An older simmer plate/ heat dispersing mat to tame your vigorous stove. A pair of them came with my Coleman 404. It’s a fibrous mat, most likely asbestos with a crimped metal edging. I’m not sure if I should keep it or carefully dispose of them.
My grandmother had one for use on a gas stove. I see loose fibres. If not intending to use soak in light oil and seal in plastic or spray with clear polyurethane
If you really want to keep it then I’d coat it in a clear polymer, label it dangerous for descendants who might find it and just have it for reference in the collection. Better still, find an original catalogue page and keep that instead. Asbestos it’s dangerous. Here in UK there are chemistry teachers who are suffering asbestosis because they used something similar in their school labs.
"Stove mats were protective devices designed to be placed over the top of a hot burner in order to prevent damage to pots and pans from hot stoves. They consisted of an asbestos cloth or canvas applied over a rigid material, often with an aluminium edge. The rigid material was often asbestos millboard, so stove mats were essentially made from asbestos wrapped around asbestos. These mats usually remained intact, but wear and tear could release asbestos fibers into the air." Taken from HERE. As long as your mat remains intact it won't release asbestos fibers into the air. Ben
asbestoos is a health treat only if you breth its dust for long time. A treat seriors for workers in asbesto using factories and edile workers cuttindoasbesto cement pipes and roofs wihiut any protecyion. Just not be tempted to grond dust fron the discs and sniff it, it is NOT cocaine
I’m sorry @orsoorso, this is not how we see it in UK. A friend of mine, now deceased as a result of asbestos, had to search back through her life history to find where she might have inhaled asbestos. It isn’t always possible as asbestos escaped into the air before we realised how dangerous it is. Mesothelioma is not dose related and can result from very small exposure. I wouldn’t have any of it in my house.