Comments on: Microscope phakomètre; brass; part silvered; instrument is fixed to column by an assembly consisting of a central ball moving within split socket and two clamps

Microscope phakomètre; brass; part silvered; instrument is fixed to column by an assembly consisting of a central ball moving within split socket and two clamps

bigbigdog — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 09:42:21 -0800

This complicated "instrument" does not perform any useful purpose and was presumably made as a spoof.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 09:44:37 -0800

It works completely perfectly in its home dimension.

By: Jehan

Jehan — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 09:48:45 -0800

But look at all the cogs and clockwork! If steampunk has taught us anything, it's that those bits are really totally definitely essential.

By: notyou

notyou — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 09:49:46 -0800

Note the pointless gears and ridiculous curlicues. It's the ur-Steampunk Doodahmeter.

By: Chocolate Pickle

Chocolate Pickle — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 09:52:01 -0800

What did you expect from something labeled "fake-o-meter"?

By: roboton666

roboton666 — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 09:55:54 -0800

Welcome to the uncanny valley of weird objects.

By: banished

banished — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 09:56:10 -0800

It may be fake, but it does look like you could test lenses with it though....

By: Artw

Artw — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 09:58:25 -0800

/also came to make steampunk joke.

By: localroger

localroger — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 09:58:44 -0800

Well its purpose isn't apparent until it is installed properly in a functional TARDIS.

By: stbalbach

stbalbach — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 09:58:46 -0800

For steam punk collectors this must be the holy grail, a useless instrument of metal gears created only for its looks made in the era it represents. It should inspire replicas and knock-offs, but I doubt anyone will exceed the beauty of the original. It might also be of interest to post-modernists contemplating form over function.

By: Dr Dracator

Dr Dracator — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 09:59:10 -0800

It seems to me the photograph has been deliberately taken with the camera oriented slightly off the vertical, to obscure some some rather distasteful geometries the horizontal arm can assume. You might think it's a silly doodad now, but you won't be laughing when the stars are right.

By: LarryC

LarryC — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 09:59:19 -0800

This also explains the Antikythera mechanism.

By: Dr Dracator

Dr Dracator — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 10:00:20 -0800

oh gods - the words are duplicating, it's started already!

By: klarck

klarck — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 10:02:18 -0800

Sure, no useful purpose...but where can I get one?

By: jonp72

jonp72 — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 10:10:46 -0800

What did you expect from something labeled "fake-o-meter"? Actually, it's pronounced more like "fuck-ahm-uh-tur." I was once a staffer at the National Spelling Bee, and the late Alex Cameron, the longtime pronouncer for the Scripps-Howard National Spelling Bee who appeared in the movie Spellbound, used to have adult spelling bees at parties that would invariably begin with the word, "phacometer," pronounced as I've described above. Then, there was that time the word "dickcissel" made it into the real Spelling Bee. I totally pity the woman who was at the press table that day. She never heard the end of it.

By: ricochet biscuit

ricochet biscuit — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 10:13:57 -0800

Metafilter: does not perform any useful purpose and was presumably made as a spoof.

By: Foci for Analysis

Foci for Analysis — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 10:26:17 -0800

I bet this device was a vital part of a elaborate con game. The average 18th century person's understanding of science and mechanical engineering was lacking so con men could easily get away with creating sophisticated devices that could predict the future, heal the blind, detect fake money and precious metals, etc.

By: valkyryn

valkyryn — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 10:27:55 -0800

The average 18th century person's understanding of science and mechanical engineering was lacking It's not just the 18th century.

By: jocelmeow

jocelmeow — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 10:28:49 -0800

What a coincidence: Earlier today I ran across an ebay seller who makes tacky-ass cobbled together "steampunk" shit lamps. For me, the only thing more offensive than the hideousness of those creations is that they're apparently a license to print money.

By: justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow

justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 10:31:45 -0800

The lens on the left points toward the mirror on the right. It is a machine for studying its own workings. Looking through the lens shows you a machine studying itself, studying itself, studying itself... Horrible knowledge, blindness and madness.

By: George_Spiggott

George_Spiggott — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 10:47:11 -0800

Dear God, jocelmeow, I wish I could unsee those. What a repellent waste of some pretty good junk shop finds. A lot of the constituent parts would have been pretty agreeable things to have around the house before he got hold of them.

By: George_Spiggott

George_Spiggott — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 10:50:04 -0800

(the link was meant to go to your comment. Important tip: if you mistakenly use a double quote to open an href and a single quote to close it, it will post seemingly without error but the link target will be lost.)

By: East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94

East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 11:25:41 -0800

This complicated "instrument" does not perform any useful purpose and was presumably made as a spoof. What is an accordion

By: vacapinta

vacapinta — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 11:39:08 -0800

The "Jones 1990" refers to Mark Jones book Fake? The Art of Deception. The book is interesting and contains info on hundreds of objects like this. This particular note is there attributed to John Leopold of the British Museum. Its not clear how Leopold made this determination.

By: New England Cultist

New England Cultist — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 11:44:15 -0800

Watson called. Sherlock wants his whatchamacalit back.

By: varion

varion — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 11:50:19 -0800

/also came to make steampunk joke... I remember when I used to play with those on Gallifrey. You drop one of those in a room at a party and see if you can get all the alternate realities to make a steam punk joke at the same time.

By: HeroZero

HeroZero — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 12:08:39 -0800

steampunk'd

By: anonymisc

anonymisc — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 12:50:27 -0800

It's a bad fake in that it's obviously made from pieces of other machines that do have a single defined purpose but which cannot operate in the new context. The gears and brass plate aren't just clockwork, they're most of an actual clock. (You see that a lot in steampunk too - apparently it's just too much work to get gears to actually mesh, other than by attaching a clock)

By: arcticseal

arcticseal — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 12:52:49 -0800

Gizmo? Bueno estente!

By: zippy

zippy — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 14:22:41 -0800

For steam punk collectors this must be the holy grail, a useless instrument of metal gears created only for its looks made in the era it represents Just as two negatives multiplied together yields a positive, so too is it that a steampunk recreation of this device would necessarily be functional.

By: Evilspork

Evilspork — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 15:28:01 -0800

I assumed this was going to be about That 1 Guy.

By: Fuzzy Monster

Fuzzy Monster — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 16:35:38 -0800

Wow! I bet that machine would not only supply inverse reactive current for use in unilateral phase detractors, but would also be capable of automatically synchronizing cardinal grammeters.

By: BiggerJ

BiggerJ — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 17:32:41 -0800

I want to see the contestants on Antiques Master try to figure out what it's for. Then all of a sudden they hear "BAA-BAA-BAABAA! NOBODY KNOWS!" and Stephen Fry walks into view and tells them they've been had.

By: cmyk

cmyk — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 22:50:14 -0800

Sherlock Holmes built it. You do not want to know why.

By: arcticseal

arcticseal — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 15:09:47 -0800

You do not want to know why. Explains why the dog has suddenly taken a walk.