[TheForge] barn repairs which relate to blacksmithing

[theforge@mailman.qth.net]

hello;

i spent a little time today inspecting the barn 
and found a few places that need to be repaired.

several of the loft floor joists are cracked and
sagging. in finding places where the loft joist
were spliced there are roughly 2ft long by 4 inches wide
by 13 inches tall black steel/iron upside-down "saddles".

these show hammer marks so they were definitely forged.

poor ascii art below ( definitely not to scale ):

    ++   ++    +-------------------------------+
    ||   ||    | cb   cb               cb   cb |
    ||   ||    |                               |
    ||   ||    |   cb                    cb    |
    ||   ||    |                               |
    ||___||    | cb   cb               cb   cb |
    \_____/    \_______________________________/

cb = carriage bolt, which passes through the steel/iron
upside-down "saddle" and the loft floor joist. bolts look
to be 3/4 inch in diameter.

the loft joists look to be actual 2x12s and not 1.5x11.25s.

would anyone have any suggestions as to what grade of
steel/iron these "saddles" could be made of?

btw, the loft is huge. i have no ideas at the moment what
i would do with the area. my son said he would play basketball
up there. you could play basketball easily in the loft area.

there is old rigging for handling hay and straw bales which
looks to be in need to repair also.

lord willing, i may have a shop and storage space in the future.

-- 
Terry L. Ridder
Blue Danube Artistic Forge (Blaue Donau Kunstschmiede)
"We do not bend metal, we sculpt it."

digging deep, i feel my conscience burn
i need to know who and what i am
this hunger jolts me from complacency
rocks me, makes me meet myself
----kendall payne--closer to myself---