Hey, new guy here.  Ran across these not too long ago.  Curious as to what they are.

Some intricate gearing.  The large disc has a felt backing, makes me wonder if this isn't some sort of hand-cranked sander.  Made in the USA, has a serial number and a model number and a box-logo that says "FMG" or somesuch.

I appreciate any help.

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Sorry.  Made modifications.

WAG!!  The plate with holes looks like it works like a machinists dividing head. From the counts that I can do, the multiplier is 7 and that makes absolutely no sense. I don't think it is a meat grinder either. Anyone else want to jump in here? Anyway, Welcome from Wisconsin.

I'll try and get some better pics of the innards over the next few days.  Were there ever any sanding discs with a 1' diameter?

Notice the picture of the "base" piece (3rd pic) as well - like it makes electricity somehow...

You may have the guts of a wind-up phonograph. Crank, spring, flywheel, governor weights. Bottom picture shows a shiny round part witha squiggly tube attached - that may be the holder for the needle cartridge (some were about the size of a silver dollar) where it actually rested on the record. The tube transmitted the sound to the megaphone via a rubber hose.
Al

Quote from: amecks on September 20, 2012, 03:47:52 PM
You may have the guts of a wind-up phonograph. Crank, spring, flywheel, governor weights. Bottom picture shows a shiny round part witha squiggly tube attached - that may be the holder for the needle cartridge (some were about the size of a silver dollar) where it actually rested on the record. The tube transmitted the sound to the megaphone via a rubber hose.
Al

Yes that is exactly what it looks like to me, inside of the cylinder you will find the spring

Yep.  Ran an ebay search for "phonograph parts" and finding some very much like these.  I wasn't expecting them to be this heavy and made out of iron, I guess.

Late 19th century it was common to cast parts in iron for items like these - today we would press from thin steel and spot weld - the difference is these bits are still in working condition after 100 years (or would be if cleaned up and restored) - how may of today's pressed steel items will last 100 year???? I still have my parents 1920's wind up gramophone and a whole stack of 78's (and some Victorian ones that run at a faster speed) - most gramophones had a facilty to run +/- 10 % over the stated speed, hence the variable governor control.