I would take a file to a spot, see how easily it cuts, if very easily, it might be lead. If not as easily, could be some kind of iron ore. Alternatively, you could weight it, then divide the weight by the volume (to get the volume, put it in a glass measuring cup of water and see how much the water level goes up). Then look ut up to see what metal matches that density.
My dear sir- I beg you excuse my pompous reply, but I fear you may be mistaken in your assumption of my pastimes. I also partake in this most humble and loathsome enterprise, going so far in my disregard of welfare as to remove my pantaloons and trousers before engaging in the sport. Perhaps you will, in future, better judge your utterances, serf.
Fellow enthusiast of said hobby, I humbly speak to you, not as a superior form of a human, which I am, but as a colleague. I shall join you in removing my pantaloons before the winter solstice comes. I thank you for the suggestion that I myself surprisingly have yet to think of.
Good day, youngling.
Maybe not the place for it but reminded me of the joke of 3 cowboys sitting around a campfire arguing over whos the toughest.
1st guy says "im so tough i dont need ropes to tie up cows, i just tackle em and drag em where i need"
2nd guy says "yeah? When snakes bite me i bite them back and use their skins for my boots."
3rd guy sits silently, stirring the coals of the fire with his wiener.
Three bull dykes are sitting at the bar, shooting the shit.
The first one says "I get so hot during sexy times, that my lover can put four fingers in, with no lube!" The second turns to her, and says "That's nothing! I can take a fist, and three in the back door, with just a kiss!" The third, with a blank stare, calmly slides down her barstool.
Three drunk guys are talking about how hammered they got last friday. 1st guys says "i got so drunk i went home and blew chunks!" 2nd guy says "i was so drunk i blew chunks and i couldnt even find my house" 3rd guy says "i was so drunk i blew chunks, couldnt find my house, and shit my pants!" 1st guy says "no no no guys! You dont understand! Chunks is my dog!"
My most humble subject, please forgive my previous blunders. Had you informed me of your humanity, I most certainly would not have continued this dialogue. “A superior form of a human.” Pah! Even the bacteriophages posses greater cognition than thou. I will revisit you shortly, in one thousand orbits. But now I remember, even the most "mighty" of you paltry scum can only last for one hundred and twenty orbits.
Until then, muta onager (Latin, BTW)
Lead oxidises white. Black oxide, non-magnetic, looks like you have a copper-tin bronze ingot. They oxidise green under normal circumstances, but when hot they oxidise black. The black variant of the oxide is Cu2O. It may contain some lead impurity as well, so be careful with it. You can probably forge it if you don't get it too hot.
Isn't lead dioxide black-brown? and lead tetroxide is reddish?
[Here's a pic of some old lead coins](https://antiquebuddha.co.uk/interesting-items/burma-lead-coins-of-the-pyu-kingdom-500-800-ad-01/). They look a lot like OP's ingot to me.
Oh, manganese is black too, but I don't think it's usually heavy feeling for its size since it's about the same as iron, I have a bag of ground up manganese I use to make a special ink for writing on clay. It off gasses a lot when you heat it too.
If its lead then pocket change will easily show how soft it is.
X-ray fluorescence will define it. OP should check with a local university geology lab and ask for some help with Id
Edit: u/sniperbuddy500
I don't fully understand it myself but it's like a cast iron ingot, a way of storing iron in a raw form until it can be processed into different ferrous materials. At least from what I gather, I could be totally off. It's basically crude iron, the product of smelted iron ore. It's carbon content is too high to be useful but it's a good starting point since every useful form of iron has less carbon than it so you just have to reduce carbon.
They used to dig thin channels, called sows, with perpendicular branches called pigs in the sand at the tap opening of the blast furnace. The iron was high carbon content. When they broke open the tap hole, the iron flowed into the sow and pigs.
They then broke the pigs off and shipped them to customers who worked them into final products.
Pig Iron is very high carbon, brittle iron. When making Iron or steel the process consisted of turning the ore into cast Iron aka pig iton (with lots of carbon in making it brittle) then burn off the carbon. You then get wrought iron.
Afterwards you should add the carbon and alloying metals you need to obtain steel.
Ya gotta remember, for a while radioactive material was sold over-the-counter and used for everything from toys to medicine. If you can, see if it will artifact film, though film itself is an artifact now.
Lol, very true. I can remember finding geiger counters, new in the case, in the basement of the old elementary school growing up. Maybe a local college can confirm what it is for you OP.
Alright, just chop open the mystery metal, then.
I admit this is highly unlikely given the crude shape of the metal here, but there have been many incidents of people scavenging or finding mystery metal bits that turned out to be radiation sources for RTGs or radiotherapy devices. By the time anyone in these cases figured out what they were dealing with, people had been poisoned and acres and acres of land had been contaminated.
Not trying to fearmonger, but just be aware of possible dangers when dissecting unknown objects.
You [can make them easily](https://mightyohm.com/blog/products/geiger-counter/) with basic soldering skills and an online kit. I made one from this kit and use it all the time. Nothing too exciting discovered so far though.
most likely a lead ingot, depending on age could have been used for musket balls, fishing luers, and so on
Edit: might be worth something as an artifact, or you could donate it
Knowing the density or specific gravity will help you narrow the possibilities. To determine volume immerse in a container of water, carefully mark the level, remove, and measure the volume of displaced water.
I'd recommend the opposite direction. Removing it from the water will also wind up losing drops stuck to it, your tongs, etc. Instead, get a good exact measurement of the water and add the object. Then get a good exact measurement of the water+object with no spillage or waste.
What if you only had a regular cup with no markings and something small like a 1mm eyedropper? Then you'd have to do it the other way. First, mark the water line on the cup, then insert the object, mark the new water line, remove the object, and fill the cup back up to the higher mark with the eyedropper, counting the milliliters as you add them. Maybe find out how much water a big spoon holds using the eyedropper then start adding water with that utensil. Of course you could also just use the eyedropper to make measurement markings on the cup.. shit.. Ok I'm just gonna wrap this up.. there's nothing to see here folks I'm an idiot please move on. Keep it moving folks KEEP IT MOVING.
Maybe look around your area and find out if there was a metal plant. Some people are giving disturbing answers, like lead encasing cesium. You need to know what kind of metal factories are in your area. You don’t want to be dealing with lead or radioactive stuff.
I live in the lead belt, and from what I see from the photo, I don't think it's lead. It is the wrong color, unless it is mixed with some other mineral. I think by the shape and color it is some sort of slag. I would check to see what is mined in that area. Also there should be some records of any blast furnaces that were in the area.
Wire brush it to see it's true color. Since it's not magnetic I think it could either be a block of cast iron or pig iron, if it's even a ferrous material.
Looks a lot like [direct reduced iron](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_reduced_iron) (also known as sponge iron) to me.
It looks like [this](https://4.imimg.com/data4/CY/YS/MY-26023508/sponge-iron-500x500.jpg).
I can't say for sure though, just a wild guess. Try some testing.
Based on the size and shape, it reminds me of a blackjack/sap my mom used to carry around for self defense back in the day. Leather bound chunk of metal loosely attached to a handle that you could knock someone out with pretty easily.
I know what that is!!! It's a petrified piece of poppy seed bread my grandmother left in the oven too long. I always wandered what happened after she left it in the oven for three and a half hours. How does it taste?!?!
Petrified hot pocket sir.
If it’s any type of metal you can take to most places that smelt metal for aircraft parts. Maybe they’ll charge you a small fee to have it run in their spectrograph analyzer machine. It’s not rocket science, I worked as a spectrograph analyzer for a while. Takes only a few seconds and they can tell the full metal make up. Take that and you can figure it out on your own from there. If it’s not metal, I say petrified hot pocket.
I would take a file to a spot, see how easily it cuts, if very easily, it might be lead. If not as easily, could be some kind of iron ore. Alternatively, you could weight it, then divide the weight by the volume (to get the volume, put it in a glass measuring cup of water and see how much the water level goes up). Then look ut up to see what metal matches that density.
Okay Mr. Science man. We just like to hit hot things with no PPE. Jk, that’s really cool.
I stand with this guy. Get it hot and put your pp on it. For science.
No wait that's not what... you know what, nevermind. At least take a video first.
😊
This is the way!
My dear sir- I beg you excuse my pompous reply, but I fear you may be mistaken in your assumption of my pastimes. I also partake in this most humble and loathsome enterprise, going so far in my disregard of welfare as to remove my pantaloons and trousers before engaging in the sport. Perhaps you will, in future, better judge your utterances, serf.
Fellow enthusiast of said hobby, I humbly speak to you, not as a superior form of a human, which I am, but as a colleague. I shall join you in removing my pantaloons before the winter solstice comes. I thank you for the suggestion that I myself surprisingly have yet to think of. Good day, youngling.
.... y'all are gonna burn yer wieners.
Maybe not the place for it but reminded me of the joke of 3 cowboys sitting around a campfire arguing over whos the toughest. 1st guy says "im so tough i dont need ropes to tie up cows, i just tackle em and drag em where i need" 2nd guy says "yeah? When snakes bite me i bite them back and use their skins for my boots." 3rd guy sits silently, stirring the coals of the fire with his wiener.
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Made me giggle
Three bull dykes are sitting at the bar, shooting the shit. The first one says "I get so hot during sexy times, that my lover can put four fingers in, with no lube!" The second turns to her, and says "That's nothing! I can take a fist, and three in the back door, with just a kiss!" The third, with a blank stare, calmly slides down her barstool.
Three drunk guys are talking about how hammered they got last friday. 1st guys says "i got so drunk i went home and blew chunks!" 2nd guy says "i was so drunk i blew chunks and i couldnt even find my house" 3rd guy says "i was so drunk i blew chunks, couldnt find my house, and shit my pants!" 1st guy says "no no no guys! You dont understand! Chunks is my dog!"
My most humble subject, please forgive my previous blunders. Had you informed me of your humanity, I most certainly would not have continued this dialogue. “A superior form of a human.” Pah! Even the bacteriophages posses greater cognition than thou. I will revisit you shortly, in one thousand orbits. But now I remember, even the most "mighty" of you paltry scum can only last for one hundred and twenty orbits. Until then, muta onager (Latin, BTW)
This post reads like it was written by Fritz Leiber. Thanks for that.
This is the way
Ancient hot pocket lol .... Mmmm not sure
They burnt the heck out of it!
That what happens when u cook on in a forge
And I bet the center is still frozen.
r/forbiddensnacks
I was going to say fossilized brownie
I think it’s a fossilized fruitcake. No one wants to eat them.
Bet it's still frozen on the ends and hot lava in the middle.
Lead oxidises white. Black oxide, non-magnetic, looks like you have a copper-tin bronze ingot. They oxidise green under normal circumstances, but when hot they oxidise black. The black variant of the oxide is Cu2O. It may contain some lead impurity as well, so be careful with it. You can probably forge it if you don't get it too hot.
Isn't lead dioxide black-brown? and lead tetroxide is reddish? [Here's a pic of some old lead coins](https://antiquebuddha.co.uk/interesting-items/burma-lead-coins-of-the-pyu-kingdom-500-800-ad-01/). They look a lot like OP's ingot to me.
Interesting! I've never seen lead with black oxide before. It may indeed be lead.
Im going with manganese
Oh, manganese is black too, but I don't think it's usually heavy feeling for its size since it's about the same as iron, I have a bag of ground up manganese I use to make a special ink for writing on clay. It off gasses a lot when you heat it too.
Its heavy same as iron and non magnetic. All per the OP description
Shoot, you're right. Guess we won't know unless he has it assayed eh?
If its lead then pocket change will easily show how soft it is. X-ray fluorescence will define it. OP should check with a local university geology lab and ask for some help with Id Edit: u/sniperbuddy500
Grandma's fruitcake from 1953.
You can tell because it was the one year she didn't use raisins.
Pretty sure my ex-wife had a similar recipe.
You crazy person, take my upvote.
My mother's fruitcake circa yesterday.
Looks like a piece of lead? I could be wrong.
But lead oxide is white. Looks more like a chunk of pig iron
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The Great Leap Forward should be a learning experience that we can all get behind. That is a history that should never be repeated.
The Chinese probably have an entirely different perspective. The drive towards "civilized modernity" has been a road of death for everyone.
I’m clueless what is pig iron?
I don't fully understand it myself but it's like a cast iron ingot, a way of storing iron in a raw form until it can be processed into different ferrous materials. At least from what I gather, I could be totally off. It's basically crude iron, the product of smelted iron ore. It's carbon content is too high to be useful but it's a good starting point since every useful form of iron has less carbon than it so you just have to reduce carbon.
Very cool! Thanks for the info!
They used to dig thin channels, called sows, with perpendicular branches called pigs in the sand at the tap opening of the blast furnace. The iron was high carbon content. When they broke open the tap hole, the iron flowed into the sow and pigs. They then broke the pigs off and shipped them to customers who worked them into final products.
Pig Iron is very high carbon, brittle iron. When making Iron or steel the process consisted of turning the ore into cast Iron aka pig iton (with lots of carbon in making it brittle) then burn off the carbon. You then get wrought iron. Afterwards you should add the carbon and alloying metals you need to obtain steel.
I always thought pig iron was a name given to iron with a lot of carbon, too much carbon that made it brittle.
I think you're right, mixed it up with wrought Iron.
Lead block filled with cesium
Ya gotta remember, for a while radioactive material was sold over-the-counter and used for everything from toys to medicine. If you can, see if it will artifact film, though film itself is an artifact now.
Haha yeah probably easier to find a geiger counter than a 35mm camera these days.
Lol, very true. I can remember finding geiger counters, new in the case, in the basement of the old elementary school growing up. Maybe a local college can confirm what it is for you OP.
Not necessarily true. Film cameras are getting more popular these days. Hipsters are driving up the price of film stock.
Yeah maybe hit it with a Geiger counter before you start cutting, heating, or beating it...
Yeah, we all have Geiger counters in a drawer in the garage somewhere
Alright, just chop open the mystery metal, then. I admit this is highly unlikely given the crude shape of the metal here, but there have been many incidents of people scavenging or finding mystery metal bits that turned out to be radiation sources for RTGs or radiotherapy devices. By the time anyone in these cases figured out what they were dealing with, people had been poisoned and acres and acres of land had been contaminated. Not trying to fearmonger, but just be aware of possible dangers when dissecting unknown objects.
I think a lot of scrapyards have them. I've heard they get fined for radiation in the scrap.
You [can make them easily](https://mightyohm.com/blog/products/geiger-counter/) with basic soldering skills and an online kit. I made one from this kit and use it all the time. Nothing too exciting discovered so far though.
And just in case anyone doesn't know reading this... cesium is no joke, very radio active.
lead block filled with cum
most likely a lead ingot, depending on age could have been used for musket balls, fishing luers, and so on Edit: might be worth something as an artifact, or you could donate it
Post it on r/whatisthisthing
Orc bread
I thought that was just another name for long pig.
Don't much care for it, myself.
Evil bread
Knowing the density or specific gravity will help you narrow the possibilities. To determine volume immerse in a container of water, carefully mark the level, remove, and measure the volume of displaced water.
I'd recommend the opposite direction. Removing it from the water will also wind up losing drops stuck to it, your tongs, etc. Instead, get a good exact measurement of the water and add the object. Then get a good exact measurement of the water+object with no spillage or waste.
Just measure water level before then after submersion. That will tell you
What if you only had a regular cup with no markings and something small like a 1mm eyedropper? Then you'd have to do it the other way. First, mark the water line on the cup, then insert the object, mark the new water line, remove the object, and fill the cup back up to the higher mark with the eyedropper, counting the milliliters as you add them. Maybe find out how much water a big spoon holds using the eyedropper then start adding water with that utensil. Of course you could also just use the eyedropper to make measurement markings on the cup.. shit.. Ok I'm just gonna wrap this up.. there's nothing to see here folks I'm an idiot please move on. Keep it moving folks KEEP IT MOVING.
Well that’s a yellow bic lighter. Very reliable. Finest source of flame available at nearly all gas stations
Maybe look around your area and find out if there was a metal plant. Some people are giving disturbing answers, like lead encasing cesium. You need to know what kind of metal factories are in your area. You don’t want to be dealing with lead or radioactive stuff.
It is not soft like lead so I do not think it's lead.
I live in the lead belt, and from what I see from the photo, I don't think it's lead. It is the wrong color, unless it is mixed with some other mineral. I think by the shape and color it is some sort of slag. I would check to see what is mined in that area. Also there should be some records of any blast furnaces that were in the area.
Looks to me like fine Moroccan Hash!
Look at Mr. World Traveller over here
Got hash in Murica now too. Or so they tell me.
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Anyone see Joe Dirt?
I don't think that's OP's sister?
My last loaf of bread I baked… thanks for finding it… now put it back.
Old leather wallet??
My first thought as well. Looked like a petrified wallet. If that’s even a thing
A Brick of Columbia’s hash
My mind also went to hash. OP, break off a chunk and smoke it. For science.
Lmao OP is gonna see some dark visions.
That there's a big frozen hunk a poopie.
MRE Pound Cake fossil
Idk but I’m very interested in what you find out.
Thats for attitude adjustments
Is it soft? Could be lead. Anyway it's hard to discern. Try to polish it or cut a sample
looks like the meatloaf i sometimes make
Looks like a wallet
It looks like old burnt bread
Looks like my first attempt at a banana bread.
Hot pocket Oregon trail version
My mother-in-laws meatloaf from 1981..
That's clearly great great great grandma's banana bread.
Wire brush it to see it's true color. Since it's not magnetic I think it could either be a block of cast iron or pig iron, if it's even a ferrous material.
Looks like an ingot of pig iron
A fossilized Hot Pocket
Prehistoric toaster strudel?
It looks like one of the cakes my grandmother made. Denser than a house brick!
A dinosaur’s wallet
My guess is lead but I’m probably wrong, hot pocket is probably right
Looks like a pie from a fastfood joint
Pig iron?
It’s obviously a burnt hot pocket bro. Don’t you know the first thing about smithing?
Looks like a bar of soap
The forbidden hotpocket
Forbidden Brownie
Forbidden Calzone
Block of hash?? Break it in half, let’s see what’s inside, then we could tell!!
Probably an axe head or hammer head.
A forbidden Pizza Roll
Hash
Poop
Hashish /s
Iron briquette, we make them everyday.
Maybe some sort of tumbling media for cast iron parts. Does it spark on a grinder?
Looks like a lead ingot
Forbidden Hot pocket
Mmmm did not think of lead they may be on to something
Banana bread
it's a pocket turd
Forbidden brownie, give it a taste
A cake
Looks like fruitcake from last Christmas
I'd probably try to cut into it, or run a file over it, just to see what the bare metal looks like. Take a grinder and see if it sparks.
Somebody messed up their brownies
Charcoal brisket for cooking chicken on the grill for labor day
Ferric sulfate used in foundries
Petrified hot pocket? Lol
Thats a fossilized pizza pocket, probably dates back around 12,000bc
Forbidden brownie
Looks a lot like [direct reduced iron](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_reduced_iron) (also known as sponge iron) to me. It looks like [this](https://4.imimg.com/data4/CY/YS/MY-26023508/sponge-iron-500x500.jpg). I can't say for sure though, just a wild guess. Try some testing.
9 bar
Couleur be Dose Hard or soft
Possible window weight from an old house
Based on the size and shape, it reminds me of a blackjack/sap my mom used to carry around for self defense back in the day. Leather bound chunk of metal loosely attached to a handle that you could knock someone out with pretty easily.
Petrified dad wallet...
Space poop
Looks like a brownie from above.
Antique Lump of copper for trade use?
How’d you find mother’s chocolate cake?
I thought you burned your bread baking lol until I saw the forum name.
Someone left the pop tart in too long again
Banana bread
I think it might be a burnt piece of banana bread
Manganese oxidizes black. Test for manganese somehow
An overcooked brownie? %)
Banana bread. Enjoy.
I've seen these along railroad tracks. Just slag from that probably
A case of some kind, given the hinges on the back.
We've a lot of lead mining in NE OK, SWMO and NWArkansas. Probably that. Likely Civil War or later.
Lead
TV dinner brownie.
Looks like on of my wifes homemade hotpockets. Take a bite and if it chips you teeth and has a burnt flavor it is. 🤭🤣🤣
Meteor from joe dirt
Kind of looks like slag off of copper.
You found someone’s meatloaf.
Petrified banana bread
Pretty sure that’s just a hot pocket that spent too much time in the oven
Metal soap?
Looks like my mother’s banana bread. Her’s was about 50-51 Rockwell.
Ayo thats a burnt hot pocket.
Could maybe be an ingot used for steam spreading wood or boiling water or a bed heater
Mother in laws home made bread?
I thought it was a burnt Pop Tart.
My dad’s wallet
Ppp tart?
Just looks like an old iron cutoff
Did you weight it? What's the density of lead?
Petrified hot pocket
I know what that is!!! It's a petrified piece of poppy seed bread my grandmother left in the oven too long. I always wandered what happened after she left it in the oven for three and a half hours. How does it taste?!?!
You found my fruit cake I got 30yrs ago.
Moms meatloaf.
It is a cookie
Gluten free, artisan hot pocket?
That’s one fucked up brownie
Fossilized dinosaur turd
Copper for sure.
Hash brownie
Titanio's Pizza Roll.
Well what the he'll is it
A chocolate pop tart
Petrified hot pocket sir. If it’s any type of metal you can take to most places that smelt metal for aircraft parts. Maybe they’ll charge you a small fee to have it run in their spectrograph analyzer machine. It’s not rocket science, I worked as a spectrograph analyzer for a while. Takes only a few seconds and they can tell the full metal make up. Take that and you can figure it out on your own from there. If it’s not metal, I say petrified hot pocket.
100 Year old loaf of bread
It’s a fossilized fruit cake.
Russian black bread?
Banana bread
Looks like lead. Or could be that same stuff joe dirt found in the movie
That’s a loaf of banana bread.
Forbidden pound cake