What is it? The people at Treasure Net would like to know.

Most of the guesses revolve around refrigerators, but I’m not sure they are right. Here are my thoughts:

It’s made of aluminum, so it can withstand corrosive environments. Whatever it was part of or connected to was made of something else and apparently has not survived, so it’s not being seen in context. Aluminum also suggests aerospace since it has a low weight.

The dial turns slightly less than 360 degrees. The number 15 has a stop, so this implies that the photo above is a view of the object upside-down. When 15 is at the stop, it has to be readable.

I think it’s an indicator, not an adjustor. The problem with it being any kind of adjustment mechanism is that the only place it can be moved easily is from the area on the right above. But since it’s just a wheel, how does it effect any change elsewhere? The center is just a rivet. The wheel is mounted very close to the plate, so there is not enough room to get a chain in there.

The bent tabs on the back plus the two tongues on the right imply that it was attached to something thin that had two strips, either in the form of wire, or something compliant like leather or wood that the tabs could bite into. It has stiffening ridges, so when it was mounted it was either not flat against a stiff object, or was not flat against anything. There are holes in odd places. Why? And what do the depressions do?

My idea is that there is a something that engages with the teeth on the right and moves vertically. The number on the right (really the left since it is upside-down) shows the vertical position of the thing. But I have no idea what. How about a fuel gauge? There could be a float that moved vertically. But if so, the numbers are backwards: empty would read 15 not 1. So maybe it’s a counter for how many things you don’t have, like bombs. It could count the number dropped. Why is it so big though? Maybe to make the numbers readable. Big numbers need a large diameter wheel and that would determine the size.

What’s your guess?