my very own whatsit *Now with pic*

Tavis

Jr. Member
Feb 6, 2008
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Its an aluminum rod (I believe its aluminum anyways,) about 2 feet long, with a barrel shaped attachment on the end. The rod part is 2 feet long or so, and the barrel is about as big as a quarter on the end, and about 2.5 inches, with the middle flared out in the classic barrel shape. the over all shape is sort of a exaggerated T shape, with the top being the barrel and the middle section the rod.
The rod itself is polished, and has a screw end, like a bolt, so it can be screwed into something. It also have a section right above the screw end that is knurled, and the knurled part is slightly larger in diameter than the rest of the rod. The rod has a diameter of about 1.3 millimeters (sorry, I don't know what that is in standard, just realized I have a micrometer sitting beside me.)
The barrel is stamped "5" on one end, and when I shake it, it sounds like it has a liquid inside, like water, or mercury. I'm going with mercury because the end is fairly heaving, and so far, no matter how I shake it, no water comes out.
It almost looks like a homemade shifter for something, but its way well to made to be something homemade, unless whoever made it has a serious machine shop.
I found it in an old power house, that had been converted into a garage for an airplane, with one half of the building being old power tools (old drillpress, etc) and the other half the garage/maintenance area. I've had it for about 2 years now, have never seen anything like it, and the fact that its not marked anywhere but the "5" on the end of the barrel doesn't make it any easier. Please, my curiosity is killing me. Anyone have any ideas?

weirdthing.jpg


Sorry about the bad image, the camera is broke and this is the only one that came out even halfway decent. At least its a close up of the top, you can kinda get an idea of the scale off it. The coins pictured are a Washington Quarter and a 1 Euro coin, for our European friends out there.
 

Re: my very own whatsit

Get those pictures--someone on here will know what you got.

Stryker
 

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Looks like a hammer. If they were fixing airplanes in there it could have been used for that. Also reminds me of a judges gavel, but unless it was the heavy metal hangin' judge I kind doubt that is what it is......
 

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its not a hammer, no marks on the end, and its too long anyways, plus with a screw end, I highly doubt its a hammer of any sorts. Doesn't look like any sort of hammer I've seen before. And it wasn't airplanes, just this guys one personal airplane (piper cub size)
 

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I wonder if its part of a gun cleaning kit. Other rods would screw into that one and you could clean shotgun barrels with it.
 

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Thats not a bad idea, its the right size and all, but the "5" stamped on the barrel part, plus the sloshing inside makes me think that its for something else. I don't see why a shotgun cleaner would be weighted.
 

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I feel bad about shooting down all these ideas, since I posted this to get help.

I don't think its a clapper for a bell, like I said, its aluminum, and it doesn't show any obvious marks like would come from being used like that.
 

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Tavis said:
Sorry about the bad image, the camera is broke and this is the only one that came out even halfway decent. At least its a close up of the top, you can kinda get an idea of the scale off it. The coins pictured are a Washington Quarter and a 1 Euro coin, for our European friends out there.

Sorry, but like I said, the camera is broken, and the rest of the images are too bad to be any use at all.
 

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Treasure O'Tales said:
Sounds like it could be part of an extension for a tool. Something to reach into an airplane engine maybe? Without photos of the whole thing, we're just guessing.

I *guess* it could be something like that, though I'm leaning more towards counterweight for something, with the stamped number 5 on the end, and that fact its filled with something (most likely mercury) makes me think its a counterweight
 

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Since the threaded end would only tighten (clockwise) I don't feel that it would be very useful as a tool.

Maybe a Pendulum. Or a Tripod Handle.

Just wild guesses of course.

Tony
 

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FlatCat said:
How can you tell it's filled with mercury? Just a guess? A picture of the whole thing would be nice... :-\

The barrel part is very heavy for its size, too heavy to be just aluminum. Also, I can hear a sloshing sound, so its gotta be filled with something liquid. I think mercury because of the weight.

And just a reminder, sorry, but my camera is BROKEN. I can't post anymore pics, because I can't take anymore. The ones I had stored on the camera are also junk. Sorry.
 

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Here's an off-the-wall idea. Take it to the nearest place where they sell hot rod parts. See if it threads into a Hurst or similar shifter. If so, you have a decorative (custom) shift handle.

Chip V.
 

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There are at least 2 reasons for the end to be filled with something. One is that it will make it a "dead blow" hammer. When it strikes something, it does not bounce back. just because it has no marks doesn't mean it wasn't used to strike something. It just means that it has never struck anything very hard.

The other reason to fill it, is to make it weigh a specific amount. This would make a pendulum, a counterweight, or a substitute for a part during service a likey candidate for what it is or what it is used for.

I don't know anything about airplanes or custom engine construction so this may be entirely useless information.

Just my 2 cents.

Daryl
 

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