Agreed, except that it’s not 2 of every 123 iteration. It’s 2 of most, 1 of 312, and 3 of 213.
321 x 2
213 x 3
231 x 2
312 x 1
123 x 2
132 x 2
How about a device for encrypting / decrypting secret messages, or maybe a special purpose calculator of some sort?
The casting pattern maker made a mistake? I find it interesting the 1-2-3 numbers aren’t in any sequence around the wheel (that I can see…)
“decrypting secret messages” Hmmm … this is a fairly well made thing…some type of symbolic lodge code device? Lodge chapters as customers would justify the cost of a casting and multiple cast parts.
It seems like there’s must be some relation between the 3 digit sequences and the 5 digit sequences they’re next to. But then why are most of the 3 digit sequences paired with more than one 5 digit sequence?
Why are those particular 5 digit sequences used?
Nm
Could it simply be an overblown reference device? Maybe there’s some field where those 3 digit sequences relate to those 5 digit sequences somehow. Maybe it’s a teaching device.
I’m not as numerically gifted as some but I see the numbers as 2 sets, an inner set of 1-3 and an outer set of 1-5 to give a 2-digit result. The 1-3 are usually only “nearest to” the pointer while the 1-5 can be more definitely aligned with the pointer. Or maybe a 1-2-3 combination with a final 1-5 number.
I think the friction spring points to a reference device or a purposefully turned number generator.
Well, there seem to be 100 “teeth” on the perimeter, which does not seem to match with the 12 divisions. The toothed outer rim does not seem to be related to the numbers. I thought, at first, the teeth were some kind of “clicker” to insure there is no question on what number it lands on (as in Wheel of Fortune types of wheels).
I think the “teeth” are there to make the edge easier to grasp and turn.
- sigh*
It’s an early Mersenne
Prime Number Generator.
I have discovered a
wonderfully elegant
and simple proof of
this, which however
this margin is too
narrow to conta
It’s been suggested that it may be a prop for some sort of performance or magic trick.
Pick a number, now turn the dial…
Could this be the engine-room-end of that thing they have in the pilot house of old steamships, where they move the lever to “All Ahead Full” and a pointer moves on this to tell the engineers which levers to pull and how far?
Or, as someone pointed out above, could the pointer be being used to specify which of the five numbers in the outer ring you add to the three numbers in the inner ring, for something which is four-digit-number-specific? I.e., in the picture it could be indicating 1321.
I don’t think it hooks into anything else. It appears to be a standalone device.
I found this French lottery device that looks to be the same era of technology. It may also have friction springs…
Could it have something to do with old telephone exchanges?
Could it have been used somehow in manufacturing combination locks?
Maybe it was used to identify whatever is going through the wholes. Telegraph or telephone wires, for example.
A couple of observations: That thing’s much bigger than I first thought - the screw in the middle made me think 2-3 inches across, but unless a very tiny person is holding it (hand and wrist at lower left), it’s about a foot across. (The screw’s really big, that is.)
There are also eight notches per segment, the same as the total number of digits per segment, and notches straddle each separator line. So if the edge notches are stops, it cannot stop on a separator line and must stop on one of eight notches within each segment.
I am not sure what either of these adds to the discussion, though.
I meant “holes” not “wholes”.
It depends how you count them. Some lines line up with a notch and some line up with a tooth. I’m skeptical that the notched edge serves any purpose other than to make it easier to grip the edge and turn the wheel.