Anyone know what this is???

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Its an early bunt pan, waffle maker , or its a mold to make a bullet mold? Whats the other side look like? Do you have some measurements? Looks like it held water just judging from the corosion and scale buildup.

Some how I get the impression its not bullet or reloading related.
 
HAHAHAHA - I KNOW!!!!

Many years ago coal was ground up course and mixed with water into a thich paste. It was then pressed into these molds and the water was squeezed out by clamping the top on. The punk was then sun dried. They fit into the iron stove to be burned for fuel. The holes let the air flow through for better combustion. It has been 50 years since I have seen one of these.
 
I first thought it was a Naugahyde Dimple maker!
But they used Wing-Nuts for precision tightening, not plain old rusty bolts.

The glass flower frog mold sounds as likely as anything.

Pressing coal to make it burn sounds like an exercise in frustration.
Coal burns just fine like you dig it out of the ground in chunks.

I do agree however, that whatever it is, it has nothing at all to do with bullets, lead casting, or reloading.

rcmodel
 
I believe you.
I just can't imagine they would have ever made a single cavity model for home use?

Seems like you could burn it up faster then you could press & dry the cast coal on a cold winter day.

Maybe you cast coal all summer and burned it all winter?

PS: I could see using this thing to use up the coal dust and fines at the bottom of the coal bin, but not for everyday heating if you could buy lump coal to burn.

rcmodel
 
Right on Griz! My grandparents on my dads side had 10 of these moulds. Grandpa told me stories about how his dad would buy a railroad coalcar load of coal at a time. He and the hired hands would haul coal for 2-3 days at a time in the spring to stock up for winter. Handling coal this many times would create buckets of dust and small chunks. All spring,summer, and into the fall they would make these coal cakes. They were used for starting and rekindling heating and cooking fires during the winter. ( So this is a mould but not a lead mould.)
 
I am not the one to answer how it was used, since they quit using it long before I came along. Folks back then were a lot more willing to put time and work into saving a few pennies than we are today. The way things are going, we might be heading back to those days, so hang onto that thing, it just might come in handy.
 
I love seeing items like this that were used at a time when America had its head on straight... Reminds me when I read that the initial lack of popularity of disposable razors was because people could not bring themselves to throwing them out.
 
From the explanation of the coal press/burner, it sounds like it was designed to allow th ebetter use and combustion for heating/cooking with coal.
Being an avid BBQer, I know a little about the proper use and fire control of burning coal for that low and slow multi hour long cook.
 
Griz is right.

These are still being used in China. You will see for sale on the street these "coal bricks". Many of the Chinese still heat and cook with these. The next time you are in China, pick one up.
 
When I was young my Grandparent's home was heated with coal and they had a coal stove. That mold exactly what Griz said it is and molds like that were used by almost everyone who used coal in their home. The "coal pies" were usually used in the coal stove since it smaller than the coal heating furnace.

The coal pies served 2 purposes. Like Griz said the pies would fit perfectly in the stoves and using that mold was the only way to make all the coal dust left in a half empty coal bin useful. It allowed you to turn useless dust into a productive fuel again.
 
PBS ran a special a few months ago on the Chinese coal industry. They produce a version of this by the millions for home heating and cooking use. I will try and find something on it...
Click to expand...
It just goes to show that the Chinese are 50 years behind us.
 
They used to use these (Ondol) extensively in Korea, up until the late '80s or early 90s. Dozens of people died each winter from carbon monoxide poisoning, too. They used the charcoal to heat the floor; hot air circulated through channels in the floor, and if the floor was properly sealed, you were safe. If it developed cracks, you died. I suffered from CO poisoning twice during the time I was stationed here in the Army.

Many homes and buildings were made of compressed ondol back in the day. It was not very durable, but it was certainly inexpensive.

For years there was a very large standing reward for anyone who could devise a safe method to heat homes that was as economical as ondol. I don't know if anyone ever collected on it or not. Now most homes and apartments here in Korea have hot water heating that runs under the floors.

I tried to find a pic of ondol online, but couldn't; lots of pix of buildings heated by ondol - none of the charcoal itself.
 
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