he found the old railroad track parts, including a few sections of rails from the old logging railroad that ran through the property in the early 1900s. I still have some of the spikes on the mantle, and he became a old iron fanatic at a young age. Now he's full grown and refuses to remove the rust off his Oliver 1950 no matter how much I tell him it would look good in shiny green and white. We need more kids getting obsessed with the old mechanical stuff.

Sure appreciate you all figuring it out for him, I'm sure his parents will too.

Dan in North Houston · Jan 28, 2019

As others have said, they are either dies for tongs or slips. Tongs are basically big pipe wrenches use to make up or break out the drill pipe. Slips are wedges that fit around the pipe, in a tapered hole in the rotary table of the drilling rig. They are called slips, but you hope that they don't! Those are pretty small dies, probably from a water well rig. They are expendable - when they quit biting into the pipe, you drive out the old ones and insert new ones.

rustred · Jan 28, 2019

definitely not slip dies, as they are thicker and different and shorter. these tong dies are 1" wide, 1/2" thick and usually 5 7/8 " long. some can be shorter. this is the standard die used on drilling rigs.

grandpa Love · Jan 29, 2019

Y'all would love our youngest son.
Minnie mo Mick will haul any old
rusty treasure home he can find.
Got a good pile of junk going out
behind the tractor shed!

redforlife · Jan 29, 2019

It's always neat to find something out scavaging with a metal detector or what ever. Unfortunately, what ever
these were, they are so far gone they probly have no value at all. Everyone has dreams of finding something worth
alot of money. And when they do find something, they hope that they did. Most of the time only to be disappointed
that they didn't hit the mother load.

I keep up on coin values because I collect them on a small basis. So I get asked once in awhile. Look at this coin
I found. What's it worth?? Most of the time they pretty disappointed to find out that it's only worth 3 dollars or
whatever.

Not sure if that's the case here. But when it comes to scavaging, you got to love to do it. Not just the dream of
finding something big.

YTSupport · Jan 29, 2019

The value is in the find, and then pondering the story about how it got there. Old tractors are that same thing with me. Who had them, what happened to them, how'd they get in the condition they are in. I find all that motivating. The people behind the find is also an important factor. The D17D I'm rebuilding right now belonged to a fellow in Oregon who died, his widow sold it a friend of mine just to restore, but he didn't have time, and still wanted it restored for the man who died. He turned it over to me and I think for all of us, it's about the life and times of the this man and his tractor, not because it will be worth anything to speak of when done. We don't get rich off our "finds", we do it for other reasons.

An interesting postlude to this thread is, there apparently is no well house or well anywhere near where the boy dug these up. Their well was just put in and not close. So there is a story behind those things sitting there in the middle of a pasture in the middle of nowhere, that they'll be pondering for some time.

Identifying a possible part

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