Artifact, Unidentified

Description

(a) A block of chestnut (about 1 1/2" x 2 15/16" x 15 1/4") with a 1 9/16" diameter hole drilled through the 2 15/16" wide face and two 1/4" diameter iron pins, 9/16" apart driven through this face. Two small blocks of basswood are attached to one side to which a 1/2" x 23/32" x 15 1/4" piece of basswood is nailed providing a 5/16" slot between the chestnut and basswood. (b) A turned cylinder of maple, the top 2 1/4" being 1 3/4" in diameter stepped down to 1 17/32" diameter for the bottom 1 3/4" of length. The top has three vertical saw kerfs that converge toward one side. A piece of galvanized sheet metal is wedged into each of the outer kerfs and the angle of the kerfs is such that the outer end of the sheet metal strips touch. The 1 17/32" diameter portion of the cylinder fits through the 1 9/16" diameter hole in the chestnut such that the ends of the sheet metal fall between the two iron pins.