✅ SOLVED Test your skills on this one! Spent years trying to ID this.

[musclecar]

I found this in Alaska about 10 years ago, and have never been able to ID it. It is an aluminum piece, about 3 inches square. It has 15 teeth and is numbered 1-15. There is a stop preventing it from spinning freely. The back has two tabs that may have been used to mount it. ANY GUESSES?

Thanks,

MC

PS The quarter used for size was found yesterday! 1935S Yeah!

 

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[taropatch]

People have suggested it is a part of a clock device.
How about a part of an antique pedometer used by people to track how far they walked?
15 miles being the limit it tracked.

When I first saw the 15, I thought of the hexadecimal system (0-9, A-F) but this little gadget is missing the zero.

 

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[thepoolguy]

ok i think im getting warmer here. the pic in my previous post what not 100% accurate...it is actually a half bushel counter from a threshing machine. here is a pic http://www.lakecountyshow.org/AverySeparator/avery_elevator.JPG if someone can zoom in on the unit it is right beside the guy in the green shirt. (not too good wiff deeze pewters here) i new these were on threshing machines just couldnt remember where and what they did. so its not a bale counter. what these counters did was as a half bushel of grain filled the bin it would then trip and dump the grain into the wagon and also trip the counter to keep track of how much the thresherman charged the farmer. (usually about 2 cents per half bushel) this one was made by avery and the pic i posted earlier was made by j i case and only went to 1000. as far as the wheel needing a "stop" i dont think this would be the case as the trip lever would still be trying to activate the counter when it reached its stop thus breaking it. so at the end of the day if the unit read 123 it was a given that it ment 1623. photos of the units are hard to come by on the web but when the engine shows start this summer im sure ill find one from the manufacturer that this wheel came from as each brand of thresher made thier own counter....some im sure went to 1000 as well as some going to 1500 ect ect. so what do you guys think? it sure makes sense...the size is right....it was found on a farm as well. i really think this is it!!!!! dave

 

[thepoolguy]

just did a google search for ("bushels per day" threshing machine) and seems the threshers ranged from 200 to 1800 bushels per day of grain. hmmmm so a 1500 count unit would not be out of the question. just looked at the pic again and i stand corrected as it DOES have a stop.....maybe everyone went home when it hit 1500. as far as the teeth on the unit go my theory is that when the center wheel (or tenths wheel) hit 9 a tab would move the hundreds wheel to the next number which also explains the drag the wheel has when turned....wouldnt want it to viberate and move around. hmmm maybe ill post it on some old engine and steam engine web pages...im sure someone would recognize it if it were part of a bushel counter. dave

 

[thepoolguy]

hey just found another version....this one was made by the frick thresher company. dave

 

[trikikiwi]

....it was found on a farm as well.

Dave, according to the finder, musclecar, in his comments in response #253 on Page 3 of this saga, he found the thingy "at the site of an old homestead in a treed area by the river". He has never mentioned a farm, although many others have.

Having said that, there is some merit to it being linked to a bushel counter as I and others have previously pointed out.

If it counts to only 14 as I suspect it might, that equals one quarter of a bushel of maize (56 pounds). If it does count to 15, then that could equal one quarter of a bushel of wheat or soybean (60 pounds).

Anyway it's obvious you've "got the bug" like the rest of us and can now look forward to sleepless nights, massive hair loss, shredded finger nails and an inordinate desire to destroy inanimate objects.

Cheers, Mike

 

[MT]

I think it may be a counter for a board game. Get to 15 and win. It's too cheap (throw away) for anything serious. This is just my first guess. I guess a few more are in order.
HH,
MT
Tom

 

[Functional]

Been awhile since I posted and figured I'd throw in my 2 cents worth. So....

My guess is that this is part of one, (of various brands and models) of mechanical calculators, like the Curta on this page:
http://www.vcalc.net/cu-bckup.htm
Some of the models of the Curta mechanical calculator did have 15 digits. And finding parts from one of these in Alaska wouldn't seem to be overly far fetched.

These models and assorted others can be found by doing a Google search for mechanical calculators, like this:
http://images.google.ca/images?gbv=2&hl=en&q="mechanical+calculator"&btnG=Search+Images

F.

 

[relic lover]

and these mechanical calculators operate on a 1 thru 15 numerical system used where else on earth? This thing is pure concentrated evil don"t look at it or it will eat your soul either that or it is a melted pop can from a beach campfire moved north by plate tectonics I am sure I have it narrowed down to one or the other

 

[Hemisteve]

The evil thing is back!

 

[SgtSki in MI]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

Who brought this thing back up here after it was sitting nicely deep down in the string, where it belonged, for over a MONTH
OK....fine, Fine, FINE!!!....I'm gonna tell you ALL what this is and put it out of EVERYBODY'S misery

SO PAY ATTENTION!!!!!!!!!!

It's the Cycle Counter for the Rotary Flinkus Valve on a Moss-Covered, Three-Handled, Family Gredunza manufactured by the Geisel Corporation. The Geisel Corporation produced its first Gredunza on March 1st, 1957.

Now as you well know, a Rotary Flinkus Valve can turn (or cycle) 45 times before needing to be purged. Each of the 3 handles on a Gredunza turns the Flinkus Valve 15 times before the handle reaches it's right limit. This indicator was to enable the operator of the Gredunza to know when to get ready to switch to the next handle, which required some mental and physical preparation beforehand in order to ensure a smooth transition between handles, thus enabling the Flinkus Valve to maintain a state of steady, continuous operation until the purge stage which is reached upon the completion of the fifteenth turn on the third handle, at which time the operator in in transition back to the first handle, which begins a new 45-turn cycle of the Rotary Flinkus Valve. Upon reaching this segment of operation, all three of these counters will reset to "0" and the counter for the first handle would be progressing towards indication of the numeral "1" thus signaling the well-trained and competent Gredunza operator that the Rotary Flinkus Valve has indeed successfully began another 45-cycle run sequence.

The Geisel Corporation also forbids photography of their Gredunzas which is a binding agreement made upon purchase which is also bound over to subsequent owners, so I am unable to post a picture of my Gredunza.....but you all know that as well so no apology or regret on my part is necessary. In fact I may have said too much already

Now I held off letting you all know what this think is as long as I possibly could. I didn't want to sound like a know-it-all, and I also figured that someone would eventually click and remember what this item was a component of.

But enough is ENOUGH!!!....I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!!!!!!!

So put SOLVED next to this puppy and lets all move on already!!!

-SgtSki

 

[BuckleBoy]

Wow! I'll be danged! I have a Gredunza also, and that looks just like the Rotary Flinkus Valve on mine, too! I don't know why in the hell I didn't notice it before...but you know, those Gredunzas are of such good manufacture that they seldom have to be worked on. I was just opening the Intake Flinkus Manifold for routine maintenance...and it all made sense! Nice Find!

-Buckleboy

 

[SgtSki in MI]

See?


Told ya!

 

[Functional]

Do your parents know your up past bed time reading Dr. Seuss under the covers?

F.

 

[SamN]

I read through 5- pgs. ?

 

[Functional]

I read through 5- pgs. ?

How much time is that, that you will never get back?

F.

 

[Montana Jim]

Dear Lord - Again, I humbly pray...

Make this damned post just go away.

 

[bucketofguts]

okie dokie then!

 

[Michelle]

this isnt over until PBK sings

 

[briankb70]

its a finger and toe counter for babys born in Arkansas

Hey now can't y'all pick on others. what's wrong with Pollacks for instance I got all ten,my wife isn't barefoot &prego( OK she is barefoot[in bed]),and my tree DOES fork.

 

[Hounddog]

lol ....This is a old camera part the film packs had 15 pics