Not Sure if This is Soapstone

[RichPA]

The piece is cylidrical in shape and made from stone. The bottom has a disc plug that looks like flint. The top has a drilled area that is 1/2" deep. The material rubs off black on a paper towel or paper. I would like to see what is under the the flint disc. Is anyone familiar with soapstone?

 

[uniface]

I can't tell from your pictures, but if it's drilled completely through, and the plug almost (but not quite) blocks the hole, you've got a little smoking pipe. The plug kept what was being smoked out of your mouth while still allowing the smoke to pass around it.

 

[jpitt1970]

It's the inside of an old battery

 

[Tnmountains]

I have a soap stone gorget/pendent. The color of mine is brownish.

 

[joshuaream]

Yep, it looks like an old battery core.

 

[ohioaxeman]

i've been told the same thing about this "pipe" in that it may be part of an old battery! it leaves ashy residue on my fingers when i touch the insides of the bowl or stem. you can actually write with it. My opinion is that if it was manufactured, wouldn't it be more symetrical?

 

[RichPA]

ohioaxeman I appreciate your picture because it looks somewhat simialar to mine. I will agree that the pics I posted were hopeful to a pipe stem. My question for the "old battery" posted by jpitt1970 and joshuream is it made of wheathered lead that appears to be stone? What was old battery cores made of? This was found in an area that had lots of old stoneware. I am not discounting the posibility of old battery core. This is why I posted in the first place and I appreciate your response.

 

[ohioaxeman]

richpa... i found this in the river at milan in erie county, ohio about 10 years ago or so. maybe the movement (tumbling) of the water erased its symetry . one end is smaller than the other (bowl vs. stem), which in my opinion, takes the industrial/manufactured version out of the possibilities. i do know that after i washed it many times over, it still leaves the residue on my fingers when i touch the insides of the holes, kinda like lead pencil stain. check yours for that just to see. i dont refuse to believe the (battery) opinion, but i'm skeptical. does anyone have any examples or pictures to prove this?

 

[RichPA]

ohioaxeman mine rubs off like a lead pencil also. i originally considered it to be lead but it seems lighter compared to lead fishing sinkers and looks like stone. It appears to be stone and I would like further explanation by experts. Mine is not drilled through like yours. Mine is drilled 1/2" on one end with a plug on the other end. I don't know how deep it is drilled on the plugged end. I don't wan't to remove the plug. Soapstone does occur in black which opens the possibility of a pipe. I have read that soapstone is like chalk and would rub off. Yours looks more like a pipe since it is drilled thru. I would also like to see pics of an old battery.

 

[joshuaream]

I found several of them when I was a kid, and thought I had a cache of pipes (before I even knew what a cache was.) My grandfather pointed out that they were from old car/tractor batteries. I snapped one of mine open, and it had some type of wire inside.

ohioaxeman I appreciate your picture because it looks somewhat simialar to mine. I will agree that the pics I posted were hopeful to a pipe stem. My question for the "old battery" posted by jpitt1970 and joshuream is it made of wheathered lead that appears to be stone? What was old battery cores made of? This was found in an area that had lots of old stoneware. I am not discounting the posibility of old battery core. This is why I posted in the first place and I appreciate your response.

 

[ohioaxeman]

I found several of them when I was a kid, and thought I had a cache of pipes (before I even knew what a cache was.) My grandfather pointed out that they were from old car/tractor batteries. I snapped one of mine open, and it had some type of wire inside.

ohioaxeman I appreciate your picture because it looks somewhat simialar to mine. I will agree that the pics I posted were hopeful to a pipe stem. My question for the "old battery" posted by jpitt1970 and joshuream is it made of wheathered lead that appears to be stone? What was old battery cores made of? This was found in an area that had lots of old stoneware. I am not discounting the posibility of old battery core. This is why I posted in the first place and I appreciate your response.

i'm pretty sure there are no wires inside of mine. the hole tapers from smaller to bigger also. its just too crude looking to be manufactured. almost makes me believe that the material was soft at one time and wrapped around a stick, heated to hardness, then the stick removed. what material would leave the ashy stain though? lead?

 

[archer66]

I found several of them when I was a kid, and thought I had a cache of pipes (before I even knew what a cache was.) My grandfather pointed out that they were from old car/tractor batteries. I snapped one of mine open, and it had some type of wire inside.

ohioaxeman I appreciate your picture because it looks somewhat simialar to mine. I will agree that the pics I posted were hopeful to a pipe stem. My question for the "old battery" posted by jpitt1970 and joshuream is it made of wheathered lead that appears to be stone? What was old battery cores made of? This was found in an area that had lots of old stoneware. I am not discounting the posibility of old battery core. This is why I posted in the first place and I appreciate your response.

i'm pretty sure there are no wires inside of mine. the hole tapers from smaller to bigger also. its just too crude looking to be manufactured. almost makes me believe that the material was soft at one time and wrapped around a stick, heated to hardness, then the stick removed. what material would leave the ashy stain though? lead?

Why not take some flakes off and have it analyzed for lead....see if you can get the local health department to do it...they analyze for lead in paint all the time. Heck you can probably even buy your own test kit to analyze for lead.

 

[ohioaxeman]

Why not take some flakes off and have it analyzed for lead....see if you can get the local health department to do it...they analyze for lead in paint all the time. Heck you can probably even buy your own test kit to analyze for lead.


Thats a good idea. i should of done that a long time ago!

 

[GL]

The first three pictures look like a battery anode.
The other ones look like relics.