Figured One Out

[Tom Neitzel]

Here are a couple pictures of a "muffin" pan I picked up on eBay sometime in the past 3 years.  As you can  see, it is a bit over 10 inches long with 6 cone shaped cups.  They are about 1 7/8" in diameter and 1 1/2" deep.  There are letters on the underside of the handle, DFC 1178.

When I got it I knew I didn't want to cook anything in it, did a quick google search on the numbers, didn't find anything and just set it aside.

I was in Rapid City, SD for a convention in mid-July, was visiting a museum and found the twin to this pan on display with an explanation of what it was for.

I know I like to speculate as to what many of the items are that people post here so I'm just going to put the pictures up for now for thoughts and will post the explanation this evening.

Things that it isn't:

A muffin pan.
A specialized aebleskiver pan to make cone shaped 'skivers.
A lead fishing sinker mold.
An antique meat tenderizer.
A nut cracker.
A chocolate mold (maybe for large Hershey kisses with a cherry instead of almond inside).

Tom

[Tom Neitzel]

The bottom

[Vance McAlister]

Tom,
How about a hint?  Did it produce something eaten or was it something that was used?  

Vance Moore

[Tom Neitzel]

It was not used to make any kind of food product.  The product is baked at 2,000 degrees F.  The hot liquid is poured into this pan and destroyed as soon as it is cool enough to touch.

And the biggest hint of all:

The museum is the Museum of Geology, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.

tom

This is not a mold for metallic ingots.  The product is always destroyed.

[Fusion_power]

Its an old assay tray.

[Tom Neitzel]

Indeed it is used in the Fire Assay Process.

Let's say you are looking for gold.  You crush your ore sample, mix it with appropriate fluxes and a little lead.  You put it in a crucible and melt it at 2,000 degrees.  You pour the molten liquid into this mold. The flux has helped separate the gold from the waste.  It has also combined with the lead.  When poured in the mold, the lead is heavier and collects in the point of the cone.  When cool, the lead pellet is at the point.  The waste is brittle and almost glass like.  It is broken to get the pellet.  The lead is then put in a container called a cupel.  The cupel is made of refractory material that looks like ceramic.  It is again heated to 2,000 degrees and the lead burned away from the gold (the cupel material helps do that).  When cooled you have your gold and can estimate how rich you will get from each ton of ore processed.

Here's a link.

http://www.mine-engineer.com/mining/assay2.htm

tom

[Thomas_Callaway]

Good one Tom. I was going to guess it was for Harry Potter muffins. Saaaay... put that in your eBay description. Ought to go over $200 in no time.

TC

[Jeff_Paden]

Tom I hope you don't mind, I was searching for info on this Ebay item and found your posting.  Based on the potential for lead contamination, I paraphrased the info you posted and sent it to the seller warning them of possible lead contamination and advising them to note this shouldn't be used for making the kids breakfast...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=260227297739&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=016

!!!!!Danger!!!!!!! This product may contain xic concentrations of lead Not for food use!! Ore assay samples are crushed, mixed with fluxes and lead, put in a crucible and melted at 2,000 degrees.  The molten liquid is poured into this mold. The flux has helped separate the gold from the waste.  It has also combined with the lead.  When poured in the mold, the lead is heavier and collects in the point of the cone.  When cool, the lead pellet is at the point.  The waste is brittle and almost glass like.  It is broken to get the pellet.  The lead is then put in a container called a cupel.  The cupel is made of refractory material that looks like ceramic.  It is again heated to 2,000 degrees and the lead burned away from the gold (the cupel material helps do that).  When cooled you have your gold and can estimate how rich you will get from each ton of ore processed. http://www.mine-engineer.com/mining/assay2.htm Credit to Tom N. for this factoid.

[Duke Gilleland]

At first, thought it might be a chastity bra for a mighty wild lady ;D ;D ::)

[C. Perry Rapier]

At first, thought it might be a chastity bra for a mighty wild lady ;D ;D ::)

Now Duke, I was THINKIN along them lines too. Like maybe it was a mold to make a bra for the Tin Mans girlfriend.  ;D

[Harry Riva]

Thanks for the info Tom. I've had one of these for years and I knew what it wasn't but didn't know what it was. I think that's right.
Harry

[Troy_Hockensmith]

Very Intresting Tom. I suspect we see more on the laeft coast than the east coast but that's just a guess.

[Tom Neitzel]

Very Intresting Tom. I suspect we see more on the laeft coast than the east coast but that's just a guess.

I agree Troy.  I would think pretty much West of the Mississippi.

This thread is really a lesson in longevity on the forum and how much information is really here.  My original posting was in August, 2005.

Tom

[Jeff_Paden]

The seller didn't post the information i sent him.  The buyer has been informed of exactly what they purchased just in case they planned to make breakfast for the kids with it... Jeff