UFOs? HV insultors?

[LCHIEN]

My wife thinks I'm nuts, but I took a liking to these high Voltage porcelain insulators.

They were by the side of the road for several months after crews upgraded the power poles near the office.
One day I picked them up and cleaned the mud off them.
Made by NGK Loocke. Tracking down the part number/spec sheet on the internet indicates they are good for 65KV wet or 130KV dry.

There should have been three but I only found 2.

These are BIG. The threaded studs on the bottom take 3/4" nuts. Lowes and Home depot don't carry anything bigger than 3/4"! They weigh about 15 pounds (7 kilos) apiece.
Could not find insulators anywhere near this big on eBay.

I just thought they looked cool. Made the bases out of walnut.

[JSCOOK]

Ah that's the engineer in you comming out ... although I don't work with AC electricity, I'd probably would have picked them up too ... definitely an interesting item to have around ... interesting conversational piece to say the least ... if you had the third one you could have used them for table legs or some other project (for the shop of course as it probably wouldn't be allowed in the house)...

[RodKirby]

Hang them from the ceiling either side of your table saw to ward off evil spirits

[Russianwolf]

My dad used to collect those thing, smaller versions though. We used to go down old railraod lines (that had been abandoned and clime the old poles to retrieve them if the poles were even still intact. I ride the train everyday to work now, and see them all along the line, you can tell they aren't in use anymore as some pf the poles/lines are downed and they never replace them.

[LCHIEN]

My dad used to collect those thing, smaller versions though. We used to go down old railraod lines (that had been abandoned and clime the old poles to retrieve them if the poles were even still intact. I ride the train everyday to work now, and see them all along the line, you can tell they aren't in use anymore as some pf the poles/lines are downed and they never replace them.

Surprised the vandals haven't stolen the copper wire for scrap value.

Here in Houston we have the landmark Mecom Fountain at a large and busy intersection (traffic circle) in front of a luxury hotel, The Museum of Fine Arts, Hermann Park, and Rice University. Last fall some brazen crooks apparently stole the lights and bronze light fixtures (in broad daylight or in the dark of night, no one seems to know.) which will now cost $100K to replace and repair. Of course John Mecom was no ordinary rich oilman. He built the fountain for several millions in front of his luxury hotel and probably deducted it as an business expense against hotel profits. Then a while later he donated it to the city and I'll bet he took another tax deduction at its replacement value. Now the city bears the cost of operating and maintaining it and the hotel reaps much of the bennies. The city refurbed it last year for another several million bucks.
I wish I could wheel and deal like Mecom - I'd have the city maintaining my front yard for me while getting a tax deduction.

[lrogers]

Those sorta look like oreintal art pieces to me. Cool what you can do with a bit of scrap and a lot of imagination.

[final_t]

The glass ones are rare and collectors can pay good money for them. These, not so sure, but they will look good on a bookcase as a decorative item!