This is an old centrifuge. My predecessors ("chip spinners")would have shoveled or craned in machining waste(metal filings mixed with oil used to cool the cutting tools) then spun and separated the oil from the metal "chips" ....I called them filing for the longest time... now I have names for different types of chips. coils, springs, filings, needles, nettles, curlyques, powder, fine powder, and the worst thing you could ever have to shovel in your life...Cement!  cement happens when fine powder gets compacted over time and becomes like solid steel.