Hey, it's Friday! Who wants to play a fun game?

Trying to help a friend liquidate some unclaimed salvage.  He has a box of about a dozen of these things.  I figure it'll probably be easier to sell if I know what the heck it is.  There are no markings on the box.

Appears to be die-cast aluminum, with a few threaded holes machined into it.  No identifying marks on the casting whatsoever.  Backside is feature-less.

So, which one of you geniuses has any idea what this thing is called, or what it's used for? 

The winner will be held in high regard by yours truly. 

I haven't seen one of those in years. Its called a "danger frisbee", and for good reason. For ages 6 and up.

barefootskater said:

I haven't seen one of those in years. Its called a "danger frisbee", and for good reason. For ages 6 and up.

You owe me a mouthful of coffee and a keyboard.

According to a google image search that thing is called a "Metal".

barefootskater said:

I haven't seen one of those in years. Its called a "danger frisbee", and for good reason. For ages 6 and up.

Nice!  I remember (and survived) lawn darts, but I don't remember the "Danger Frisbee."

Back side of an electric motor housing end plate, with cooling fins?  

Part #23? 

Google tells me its an eyelash.

8valve said:

Google tells me its an eyelash.

I don't think that's right.

Actually, I lied.  The plain flat backside actually has 19 small diameter (3/16"?) threaded holes in a not-quite-symmetrical pattern, plus one larger non-threaded through hole, visible in the foreground of the picture above.  It's got a lot of threaded holes in it.  It's round, but there's no hole through the center.  I do not think that its application requires that it spins.  Cooling fins for something round?  Can't believe there isn't a number on it somewhere.

My first inclination is that it's a heat sink for something, just not sure what

In reply to Gaunt596 :

Those radial fins imply to me that it is bolted to something that rotates, as well. 

Friction makes heat..  off of something frictiony maybe?

Heatsink for a rotating item (stator, etc)

Top plate of a tin foil hat, industrial strength.

Might have been a heat sink from a Juicero.

You won't be able to sell them, so might as well start planning what to use them for:

Wheel centers for your three car race team.

pinchvalve said:

Back side of an electric motor housing end plate, with cooling fins? 

 

Was thinking the same thing. It'd make a good heatsink in any case.

A Russian roulette wheel? :)

I like the idea that it goes on the back of an electric motor as a heat sink. I can imagine a small fan connected to the motor shaft spinning along in the center and the curved vanes direct the air outward. But that doesn't seem quite right.

How about a picture of the other side?

In all seriousness, A diffuser?

Looks an awful lot like it belongs on an air cooled motor of some sort. (part #23 above)

I don't know, but I want one!

It’s a 12.5” ruler holder.

I think it needs to spin for the vanes to make sense, or possibly that something needs to be spinning in close proximity, but I prefer the former.

The standoffs mean it must be connected to some reasonably involved structure which spins with it, if it spins.

The flat side certainly seems more appropriate for conducting heat from whatever's generating it than the standoffs would be.

The outer lip and the two blocks with an outward-facing threaded hole suggest that it's mounted to a case, and the lip's width suggests to me that it's fairly thick (aluminum, or incredibly burly?) I'm way out on a limb, but the narrow band that would be sitting on the lip while being windowed for the vanes suggests an aluminum case with milled holes. But now I'm closer to prognostication than forensics.

I'm curious. Hope we figure it out...

GameboyRMH said:

pinchvalve said:

Back side of an electric motor housing end plate, with cooling fins? 

 

Was thinking the same thing. It'd make a good heatsink in any case.

I agree, looks like a heat sink 

Unclaimed salvage.... the guy that originally bought them couldn't sell them and dumped them on someone else. Take them to a swap meet, someone will buy them and they'll know what it is used for. GLWS

I’m thinking it’s stationary and a fan mounts to it, no?