According to Tim Shoppa :
Rich Grise wrote:
[ ... ]
Maybe from an "Enigma" coder/decoder circa WWII. I'm almost sure I've
seen such a thing before - the 45 degree bevel on the back is a
dead giveaway that it stuck out from some console, but I can't remember
for the life of me where I've seen it.
I think it's more likely from a simple machine (not a "coder/decoder"
like an Enigma machine) that has to scatter sequential digits such that
the are not adjacent in the machine's operation. Don's suggestion of a
key-cutter might be close, but it would do the mapping because you
don't really want a key cut to pattern #4 to be close to a key cut to
#3 or #5 (replace "key" with whatever this thing does! I think
security/encryption is a bit of a red herring, it's probably something
more to do with mechanical tolerances and not cutting a strip of
something too thin or maybe something more like the utility of a hash
index in computing.)
I can't rule out it being from some sort of encryption device but the
mapping is so straightforward that it would provide zero real security
itself.
And the fact that there are twenty teeth on the cog and twenty digits
(two different colors) around the dial has to mean something, I just
don't know what! Going back to the "hash index" idea, maybe there are
ten useful doohinkeys in a machine, and they don't want to wear any out
in favor of others, so at each shift change they advance the dial one
and use that setting on the machine.
Note that when one of the digits on the dial is aligned with the
leftmost index mark (clearly white), the red digits are visible through
the holes. When one of the digits on the dial is aligned with the
rightmost index mark (darker -- perhaps red), the white digits are
visible instead.
The white digits are sequential, but in reverse order of the
ones on the dial, while the red digits are scattered.
Using the white index, you have ten possible substitution
patterns, depending on which dial digit is aligned with the index.
Using the darker (possibly red) index, you have ten other possible
substitution patterns.
Perhaps it is for something simple like obfuscating codes being
broadcast -- say from a controller to police cars via radio.
The roller is not part of a switch, but rather just a detent, to
hold the "dial" at its last setting.
The angled base suggests that it should be on a desktop or a
console top. It is too dark to tell whether it has some drilled and
tapped holes for mounting to the surface, or perhaps has a black felt
pad to simply make it sort of non-slip.
As to style, it's simplicity and lack of adornment suggests something
like a East European public telephone from the 50's. At the same time,
it looks like it was machined out of solid billet (aluminum? and really
thick housing!) and not cast as a mass-produced item would be.
Agreed -- but someone cared enough to do a nice job of engraving
the digits and anodize the various parts rather nicely.
As enigmatic as Gary Larson's "Cow Tools" :-).
http://www.salon.com/people/portfoli...on/older4.html
I like that one.
Enjoy,
DoN.
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