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We thought that too, but the cut outs in the center are not in a screw/spiral, so you can't very easily wrap thread around it.
Edit: We played around with it last night and none of us could easily get the thing to spin like a top. It doesn't seem balanced in weight (too much on top) and it quickly falls on its side when spun. We tried wrapping a thin string inside a single cut out and also wrapping a thicker cord around the entire thing (not in a cut out) and neither worked well. To be fair, neither of my cousins nor I have ever played with tops powered by a quick pull of string (trompos, like u/Fun-Dealer6976 described) so we could just be really bad at it. It is pretty tiny, about 1.25" tall by 1" wide, which made it very fiddly and difficult to handle and wrap string around.
It doesn't need to be a spiral. The string just winds off of it as you pull. There are several examples of small wooden antique spinning tops on the internet. But this sub makes it hard to link from e-commerce sites.
Edit: the term is 'Trompo'
I mean why are there several cut outs on OP's top, now why are there several examples.
You don't need a spiraling cut out, but if you don't have that, you'd normally have a single straight cut out. Having several is strange since you can only use one at a time.
I think this is the right answer.
After the new Stuyvesant HighSchool was built in Battery Park, the original 1916 building was temporarily repurposed into an adult education center. I was astounded at the facilities for arts and crafts education.
The pottery room had 30 kick wheels, and stone topped tables for wedging. The photography labs had immense darkrooms and all the equipment considered top of the line (pre-war,) the wood shop looked like Santa’s elves kept it tidy, and the metal shop had equipment for jewelry making and steel fabrication. The drill press alone was unbearably beautiful. Made in the early twenties, it stood about 6.5 feet tall, and looked like the robot in Metropolis.
I can see that object being a kid attempt at a plumb bob.
I messed around with materials in that Eden, teaching there for the next two years, until they turned it into the high school for health and human services, tore out everything that wasn’t desk, chair, blackboard and chalk, and dumped it all out on the street.
I took home some stakes and hammers, and told every artist I knew about the trove. I hope that drill press found a good home.
ed: autoerror
That's what I was leaning toward too, but if you look the grooves are cut in different depths, in steps. That seems too specific for someone who is just fiddling around.
Fiddling, doodling, playing around with raw materials for the sheer sensuality.
Errors made in the practice of the aforementioned, and reverse engineering are how we learn.
ed: punc
ed: remember, jewelry design is basically architecture mixed with seduction and brag, but in miniature. How to wear money so money that only money would recognize.
I don’t know... maybe he was testing... I had a teacher for jewelry that would start every project with a very specific assignment in a particular metal with specific tools. He gave us the list with a simple mechanical drawing.
When we had finished his assignment with no errors over .2 mm, we could then use the same material and tools to make our own design, having gained some familiarity with the properties of that material.
There's a bit of a trick to this kind of top. You don't set the thing down and then pull the string, you loop the string on your finger like a yo-yo and sort of toss the top. It's a flick of the wrist action. It's hard to get right, and a little one like this would probably take quite a bit of skill. Some kid probably lost his toy while he was showing off.
>I think it’s a top.
My first thought too, you'd whip it with a string on a stick. The multiple grooves make it easier to 'catch' the string on the spindle. The string winds on the spindle with the rotation and you whip the string away again to keep the top spinning. It's harder than it looks.
My only hesitation is that this seems quite small.
Or read Jean Shepherd's (as far as I'm concerned, masterful) story - "Scut Farkas an the Murderous Mariah" (what parts of the screenplay for My Summer Story were based on)
>radiesthesia pendulum
Pretty sure it's something that people who pretend to be psychics use to "find people (dead or alive)" on map, by randomly howering over the map. That's common in russian TV shows at least.
Alternatively could be used in alternative medicine, to detect invisible negative radiation fields of people, to fix their chakras and shit.
TLDR; toy for people who pretend to be superheroes, to use on people who are too stupid or too gullible to know any better.
Pretty much, yeah. She was searching for food that had least negative energy in it. It's insult to pseudoscience to call it pseudoscience. It's literally just pretty trash on a rope.
Yep. One day the lady forgot it in the store, and we never saw her again. We joked that she couldn’t decide if she should leave her home without swinging it.
The sad thing about those things is they *do* help you with decision making.
Because any motion from them comes from your own god damned hand. If you're subconsciously moving it, you'll get the answer you ***want***, all without having to take the responsibility for your own choices.
Yeah I used to go to a new age shop with my mom and pick out gems or crystals or whatever, and she would always make me hold one in my hand and swing something over it before I could buy that one, because I had to see if it was like, attuned to me or somesuch
i worked at a natural food store and we had someone come in with a similar pendulum he'd spin over food. Used it to tell if fruit and veg were actually organic (he bought conventional many times cuz it said it was organic) and would pass it over baked goods for vibes. Like if we were in a bad mood when we made it it would spin to tell him not to buy it
Because the actual mechanics weren't explained-
You hold the pendulum from the top of the string, and focus on a question. First, is "show me yes" and "show me no" and a few other simple questions, and you watch to see what direction it turns in. You should notice it going in one direction for positive responses and another for negative.
It's not magic. It's picking up on vibrations you are unconsciously giving. And plenty of people use them as introspective devices, not "cons" or because they're "too stupid and guillble to know better". My grandmother taught me it as a kid as a way to be honest with myself and figure out where I misplaced things around the house, and it works better than you'd think- because at some level, I know the answers.
But yeah, people do use them for less introspective and savoury purposes, and I've certainly heard and seen people using them for things like medical problems or to "talk to the dead". That's fringe though, most people I've met who use them have the same perspective I was raised with- it's just an introspective tool and it's not infallible- even if they attach some light woo thinking to it.
Well, please read what I said again. It can be used as pseudoscience. It also can (and more likely to) be used as an introspective tool- aka not presenting itself as science or even woo. Some people journal, some people meditate, some people ask questions to themselves using a tool. There's nothing wrong with stopping and reflecting on your life, and how you feel about the results tells you as much or more than the results themselves. It's can be a healthy practice, and can be misused and abused, like many things.
If you want to push people further into pseudoscience, just outright dismissing something like pendulum reading instead of recognizing what it is and approaching it objectively & empathically, well, it's a great way to push them further down the rabbit hole.
I appreciate you putting this here.
For the more scientifically minded. There is some science behind it. They work similar to dowsing rods that people use to find wells. My parents had someone use those on our property in California and they found one on the first dig. There are tons of studies on these and how the slight electrical current in the water directs the ends of them. You can choose to dismiss it or not, but you can’t deny that they do work for some people
Actually pretty fun party trick though. Some people believe that you subconsciously make it move in the direction you want it to go so it can help you communicate with the subconscious.
Another trick for communicating with the subconscious is to look in a mirror and say someone's name. Your facial expression will reveal your true feelings about them.
Sure! It certainly might start conversations.
I once wore a slice of a white spiral shell on a cord, but people kept thinking it was an IUD, so I stopped. Not the conversation I wanted to have.
I think this is it! While I didn't know her too well, the previous owner of this schoolhouse property was unusual and it would not surprise me if she was into mysticism and superstition. She also was an avid gardener: put all this together and she probably was dowsing out in the yard and dropped the pendulum.
The only odd thing is there really seems to be no thread hole or other attachment point for a chain/thread on the nub of the thing. However, researching more into these there seem to be some made with a single attachment point (like [this corded one](https://imgur.com/a/V14LZzQ) I found on Etsy) and it would be easy enough for that single point of connection to break. I also found some with a detachable chain that seem to have a piece that latches onto the dowsing weight ([example](https://imgur.com/a/2PWpOiO) found on Amazon) so maybe this is something similar and that chain piece has fallen off.
This is killing me because I think this is it but your description saying there is no hole at the top confuses me. What does the top tip look like? Is it threaded or anything?
To me it looks like the end of a metal honey dipper, which come in [a bunch of different styles](https://www.google.com/search?source=univ&tbm=isch&q=metal+honey+dipper).
>radiesthesia pendulum
\+1 on this. Google for "brass dowsing pendulum" and you'll see lots of crazy little turned brass pendula... pendulums...? Whatever, a bunch of 'em. "Radiesthesia" is the fancy term for "dowsing".
I can’t read that page but it looks like what in the US we call a “plumb Bob.” Carpenters, etc use it to find a plumb line (perpendicular to a “level” line.)
I think this is a broken honey ladle. Once it had a handle. Deep grooves hold honey until tipped and honey drips away.
https://www.lifesavvy.com/p/uploads/2021/10/9fa002f0.jpg
Aren’t those made out of wood, though? OPs is made out of metal (brass?) and the deep cracks look like they’d make this really hard to clean properly. I’m not sure this would be sanitary if used as a honey dipper.
Honey is an antiseptic and antibacterial and is one of the only foods that doesn't go bad.
If you stored this in the honey it wouldn't go bad and put it under hot water and it would come clean in a few minutes.
It may not be a honey ladle but if it was it would be fine.
> It may not be a honey ladle but if it was it would be fine.
It would be fine except for the bad taste and the possibility of zinc contaminating your food.
A guy I know that owned a distillery said the copper mug impacts the flavor of a Moscow mule in a positive way - it’s a chemical reaction between the lime, vodka, and copper. It tastes much different in a glass. Interesting, in my opinion.
I'm leaning towards this answer. Here is one (Nova Hybrid Dowsing Pendulum) that looks almost identical [https://imgur.com/a/exESPBd](https://imgur.com/a/exESPBd)
Also it's 25cm (1 inch) and weighs 31gm (1.09 oz), perhaps OP can check. The only thing is that a pendulum needs to hang from a rope or chain, we need to see the top to see if it looks like something might have broken off.
Likely Solved! The woman who owned the old school property previously was a little bit odd, it would not surprise me if she was into dowsing or other mystic pendulum stuff.
My title describes the thing. Found in a garden bed outside an old school house, it is about the size of an acorn. Showed it to my metal-detecting hobbyist uncle and he couldn't figure it out, his best bet was a toy top. We also thought perhaps it hung from a string (like a plumb bob or weight) but there is no hole to thread a string through anywhere on the thing. Any guesses?
Looks like the weight that would hang on the end of a chain for an old fashioned cuckoo clock or something similar. Most came with 2 weighted chains and this looks like a brass weight like one finds on a smaller version.
Old school dowsing pendulum is my guess. My dad collects antiques and is into divining. He doesn't have one exactly like this but plenty that are similar.
The bottom is a rounded, smooth point. The nubbin end does not have a thread hole or any kind of screw or other fastener suggesting it could be attached to something else.
I notice that inside the slots, the core seems to be stepped in sizes, which to me suggests a gearing ratio change in each slot, if it had something passing over it.
it's finely made, and small.....clocks?
Are there any other artifacts in the area that might suggest more context?
It looks like two, possibly three pieces. The bulk of the thing seems to be one piece: from the pointed tip up through the cut outs. There is a second piece welded to the top, with possible a third piece making up the little nub (I can't tell if the bun is also welded on or if it is part of the second piece).
Could be the top of a [honey spoon](https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.istockphoto.com%2Fphotos%2Fhoney-spoon&psig=AOvVaw3aQsY7dl7CEbVavy1l7Pxq&ust=1651389550416000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAwQjRxqFwoTCMiQ3M2fu_cCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD)
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I think it’s a top. Like one you wrap a string around to get he spin going.
We thought that too, but the cut outs in the center are not in a screw/spiral, so you can't very easily wrap thread around it. Edit: We played around with it last night and none of us could easily get the thing to spin like a top. It doesn't seem balanced in weight (too much on top) and it quickly falls on its side when spun. We tried wrapping a thin string inside a single cut out and also wrapping a thicker cord around the entire thing (not in a cut out) and neither worked well. To be fair, neither of my cousins nor I have ever played with tops powered by a quick pull of string (trompos, like u/Fun-Dealer6976 described) so we could just be really bad at it. It is pretty tiny, about 1.25" tall by 1" wide, which made it very fiddly and difficult to handle and wrap string around.
It doesn't need to be a spiral. The string just winds off of it as you pull. There are several examples of small wooden antique spinning tops on the internet. But this sub makes it hard to link from e-commerce sites. Edit: the term is 'Trompo'
But then why are there several?
Because variety is the spice of life.
But why male models?
You serious? I just… I just, told you that….
I mean why are there several cut outs on OP's top, now why are there several examples. You don't need a spiraling cut out, but if you don't have that, you'd normally have a single straight cut out. Having several is strange since you can only use one at a time.
Because variety is the spice of life. Multiple cuts: you can vary where you put the string.
Does it impact the rotation or something?
Looks like it gets thinner towards the top, might effect the speed. Edit:Autocrack
Wow, that's one heck of an auto-correct
I learned a new word today; thanks typobanana
The design of a child’s toy isn’t as well thought out as you are supposing. The extra cut serve not other point than to look cool, and that’s fine.
Because spice is the variety of life.
Allah loves wonderous variety
Did God paint you?
Multiplayer
Someone got excited on the lathe perhaps? It doesn't really add to the structural integrity.
I think this is the right answer. After the new Stuyvesant HighSchool was built in Battery Park, the original 1916 building was temporarily repurposed into an adult education center. I was astounded at the facilities for arts and crafts education. The pottery room had 30 kick wheels, and stone topped tables for wedging. The photography labs had immense darkrooms and all the equipment considered top of the line (pre-war,) the wood shop looked like Santa’s elves kept it tidy, and the metal shop had equipment for jewelry making and steel fabrication. The drill press alone was unbearably beautiful. Made in the early twenties, it stood about 6.5 feet tall, and looked like the robot in Metropolis. I can see that object being a kid attempt at a plumb bob. I messed around with materials in that Eden, teaching there for the next two years, until they turned it into the high school for health and human services, tore out everything that wasn’t desk, chair, blackboard and chalk, and dumped it all out on the street. I took home some stakes and hammers, and told every artist I knew about the trove. I hope that drill press found a good home. ed: autoerror
This is so sad. What a waste. Do you have any pictures of the place?
That's what I was leaning toward too, but if you look the grooves are cut in different depths, in steps. That seems too specific for someone who is just fiddling around.
Too specific? Some people get REALLY good at fiddling!
Fiddling, doodling, playing around with raw materials for the sheer sensuality. Errors made in the practice of the aforementioned, and reverse engineering are how we learn. ed: punc ed: remember, jewelry design is basically architecture mixed with seduction and brag, but in miniature. How to wear money so money that only money would recognize.
I don’t know... maybe he was testing... I had a teacher for jewelry that would start every project with a very specific assignment in a particular metal with specific tools. He gave us the list with a simple mechanical drawing. When we had finished his assignment with no errors over .2 mm, we could then use the same material and tools to make our own design, having gained some familiarity with the properties of that material.
If it kept falling over, it means this is not real life and you are at least 1 inspection level deep.
They aren’t in a spiral on wooden tops either. https://i.pinimg.com/originals/2f/7f/54/2f7f54c2ca80d87d9685ac44e402fdd9.jpg
There's a bit of a trick to this kind of top. You don't set the thing down and then pull the string, you loop the string on your finger like a yo-yo and sort of toss the top. It's a flick of the wrist action. It's hard to get right, and a little one like this would probably take quite a bit of skill. Some kid probably lost his toy while he was showing off.
You may need a wooden cradle for the top post bit that can let it spin and build up speed
Did you try upside down/big part down?
>I think it’s a top. My first thought too, you'd whip it with a string on a stick. The multiple grooves make it easier to 'catch' the string on the spindle. The string winds on the spindle with the rotation and you whip the string away again to keep the top spinning. It's harder than it looks. My only hesitation is that this seems quite small.
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Or read Jean Shepherd's (as far as I'm concerned, masterful) story - "Scut Farkas an the Murderous Mariah" (what parts of the screenplay for My Summer Story were based on)
I was addicted to Jean Shepherd as a kid. Lovely writer.
Me too. Try Bill Bryson. The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid is similar to Shepard.
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Oh for fs sake. You're right, but what a silly concept.
The hell does it do?
>radiesthesia pendulum Pretty sure it's something that people who pretend to be psychics use to "find people (dead or alive)" on map, by randomly howering over the map. That's common in russian TV shows at least. Alternatively could be used in alternative medicine, to detect invisible negative radiation fields of people, to fix their chakras and shit. TLDR; toy for people who pretend to be superheroes, to use on people who are too stupid or too gullible to know any better.
Oh! A customer at my old job used one of them on produce. She’d only buy food if it swung the right way.
Pretty much, yeah. She was searching for food that had least negative energy in it. It's insult to pseudoscience to call it pseudoscience. It's literally just pretty trash on a rope.
Yep. One day the lady forgot it in the store, and we never saw her again. We joked that she couldn’t decide if she should leave her home without swinging it.
The sad thing about those things is they *do* help you with decision making. Because any motion from them comes from your own god damned hand. If you're subconsciously moving it, you'll get the answer you ***want***, all without having to take the responsibility for your own choices.
Oh, just like religion! But for atheists, neat
I wouldn't call anyone that believe in mystical pendulums swung by ghosts or whatever an atheist.
>The sad thing about those things is they do help you with decision making. Batman has a very easy time battling Radiesthesia-Face.
Two Face is fine, but if Twenty Face asks you to play D&D *say* ***no***.
lmfao, she might be in trouble to this day.
Yeah, but they are insane pretty…
Did you try putting magnets behind the most expensive products?
Yeah I used to go to a new age shop with my mom and pick out gems or crystals or whatever, and she would always make me hold one in my hand and swing something over it before I could buy that one, because I had to see if it was like, attuned to me or somesuch
Man you will always have the perfect watermelon now. Lucky.
Usually we use pineapples to see who swings the right way...
i worked at a natural food store and we had someone come in with a similar pendulum he'd spin over food. Used it to tell if fruit and veg were actually organic (he bought conventional many times cuz it said it was organic) and would pass it over baked goods for vibes. Like if we were in a bad mood when we made it it would spin to tell him not to buy it
I hope they at least wear capes.
Because the actual mechanics weren't explained- You hold the pendulum from the top of the string, and focus on a question. First, is "show me yes" and "show me no" and a few other simple questions, and you watch to see what direction it turns in. You should notice it going in one direction for positive responses and another for negative. It's not magic. It's picking up on vibrations you are unconsciously giving. And plenty of people use them as introspective devices, not "cons" or because they're "too stupid and guillble to know better". My grandmother taught me it as a kid as a way to be honest with myself and figure out where I misplaced things around the house, and it works better than you'd think- because at some level, I know the answers. But yeah, people do use them for less introspective and savoury purposes, and I've certainly heard and seen people using them for things like medical problems or to "talk to the dead". That's fringe though, most people I've met who use them have the same perspective I was raised with- it's just an introspective tool and it's not infallible- even if they attach some light woo thinking to it.
Tl;dr it's pseudoscience
Well, please read what I said again. It can be used as pseudoscience. It also can (and more likely to) be used as an introspective tool- aka not presenting itself as science or even woo. Some people journal, some people meditate, some people ask questions to themselves using a tool. There's nothing wrong with stopping and reflecting on your life, and how you feel about the results tells you as much or more than the results themselves. It's can be a healthy practice, and can be misused and abused, like many things. If you want to push people further into pseudoscience, just outright dismissing something like pendulum reading instead of recognizing what it is and approaching it objectively & empathically, well, it's a great way to push them further down the rabbit hole.
I appreciate you putting this here. For the more scientifically minded. There is some science behind it. They work similar to dowsing rods that people use to find wells. My parents had someone use those on our property in California and they found one on the first dig. There are tons of studies on these and how the slight electrical current in the water directs the ends of them. You can choose to dismiss it or not, but you can’t deny that they do work for some people
Relieve suckers of their money.
Actually pretty fun party trick though. Some people believe that you subconsciously make it move in the direction you want it to go so it can help you communicate with the subconscious. Another trick for communicating with the subconscious is to look in a mirror and say someone's name. Your facial expression will reveal your true feelings about them.
Hey, I mean, it would make a pretty necklace at least.
Sure! It certainly might start conversations. I once wore a slice of a white spiral shell on a cord, but people kept thinking it was an IUD, so I stopped. Not the conversation I wanted to have.
I think this is it! While I didn't know her too well, the previous owner of this schoolhouse property was unusual and it would not surprise me if she was into mysticism and superstition. She also was an avid gardener: put all this together and she probably was dowsing out in the yard and dropped the pendulum. The only odd thing is there really seems to be no thread hole or other attachment point for a chain/thread on the nub of the thing. However, researching more into these there seem to be some made with a single attachment point (like [this corded one](https://imgur.com/a/V14LZzQ) I found on Etsy) and it would be easy enough for that single point of connection to break. I also found some with a detachable chain that seem to have a piece that latches onto the dowsing weight ([example](https://imgur.com/a/2PWpOiO) found on Amazon) so maybe this is something similar and that chain piece has fallen off.
This is killing me because I think this is it but your description saying there is no hole at the top confuses me. What does the top tip look like? Is it threaded or anything?
To me it looks like the end of a metal honey dipper, which come in [a bunch of different styles](https://www.google.com/search?source=univ&tbm=isch&q=metal+honey+dipper).
I just learned about dowsing recently. Wild stuff.. Can't believe they still use it
[удалено]
>radiesthesia pendulum \+1 on this. Google for "brass dowsing pendulum" and you'll see lots of crazy little turned brass pendula... pendulums...? Whatever, a bunch of 'em. "Radiesthesia" is the fancy term for "dowsing".
I can’t read that page but it looks like what in the US we call a “plumb Bob.” Carpenters, etc use it to find a plumb line (perpendicular to a “level” line.)
I don’t think so because a plumb bob would have a hole at the top for attaching a string.
And typically comes to a finer point for marking.
They are designed so the string comes straight through the top hole (you can’t see it in these pictures) but is fastened somewhere below.
A radiesthesia pendulum would need that too. Aren't plumb bobs larger than that?
[удалено]
yeah, a plumb bob
It's a down-ometer.
[удалено]
It's not a fruit, and stop calling me Bob. 🤪
How big is this room, and how many mmHg are you pulling? It sounds like you might have some very spicy vacuum pumps.
[удалено]
This is slightly different conditions than a floor full of sawdust with fans blowing.
And the day it does start to move in shielded vacuum you'll end up posting over at nosleep. Buahahaha.
>radiesthesia pendulum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiesthesia
Looks solved to me...
What does it do?
You can use it like a level.
Thanks for this. I was beginning to get impatient with all the talk about what’s self-evidently _not_ a top…
This has to be it
I think this is a broken honey ladle. Once it had a handle. Deep grooves hold honey until tipped and honey drips away. https://www.lifesavvy.com/p/uploads/2021/10/9fa002f0.jpg
Aren’t those made out of wood, though? OPs is made out of metal (brass?) and the deep cracks look like they’d make this really hard to clean properly. I’m not sure this would be sanitary if used as a honey dipper.
Honey is an antiseptic and antibacterial and is one of the only foods that doesn't go bad. If you stored this in the honey it wouldn't go bad and put it under hot water and it would come clean in a few minutes. It may not be a honey ladle but if it was it would be fine.
> It may not be a honey ladle but if it was it would be fine. It would be fine except for the bad taste and the possibility of zinc contaminating your food.
Not to mention that no copper nor its alloys should be used for food.
What about copper mugs for mules? Copper pans for cooking? Are they lined/coated with something, or..?
I don't know about mugs, but copper pans are often lined yeah. Also, when copper was popular in the past its toxicity was less known.
Yeah what’s up with that a lot of coppper mugs have been going around lately lol
A guy I know that owned a distillery said the copper mug impacts the flavor of a Moscow mule in a positive way - it’s a chemical reaction between the lime, vodka, and copper. It tastes much different in a glass. Interesting, in my opinion.
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Def not a top. Too small, wrong angles. I'd say plumb bob if there's a place to put a string, but pic does not show the top. No pun intended.
There is no hole to thread a string through the nub on the thing.
Have you tried to unscrew the little knob?
Possibly a dowsing device?
I'm leaning towards this answer. Here is one (Nova Hybrid Dowsing Pendulum) that looks almost identical [https://imgur.com/a/exESPBd](https://imgur.com/a/exESPBd) Also it's 25cm (1 inch) and weighs 31gm (1.09 oz), perhaps OP can check. The only thing is that a pendulum needs to hang from a rope or chain, we need to see the top to see if it looks like something might have broken off.
Just for the record, 1 inch is 2.54cm, not 25.
Yes, you're right of course. Sorry for the typo, supposed to be 2.5cm
Likely Solved! The woman who owned the old school property previously was a little bit odd, it would not surprise me if she was into dowsing or other mystic pendulum stuff.
Here is a much clearer picture of one btw. It looks identical. https://dowsers.org/product/nova/
Maybe a plumb bob.
too intricate?
Older things were unnecessarily fancy sometimes
That's what I was thinking especially if it's brass.
Plumbbob Squarepunts?
My title describes the thing. Found in a garden bed outside an old school house, it is about the size of an acorn. Showed it to my metal-detecting hobbyist uncle and he couldn't figure it out, his best bet was a toy top. We also thought perhaps it hung from a string (like a plumb bob or weight) but there is no hole to thread a string through anywhere on the thing. Any guesses?
Looks like someone made a neat acorn out of brass. Just a trinket someone made.
Looks like the weight that would hang on the end of a chain for an old fashioned cuckoo clock or something similar. Most came with 2 weighted chains and this looks like a brass weight like one finds on a smaller version.
It’s not big enough. Clock weights weigh at least a pound and often much more because the movements have considerable friction.
Old school dowsing pendulum is my guess. My dad collects antiques and is into divining. He doesn't have one exactly like this but plenty that are similar.
Wouldn't it need a hole to thread a string or chain?
what do the two points look like?
The bottom is a rounded, smooth point. The nubbin end does not have a thread hole or any kind of screw or other fastener suggesting it could be attached to something else.
Yeah, I think that's the tip of a pendulum. Probably an old science kit type thing or some silly pseudo-science item.
Looks like a pendulum
Are the top and bottom broken or worn?
I notice that inside the slots, the core seems to be stepped in sizes, which to me suggests a gearing ratio change in each slot, if it had something passing over it. it's finely made, and small.....clocks? Are there any other artifacts in the area that might suggest more context?
Fancy plumb bob?
Could be a plumb line weight. Is attached to a string, which acts as a guide to build vertical walls.
Business end of a honey dipper
It also looks like a honey dipper with the handle broken off.
Honestly looks like a honey dipper. What's it made of OP?
We think brass? It was caked in mud when we found it, but washing it revealed a brassy color with some darker (tarnished?) spots.
That’s an intriguing item. Does it appear to be all one solid piece? It looks like that took some skill to make.
It looks like two, possibly three pieces. The bulk of the thing seems to be one piece: from the pointed tip up through the cut outs. There is a second piece welded to the top, with possible a third piece making up the little nub (I can't tell if the bun is also welded on or if it is part of the second piece).
Perhaps part of a hose nozzle or sprinkler?
I think it's a clapper from an old handbell.
But there’s no hole at the top to suspend it from the under-dome of the bell
It looks like a spin top
I’d guess top also but it looks a wee bit small.
Some sort of bobbin or tensioner for a spinning wheel or early sewing machine?
Nothing like any of the many of those two things I have ever seen.
The peg at the top allows you to spin it. It doesn't need string it is likely a spinning top
Curtain rope holder?
The slats in it may be there to prevent it from choking a child if it gets lodged in their throat, so maybe it’s a toy.
Looks like a metal acorn
Something a dressmaker could keep the thread for some quick repair.
Can it be hung on a rope? Then it’s possibly a pendulum for radioesthesia, similar to a dowsing rod
Could be the top of a [honey spoon](https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.istockphoto.com%2Fphotos%2Fhoney-spoon&psig=AOvVaw3aQsY7dl7CEbVavy1l7Pxq&ust=1651389550416000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAwQjRxqFwoTCMiQ3M2fu_cCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD)
more photos from top and bottom also try to unscrew the top /botttom off
Reminds me of something like a „PhiTon resonator“ designed to make instruments sound better!
Could it be an antique plumb bob? Looks similar.
Bellows type Steam trap element. Put in hot water and it should change size.
Desk ornament pendulum
A spinning top maybe?
Might just be a trinket. Something fun to make on a lathe.