What is this? Mystery Item Identification

July 14, 2022 1:30 PM

Can anyone identify what this is? Pic here. I found it in a pile of wood scraps. It is a solid piece of wood with a round hole running top to bottom and slotted holes around the edges. Amongst the other wood scraps were lots of barrel staves, and it is barrel shaped, but that may be coincidental.
posted by juggler to Grab Bag (6 answers total)

It's the center for a wooden wagon wheel, the spokes go in the holes around the circumference, the axle goes through the center hole.
posted by AzraelBrown at 1:33 PM on July 14, 2022 [12 favorites]

Looks to me like the hub of a wheel. The top/bottom hole would be the axel, the slots for spokes. What kind of wheel depends on how big it is.
posted by bondcliff at 1:33 PM on July 14, 2022 [2 favorites]

That looks like a wooden wagon wheel hub to me, but that's based on very little experience so I'm curious about other's thoughts.

Similar object
posted by Torosaurus at 1:34 PM on July 14, 2022 [2 favorites]

Google Lens agrees, shows multiple similar items with terms like "antique wooden wheel hub".
posted by tiamat at 1:34 PM on July 14, 2022

It's totally a wagon wheel hub. Commonly seen turned into a lamp.
posted by niicholas at 1:43 PM on July 14, 2022 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Thanks! Answered in three minutes! I love MetaFilter.
posted by juggler at 1:45 PM on July 14, 2022 [3 favorites]