So far everyone contacted about the shuttle theory says it would not work for a number of reasons.
Tanda, I really don’t have anything to do other than watch the TV or play Solitaire, so I will address the following stated “doubtfulness” in an attempt to give a reasonable explanation of said.
A shuttle must be able to travel smoothly across a plane of yarns or strings and they usually are designed so that one side is flat-ish to keep it situated in a particular way. This object doesn't seem ideal for that.
Tanda, most every loom was individually “hand-made” and they ranged in size from small to the really large “barn frame” looms that are so wide that the weaver had to slide the shuttle far enough across the loom between the warp threads to be able to grab hold of it with the other hand, …. or have a helper to grab it and slide it back, ….. that is, ….. iffen they were weaving a really wide piece of material.
But now, many items that were woven were quite narrow in width. For example, my wife has a linen dishtowel that is like 14” wide by 24” long that was woven on a large ”barn frame” loom by her grandmother. She also has a bed-size “red & white” coverlet that was woven in 2 pieces of like 30” in width and was then sewn together in the “center”. Such narrow width items did not require sliding the shuttle, nor the aid of a helper, because the weaver could pass the shuttle with one hand and grab it with the other.
Read this part:
Before the flying shuttle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_shuttle Also, even the more primitive shuttles we've looked at have a spool that will rotate easily, plus we have never seen a photo of one that has all those removable slats which in it's present state fit quite loosely.
Well now, when that shuttle was first “crafted” by someone, its spools probably rotated easily also. And not finding a photo of similar one doesn’t surprise me any….. because it just might be a “one-of-a-kind” or the only one of its “kind” that still exists. Taking all the slats off and putting them back …. just to wind the bobbins …. would have been a tedious task, thus resulting in a “failed” invention. Or it was a “failed” invention from the get-go but the owner saved it anyway.
We have not been able to find a photo of a shuttle remotely like this as a matter of fact. We also have never seen one that is so asymmetrical, they are usually completely symmetric so they behave the same traveling in either direction.
Well now, “different strokes for different folks (inventors)”. There were no Rules stating how a shuttle “had to be made”. There has always been a few people out that will “try-something-different” and that is why we are now flying around in jet powered aircraft.
Also the little peg sticking out near the blunt end. Inexplicable for the shuttle theory.
That little peg would come in handy when reaching between the warp threads to grab the end of the shuttle and pull it on thru. HA, who knows, it might have been a “revision” to the original design.
My friend seems pretty convinced that the thing does NOT turn or come apart, but you are correct, wood changes shape and size over time.
Your friend might be 100% correct. I’m pretty sure it doesn’t easily come apart but I can’t actually tell from the pictures whether the bobbin covers were made to rotate or not rotate.
The end caps and the center disc appear to be milled from a single piece of wood each.
Whoever made it surely used a wood lathe and probably “cut” both end caps, center disc and 1 wide wheel out of the same piece of wood. And when done cutting, drilled all the holes “in alignment” in that 1 wide wheel ….. and then with it turning in the lathe again, used a fine-tooth saw blade to “cut” all 7 pieces apart. Then drilled the “center” holes for the “axel” and assembled it. But I’m just guessing, ya know.
Cheers