# What is this table made out of? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 12, 2006, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-table-made-out-of/339656 "2006-01-12T14:47:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-table-made-out-of/339656/1 "2006-01-12T14:47:18Z")
OK, I’m sure someone here can help. A coworker has acquired a table and is wondering what device or object it is made from. They think it has something to do with a boat but I’m not sure. It _looks_ like something I should be able to identify, but no luck. Anyone here have any ideas? [Picture 1](http://home.earthlink.net/~tanstaafl/Table1.jpg) [Picture 2](http://home.earthlink.net/~tanstaafl/Table2.jpg) Thanks ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-table-made-out-of/339656/2 "2006-01-12T15:22:27Z")
Hey, a friend of mine has the same table! I love that table - I covet that table. No idea what it is, though. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-table-made-out-of/339656/3 "2006-01-12T15:33:38Z")
The bit in the middle looks a bit like (obviously) [a porthole](http://www.northeastaquanauts.com/Porthole%2059%20Wreck.JPG), but even without **WhyNot** ’s post, I’d be inclined to suspect that the fittings aren’t genuine items, but rather, castings with a aged nautical feel that were made specifically for the table and if this is the case, they might not actually resemble anything exactly. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-table-made-out-of/339656/4 "2006-01-12T16:16:27Z")
I suspect it isn’t nautical at all. The bowl is used for grinding, and the grinding/mashing tool is sitting across the top. The wide paddle part is for grinding things down in the bowl, and the tool has a little ball-end handle. Looks like it could be released and used (or made to look that way). ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-table-made-out-of/339656/5 "2006-01-12T16:49:32Z")
Hmm…we always thought the middle part looked like it would hold a few glowing coals or a small fire - in fact, my friend’s metal center looks charred, as if it held a fire at one time. (Of course, we can’t tell if it was intended as such or if the previous owners just thought like we do.) Could the paddle looking thing (which my friend does not have) be a teeny tiny fire shovel? Or maybe it’s a really big ashtray? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Caffeine.addict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@Caffeine.addict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caffeine.addict)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-table-made-out-of/339656/6 "2006-01-12T16:57:24Z")
> [@](#): > > Or maybe it’s a really big ashtray? I would have guessed ashtray as well. Even if it wasn’t supposed to be, I’m willing to bet money that previous owners used it as such. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-table-made-out-of/339656/7 "2006-01-12T17:50:50Z")
My WAG is that it’s Eastern in origin (or design) and the bowl was used for burning incense. I further guess that the fittings are either brass which has been coated with zinc or a base metal which at one point was coated with brass. (I really couldn’t tell you for sure without looking at it in person.)