What is it?

[Wesley Chambers]

My roommate was doing some demo on an old house in south Indiana and found some old metal I might want to play with, but Im more interested in what it used to be, any ideas?

[Sukellos]

This is a wild guess. Some old coal furnaces and some old forges had a tilt-able or tip-able grate do facilitate getting rid of clinkers.

[Frank Turley]

It appears to be the bottom grate of a wood stove which is shaken to get rid of ash.

http://www.turleyforge.com

[Judson Yaggy]

Looks like an ash dump/clinker breaker from an old coal stove or furnace. All the ones I've seen around here have been cast iron.

Ha, looks like everyone was typing at once!

Edited February 19, 2010 by judson yaggy

[Bentiron1946]

Looks to be cast iron but as to function I can only guess. Has a gear, a paddle, some kind of shaker, from a coal fired furnace. Since it is cast iron it won't forge if you're thinking of doing that. Maybe rivet it on to something else.

[Sukellos]

Great minds think alike, huh Frank?

[shortdog]

I'd guess that it's the kick- start pedal to a 1952 Vincent motorcycle....... Or it could be some part to a coal furnace. Either way, it's kind of neat looking and should be used for something. Maybe a trivet for the kitchen or the shop? It will surely be a conversation piece. Those are worth their weight in gold.

[chyancarrek]

Yep, looks like a "dump-gate" out of an old furnace. The one's I've seen were two-piece, more than likely there was another one with a similar gear arrangement that meshed - Turn one handle and they both opened up to dump clinker/ash into the ash bin. It's all cast iron so not really forge material but it's a great shape - might be fun to try and integrate it into something else.

I've got the remains of one that was from a coal furnace and it acted as a "grinder" for clinker. The parts are on a shelf in my storage area - I'll post some pics.


Let us know if you come up with any neat ideas!

[Frosty]

I'd guess that it's the kick- start pedal to a 1952 Vincent motorcycle....... Or it could be some part to a coal furnace. Either way, it's kind of neat looking and should be used for something. Maybe a trivet for the kitchen or the shop? It will surely be a conversation piece. Those are worth their weight in gold.

Awfully darned light duty for a Vincent part don't you think?

Oh, you were making a joke! silly me.

Frosty the Lucky.

[Sam Falzone]

Yep, looks like a "dump-gate" out of an old furnace. The one's I've seen were two-piece, more than likely there was another one with a similar gear arrangement that meshed - Turn one handle and they both opened up to dump clinker/ash into the ash bin. It's all cast iron so not really forge material but it's a great shape - might be fun to try and integrate it into something else.

I've got the remains of one that was from a coal furnace and it acted as a "grinder" for clinker. The parts are on a shelf in my storage area - I'll post some pics.


Let us know if you come up with any neat ideas!

I was just thinking, looking at it, that if you mounted it standing by your porch door, it would make a neat boot-scraper.
Just an idea.

sam