What is this thing?

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Large ceramic or stoneware piece. (lemmy.world)

submitted 3 months ago by Machinist to c/whatisthisthing

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Found this broken piece in the creek bank. Southwest Pennsylvania. Farmhouse was built in 1922. Coalmining country.

Would have been about 18" in diameter. There is a rough coating in the glaze on the inside and outside of the bowl section. Abrasive enough that I figure it served a mechanical purpose. There are three grooves on the rim that aren't symmetrical to each other.

There might be a makers mark in the center of the glaze inside but I can't make it out. There is also a light blue/green stain on the bottom that might be a mark.

Any ideas?

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[–] Machinist 2 points 3 weeks ago

I don't know enough about high voltage to speak with any authority, but that totally sounds reasonable.

As for construction of original insulator, that's what I've decided as well. It's a stacked assembly. There are smaller versions.

It's a really big insulator and very possibly could have been used for mining power supply. There are mines within a 1/4 mile.