Wheels? Pulleys? Cogs? - Crank telephone magneto gears

[DCMatt]

We hunted an historic property on the south side of the James River (VA) on the weekend. The property records go back to the 1630's. These items, obviously, aren't that old, but I can't figure them out. I found two of them, almost identical, about a mile apart (separate home sites). Another slightly smaller one was also found on the property.

They appear to be copper. No markings. No threads. No visible signs of wear.









Any thoughts?

DCMatt

 

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[IronSpike]

Re: Wheels? Pulleys? Cogs?

The ridges makes me think some sort of gear wheels.

Close to the river. Could it be from ship engine?

 

[RPG]

Re: Wheels? Pulleys? Cogs?

I agree, looks like spur gears. Try and clean some of the crud from between some of the teeth and post a pic of that. Does the small one have teeth also?

 

[DCMatt]

Re: Wheels? Pulleys? Cogs?

The ridges makes me think some sort of gear wheels.

Close to the river. Could it be from ship engine?

Too small for a ship engine but it could be from a smaller boat. Even though we were "on" the river, there are no docks nearby. The main house sits on a cliff 100 feet above the the beach. The view is stunning from there.

I think it is a friction drive wheel of some sort and must be off a fairly common piece of machinery if we found three of them.

DCMatt

 

[DCMatt]

Re: Wheels? Pulleys? Cogs?

I agree, looks like spur gears. Try and clean some of the crud from between some of the teeth and post a pic of that. Does the small one have teeth also?

Yes the smaller one has "teeth". I use qoutes because they really aren't teeth. It's more like the reeded edge of a coin - not made to mesh with anything but maybe to give traction against a belt or roller.

 

[IronSpike]

Re: Wheels? Pulleys? Cogs?

Could it be old wheels from a toy steam engine?

http://images.google.com/imgres?img...eam+engines&ndsp=20&hl=en&sa=N&start=280&um=1

 

[DCMatt]

Re: Wheels? Pulleys? Cogs?

Could it be old wheels from a toy steam engine?

http://images.google.com/imgres?img...eam+engines&ndsp=20&hl=en&sa=N&start=280&um=1

Could be, I suppose.. But what are the odds that 3 toy steam engines were abandoned/dismantled/broken on a 250 acre property. Pretty long odds...

I think they are from something more common and more practical. I'm sure we will all say to ourselves "Of course that's what it is!" when we finally get the answer.

I thought it was a wheel from a toy tractor until the others came out of the ground. Could it be part of a "reel mower"?

DCMatt

 

[IronSpike]

Re: Wheels? Pulleys? Cogs?

Maybe they aren't so common. Could it be wheels from old toy wagon? Just not sure why they would be made of copper

http://images.google.com/imgres?img...eam+engines&ndsp=20&hl=en&sa=N&start=280&um=1

 

[DCMatt]

Re: Wheels? Pulleys? Cogs?

Maybe they aren't so common. Could it be wheels from old toy wagon? Just not sure why they would be made of copper

http://images.google.com/imgres?img...eam+engines&ndsp=20&hl=en&sa=N&start=280&um=1

I would expect wagon wheels to show significant wear. None of these are worn.

Others at the hunt suggested clock parts. I've also looked at sewing machines.

Theses look like precision parts to me. Being made of copper also makes me think "precision machine."

The property was a farm until the 1980's. One item had silver paint on it, if that helps. It doesn't help me...

 

[Monty]

Re: Wheels? Pulleys? Cogs?

Parts to an old large grandfather type clock? Just guessing. Monty

 

[Tony in SC]

Re: Wheels? Pulleys? Cogs?

They are too light and the teeth are too fine to hve been on an engine. I have seen gears like that on the old crank telephone magnetos. The large gear would spin a very small gear very fast to get the voltage to power the phone. I'll try to get a pic if I have time. Tony

 

[IronSpike]

Re: Wheels? Pulleys? Cogs?

Could be a big clock, but who knows. What's the diameters of the wheels?

Looked at old egg beaters, but the teeth appear more often on the side of the wheel.

Imagine if the wheels are from an old salesman sample I do think this one will get solved

 

[IronSpike]

Re: Wheels? Pulleys? Cogs?

They are too light and the teeth are too fine to hve been on an engine. I have seen gears like that on the old crank telephone magnetos. The large gear would spin a very small gear very fast to get the voltage to power the phone. I'll try to get a pic if I have time. Tony

Well done Tony in SC

http://images.google.com/imgres?img...mages?q=antique+telephone+magnetos&hl=en&um=1

 

[Tony in SC]

Re: Wheels? Pulleys? Cogs?

WOW Spike that was fast . I went down to the shop, took a pic, came back and loaded it and your's was already there . Tony

 

[Tony in SC]

Re: Wheels? Pulleys? Cogs?

The reason these were found by the river?? Telephone magnetos were used, "and in some places still are", to shock up fish. The wires were thrown in the water about 15 ft apart. When the crank was spun the fish would come to the surface where they could be scooped up with a net. I've seen this many times when I was a kid. It was very illegal but it got many families through the depression. Tony

 

[johnnyi]

Re: Wheels? Pulleys? Cogs?

Great i.d. on the large wheels ironspike. It may be that the smaller wheel can be explained through your other theory, a homemade toy. It might be that a toy was contructed from discarded things as was often done in the old days. Finding objects relating to each other scattered over a large field is not that unusual, considering a great many drops came from the old manure spreaders, and the source of the manure was from around the barns where boys might play.

 

[DCMatt]

They are too light and the teeth are too fine to hve been on an engine. I have seen gears like that on the old crank telephone magnetos. The large gear would spin a very small gear very fast to get the voltage to power the phone. I'll try to get a pic if I have time. Tony

Looks like we have a winner! I would NEVER have thought of that - mostly because I've never seen one. I knew you guys could do it!

Thanks

DCMatt

 

[72cheyenne]

They are too light and the teeth are too fine to hve been on an engine. I have seen gears like that on the old crank telephone magnetos. The large gear would spin a very small gear very fast to get the voltage to power the phone. I'll try to get a pic if I have time. Tony

Good one!

 

[Kiros32]

Nice ID guys! I was at this hunt with Matt and was as baffled as he was. Very cool!

 

[Tubecity]

Someone mentioned a friction type wheel possibly for a belt type drive. Could these have been used to
drive a belt driven lift system from the river up to the house to carry supplies ?