Door knob?

Hi, y’all! Hope you’re all doing well

So…. Is this a door knob? And if so, why is the stem 9 inches (22.86 cm) long? My second guess was that maybe it’s part of an old gear shifter, but then what’s the metal sleeve for? The sleeve is in the last pic, the stem of the knob just slides in, no threads or anything to keep it in place.

Weighs about 2 lbs (.91kg).

I’m at a loss. I’ve been wondering about this for at least 15 years. It is driving me bonkers.

 

yup and door knob...
that hole for the screw gives it away...the ends were threaded and the screw secured the knob to the rod..

( & lemme tell ya......ya wanna make sure your knob is always secured to yer rod.....)

sorry...it's late & I can't help myself....!
someone was likely using it for another purpose..

 

possibly ...

 

Heehee!! When I was writing the original post, I kept thinking about how many jokes I was setting myself up for. Just asking my husband if he thought it was a door knob was enough to get a full thirty minutes of jokes & puns.

 

whoa… I wouldn’t have thought of that in a million years! It seems a little Rube Goldberg-esque- I love it!

 

Very cool thing that..