Help in identifying this...uh...thing

[mart]

This is what I was talking about Wayward !!  Note the ring on the side !! I know it isn`t the same !!
www.liveauctioneers .com/item/9151732!!   Look and see what you think !!

[waywardangler]

Yes, mart, I see what you mean. I stand corrected. Definitely something to ponder.

[kysfinest]

  I don't know about you guys but this thing is driving me crazy trying to figure out what it is!! lol   

[mart]

Is the lid a flip top ??  Or is it just damaged   The underside looks separate with a hinge of sorts ?? Could be just the pics though !!

Good luck Kysfinest !! Hope you track it down !!

[jgardner]

Is the "shot" possibly ink pellets and thats a container for them..just an idea. ive seen ink pellets that look like the peices contained in this...uh..thing

[KC]

What bugs the pitooty out of me is that I have seen something like this before....the brain cells are not cooperating!!!!!!!!

[mart]

LOL  Guess I can send good vibes that your brain cells get back in operation !!  I sure want to know what it is !!~

[kysfinest]

still trying to figure this one out  I've even been asking people what they think it is. I've gotten these responses so far.....Powder flask, fishing lure, cuckoo clock thing (lol), riot grenade and my favorite....light bulb!  I'm pretty sure it's none of the above ...so my search continues!!!!

[velodude88]

Re: flip top. No, it's not a flip top but the top was made in two pieces - 1) the threaded area and 2) the cap itself. And the two pieces were soldered (or brazed) together. The gloppy things shown inside the top are the clumps of solder. The top is damaged, the threaded area is bent and the cap is dented. I'm not sure that the cap part was originally attached to the threaded area as it is not what I'd describe as a high-quality solder/braze job. In fact you can see daylight through some of the area where the two pieces are attached together. I kinda wonder if originally something else was affixed to the threaded area and removed being subsequently replaced with the current cap - but this is just blind speculation.

Re: ink pellets. I soaked one of the pellets in water and it does not seem to dissolve. The pellets are pretty hard, as in lead shot. And after dumping them out on a paper towel, the towel was covered in what looked like pencil lead. Also, a friend who is a retired Navy EOD, suggested testing the flammability of the pellets and the pellets are not flammable.

The mystery continues...

[waywardangler]

Lead shot easily deforms with a hammer blow on a hard surface such as an anvil. It is also easy to scratch with your nail. It can also be melted with a propane torch into a puddle of lead. I have never heard of ink pellets or why one would test a pellet to see if it is flammable. Odd.

As to the screw cap not being original...that is possible but the odds of locating a threaded cap to fit an already threaded top are pretty high. Not impossible, but pretty high odds. I would guess the cap is original. I would also guess the sloppiness means this was not a finely manufactured item nor meant to be repeatedly screwed and unscrewed. The fact that the cap is not a stamping would lead me to believe this is a pre-1900 object.

I think it is a pineapple juice "box" from the late 1800s and is just missing the wire bail so one could carry it to lunch easily. 

[velodude88]

It definitely deforms under a hammer blow. After a few blows, it was flat as a pancake (a very small, very thin pancake). Didn't try scratching or melting. The flammability test was to make sure it wasn't some sort of weird grenade - since he was an EOD person, he thinks explosives first.

What I meant about the screw cap was the top part of the screw cap possibly not being original as the workmanship to attach it to the threaded part of the cap is pretty shoddy.

The pineapple juice box is a possibility and it'd be super-healthy with the extra iron. 

[mariok54]

You might plumb for Wayward's suggestion of it being a pineapple juice carrier, but I think that'll go down like a lead balloon! 

[mart]

 Don`t you mean extra lead   You know,, you may be onto something about the grenade idea !!  Shot + an explosive= grenade !!   Could have been one and he removed the explosive !!

It definitely deforms under a hammer blow. After a few blows, it was flat as a pancake (a very small, very thin pancake). Didn't try scratching or melting. The flammability test was to make sure it wasn't some sort of weird grenade - since he was an EOD person, he thinks explosives first.

What I meant about the screw cap was the top part of the screw cap possibly not being original as the workmanship to attach it to the threaded part of the cap is pretty shoddy.

The pineapple juice box is a possibility and it'd be super-healthy with the extra iron. 

[velodude88]

Ah yes, the extra lead - it's a new nutrient added to pineapple juice.

After looking at it in person, my EOD friend ruled out the grenade idea. He's the one that said sash weight but that was wild speculation. I think he was disappointed it wasn't a grenade - he hasn't defused anything in a while.

[waywardangler]

Mario said...

You might plumb for Wayward's suggestion of it being a pineapple juice carrier, but I think that'll go down like a lead balloon!  Grin

Originally, I thought of a chalk line but without a hole in the cap for the string to exit and a winding mechanism, I threw that idea under the bus. That would have been a plumb suggestion.