Yes, and I misquoted it to boot.
I just don’t think of Reddit as any great repository of brainpower, other than for pop culture and what’s trending. But throwing it out visually to millions might be just the path to a solution for this - that expert on early 20th ________s might see it.
I really can’t see it being a control for something. The numbers don’t relate to any other physical aspect of the thing as far as I can see. If it’s a dial then you’d normally have a slot or a peg or something that made sure that it was aligned correctly when mounted onto whatever piece of equipment it was “dialing”, otherwise it would be too easy to mount it wrong and end up with the numbers not being aligned with whatever it was controlling, like the numbers being off on an old fashioned TV channel dial so you set it to channel 3 but get channel 6 instead.
As far as it being art and saying “Who can explain art? It doesn’t have to make sense”; this may be true but it’s also an easy way to dismiss something you can’t explain. Sure, it could be some sort of weird avant garde art but you have to weigh the chances of that against other possibilities, and it think the idea that it served some function is much more likely.
That’s what I think the peg at the bottom is, rather than a spring, like some people are referring to it as.
I’m not sure if the spring is the thing at the bottom or something on the mounting screw. But that tilted mount looks like something added later on if it’s a more complex machine than a randomly spinning wheel.
It could also be someone’s practice piece for making cast iron molds. We made some things like that in Jr. High School shop class, using aluminum instead of cast iron.
I don’t think anyone is calling a peg a spring. The spring goes through the mounting hole in the center of the disk (or extends from the front of it), look at the side view.
I think, when you say peg you’re referring to the pointer (or peg, or whatever you want to call it) that’s mounted on the front of the base. That’s not part of the wheel and wouldn’t turn with it so I don’t see how it can assure alignment other than visually, which is a poor way to design something. Any halfway decent design would make it physically impossible to align it wrong.
This isn’t a bad suggestion, but I have to wonder why it would have a pointer on the base.
Maybe it’s a sales sample. “We can make you a numbered wheel with an indicator, if that’s what you need. Here’s a sample. We can do whatever numbering or lettering you need.”
The numbers could just be someone’s numerical version of lorem ipsum.
ETA: But it looks like there is some usage wear, which makes it less likely to have been a sample.
side… view… ? searches Oh! More pictures!
Way thinner than I thought it would be; I thought this thing was the size of a 25 pound weight you’d put on a barbell. I was wondering why people thought it’s meant to be turned by hand; I thought it was heavy enough that it was included as one of the gears in a set, like on of the gears in a watch, only really huge. This looks more like just something that would stand on a table, and you set it as a visual reminder for something you’re working on.
It’s true that it’s not overall a brain trust, but as you say, putting it in front of more eyes can’t hurt.
Exactly!
Looking a bit more at that spring and peg - it looks like the wheel is something that you can pull forward with the peg acting as a stopping mechanism. This might indicate that the wheel was designed to have something interchangeable placed behind it. Perhaps whatever was behind it is what would show through those holes.
Catalan numbers? Search for, say, 34125.
Concrete mix ratios? not sure what the 5-digit numbers would signify.
I like the idea of it being a sales sample. The numbers have the look of someone having pulled out a set of number stamps (1-3 and 1-5), and, while moving from location to location, permuting them in a simple but not-completely-systematic way (resulting in the strange distribution of the permutations of 1-3) to produce a semi-random collection.
But then, what is it a sample of? Did the finder have a relative who traveled in numbered wheels? (I had an uncle who traveled in women’s underwear. True story.)
Yeah, I know. It seems a strange thing to have samples of, unless it’s just a sample of your casting abilities in general. But if that’s what it is, what’s the point of the pointer?
Personally I think it is a decoration. I mean it’s nice to try and find meaning to things, but if this actually does anything - it’s an extremely effecient way of organizing it.
I mean think of other things for organizing stuff like calendars/periodic tables/and what not.
I spend a great deal of time trying to organize data to make it look understandable.
I would LOVE to have situations where I could present data in such an organized fashion as this.
Actually if I could cast iron or something like it and was doing it for a class or something - I could see someone who is slightly OCD about numbers and space such as myself making something almost like this.
I guess it could be a sample, but I think it’s more likely something to give someone something to do - like newtons cradle - and have it on your desk or something.
I’d like to know if the pointer is indeed a pointer. It seems very useless to be able to turn it so that it points at any certain place since none of the numbers change (or even line up very well for that matter). A simple list could take the place of this device if it is meant to be some sort of reference tool.
How do you explain the contradictions between General Relativity and Quantum Stuff then?
It’s just God making Art with the Universe! 
I think the “teeth” aren’t teeth at all. The edge is like that to make it easier to grasp and turn.
The holes reduce the weight and possibly make it easier to cast.
From the discussion over on International Skeptics regarding the holes:
http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showpost.php?p=10743389&postcount=213
[QUOTE=Trebuchet]
Even more likely, to improve castability. If the web was solid, you’d get a bunch of shrinks at about the locations of the holes due to uneven cooling There’s a lot of art goes into designing good castings.
[/QUOTE]
What does it do?
DO!?
What’s it for?
Well, nothing, nothing. I mean, that’s the beauty of it!
I say it’s a gambling aid for horse racing. 
Used to make Roman dodecahedrons?
I got nuffin’.