✅ SOLVED Machined piece of bronze?

[Eleven Cents]

I found this object in a public park in Tucson, AZ. My first thought was that it's a fishing weight, but it seems very elaborate for a fishing weight. It's shaped like an airgun pellet or badminton birdie with a hole drilled through its center. It has fine machining marks and appears to have been made on a lathe. It's around 0.5 inches in diameter. I think it's bronze.

 

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[Back-of-the-boat]

Put something with it for size comparison a quarter, nickle, dime or a greyhound bus.We need a size to give you responses.

 

[mcl]

Put something with it for size comparison a quarter, nickle, dime or a greyhound bus.We need a size to give you responses.

He did say "0.5 inches in diameter". By my calculations that's just about half the diameter of a US quarter, about 60% of the diameter of a nickel, and about 70% of the diameter of a dime. If you were to place many, many copies of his object end to end, it would take roughly 1094 of them to equal the length of a modern Greyhound bus.

Another way of thinking about it is that it is roughly half an inch in diameter.

-mcl

 

[NHBandit]

Decorative knob off a set of horse hames ?

 

[kcm]

Some people (and I'm not saying that's the case here) are simply NO GOOD at guessing dimensions. Some people are no good at guessing weight. Some people are no good at guessing age, or recognizing faces, or names. There's a reason that it helps to give an actual measurement or to add an object that helps with spatial (visual) reference.

That said, it looks like the inside of the opening is tapered, which would suggest it might have been in a tapered shaft. While I like the hames idea, I don't think it's large enough for that - plus there's the taper. Maybe it was the finial from an old flag, back when they made the finials better than they do now.

 

[Bruce R]

Looks like a bronze bearing out of a small electric motor, self aligning.

 

[DCMatt]

Ammo for 50 caliber pellet gun?

Does the hole go all the way thru?

My first thought was a rod finial - like for curtains or towels.



I know this one isn't exactly the same but you get the idea...

DCMatt

 

[Eleven Cents]

Does the hole go all the way thru?

Yes. The inside of the bell appears to have straight/parallel sides, then a 45 degree taper to a small center hole that goes all the way through. Here's a better photo with a Lincoln cent for visual scale. Notice how both the inside and outside corners of the bell are beveled. The rounded end (the bottom in this picture) is slightly angled and irregular, as if it were cut from the workpiece with a hand saw instead of a parting tool.

 

[Back-of-the-boat]

He did say "0.5 inches in diameter". By my calculations that's just about half the diameter of a US quarter, about 60% of the diameter of a nickel, and about 70% of the diameter of a dime. If you were to place many, many copies of his object end to end, it would take roughly 1094 of them to equal the length of a modern Greyhound bus.

Another way of thinking about it is that it is roughly half an inch in diameter.

-mcl

Oh I missed that and I even read the whole thing.LOL It's just seeing it by something seems to help.

 

[Back-of-the-boat]

Looks like a bowl from a pot pipe although it would be small maybe a one toke.

 

[Eleven Cents]

Looks like a bowl from a pot pipe although it would be small maybe a one toke.

*smacks forehead* I think you nailed it. This photo I found online looks like an exact match:

 

[SkaBa]

YThe rounded end (the bottom in this picture) is slightly angled and irregular, as if it were cut from the workpiece with a hand saw instead of a parting tool.

So how does the'bowl' attach to the stem?

 

[kcm]

Hole drilled all the way through? Yes, that tiny piece of info would have helped greatly. The word "through" was omitted.

 

[Back-of-the-boat]

So how does the'bowl' attach to the stem?

press fit.

 

[SkaBa]

Can we please see a photo of bottom of piece? Thanks.

 

[cudamark]

Maybe a sniff test is in order? Just one now.......and don't inhale too deeply!

 

[nhbenz]

Hole drilled all the way through? Yes, that tiny piece of info would have helped greatly. The word "through" was omitted.

No, that's just what was said in post #8, second line.
But yes, seeing the specific size helps me envision possible uses too... though I'd have failed on this one anyway.