Posted 2 years ago
srarman
(10 items)
I aquired this item at an estate auction yesterday. It measures 6 inches long and the diameter is 3 inches. It weighs 7 pounds. I can tell by looking into the hole that the steel shell is about 3/8 inch thick and it is about 3/4 full of lead. There are no markings visible. I would like to know what it's purpose is. Thank you in advance for any serious comments.
At first glance I'd have guessed a plumb bob, but that's probably too easy and your dimensions would make it somewhat too big for most of those, which I'd also think would more likely have some kind of maker's info visible. SO -- I'll now wonder if it could be a pendulum (or counterweight?) instead, from some kind of large (tower?) clock or clock-like mechanism where it wouldn't necessarily have been intended to be seen, thus maybe explaining both why it isn't decorative/decorated and why it would be made to have the lead inside it as means of 'tweaking' its precise weight...?
The idea of it being a tower clock weight is intriguing. I'd thought of it being a large fishing net sinker but a counterweight is another possibility. Thank you for your input.
I think AO idea sounds logical. The hole could permit incremental increases in weight as necessary to achieve different weights.
That's exactly what I meant by that 'weight tweaking' comment, Watchsearcher. There's lots (comparatively) of machinery made for all sorts of purposes out there in the world, that otherwise includes in its mechanisms *some* variety of a part, the weight of which needs to be reasonably calibrated to some exact-ish amount, in order to allow the rest of the machine to perform some kind of an accurately repetitive (usually) motion. Clocks are easy examples to cite, also scales, but there are no doubt many more especially in industry. Making that key part to allow it to have a little extra weight added to (or removed from) it somehow (the lead on the inside here, that's one of the common ways to do it) accomplishes that engineering need handily, and/or can also allow periodic re-calibration if needed over time.