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World's Leading How-To Magazine
For Metal Detectorists Since
1966 |
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The Relic Hunter |
Volume 38 January 2004
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George Lesche:
Tool Designer/Relic Hunter
By: Ed
Fedory
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| Metal detecting and relic
hunting is a family thing in the Lesche household. Both George and
his wife, Pam, believe that relic hunting has given their children a
greater appreciation for the past.
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"If you're going to do the job, you'd better have the right
tools."
Lessons learned as a boy... practiced as a man. It certainly
seemed the case a couple of weeks ago when I was working on an Adirondack love
seat. The table saw ripped the pine to the desired width... the radial arm saw
cut each piece to the proper length... the band saw sliced the edges with the
proper curves... the router finished the edges on each piece... the
razor-sharp chisels carved the ten ornate hearts... the cordless drill set the
screws... the sander smoothed any rough edges... a good brush applied the two
coats of Essex green paint.
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| One of George's favorite
Civil War sites is a section of the Bermuda Hundred where General
Benjamin Butler's Federal troops were bottled up. Shown here are
some of the Federal earthworks constructed in that area during the
Civil War. (Photo courtesy of the Library of
Congress.) | |
And from those many years in the past, my father's words guided me
through the project: "A slow job is a good job... measure three times, cut
once... take pride in your work... any job worth doing, is worth doing right."
I guess it's pretty much what we try to get through to children today... as
parents... as teachers.
Tools, however, are the key... whether you're
building furniture... writing a story... taking a photograph... relic
hunting... coinshooting... water hunting. At some point in each of our metal
detecting careers, we've all taken a shot at designing our own digging tools
or adding our own modifications to existing tools. I have even known a few who
have met with some measure of success... very few. My own attempts, for the
most part, were abysmal failures.
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| Digging into the past is one
of George's favorite pastimes when he's not designing new Predator
Tools for the metal detecting
industry. | |
There's that other old saying, which is kind of suspect when it
comes to making your own digging tools: "If you want the job done right, do it
yourself." It sounds pretty neat, conceptually; but in terms of being
practical, it usually doesn't work out. I don't enjoy looking under the hood
of my truck very much anymore... too many vacuum hoses, sensors, and wires,
for me. And when was the last time you practiced dentistry on yourself? Right,
you pulled out a baby tooth once. I mean as an adult. No, some things are just
better left to the pros.
It was about a decade ago that I first talked
with George Lesche. The phone rang, I picked it up, and heard an unfamiliar
voice on the other end of the line asking me if I would try out some of his
digging tools on my relic hunts. I mentioned that I thought I was using a
pretty good digging tool already, but if he sent a couple, I would try them
out.
When the boxes arrived and were opened I knew that any tough
digging was behind me. When I hefted one, I sensed I was dealing with some
very sharp and serious steel! My old digging tool was given to my daughter,
and she says it works really fine... for planting her tulip bulbs.
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| With nearly 30,000 Federal
troops stalled at the Bermuda Hundred, it should come as no surprise
that it is a history laden and relic rich area. In this 1864 picture
a work party is constructing a defensive line of mortar
emplacements. (Photo courtesy of the Library of
Congress.) | |
The key thing is, George started building his digging tools for
himself. Then his digging buddies wanted some, and according to George it all
just began snowballing, up to the point where he and his wife, Pam, now own
and operate their own manufacturing company- Predator Tools.
"Living
here in New Jersey," says George, "you have all sorts of Colonial sites, and
that's pretty much the type of sites I mainly hunt during my free time. I
don't mind hitting the beaches every so often during the rougher winter
months... but my first passion is relic hunting Civil War sites.
"Ever
since I pulled that first Minie ball from the soil of Virginia, I've been
hooked!" George told me.
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| Here are a few of George's
finds from a recent relic hunting trip to
Virginia. | |
For myself, I never thought anything would interrupt my desire to
hunt French & Indian War and Revolutionary War sites. Then I went to
Virginia! To be honest, I didn't find a bag full of relics, but I did manage
to find enough to plant this little nagging seed of a thought that keeps
telling me that I have to go back there and do some more digging. There wasn't
much of what I would call "easy digging"- you really earned what you found-
but I guess it was just the feeling that came up from the ground and through
your boots that you were walking on historic soil with each footstep you took.
It was easy for me to understand what George was saying... been there... done
that... have to do it again.
Relic hunting heaven, for George, is a
place called Bermuda Hundred. It was a place of which I had never heard until
recently, so I decided to do a little research on it in order to understand
George's fascination with the site.
In May of 1864, Major General
Benjamin Butler was making an offensive move in the direction of Richmond. His
advance was repulsed at Swift Creek and Fort Clinton, and he withdrew into his
entrenchments at Bermuda Hundred with 30,000 Union troops. In the meantime,
Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard was able to collect 18,000 troops to
oppose Butler's force. During several engagements the Union forces attempt to
break out. After severe losses, Butler was once again forced to retreat behind
his earthworks.
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| Living in New Jersey gives
George and his family the opportunity to search many Colonial sites
yielding King George coppers, shoe buckles, and buttons. He is also
within a relatively short distance of numerous Civil War
sites. | |
On May 20, 1864, Beauregard mounted an attack against the Bermuda
Hundred line. He drove back all of the advance pickets and then constructed a
series of strongly fortified entrenchments called the Howlett Line which
bottled up the Federal troops on the peninsula.
The equation for good
relic hunting is a pretty simple one. Any rather limited area where large
numbers of troops were stuck for a long period of time has got to be a great
area in which to relic hunt!
Most of the camps I've hunted have been
small ones that were used for a short period of time, and yet all of those
camps were able to provide me with a pretty sizeable collection of relics,
varying from dropped musketballs and coins, to lost shoe buckles and cooking
utensils. However, the idea of relic hunting in an area where 30,000 troops
were confined is, in my experience, mind-boggling!
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| "You can never tell just what
is going to come out of the ground at The Hundred," says George.
"Minie balls are expected, as are buttons, but you can never tell
when that piece of "Big Iron" is going to ring
out!" | |
According to George, "This is the only place I've ever relic
hunted where I could also find arrowheads, fossil shark teeth up to 5" in
length, and relics from the War of 1812, as well as the Civil War. It's just a
super site! You're still able to see the trenches and gun emplacements, and
when you walk through the woods you can see the depressions in the ground
caused by heavy naval artillery fire from ships on the James River 140 years
ago!
"In one case, while searching about 15' under a cliff, we started
digging up fragments of a huge shell. By the time we were done, we were able
to recover about eighty percent of the 200 lb. shell. After cleaning up all of
the rough edges, I was finally able to reassemble it, and we now have it on
display in our shop.
"We've dug up numerous Minie balls and buttons on the site, but
the fascination of holding a piece of history in your hand is incredible.
You're the first person to touch the object since its original owner lost or
dropped it all those years ago."
George's love of history has extended
to his entire family, and its not unusual to see the Lesche household out on
the beaches or in the woods detecting together. They may be using a variety of
detectors, but you can be sure there's only one type of digging tool they're
using! 
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