# Can you help me identify this item? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 12, 2018, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-help-me-identify-this-item/815986 "2018-06-12T19:00:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mtomm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@mtomm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mtomm)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2018, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-help-me-identify-this-item/815986/1 "2018-06-12T19:00:36Z")
" It’s solid glass, the grooves on the bottom are shallow, the indentation is smaller than a finger, it looks to be plated with some sort of metal, it’s non ferro-magnetic, it does not allow the transmission of light…" [https://unsee.cc/951dceed/](https://unsee.cc/951dceed/) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2018, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-help-me-identify-this-item/815986/2 "2018-06-12T19:13:12Z")
Looks like a cover for some sort of drain. ---
**Author:** ![BobBitchin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@BobBitchin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobBitchin)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2018, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-help-me-identify-this-item/815986/3 "2018-06-12T21:23:14Z")
I am imagining its a plug for the top of a furnace/kiln/forge/vessel where molten steel/glass/unicorn tears are poured in/out. I really have no idea, but am interested in the outcome. ---
**Author:** ![mtomm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@mtomm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mtomm)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2018, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-help-me-identify-this-item/815986/4 "2018-06-12T21:30:52Z")
I will certainly update when the mystery is solved. ---
**Author:** ![szabrocki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@szabrocki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/szabrocki)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-help-me-identify-this-item/815986/5 "2018-06-14T04:37:51Z")
Looks like an audio speaker to me. Is it magnetic when the wires are connected to a battery? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-help-me-identify-this-item/815986/6 "2018-06-14T04:42:25Z")
It’s a model of a [Billy Meier spaceship](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Billy_Meier_UFO_66.jpg). Have you got a tiny tree anywhere? ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-help-me-identify-this-item/815986/7 "2018-06-14T07:55:38Z")
Pressure cooker. It’s not, so some other kind of pressure weight. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-help-me-identify-this-item/815986/8 "2018-06-14T09:25:38Z")
BTW, did you add the “stuff” to the photos? The QR codes are just random-looking strings of numbers and the watermarked numbers look like a URL but don’t seem to lead anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-help-me-identify-this-item/815986/9 "2018-06-14T09:29:47Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > BTW, did you add the “stuff” to the photos? The QR codes are just random-looking strings of numbers and the watermarked numbers look like a URL but don’t seem to lead anywhere. The watermarked numbers are your IP address. At least, the ones I see are mine. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-help-me-identify-this-item/815986/10 "2018-06-14T12:07:23Z")
Its a lid. Its glass to be sterile for food. Its opaque because typcally food stuff degrade in UV, and I mean all organic sort of stuff, beer,wine, juice, cheese, anything. So… maybe its for placing in a sunny spot to ferment stuff. ---
**Author:** ![mtomm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@mtomm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mtomm)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-help-me-identify-this-item/815986/11 "2018-06-14T14:21:20Z")
Thanks for the replies. I’m thinking some sort of lid also. The comment about being glass for sterility is interesting. The QR codes were added by the picture hosting site I used so they are irrelevant to my inquiry. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-help-me-identify-this-item/815986/12 "2018-06-14T14:55:04Z")
Could it be the base of something? Like the grooved end is down and something hooked into the loop of wire and looked fancy on a shiny glass base? ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-help-me-identify-this-item/815986/13 "2018-06-14T15:14:47Z")
> [@Isilder](#): > > Its a lid. > > Its glass to be sterile for food. > Its opaque because typcally food stuff degrade in UV, and I mean all organic sort of stuff, > beer,wine, juice, cheese, anything. > So… maybe its for placing in a sunny spot to ferment stuff. 1. The combination of “pressure weight” and “sealing” is problematic for food fermentation. About that specifically, chambers for fermentation, certainly at the small (‘home) size seemingly here (sauerkraut, pickles) need venting either at some sort of constant rate or easily doable, as the chamber farts contentedly (as I heard it one phrased by a cook) releasing the fermentation products. The sealant here – if that’ what it is (see below) looks quite formidable. Plus looks like no simple set-up–ancient fully functional ones now in use or more modern tools–I’ve ever seen. NB: I do not squat about home beer brewing. So take that with a grain of salt (heh). 2. Tell me again which is top and bottom? The little hook is used as a turn screw…so why a hook? Which if, true, tells me which is top and bottom. 1. On variable gas transfer, as in 1) above, that looks like quite a baroque set-up of seal and/or pressure plates (??) which look implemented one nestled i another…or am I totally off base with what others are seeing/surmising? I don’t even know if that surmise [is that a real noun?] is even mechanically devisable, frankly, for incremental pressure chamber venting. ---
**Author:** ![mtomm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@mtomm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mtomm)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-help-me-identify-this-item/815986/14 "2018-06-14T19:20:53Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > 1. The combination of “pressure weight” and “sealing” is problematic for food fermentation. > > About that specifically, chambers for fermentation, certainly at the small (‘home) size seemingly here (sauerkraut, pickles) need venting either at some sort of constant rate or easily doable, as the chamber farts contentedly (as I heard it one phrased by a cook) releasing the fermentation products. The sealant here – if that’ what it is (see below) looks quite formidable. > > Plus looks like no simple set-up–ancient fully functional ones now in use or more modern tools–I’ve ever seen. > > NB: I do not squat about home beer brewing. So take that with a grain of salt (heh). > 2. Tell me again which is top and bottom? The little hook is used as a turn screw…so why a hook? Which if, true, tells me which is top and bottom. > > 1. On variable gas transfer, as in 1) above, that looks like quite a baroque set-up of seal and/or pressure plates (??) which look implemented one nestled i another…or am I totally off base with what others are seeing/surmising? > > I don’t even know if that surmise [is that a real noun?] is even mechanically devisable, frankly, for incremental pressure chamber venting. Good observation on venting. Most crocks that I’ve seen for that type of thing do not have any type of lid like this. I’m thinking the top is the part with the hook as it seems to have a finger-like indentation under the wire hoop. I don’t know if it actually screws into something as much as it may rest with the grooves on top of something else. This was an item found in a little old man and a little old women’s home by the executor of the estate charged with cleaning out their belongings. They were hoarders and she’s found some very interesting items. This is one she has not been able to identify. It’s a fun mystery we are helping her solve. ---
**Author:** ![Ignotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecc23a/32.png) [@Ignotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignotus)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-help-me-identify-this-item/815986/15 "2018-06-15T15:59:33Z")
It looks to me like you’re supposed to lift it with a hook rather than with your bare hand or a pot-holder. So I guess it’s something that will get pretty damn hot. The reflective surface points in the same direction. **BobBitchin’** might be on to something. Perhaps it’s a lid for a crucible? Ordinary glass would probably have a too low melting point for this purpose, but I guess the material could be some glass-ceramic, or even fused quartz. ---
**Author:** ![mtomm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@mtomm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mtomm)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-help-me-identify-this-item/815986/16 "2018-06-15T16:40:20Z")
> [@Ignotus](#): > > It looks to me like you’re supposed to lift it with a hook rather than with your bare hand or a pot-holder. So I guess it’s something that will get pretty damn hot. The reflective surface points in the same direction. **BobBitchin’** might be on to something. Perhaps it’s a lid for a crucible? Ordinary glass would probably have a too low melting point for this purpose, but I guess the material could be some glass-ceramic, or even fused quartz. Kind of like this: [40\*40mm graphite crucible with lid lab supply articles Sale - Banggood.com sold out-arrival notice-arrival notice](https://www.banggood.com/4040mm-Graphite-Crucible-with-Lid-Lab-Supply-Articles-p-976525.html?stayold=1&cur_warehouse=CN) ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-help-me-identify-this-item/815986/17 "2018-06-15T18:56:17Z")
There’s an app for that: [CamFind](https://camfindapp.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-help-me-identify-this-item/815986/18 "2018-06-15T19:22:52Z")
> [@Ignotus](#): > > It looks to me like you’re supposed to lift it with a hook rather than with your bare hand or a pot-holder. So I guess it’s something that will get pretty damn hot. The reflective surface points in the same direction. **BobBitchin’** might be on to something. Perhaps it’s a lid for a crucible? Ordinary glass would probably have a too low melting point for this purpose, but I guess the material could be some glass-ceramic, or even fused quartz. > [@mtomm](#): > > Kind of like this: > > [40\*40mm graphite crucible with lid lab supply articles Sale - Banggood.com sold out-arrival notice-arrival notice](https://www.banggood.com/4040mm-Graphite-Crucible-with-Lid-Lab-Supply-Articles-p-976525.html?stayold=1&cur_warehouse=CN) Looks on the right track. But the nestled seals (if thats what they are) is still weird. I don’t know much (!:)) about graphite crucible, but [this](https://www.ebay.ca/itm/2-KG-KILO-SMELTING-GOLD-SILVER-FURNACE-HIGH-DENSITY-GRAPHITE-CASTING-CRUCIBLE/380648138268?hash=item58a065a61c:g:FMIAAMXQO21Rn9u5) and a few others have some sort of separated something, as opposed to most of the images on a Google-image search for g.c. lids. I picture us–no offense to anybody–as the monkeys surrounding the 2001 monolith, and can imagine how humorous this thread is to others who know immediately what the hell this is.